Learn about how Able Futures supports employers and employees with managing mental health at work.
Tuesday 10th March – LEC 3 – Training Room 1 & 2, 10-11.30 am

Lancaster University has formed a partnership with Able Futures, which provides the Access to Work Mental Health Support Service for people working and living with mental health difficulties, employers and providers of apprenticeships. Through the Access to Work Mental Health Support Service you can talk to a health care professional within one working day of signing-up. The support is built around you and your needs, and everything you discuss is confidential. The service is fast and flexible. This is a Government funded organisation, so as long as you are working and pay tax in the UK, you can use their services for free.

What support can I get?
You’ll be supported by a qualified health care professional, who will:

• Help you build a support plan that suits your needs and daily routine
• Meet you face-to-face or talk over the phone
• Connect you to local specialist support organisations
• Give you access to our free online hub, where you can find advice on coping with mental health conditions
• Guarantee a 100% confidential service. Your employer, friends or family will not know unless you decide to tell them

To find out more and to register for this event please click here.

If you can’t make the event but want to know more, Able Futures Website Able Futures Flyer View Case Studies or apply online or call free on 0800 321 3137 8am to 10.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Amanda Ross

 

Facilities works

Water Hygiene Testing in Physics will take place week commencing 9th March 2020 from 9am daily.
Two Lancaster University engineers will require access to kitchens and shared bathrooms to test hot water temperatures.  The engineers will not test every kitchen/bathroom just a sample from different locations within the building.

This brief survey will take approximately five minutes, and is to ensure that the hot water is maintained at the correct temperature to prevent any instances of legionella. There will be no shutdown of service.

Shonah Ion

 

RCD testing Thursday 12th March

Now we have RCD (residual current device) protection on our power supplies throughout the building, these devices have to be tested every 6 months to confirm their efficacy. This means activating the RCD and confirming the time to shut off the supply is within the required time limit. We are at this required testing time again.
All the circuits that have RCDs will have be tested and this will include offices so if you have any long calculations running we need to know about it and the location of the computer.

As the power to all power outlets on each RCD circuit will be cut off for a few moments during the test, any equipment/experiment that is running will be affected.
If this brief powering off is not possible please let me or Martin Ward know as soon as possible. I have been in contact with several groups and the details of areas that cannot be tested are on the safety files under “general”.

Shonah Ion

 

Departmental safety Audit 1 week away

The Department will be audited by the University safety office starting on the 16th March, you may be contacted by Alan Deane or Wendy Guest from the Safety office for an interview and visit to your work space, please offer them every assistance – they really are on our side looking to help us be compliant and fulfil our obligations.
Please remember risk assessment is the cornerstone of health and safety at work and undertaking the process of risk assessment will ensure that proportionate controls are put in place and accidents and ill health caused by work activity can be significantly reduced or avoided altogether.

Risk assessment is a process rather than a document and we are required by law to control significant risk and to document this.
Guidance, training and the up to date form can be found here https://portal.lancaster.ac.uk/intranet/services/people/health-and-safety/risk-assessment/

Shonah Ion

 

Safety Induction

The next safety induction will be an “extra” one, taking place on 12th March  in B24 at 2pm. Please ensure any new members of the Department attend.
April’s safety induction will be on the 23rd April at 2pm in B24.

Shonah Ion

 

Access to the Departmental safety files on “S drive”

In case you are struggling to update /review your safety documentation by not finding the “S drive” the following are the links to the Safety folder.

Windows
\\depts.lancs.ac.uk\fst-admin\py\safety

Mac/Linux
smb://depts.lancs.ac.uk/fst-admin/py/safety

Please remember risk assessment is the cornerstone of health and safety at work and undertaking the process of risk assessment will ensure that proportionate controls are put in place and accidents and ill health caused by work activity can be significantly reduced or avoided altogether.
Risk assessment is a process rather than a document and we are required by law to control significant risk and to document this.
Guidance, training and the up to date form can be found here https://portal.lancaster.ac.uk/intranet/services/people/health-and-safety/risk-assessment/

Shonah Ion

 

Radiotherapy and Machine Learning for Head and Neck Cancer

Calendar entry: 10th March 2020, Lancaster University
Details: This one day workshop aims to provide a platform to exchange ideas, raise awareness of recent developments and stimulate discussion on data oriented research into Head and Neck (H&N) cancer. This is a free event funded by Research England through the Quality-related and Innovation’s Strategic Priorities Fund (QR-SPF).

