IC Reporter, Notice board

Issue 67

22 September - 5 October 1998

STAFF NEWSPAPER OF IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE

Notice board

Meningitis fun run

Helen Smith, a 23-year-old PhD student, fell seriously ill with meningitis last Christmas and to save her life, surgeons had to remove both legs at the knees, her left hand and her right fingers. Now at home with her parents in Cambridge, Helen is currently awaiting the fitting of artificial limbs and is determined to walk again. She is also keen to resume her studies in the ICSM Endocrine Unit, Hammersmith. To help her with this she will need a research assistant costing £48,000 over the three-year period. The ICSM Endocrine Unit has offered to fund half of this and the Helen Fund London has been established by her colleagues to raise a matching sum of £24,000. The first fundraising event is a seven-mile fun run or walk in Battersea Park on Sunday 18 October, commencing at 10.00 at the Peace Padoga on the river side of the park. For more information please ring 0181-383 3242 or email Michela Rossi at mrossi@rpms.ac.uk.

Username change

Important for all members of the College who are users of BIDS databases. Members of the College based at Hammersmith campus, contact Fereshteh Afshari, email f.afshari@rpms, telephone 0171-383 1740, for details of local arrangements.

All other members of the College: your current BIDS username and password will have expired on 31 August. However before this date you should have received your ATHENS username and password by email. This may be used to access all BIDS and NISS services, e.g. OVID Biomedical Service with full text journals; OVID Embase; BIDS ISI Service; BIDS Compendex Service etc. (Please note: our current BIDS usernames and passwords will for the present be valid for registration on the Beilstein Crossfire service.) Your ATHENS username will normally be a variant of your IC email log in name, e.g. icljbloggs. However, the password supplied will NOT automatically be your Imperial College email password. For security reasons you are advised to change your ATHENS password as soon as possible after receiving it by email. We recommend that you do not change it to your College email password. To change your password, go to http://admin.athens.ac.uk/personal.athtml

Please contact your departmental or campus librarian for further assistance.

Arthritis programmes

The Arthritis Research Council’s website at http://www.arc.org.uk has details of grant programmes as well as downloadable application forms. The deadline for postdoctoral research fellowships/PhD studentships is 6 November. The deadline for project and equipment grants is 30 November.

REFUND available on request

The Research Support and Development Unit now subscribes to REFUND, the research funding information database devised and operated by the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

The REFUND website offers information about sponsors in private, public and European sectors, a comprehensive series of links to sponsors’ websites, a newsletter, thematic funding summaries and information for postgraduate researchers.

Staff on College sites (where IC owns the IP address) can access this service http://www.refund.ncl.ac.uk/, following links for ‘subscribers’, or via the Research Support and Development home page at http://www.ad.ic.ac.uk/rescon/index.htm.

Researchers based at hospitals or other institutions are unlikely to be able to access the database.

To gain access, contact your local computer support section for your IP address and email it to Karen Rumsey at k.rumsey@ic.ac.uk. (Telephone 0171-594 6583.)

Laptop exhibition

An exhibition to launch the contract for the supply of laptops to IC takes place on Friday 23 October, 10.00 to 17.00 on Level 2 Sherfield Building concourse, South Kensington. For more information contact Warren Smith, email warren.smith@ic.ac.uk or telephone 0171-594 8653. Suppliers present will be XMA, Getech and Ergo.

British-German collaboration

Applications are invited for the British-German Academic Research Collaboration Programme (ARC). Information and application forms are on the British Council’s website at http://www.britcoun.de/gerarc.htm. Closing date is 31 December. Information is also available at the International Office, Room 321, Sherfield Building, South Kensington campus, telephone 0171-594 8040, email t.seller@ic.ac.uk.

Getting connected

The Pimlico Connection voluntary student tutoring scheme has been placing students as tutors in local primary and secondary schools for the past 23 years. For a couple of hours every Wednesday (or at other mutually agreeable times) tutors assist teachers in science, maths, IT, technology and modern languages classes. If you are looking for a challenge that is both enjoyable and rewarding then come to one of our commitment-free briefing sessions. For more information email Adrian Hawksworth at pimlico@ic.ac.uk.

South Kensington campus
Wednesday 7 October 14.30 to 16.30, 602 Goldsmiths Building, Royal School of Mines

Thursday 8 October 17.30 to 19.30, Room 536 Blackett Laboratory, Department of Physics

Monday 12 October 17.30 to 19.30, Room 536 Blackett Laboratory, Department of Physics

Wednesday 14 October 14.30 to 16.30, 602 Goldsmiths Building, Royal School of Mines

Thursday 15 October 17.30 to 19.30, Room 536 Blackett Laboratory, Department of Physics

St Mary’s campus
Tuesday 13 October 18.00 to 20.00, Seminar Room, third floor, Administration Building

Language classes for all start this term

Humanities is offering a wide choice of evening classes starting later this month.

Classes for all College students and staff are available at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels in French, German, Spanish, Italian and Japanese; at beginner and intermediate levels in Mandarin Chinese and Russian; and beginner classes only in Arabic and modern Greek. There is also a Mandarin class for Cantonese speakers able to write Chinese characters.

All classes usually start at 18.00 and are held weekly in the Mechanical Engineering Building, South Kensington campus, in the week commencing 19 October. Courses last two terms and cost £70 for European languages (one-and-a-half-hour sessions) and £90 for Oriental languages (two-hour sessions).

Details and enrolment forms are available from Room 313c (Humanities Office), Mechanical Engineering Building, South Kensington campus. Those wishing to enrol should visit between 13.00 and 17.00 or attend an advice and enrolment session at 17.00 to 18.30 on Thursday 15 October (chiefly for beginners) or 16.00 to 17.00 on Friday 16 October (intermediate and upwards). Enrolment must be in person, but telephone enquiries can be answered by Trijntje Ytsma on 0171-594 8756.

English classes for overseas students are provided free to College members and to spouses for a small charge. Registration take place in the second week of term.

Special hotel rates

Preferential rates have been negotiated with a range of two to four star hotels, convenient for South Kensington, Hammersmith and Paddington.

For a copy of the Hotel Directory, or to make a booking, please contact the Rooms Division, Conference Office. Telephone 0171-594 9507/11, fax 0171-594 9504, email reservations@ic.ac.uk, or visit http://www.ad.ic.ac.uk/conferences.

1999 Leverhulme awards

Research fellowships and grants
Granted to individuals in aid of original research, applications will be considered in all subject areas. Applicants must be experienced researchers and are normally over age 30 on 1 June 1999 and resident in the UK.

Emeritus fellowships
Applications will be considered in all subject areas but applicants should have retired during the last three years or by the time of commencing the fellowship.

The maximum total value of the above awards is £16,440. The deadline is 12 November. For further details contact the secretary, Research Awards Advisory Committee, Leverhulme Trust, 1 Pemberton Row, London EC4A 3BG.