Our Procurement team have recently awarded Key Travel the contract for all business travel that takes place across College.

Key travel offer the following services:

• Domestic & international flight
• UK hotels
• UK rail & underground
• Overseas hotels
• Overseas rail and eurostar
• Visa’s
• Overseas car hire
• Airport meet & greet services
• UK ferry services

All colleagues who book travel are invited to attend a drop-in session on either Tuesday 23 or Wednesday 24 October to find out more about the booking process, price queries and training on how to use the online tool effectively.

Please see below for the various times available for the roadshow and training for each of the days:

Date: Tuesday 23 October 2018

• Room: Founder's FE139
• Roadshow: 9.30-11.15am
• Training: 11.30am-12.30pm

Date: Wednesday 24 October 2018

• Room: Windsor-0-05
• Roadshow: 1-1.45pm
• Training: 2-3pm
• Roadshow two: 3.15-4pm

If you are interested in attending the training on any of the days, please send your name and preferred date to procurementrhul.ac.uk.

The roadshow is a drop in session so you are not required to book to attend, you can just walk in.  

On Wednesday 24 October, from 2-4pm, in the Moore Building Auditorium, the Department of English will be hosting a session of micro-talks on writers of colour. 

Students and colleagues are invited to attend the session and share their recommendations of writers of colour. Participants will discuss what they love about these writers' works and why they matter. From the session, we hope that students will learn about emerging literary voices, discover classics they may have missed and maybe find a new favourite author. 

Our Procurement team have recently awarded Key Travel the contract for all business travel that takes place across College.

Key travel offer the following services:

• Domestic & international flight
• UK hotels
• UK rail & underground
• Overseas hotels
• Overseas rail and eurostar
• Visa’s
• Overseas car hire
• Airport meet & greet services
• UK ferry services

All colleagues who book travel are invited to attend a drop-in session on either Tuesday 23 or Wednesday 24 October to find out more about the booking process, price queries and training on how to use the online tool effectively.

Please see below for the various times available for the roadshow and training for each of the days:

Date: Tuesday 23 October 2018

• Room: Founder's FE139
• Roadshow: 9.30-11.15am
• Training: 11.30am-12.30pm

Date: Wednesday 24 October 2018

• Room: Windsor-0-05
• Roadshow: 1-1.45pm
• Training: 2-3pm
• Roadshow two: 3.15-4pm

If you are interested in attending the training on any of the days, please send your name and preferred date to procurementrhul.ac.uk.

The roadshow is a drop in session so you are not required to book to attend, you can just walk in.  

Misunderstood and maligned today, sentimentality was central to Victorian art and literature. Through a close examination of Royal Holloway’s most sentimental paintings this talk by Assistant Curator, Imogen Tedbury, will explore our misconceptions and mistrust of Victorian taste for the art of sentiment.

Admission free, no booking necessary.

The aim of this afternoon session is to celebrate Open Access Week; the focus of this data conversation will be to understand the motivation and rationale for publishing data openly. We’ll also cover some of the struggles individual researchers face when sharing their data openly and share ideas for how to overcome these challenges.

Data conversations are led by researchers, for researchers. Researchers of all disciplines and career levels are welcome, including staff who support research data at the Open University.

Programme objectives

By the end of the session you will:

• Understand the reasons for sharing your data openly
• Understand what might prevent you from sharing your data openly?
• Know where you might go (or where you have gone) for support on sharing your data openly
• Know where you might look to deposit your data openly?

Target audience

Research and academic staff, PGRs

 Programme components

• Three 15-minute presentations from researchers. Topics for stories can include (but are not limited to):
• Reusing open data
• Collaboration on open data
• Lost data that could have been saved (or was saved!) because of open data
• Measuring the impact of open data
• Experiences with publishing open data via publishers or in a repository
• How to openly share sensitive data
• Each presentation will be followed by a conversation around the presenter’s experience with data

Every Thursday from 5.15 - 6.30 pm in FE139, Founders.

Pay what you feel from 5p to £5.

Kundalini yoga classes bring together all the facets of yoga in a unique and effective way. Come and;
- strengthen and stretch your body
- stimulate your glandular system
-calm your mind

Beginners and those with physical limitations welcome.

For further information, please contact Rae Roberts on rae.roberts@rhul.ac.uk.

Don't forget to follow Staff Health and Wellbeing on Twitter @Wellbeing_RH for the latest information on future events and useful advice and information.

This is a free of charge traditional 60 minute mixed ability classical yoga class for all ages and physical abilities (adaptations can be made as required).

Please bring: a yoga/ exercise mat and blanket.

Please wear: any loose, comfortable clothing and warm socks for relaxation.

Please email Moya at moya.watson@rhul.ac.uk to express interest in attending the class so that we can get an idea of numbers.