The day will introduce clinicians to some basic Machine Learning and statistical techniques with a focus on the importance of clinical expertise being embedded into these models. The need for large datasets and the ongoing dialogue required to improve and fine-tune models will also be explored. H&N cancer is an identified target area of improvement for the Northwest, therefore, it lends itself to increased impact and methodological benefit of the interacting expertise. Support from the northwest cancer research charity will highlight funding opportunities and the heightened problems with H&N cancer in the area.

For more information and to register please visit the workshop website http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/rt-ml-head-neck-cancer/ and the Eventbrite booking page https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/91620151339

Grainne Wilkinson

 

MSI Small Grants Scheme – call now open

The call for the MSI Small Grants scheme is now open. The deadline for applications to be submitted to msi@lancaster.ac.uk is 5pm on Friday 13th March. Please find the full call details below.

Funds are available to stimulate cross-disciplinary research across the MSI with the objectives of pump priming research activities that lead to outputs that raise the profile of the MSI and/ or generate new research funding or new research projects.

One of the outcomes of the MSI “mid-term” five-year review is the finding that new research activities and collaborations are being limited by road blocks such as a lack of funds to meet modest access charges for facilities; or a lack of funding for a “pair of hands” (e.g. intern students) to undertake short projects to generate data. One of the focuses of this call is to help early career researchers navigate these unnecessary blockages to getting new research started.

Over 2 separate calls, up to £16,000 will be released (in approximately equal blocks) to support cross-disciplinary research activity (involving researchers in 2 or more departments) where the research activity can be aligned to one of the four MSI themes on the MSI website: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/msi.  All proposals must be consistent with the aim to strengthen future materials science and engineering within the MSI and Lancaster.

Funding will be in the range of £500-£1500 and is eligible to academics within FST and FHM (or even more broadly) for research to support any of the following:

•       Access to equipment (where charges apply)
•       Applications for a number of days access as opposed to one-off access are preferred
•       Small items of equipment – in full or as leverage
•       Travel and accommodation (for new collaborations, but not conferences as these are subject to a different call.)
•       Intern students (e.g. summer projects)
•       Workshops

Other ideas may be supported.

Proposals must address (a template for responses is attached to this email):

• What is that activity to be supported
• Why it can’t be undertaken currently
• A short biography on the applicants
• A short background to the research topic demonstrating interdisciplinarity
• A description of the nature of the research/activity to be undertaken and why it is important
• The anticipated outcomes of the research / activity and how these will be turned into outcomes;
  • E.g. the outcome is data and the output will be the data will support a grant application
• A workplan, with at least one deliverable (against which the project can be assessed after completion)

All successful applicants will be expected to:

• Complete a one-page report to explain how the funding was used
• Present outcomes at a future MSI colloquium if requested

Proposals will be reviewed by a panel comprising MSI Theme Leaders and Deputy Directors.
Please note that any applications must be submitted to msi@lancaster.ac.uk

If you have any queries please direct them to the MSI email account or get in touch with Rob, it is hoped that we would be able to indicate if applications were successful before the end of March 2020.

Lizzie McAdam

 

Physics Colloquium

Frankland LT
Friday 6 March 2020
3:00pm to 4:00pm

Revision of the International System of Units

Speaker: Prof. JT Janssen

Sergey Kafanov

 

Astrophysics Seminar

Physics A007
Tuesday 10 March 2020
2:30pm to 3:30pm

The stellar metallicities of star-forming galaxies at 2.5 < z < 5.0

Speaker: Dr. Fergus Cullen

Wayne Gould