Author: Judith Squires

Celebrating the new £10m ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures

Posted on by Judith Squires

By Professor Judith Squires, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost

Image of Judith Squires After two years of online celebrations, I was exceptionally proud to join colleagues in person last month for a Provost Celebration of Academic Achievement. We were celebrating the major £10m funding success of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Centre for Sociodigital Futures, led by the University of Bristol.

The Bristol-led Centre for Sociodigital Futures has an ambitious research agenda, focussing on the intersections of digital technologies and social practices, and what might be done to drive these towards fair and sustainable ways of life.

Its aim, as described by its Co-Directors, Professors Susan Halford and Dale Southerton, is to “investigate these sociodigital futures in the making across diverse domains of social life and different areas of digital innovation to explore where it might be possible to tip the balance towards inclusive, reflexive and sustainable trajectories.”

How do our sociodigital futures take shape?

Digital technologies are transforming everyday life and bold claims are being made about how intelligent robots, autonomous vehicles and the ‘metaverse’ will shape our futures. These claims are important because they drive corporate investments, government policies and business strategies, and they inform our hopes and fears for daily life. Yet we know from the past that futures claimed rarely turn out as predicted.

The interplay of digital technologies with the complex realities of everyday life produces multiple and unexpected outcomes, with far reaching implications for the economy, politics and social life. And, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis, and widening inequalities, what lies ahead seems more uncertain than ever.

The new Centre aims to generate new approaches to fairer and more sustainable societies; to render emerging sociodigital futures both “intelligible and actionable” with direct impact on policymaking, organisational practice, community participation and technology design.

A flagship investment and a true collaboration

The ESRC Research Centres are flagship investments, which are expected to be national and international Centres of Excellence. Only four or five centres are funded every two years, across the full range of Social Science disciplines. In this round, there were 89 original expressions of interest to the ESRC, with five bids funded.

It brings together world-leading expertise across eight schools in Social Sciences, Engineering and the Arts, and will be led from the University of Bristol. Academic partners are based at the Universities of Edinburgh, Lancaster, Birmingham, Goldsmiths University of London, and University of the Arts, London.

The centre will also work in collaboration with core strategic partners BT, Defra, Maybe, Locality, the National Cybersecurity Centre and UNESCO, and has an international partner network across five continents.

The ambitious research agenda will explore how digital devices, services and data are shaping (and being shaped by) everyday practices of consuming, caring, learning, moving (people and goods) and organising.

At the same time, the Centre will explore how cutting-edge technologies – artificial intelligence, high performance networks, robotics, and augmented/ virtual and extended reality – are imagined and innovated for a range of futures linked to these areas of practice.

The event itself showed the extent of this collaboration and we heard speeches from Professor Phil Taylor (PVC Research), Professor Simon Tormey (Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences & Law), Professor Karla Pollmann (Dean of Arts) and Professor Ian Bond (Dean of Engineering), as well as from Susan and Dale.

We were also pleased to welcome some of our partners and raise a celebratory glass with them.

Next steps

A lot of preparation work for the Centre for Sociodigital Futures is already underway, with a planned started date of 1 May 2022. The Centre will run for an initial five years, but it is expected there will be opportunities to renew funding beyond that.

I want to pay tribute to Professors Susan Halford and Dale Southerton, and the team in our Research and Enterprise division (RED), who supported the bid development, and congratulations to everyone who contributed to this fantastic achievement.

Find out more about the ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures on our website.

Our gender and ethnicity pay gaps: an update

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By Professor Judith Squires, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost

This week we published our 2021 Gender Pay Gap and Ethnicity Pay Gap Reports. I’d like to highlight some of our progress, and to outline a few of the things that we are doing to build on our commitment to foster a diverse and inclusive community and eliminate the gender and ethnicity pay gaps.

Gender Pay Gap Report

We have seen a modest reduction in our mean organisational gender pay gap for the third year in a row to 18.3% in men’s favour. While this progress is welcome, we remain committed to reducing this further through a range of targeted actions including the continuation of the Women’s Mentoring Network to support academic and Professional Services communities, and the Academic Promotions Framework to reward and recognise the full range of contributions and achievements.

This year’s cohort of 42 new professors has increased the proportion of our female professors to 30.4%. Having exceeded our mid-term University Strategy target of 28% female professors last year by 1%, I’m pleased to report that modelling of our population data suggests we are on track to meet our target of 33% by 2023.

As a result of numerous local and central initiatives our female professor population has increased by 10.5% over five years. This reflects a much longer journey, undertaken by committed colleagues across the institution, to tackle inequalities in the academic career pipeline and to change our cultures and structures to better support women at all stages of their career.