Please note this is a joint staff and student event.

Fortnightly Complementary Therapist session at Huntersdale.

The treatments include:
- Indian Head Massage
- Hand and Arm Massage
- Foot and Leg Massage

Treatments are reasonably priced at £10 for 25 minutes.

Slots available between 9.00 am and 5.30 pm.

For bookings and information, please contact Mary directly on 07922 696403 or email: info@marawellbeing.co.uk.

Location will be advised on booking confirmation.

The Hellenic Institute will be closing its 25th anniversary celebrations with the premiere of Lydia Kakabadse’s Odyssey, a specially-commissioned choral work, representative of an epic journey through centuries of Greek history and culture. Accompanied by harpist, Cecily Beer, Odyssey will be performed by the Choir of Royal Holloway under the directorship of Rupert Gough. The lyrics are a synthesis of selected Greek poetry from Homer and the Classical period, through Hellenistic and Roman times to Byzantium, post-Byzantium and Modern Hellenism.

Admission free but booking is essential.

All academic colleagues are invited to come along to a breifing session on the recently announced StoryFutures Creative Clusters Programme. 

The briefing sessions will be held in the Shilling Building, room 2-15/16 on:

• Monday 29 October from 9-10am 
• Tuesday 30 October from 5-6pm

StoryFutures is a research and development base for screen industries to meet the challenge of next-generation storytelling, producing compelling content for emerging creative technologies.

Whether you are interested in getting involved or would just like to learn more, these briefings will go through the structure of StoryFutures and outline potential places for academic involvement. Please come along to learn more about this four and a half year £12m (FeC) project, led by Royal Holloway.

More information about StoryFutures and what opportunities there are to get involved with, can be found in this briefing pack. 

A guided meditation session which is open to everyone regardless of beliefs and experience.

For further information, please contact Sofia Mason on sofia.mason@rhul.ac.uk.

On Monday 29 October, from 2-4pm, in the Events Space, Davison Building the Mandala Programme will be launched. The session will be ran by Susan Lee (Equality and Diversity Officer) & Dr. Eden Charles (CEO of People Opportunities), and will provide more information on the programme itself and what you'll be able to get out of taking part. 

The Mandala Programme is an innovative, evidence based and paradigm-shifting programme that supports the career and personal development of BME colleagues seeking to progress in their career at Royal Holloway.

The programme lasts for six months, and during this time participants will explore:

- Career aspirations and options
- How to think strategically about creating and accessing opportunities
- The strength, resilience and power in participants' personal history and what this means for career development
- The participants' authority and presence as a leader and how to become even more impactful through ‘being you skillfully’
- How to influence others and develop effective and meaningful relationships in the workplace; future career and personal development as a leader and strategies for achieving success.

Dates for the programme workshops are:

Thursday 31 January 2019, Tuesday 19 March, Tuesday 30 April, Tuesday 4 June and Tuesday 9 July - participants are expected to attend all five workshops. 

All of the workshops will take place in Gowar and Wedderburn Common Room.

Please send your applications for a place on the programme to OrgDevrhul.ac.uk

People Opportunities Limited is a groundbreaking Leadership Development Consultancy with a global track record in delivering effective strategic, career and personal development for leaders and organisations across all sectors. They are thought leaders in relation to the development of BME leadership and a premier provider of learning for BME staff.

Professor Sosabowski is a Royal Holloway alumnus twice over, BSc Chemistry 1984-1987 and PhD in Chemistry 1987-1991. He is well-known for his Bigger Bang! science show which he takes around the world notably to Europe, Russia and the Middle East. He is also the only person to have caused explosions in Parliament (with permission), and unlike Guido Fawkes, Professor Sosabowski's explosions *did* work.

The Bigger Bang! show is an exhibition science event with learning outcomes all the way. Recently back from Moscow, Professor Sosabowski and his team will be bringing their unique brand of high end exhibition chemistry to Royal Holloway to honour the memory of his mentor, Professor Jack Pridham. With demonstrations such as the Phosphorus Sun, the Belousov-Zhabotinski Reaction, Chemiluminescence with Oxalate Esters, the Helium/SF6 choir, the Exploding Bottle, Supersonic Hydrox explosions and burning biscuits in Liquid Oxygen, not to mention Cryogenic Capers with Liquid Nitrogen – a must for the discerning chemist and science connoisseur.

Admission free but booking is essential.

A weekly drop in knitting and crochet session for staff from 1 -2 in the Breathe Space, FW173, Founders Building.

Open to all staff whether a beginner or an advanced knitter/ crocheter.

All materials will be provided. You can either work on something you have already started or you can be taught how to knit/ crochet.

