Author: cheunen
Some areas of our ways of working can be improved. AdvanceHE recently carried out a consultation, leading to the report “Understanding Ways of Working“. It is freely available for you to read, and AdvanceHE will present it at the October School General Meeting. The report gives a clear overview of where we can improve as […]
Our School works best when everybody is heard, and nobody is left behind. We are always eager to find out how to improve our community, with regular official feedback opportunities. In the last two years the School Culture survey, Athena Swan focus groups, and the University’s Staff Engagement survey have been implemented. These have revealed some […]
The following is posted on behalf of an anonymous member of the School community. Considering it affects all our colleagues with ovaries (and their families too), I wanted to share a few pointers about peri-menopause. I was ignorant. Very ignorant. I thought menopause happens around age 60. In fact, the average is 51. But most […]
Three months ago we opened for discussion a draft of our School Values, a proposed list developed by a group of about 25 people. There have been many contributions and views, often very thoughtful. It’s great to see that a large part of our School community is involved and actively helps to ground our shared […]
People like to be surrounded by things they like. Having a workspace that you like makes you happier [1], more productive [2], and even behave more ethically [3]. Nobody wants to work in a soulless environment. Therefore the School of Informatics fully supports you personalising your office. You are welcome to hang posters or decorate […]
Our university is a very large organisation. With over 15,000 staff and nearly 50,000 students, it consists of many parts. The same holds for our School. It is not always easy to find the kind of help you are looking for. Whether it’s harassment, bullying, or mental health, here are all available support options in […]
BCSWomen organises the annual Lovelace Colloquium: a day featuring talks, a careers panel, employer stands and a student poster contest. This year, three students from the University of Edinburgh made the trip to Sheffield, and Qiuye Zhang in fact won first place with her poster “Can Artificial Neural Networks Learn like Brains?” in the second […]
Values, with a capital V, are core principles that we, as a School, stand for. They are part of our School strategic plan, and are specific to our community. You may think this is a pointless exercise in bureaucracy. Why would we have to write these things down? There are three reasons why I think […]
People make the School of Informatics. Whether academic, professional services, or student, without people teaching and research would halt. And people are at their best when they feel they belong in the School’s culture. At the root of an inclusive culture lies fairness, which brings out the best in people. Fairness matters, as any child […]
Our School is a community of people from many different backgrounds, which makes it an inspiring place to learn and work. Members are respected for who they are, and the culture they come from doesn’t matter. So, in a sense, it is weird to spotlight some groups over others. Rather than make a big deal, […]