For example, our Women’s Mentoring Network is currently supporting 78 new mid-career mentees from both academic and Professional Services communities; and the Female Leaders Initiative (FLi) supported 30 more women from across all career levels in both academic and Professional Services teams. I’d like to extend my thanks to everyone who has participated in these schemes: I’m delighted that engagement in these has been so strong. I’m confident that they will make a real difference to our institutional culture over time, and support the career development of our female colleagues in the immediate term.

Ethnicity Pay Gap Report

In line with our institutional commitment to anti-racism and as part of our wider commitment to improve the representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people across our workforce, we also monitor our ethnicity pay gap – that is, the difference in average pay between White and BAME staff.

In our second year of reporting this, ahead of it becoming a legal obligation, our ethnicity pay gaps have reduced to 2.9% median and 7.2% mean in favour of staff who disclose as White, compared to 5.7% median and 8.6% mean in 2019. We are also exploring the ‘intersectional’ pay gap between gender and ethnicity for the first time, and with future years’ data we will be able to improve our understanding of how this intersection contributes to gender inequality at our University and to develop targeted action.

Within the professoriate, and based on a 93.8% ethnicity disclosure rate, 8% disclose as being from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background, and 92% identify as White. By gender these figures are 2.4% female and BAME, 5.6% male and BAME, 28.0% female and White, and 64.0% male and White. This confirms that we still have a lot of work to do to improve the BAME representation of staff at a senior level. In the coming year we will explore an appropriate target for BAME population in the professoriate, to complement our female population target in a review of our Strategic Performance Indicators. We look forward to making greater progress in this area.

Elsewhere at Bristol, we have been tackling BAME under-representation by revising our approach to apprenticeships. This includes developing a pipeline of talent from groups traditionally under-represented in professions such as finance, IT and human resources. Currently 75% of trainees across Professional Services are from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background.

The under-representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic women at senior levels is an issue across the HE sector. To help address this we have launched the Elevate programme in 2021 – the first pilot of its kind – with 30 participants (eight academics and 22 Professional Services staff) across the GW4 universities.

There is much more we can – and will – do towards our goal of closing the gender and ethnicity gaps altogether. I look forward to working with colleagues across the University to continue this important work.

 

Progress in widening participation

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By Professor Judith Squires and Lucy Collins, Director of Home Recruitment and Conversion

Inclusivity and diversity are central to the University’s mission: the ambition to be a University fully integrated into the communities we serve was a central pillar of the 2016 University Strategy, as was the aim to be a ‘destination of choice’ for students from all backgrounds. In the last four years, thanks to support from colleagues across the University, real progress has been made. While there’s still a great deal more to do, we should be proud of what we’ve achieved and reflect on the benefits of a socially diverse student community.

How far have we come?

End of cycle data indicates that our 2020-21 first-year intake will be our most diverse yet. 74% of them come from state schools, up from 65% in 2016-17. In the last year, we have increased our proportion of students from low participation neighbourhoods, the local area, mature learners and those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. We have also tackled the challenge of reducing the gap between the most socio-economically advantaged (POLAR 5) and the least (POLAR 1) – more than halving the difference since 2016.

This progress matters. It matters in terms of meeting our widening participation targets with the Office for Students (OfS), but more importantly, it matters because we are now recruiting brilliant students who previously may not previously have studied with us.

How have we got here?

Bristol has always strived to be a socially diverse institution, but what’s driven our recent progress in in this space?

I think the answer lies in our determination to be more radical. To recognise that the structural disadvantage students from under-represented groups face requires structural change. To see that it’s not enough to hope that students who attend schools and colleges with low progression rates to higher education, from neighbourhoods where university was not the norm, who have caring responsibilities or faced a disrupted education, would simply find their way to us and meet the terms of our standard offers. Rather than expecting students to assimilate to us, we needed to disrupt our own admissions process.

We started with Bristol Scholars. Launched in 2016-17, Bristol Scholars took a radical new approach to widening access. It aimed to capture the talent we knew existed in our locality, demonstrate the University’s commitment to Bristol’s schools and colleges and provide alternative entry routes into our programmes to those who would otherwise be excluded due to our high entry requirements.

Meeting with some of the first cohort of Bristol Scholars in 2017.

At the heart of the Bristol Scholars scheme was a determination to move beyond traditional methods of identifying talent to reach those with potential. The scheme recognised the impact of educational and domestic disadvantage on students’ predicted grades and invested Headteachers and Directors of Post-16 with the power to identify those students who would benefit most. Abandoning our standard approach to admissions, Bristol Scholars received tailored offers of up to four grades below the typical offer, with additional support provided in Year 13 and into their first year of university.

Our Bristol Scholars are a diverse group. Of the 2019 intake, 85% live in POLAR 1 or 2 neighbourhoods, 91% attended a state school or college and 33% were part of the Free School Meals cohort. Many have experienced profound educational and domestic challenges – some have recently arrived in the country as refugees, others have been victims of crime, acted as young carers, or experienced significant mental and physical health issues. All have lived up to the potential identified by their nominees.

Our first cohort, the class of 2020, secured impressive results. Despite having entered the University with grades well below our standard entry requirements, outcomes were nonetheless strong. With a continuation rate of 90%, 18% graduated with a first, 55% with a 2:1 and 27% with a 2:2.

There was no template for the Bristol Scholar’s scheme, no evidence base from which we could predict the success, or otherwise, of the programme. We launched with a belief that a radical new approach was needed to widening access, that we would commit to the programme and learn lessons.

This continues to be our approach. Recognising the critical role that admissions play in diversifying our student community, we have extended our contextual offer scheme and launched a guarantee offer for students on our targeted outreach schemes (reaching almost 2,000 a year). We have committed to raising more than £1million for a new range of scholarships which will support around 130 Black and mixed-Black heritage students over the next four years at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and are developing a range of flexible entry routes.

Finally, our ambition extends beyond our own student body and into the community of which we are a part. Through the Venturers Trust, we now sponsor nine schools within the City of Bristol, a mixture of primary, secondary, sixth form and specialist provision. All these schools serve highly diverse communities, many with very high levels of socio-economic disadvantage. We play an active role on the Board of the Trust as well as providing Governors in all schools, ensuring the best possible outcomes for all students.

Building on our progress

The last four years have shown that bold thinking, a desire to challenge orthodoxy and a commitment to structural change, can lead to a more diverse student community. With the help of colleagues from across the University, we look forward to attracting even more brilliant students from under-represented groups in the years ahead.

An update on our institutional approach to COVID-19

Posted on by Lucinda Parr and Judith Squires

In this latest update on our institutional approach to COVID-19, we set out the University’s new offer of free mass lateral flow antigen (asymptomatic) testing ahead of the winter break. We also outline plans for January 2021, our revised policy on the use of visors during in-person teaching, and preliminary findings from last month’s staff wellbeing pulse survey.

Mass testing of students 

From Monday 30 November to Wednesday 9 December, we will be offering free mass lateral flow antigen (asymptomatic) testing for all our students. These lateral flow tests can return a rapid result.

Students will be offered two tests, ideally leaving three days between the first and second test. Results will go to the student directly. If students do return a positive result, they will be required to self-isolate and book a standard PCR test. If this test also returns a positive result, provided it was taken by 9 December they should be able to complete the required period of self-isolation and still travel home for the winter break.

Our two test sites will be located in the Bristol Students’ Union Anson Rooms (BS8 1LN) and at North Village Wills Conference Centre (BS9 1AE). Students can book their tests online and read what to expect on the day and what to do if they test positive, and find more detailed information on our new ‘Mass testing’ webpage.

Asymptomatic staff intending to travel may also make use of this testing service. However, please do keep in mind that the focus of this particular window is student travel. We are currently in active dialogue with Public Health England to explore whether we are able to offer testing beyond the end of the national testing window. Meetings are ongoing this week and we will look to confirm our position as soon as possible thereafter.

January 2021

Subject to any change in government guidance, and in line with our risk assessment framework, we will be continuing our blended learning and assessment offering to students in January. We do however wish to provide students with the opportunity to stagger their return to campus in 2021 following the winter vacation, to allow them to make the best choices about their study circumstances given the continuing impact of COVID-19.

We are asking Schools to decide on a programme basis whether students are required to be in Bristol for weeks 11 and 12 and the assessment period, and to communicate this accordingly. We anticipate a second testing regime will underpin their safe return prior to any in-person teaching.

Face coverings and visors on campus

As part of our commitment to listening to feedback and taking evidence-based decisions where we can improve on our practices, we are making some refinements to our current guidance and operations, which we hope colleagues will find helpful.

Following feedback from the Student Pulse Survey, debate at the recent special meeting of Senate and consideration at the University Executive Board about the impact wearing both a face-covering and visor can have on teaching and learning, we have reviewed and revised our requirement for visors to be worn in addition to face coverings in in-person teaching spaces.

Updated SAGE and related sub-groups now advise that, while face coverings are likely to be effective at reducing the emission of respiratory droplets and aerosols containing virus into the environment, the effectiveness of standard visors as a mitigation, especially where two-metre distancing can be maintained, is now considered minimal.

In addition, the evidence in terms of cases suggests there is little to no evidence of transmission of the virus in teaching spaces across the campus and that the risk of transmission is low.

Based on this, University Executive Board has decided that visors are therefore no longer mandatory. Face coverings will continue to be mandatory in all our spaces unless there is a specific risk assessment in place that defines different measures.

Face visors will still be available for use if teaching staff or students feel wearing both would provide reassurance or where there is an underlying health condition.

Staff wellbeing survey

We are currently finalising our analysis of last month’s staff wellbeing pulse survey, the preliminary findings of which were shared on today’s livestream. The survey was designed to take a temperature check of aspects of our wellbeing and how it’s supported. With more than 2,000 respondents, headline findings include:

  • 55% of colleagues agreed or strongly agreed their overall wellbeing at work was good;
  • 72% of colleagues agreed or strongly agreed their manager shows sufficient concern about their wellbeing;
  • compared to 2018, fewer colleagues are never (-4%) or occasionally (-9%) stressed;
  • more colleagues are frequently (+9%) or always (+3%) stressed;
  • there is a difference between academic staff and Professional Services staff responses, both in terms of how staff feel about their workload and the extent to which they engage in wellbeing support. Academics are less likely to engage with or be aware of support but are more likely to experience stress.

There is clearly further work for us to do in this space, and the findings of the survey will be considered by University Executive Board and others over the coming weeks. Initial Faculty and Divisional Data packs will be shared by 30 November to support local discussion and planning while we continue to review the additional comments staff provided in the survey. The summary findings and the follow-up action plan will also be available to all colleagues on the Staff Survey site once the analysis is complete.

Light at the end of the tunnel 

It’s a phenomenal achievement of the global scientific community that there are now three (and, potentially, soon four) safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines on the horizon. We can all be particularly proud of our colleagues in the COVID-19 Emergency Research Group (UNCOVER) for their considerable and ongoing contribution to understanding the virus and supporting the development of these vaccines (including the University’s role as one of the biggest recruiters to the Oxford vaccine trials).

Thanks to these extraordinary efforts, the world now has a promising path out of the pandemic. However, while we are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, there remains some way to go before we see the end of the pandemic. In the meantime, we will continue to listen to feedback, take evidence-informed decisions and be guided by our institutional risk assessment framework.

Stay safe and thank you again for all your hard work.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: an update

Posted on by Judith Squires

2020 has been a year like no other. Yet, despite the huge challenges and disruption caused by the pandemic, we’ve not lost sight of our overriding strategy goals; particularly our commitment to eradicate all forms of inequality from our community.

With this in mind, I wanted to share a brief update on our recent gender equality work and report some positive new developments.

Ongoing progress and new challenges

As COVID-19 continues to dominate the higher education landscape, we’ve been concerned about the growing evidence that it is having a disproportionate impact on women, ethnic minorities, and those with caring responsibilities. This month saw the first meeting of a new task-and-finish group made up of senior academics from across the faculties to examine the growing data on the impact of the pandemic on these groups, and to make recommendations regarding actions that might be needed to ensure that this year’s academic promotion round takes these issues into account.

Elsewhere, I’m very pleased to say that, despite the considerable difficulties posed since March, we were able to complete the second Female Leadership Initiative (FLi) programme in July. This was again highly successful, attracting over 90 applicants. We held a final session in September when we were joined by the Aurora cohort to discuss inclusive leadership. Two major themes that emerged were developing self-awareness about one’s identity and purpose in a leadership role, and the importance – never more so than now – of creating supportive networks.

Given this, it is especially pleasing to note that the Bristol Women’s Mentoring Network has continued throughout this year, with over 80 active mentees and 76 mentors. Most of these mentors are current University staff, but several Emeritus Professors and alumni have also volunteered their time.  I am grateful to everyone who has given their time in this way.

This second round of the Mentoring Network has been very positively received, with a midway evaluation indicating that over 95% of respondents were finding the mentoring helpful, and more than 85% were making progress despite the challenges raised by the pandemic. Among the many positive comments were these thoughts from a mentee:

“I took so much out of the experience, the way our sessions were structured and how much time and effort they put into preparing and reviewing the ‘homework’ that was provided between meetings. I definitely feel more aware of my strengths and motivations and prepared for my next steps.”

The third mentoring programme will start in March 2021, and information on how to apply will be available from the beginning of December.  Do look out for this if you think you might benefit from mentoring or be willing to act as a mentor.  I have certainly found being a mentor very rewarding.

Elevate: raising our sights

I’m also delighted that we are leading the GW4 pilot of the Elevate programme, which offers new opportunities for Professional Services and academic staff from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background who identify as female to meet, share, support and learn together across the four GW4 universities (Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter and Bath).

The programme, which launches in January, focuses on individuals with management and leadership potential but is very much more than a traditional CPD programme: it creates room for the history, culture and diverse lived experience of its participants, and will encourage them to reflect, explore and grow through connecting and building solidarity together. Participants will be able to co-create the content of the programme, so that it’s as relevant and meaningful to them as possible.

Tackling domestic abuse and gender-based violence

I am conscious that during the festive season there is often a spike in reports of domestic abuse and gender-based violence.  Avon and Somerset police advise that there is concern that COVID-19 and its impact on unemployment, financial difficulties and the possibility of not being able to see family at Christmas could result in an increase in tensions and all types of abuse within the home.

Given this, I would encourage you to support the Public Health England ‘16 Days of Activism’ campaign against gender-based violence, which runs from 25 November to 10 December. You can help by knowing the signs of domestic abuse and how to support colleagues who you suspect are in an abusive relationship. You can also read our institutional policy statement on gender-based violence and abuse here.

Finally

While COVID-19 continues to represent a huge challenge for us all, the University stands firm in our commitment to build a diverse and inclusive University community. There remains much to do, as set out in our EDI Delivery Plan, but the clear progress we’re making, despite the pandemic, has been heartening to see. I look forward to updating you on further progress in the coming months.

 

Celebrating Black History Month

Posted on by Judith Squires

Black History Month 2020 provides an important and timely opportunity to explore Black history, to reflect on and celebrate the contribution of Black and Black heritage staff and students to our University, and to discuss ways in which we can deliver our shared commitment to addressing structural and cultural racism.

Bristol-based historian David Olusoga recently reflected that: ‘The summer of 2020 was one of those moments when it felt as if history’s fast-forward button had been pressed and the pace of historical events suddenly accelerated.”  Situated in the city that was at the heart of many of these events, we hope that our Black History Month celebrations and explorations will “be infused with the spirit of this remarkable year” in which many people have engaged with ideas of race and racism as never before.

Having created a University Anti-Racism Steering Group this summer, I have been proud to see us launch a range of initiatives to both promote Black History and help bring about positive change.

One of these initiatives was the launch last week of a landmark new £1,000,000 Bristol Black Scholarships Programme.  Access to higher education is one of the most powerful ways to foster social mobility and enable individuals to realise their life ambitions. Yet we know that Black and Black-heritage students have historically been under-represented at every level of study in higher education across the UK. We have been working to address this for some time through a range of targeted initiatives, but we want to go further to improve the diversity of our student population. This ambitious new initiative marks an important step in our work to address the historical under-representation of Black and Black-heritage students and make our University truly inclusive.  I am very grateful for the generous support of our alumni and friends who have contributed to its development.

Other important initiatives aim to address the effects of Britain’s colonial past on our institution. Earlier this year we committed to reviewing the names of buildings named after families with links to the slave trade.  I’m pleased that, as the first formal outcome of this work, we have renamed our Colston Street accommodation as ‘No.33’.  Research is also underway, led by Professor Olivette Otele, to inform our review of the names of other University buildings.

Professor Otele was also recently appointed as the Independent Chair of Bristol’s Commission on Race Equality (CORE) by the Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees. CORE will work to address experiences of inequality often experienced by Bristol’s BAME communities in areas such as education, employment, health, housing and criminal justice. I’m delighted that Dr Jane Khawaja and Dr Marie-Annick Gournet have also been appointed as Commissioners to support CORE’s work tackling structural inequalities across our city.

It is great to see a wealth of university-wide activities underway to decolonise our curriculum.  Bristol Institute of Learning and Teaching (BILT) have established a learning community to support this important work across our academic programmes.  In an exciting initiative, we have worked in partnership with CARGO (Charting African Resilience Generating Opportunities – a Bristol collective of artists, poets and filmmakers) to create UniversalCity – a digital platform to showcase African and African Diaspora-owned businesses and community organisations in Bristol, explore the heritage and history of key points of interest around our city, and encourage students and staff to join in voluntary work to support local communities.  It is really heartening that we have worked so productively with CARGO to open up new possibilities for socially-engaged inclusive education.  I am hopeful that this will foster deeper links with diverse communities across the city.

As part of this ongoing discussion, I look forward to chairing a virtual panel event, ‘Towards a decolonised University’, on 22 October. This public online event will explore the importance of critical engagement with the ways in which the knowledge and resources we encounter at university is shaped by the impact of colonial power structures, and how do we create solutions which addresses racism and colonial legacy in our university. You can find out more and register for the event here.

The student BME Network and SU events team has also organised an excellent programme of online events throughout October, so do take a look at what’s coming up.

Elsewhere, to celebrate the first anniversary of our Be More Empowered for Success programme, the University will be unveiling our new Be More Empowered for Success portraits. These compelling new portraits celebrate our staff and students from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and will be on public display in the Reception Room of the Wills Memorial Building from 23 October.

There are many more initiatives underway throughout October. These both complement and build on our existing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion workstreams.

I hope that you will join us at some of this year’s Black History Month events – to celebrate the diversity of our community, reflect on our institutional history and reaffirm our commitment to building an open and inclusive community.

Thank you to everyone who is helping us develop these initiatives. I look forward to updating you on further progress in the coming months.

The Palm Temple – a beautiful new installation with a poignant message

Posted on by Judith Squires

The University of Bristol has been actively involved in addressing environmental and sustainability issues for many years.

I’m proud that we’ve made considerable progress at an institutional level including the provision of clean energy, the introduction of more responsible consumption practices, a significant reduction in carbon emissions (even pre-COVID), as well as wider progress across a host of other key areas aligned to UN Sustainable Development Goals.

We are also taking active steps to improve biodiversity across all 1,000 acres of our estate. For example, the Life Sciences Building, one of several buildings designed to foster biodiversity, has a ‘living wall’ along with two sedum roofs and bat and bird roosts. We have also received a ‘Bees Need’ champion award for the contribution of our meadows to bees and pollinating insects, and we are now committed to becoming a Hedgehog Friendly Campus as part of a national accreditation scheme funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.

I am particularly proud that we were the first UK University to declare a climate emergency last year, reaffirming our strong commitment to act on climate change.

Sustainability must be rooted in all that we do – from our world-leading research, our teaching, and the way we operate as an institution – the concept underpins our aspirations to be a global civic university. We also want to use our position to raise awareness of sustainability and the climate emergency by other means, including through our art, our public engagement, and our presence in the City.

To that end, I’m delighted that internationally renowned Bristol-based artist Luke Jerram this week very generously donated his latest installation, ‘The Palm Temple’, to our University.

Luke Jerram's The Palm Temple

Many of you will be familiar with Luke’s past work including his ‘Museum of the Moon‘ installation; his ‘Park and Slide’ project, in which he turned Park Street into a giant water slide for one day; the ‘Impossible Garden‘ exhibition at our Botanic Garden; and ‘Gaia‘, which was hosted by the Cabot Institute for the Environment last year; and, of course, his street pianos installation ‘Play Me, I’m Yours‘, which has been presented in over 60 cities and enjoyed by more than 10 million people worldwide.

The Palm Temple, which is now permanently located outside the School of Chemistry, was originally commissioned by Sky Arts in Italy as a celebration of the 600th anniversary of Brunelleschi’s dome of Florence Cathedral (Duomo di Firenze). It is based on a spiralling lamella dome structure cut in half, with the two halves placed in parallel, like two palms of each hand coming together in prayer. However, while Florence Cathedral is a temple for contemplating God, this new artwork is designed for contemplating nature.

The Palm Temple outside the School of Chemistry

Made of cedar wood and dichroic panelled windows (a reference to the stained-glass windows of its Duomo di Firenze inspiration) The Palm Temple’s floor is mirrored to reflect the dome above, providing a surreal and spectacular experience from multiple vantage points.

Suspended in the apex of the dome is an ‘Extinction Bell’, which tolls once, 150 to 200 times a day, at random intervals, every 24 hours (a representation of the number of species lost every day according to a 2007 UN Environmental Programme). This provides us all with a poignant reminder of biodiversity loss and the impact of human activity on natural habitats around the world.

It is a real joy for us to accept this generous donation from Luke and the piece resonates so well with the shared values and research of colleagues and students across our University, and our City. In particular, its theme reflects the work of a number of our colleagues, including research by the Cabot Institute and the Urban Pollinators Project which is studying insect pollinators in urban habitats in the UK.

Professor Squires inside The Palm Temple

The Palm Temple is a truly remarkable and aesthetically beautiful work of art. Alongside our teaching, research and wider civic activities, I hope it helps engage different audiences across our City on the importance of sustainability – a public art installation for students, staff and the public to explore, reflect on and enjoy.

An update on the work of the Anti-Racism Steering Group

Posted on by Judith Squires

Following the publication of our Institutional Statement on Race Equality in March, and as part of our response to the Black Lives Matter movement in June, the senior leadership team announced the establishment of a new Anti-Racism Steering Group.

The Group, co-chaired by myself and Dr Jane Khawaja, aims to help the University develop strategies and take action to address individual, cultural and structural racism across our institution. Reporting directly to University Executive Board (UEB), the Group will develop an institutional action plan focused on key pillars that will incorporate:

  1. Teaching and Learning: to cohere with the attainment gap plan
  2. Recruitment: of staff and students, to include widening participation
  3. Naming: buildings and the crest
  4. Support: for students and staff – harassment policies and training.
  5. Governance: to include external validation and recognition
  6. Research and Civic Engagement: connects to city partners and collaborative research

As you can see, the Group has a wide-ranging remit and will build upon many of the activities and initiatives that are already in place. These include (but are by no means limited to):

  • Establishing the BAME Staff Network where colleagues can share a sense of community and work with us to ensure that BAME staff have a consistent and positive experience at the University;
  • Setting targets to significantly increase the number of Black students and Asian students enrolling at the University by 2025;
  • Creating the new post of Professor of the History of Slavery at the University, and the appointment of Professor Olivette Otele earlier this year;
  • Signing-up to the Race Equality Charter (REC) and our ambition to submit for recognition in 2021;
  • Delivering outreach work with local schools and community groups;
  • Increasing our support for local communities, most recently by reaching out to the Changing Your Mindset group in Bristol to support young people’s success;
  • Delivering the Insight into Bristol summer school programme which guarantees students who complete the programme an offer of a place at the university, usually at the contextual offer level;
  • Launching Report and Support – a new online platform that offers staff and students a quick and easy way to report specific incidents;
  • Developing our Stand Up Speak Out web resource bringing together a range of policy, support and learning resources for staff who may be experiencing or witnessing unacceptable behaviour at work;
  • Participating in the Stepping Up initiative, a positive action programme aimed at improving the representation of BAME people, as well as other groups, in senior leadership roles within Bristol and the wider region;
  • Launching an apprenticeship talent pipeline to drive ethnic diversity whilst taking into consideration the skills gaps present in underrepresented groups in industry demand areas such as Finance, IT, Human Resources, Engineering and the Creative Industries;
  • Publishing the results of our first Ethnicity Pay Gap Report and taking action to address any inequalities;
  • Introducing positive action measures and training in unconscious bias with a specific focus on recruitment and promotion of staff;
  • Funding research internships which provide paid experience in research for new graduates, in order to increase the number of BAME students progressing to postgraduate study;
  • Setting an ambitious target to eliminate the BAME awards gap at the university by 2025 and developed a comprehensive action plan to address this, informed by research we have commissioned from Bristol SU;
  • Beginning the work of decolonising our curricula, led by academic colleagues with expertise in this area;
  • Providing staff training in race equality; harassment and hate crime awareness training delivered by SARI; and intercultural awareness training delivered by Kynfolk;
  • Providing access to specialist counselling services for our BAME students and staff from Nilaari;
  • Establishing a web-based resource drawn from research published by University of Bristol researchers around race, racism and anti-racism;
  • Sponsoring the East Bristol Into University Centre which serves an area of the city with a high BAME population;
  • Supporting city-based projects such as CARGO (Charting African Resilience Generating Opportunities) and Iconic Black Britons.

Leading the case for legislative change

A key focus for members of the Steering Group will be a review of our recruitment practices. The senior leadership team is committed to increasing the racial diversity of the University’s workforce across all levels of our institution and we have initiated a range of action to support progress in this space over the years.

However, we recognise that after almost ten years of working within the constraints and uncertainty of the positive action measures included in the Equality Act 2010, more directive action is needed.

We believe that a tension exists within the existing legislation between direct discrimination and positive action measures. This tension has restricted efforts to improve the representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff across our organisations, our city and across the wider UK.

To that end, alongside several other local organisations and community groups, we are formally requesting that the government introduce an amendment to existing provisions in the Equality Act relating to direct discrimination.

This amendment aims to enable specific ethnic groups to be treated more favourably in employment that other ethnicities where we reasonably think that the specific ethnic group experiences disadvantage. It would also provide clarity and reassurance to employers in terms of what is and is not permissible by law to improve representation of specific ethnic groups in all levels of employment where they are currently under-represented.

Ultimately, an amendment of this kind would support all employers to take a flexible, evidence-based and focused approach that would actively seek to level the playing field and minimise barriers to employment experienced by different ethnic groups.

You can read more about the campaign in this Bristol 24/4 article which features our employability and opportunity manager, Rebecca Scott.

Next steps

I’m proud that out University is leading the way on this campaign and we hope to garner widespread support for our proposed changes. However, we recognise that parliamentary action can take time and success is not guaranteed. In the meantime, we will continue to develop a targeted and segmented approach to positive action measures with the view to develop their efficacy and impact across our community.

We must eradicate racial discrimination in all its forms from our University and ensure the experience of studying and working here is positive and welcoming for everyone, of all ethnic and racial backgrounds. We aim to be bold and far reaching in our action, as I hope the above example demonstrates.

There is still much work to do, but I look forward to updating you on further progress in the coming months.

 

Provost Celebrations of Academic Achievement – Faculty of Science  

Posted on by Judith Squires

It is always a great pleasure to host the monthly Provost Academic Achievement celebrations, gathering to recognise the most significant academic achievements of colleagues across the University.

At previous events we have celebrated our CDT award success, the Institute of Digital Futures RPIF funding, the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration award, an impressive range of ESRC and AHRC research awards, phenomenal Horizon 2020 success and the ALSPAC (Children of the 90s) renewal award. Each event has been uplifting, and a welcome reminder of the real talent we have in our university community. 

This month, we gathered to celebrate the truly outstanding achievement of colleagues in the Faculty of Science. These events usually take place in Royal Fort House. As you’d expect this month, we’ve had to take a slightly different approach and move proceedings online.  Happily, that didn’t diminish the celebrations. Indeed, the virtual format allowed us to invite more colleagues to take part and help amplify the celebration!  

It was heartening to see so many people join us to acknowledge the achievements of their colleagues, and there were an impressive number of awards to celebrate.  

  • Dann Mitchell and team, Met Office Partnership
    Dann recently led our successful proposal for the University join forces with the Met Office and UCL in a move which will strengthen the UK as a world leader in predicting climate hazards and tackling their far-reaching impact. This is a fantastic result for the University that will benefit the whole institution.         
  • Jonathan Rigg, Royal Geographical Society Victoria Medal
    The Victoria Medal recognises “conspicuous merit in research in geography” and has been given, in honour of the late Queen Victoria, since 1902.  Professor Rigg now joins a distinguished club which includes the likes of George Darwin. Jonathan’s work has focused on understanding – and judging – the effects of agrarian transformations on rural livelihoods in Asia, especially on poorer sections of rural society.   
  • Emma Raven, Royal Society of Chemistry 2020 Interdisciplinary Prize
    Professor Raven was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry 2020 Interdisciplinary Prize for her seminal contributions to understanding the structure and function of heme proteins, which form part of hemoglobin, and their role in biology. 
  • Chris Willis, Royal Society of Chemistry 2020 Award for Natural Product Chemistry
    Professor Willis’s award was given for research centred on understanding how bacteria and fungi produce biologically active compounds with the aim of harnessing the complex biosynthetic machinery to produce new bioactive compounds cleanly and efficiently.  
  • Tony Davis, Royal Society of Chemistry 2020 Robert Robinson Award
    Professor Davis received the Robert Robinson Award for outstanding contributions to the design and synthesis of selective carbohydrate receptors with potential to improve the wellbeing of those with diabetes.  
  • Dek Woolfson, Humboldt Research Award      
    Professor Woolfson’s research has always been at the interface between chemistry and biology, applying chemical methods and principles to understand biological phenomena such as protein folding and stability. The award is given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany and is reserved for nominees from outside Germany who are internationally renowned for their academic research and expected to continue to make contributions to their respective disciplines. 
  • Stephen Hayden, Institute of Physics Mott Prize
    Professor Hayden was awarded the prestigious Mott Medal from the Institute of Physics (IOP) for his distinguished contributions to condensed matter physics. The award recognises, celebrates and reflects the impact and applications of physics in everyday life, the breadth of the discipline in academia, industry and medicine, and its impact in extraordinary human achievements.   
  • Rich Pancost, Jeremy Philips and Frances Cooper, Athena SWAN Silver Award
    The School of Earth Sciences has achieved a coveted Silver Athena SWAN award, which recognises the impact the School’s actions, initiatives, and policies have made on gender equality. The School nearly has gender balance at every level of its academic, technical and professional staff and more than 40% of professors are women.

These achievements show the incredible strength and depth of academic excellence that exists across the Faculty of Science. It’s a truly outstanding result for one school to win three Royal Society of Chemistry prizes in one year and the Earth Sciences Athena Swan Silver is a fantastic achievement, and testament to the great teamwork of colleagues in the school. The University now has 10 Bronze awards and 6 Silver Awards.

Congratulations to all. I’m very much looking forward to celebrating the success and achievements of other colleagues at future events 

Thanks and Recognition – help make a colleague’s day

Posted on by Judith Squires

It’s been two months since the University launched Thanks and Recognition – a new way for us all to thank colleagues for doing such a great job, supporting us in our time of need or going above and beyond.

In that time, more than 350 personal messages of thanks have been posted on the Thanks and Recognition Wall, and the Wall itself has had over 10,000 views from colleagues across our community.

There are countless examples of situations where we want to thank our colleagues. We created Thanks and Recognition to try and capture some of these and, if the recipient of thanks allows, share and amplify them to colleagues across our University.

The messages I’ve seen have been touching and uplifting, and each one undoubtedly helped to make the recipient’s day. The Wall now hosts hundreds of messages thanking colleagues for everything from their valued support with research and new ideas, to their help delivering inspiring and inclusive learning, their kindness in looking out for the wellbeing of colleagues and students, and their small, everyday acts of kindness that have meant a great deal to colleagues during difficult times.

I am particularly pleased that colleagues from every faculty and division are represented on the Wall – our institution is well known for its collegiality and it has been wonderful to see that spirit on display in this way.

We have received some great feedback on Thanks and Recognition and, for that reason, our fantastic in-house team has been working to further enhance the system and make it even better. We will be launching a new and improved system in the next few weeks – watch this space.

In the meantime, if you haven’t already, I encourage you to take a look at the Thanks and Recognition Wall and read some of heart-warming messages of thanks and recognition it holds. Better still, why not submit your own message of thanks to a colleague or team that really deserves it and help make their day.