For further information, please contact Eva Dann on eva.dann@rhul.ac.uk

Introduction to research impact

Research impact now features in most funding calls, in university promotion structures and in public attitudes to research. This session will give you a good grounding in the topic, covering: what research impact is, types of stakeholders, tips and tools for planning impact activities, a brief overview of research impact in funding applications and the REF, and support available at Royal Holloway. Leads: Kristina Glushkova and Olivia Swift, Impact Managers. 

Dr Lara Alcock Loughborough University

How do people learn mathematics?

Partly by listening and partly by problem solving, but also by reading. This is especially true at higher levels of education and in professional mathematics. This lecture will present key results on mathematical reading, drawing on studies conducted using both standard experimental methods and eye-movement analyses. It will contrast novice and expert mathematical reading, and will incorporate related results about how people interpret the logical language of mathematics.

Admission is free, but booking is essential.

Professor Hannah Thompson School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures.

This lecture will celebrate the critical and creative power of blindness. Through a discussion of examples from 19th-century French literature and art, Professor Thompson will argue that blindness is a fruitful theoretical stance available to both blind and non-blind people. Professor Thompson's critical disability studies approach will dismantle the traditional hierarchy of the senses and invite new ways of beholding familiar texts and images.

Admission free but booking is essential.

Our Wednesday Wellness Walk sets off every week from the Gold Postbox in Founders Square at 12.30 pm. The walks lasts approximately 30 minutes and will follow one of our beautiful Campus walks.

A good walk can do wonders for your mental and physical wellbeing. It can improve fitness, lose weight, improve mood and sleep quality.

There is no need to book, just turn up.

If you have any queries please contact healthandwellbeing@rhul.ac.uk

Don't forget to follow Staff Wellbeing on Twitter @Wellbeing_RHUL for up to date information on future events and useful tips and advice.

Come and see Royal Holloway’s most iconic painting, if you dare! Hear Curator, Laura MacCulloch, talk about the grisly story that inspired it and find out the truth behind its haunting.

Admission free, no booking necessary.

1pm-2pm. No need to book and free to attend.

Please note that this talk will take place between Music Lectures taking place in the gallery space so please wait outside the Picture Gallery until the Curator arrives.

The Picture Gallery is open on Wednesdays during term, 10am-3pm.
Free entry, open to students, staff and the public.

At 1pm there will be a Lunchtime Talk from Curator Laura MacCulloch on 'The Haunted Picture'

In the 1880s, Thomas Holloway scoured the auction houses and broke price records to buy his collection of modern British paintings. Today, this collection of Victorian masterpieces is world famous – and here for you to enjoy!

This is a free of charge traditional 60 minute mixed ability classical yoga class for all ages and physical abilities (adaptations can be made as required).

Please bring: a yoga/ exercise mat and blanket.

Please wear: any loose, comfortable clothing and warm socks for relaxation.

Please email Moya at moya.watson@rhul.ac.uk to express interest in attending the class so that we can get an idea of numbers.

Please note this is a joint staff and student event.

Every Thursday from 5.15 - 6.30 pm in FE139, Founders.

Pay what you feel from 5p to £5.

Kundalini yoga classes bring together all the facets of yoga in a unique and effective way. Come and;
- strengthen and stretch your body
- stimulate your glandular system
-calm your mind

Beginners and those with physical limitations welcome.

For further information, please contact Rae Roberts on rae.roberts@rhul.ac.uk.

Don't forget to follow Staff Health and Wellbeing on Twitter @Wellbeing_RH for the latest information on future events and useful advice and information.

1pm-2pm. Free to attend but spaces limited to 10. Book on eventbrite (see below)

Join Art Collections Cataloguer Erin McKellar for a chance to see some of Royal Holloway’s hidden treasures. Over half the artworks in the fine art collection are drawings, prints and watercolours but their fragility means that they cannot be on permanent display. This talk is a rare opportunity to see some of these remarkable works in our new, purpose built art store.

Book online: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/treasures-from-the-art-collections-tickets-49045961792?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

 Join Art Collections Cataloguer, Erin McKellar, for a chance to see some of Royal Holloway’s hidden treasures. Over half the artworks in the fine art collection are drawings, prints and watercolours but their fragility means that they cannot be on permanent display. This talk is a rare opportunity to see some of these remarkable works in our new, purpose-built art store.

Admission free but booking is essential (due to the location, booking is limited to 10 people).

Pathways to impact in grant applications

The likely impact of research is increasingly taken into account by funders when selecting amongst multiple high quality research applications. This session will equip you with knowledge of what funders require, how to write excellent impact plans, and examples of what “good” looks like. We will look at research council requirements, tips for planning impact and writing strong Pathways to Impact. Leads: Kristina Glushkova and Olivia Swift, Impact Managers.

The Picture Gallery is open on Wednesdays during term, 10am-3pm.
Free entry, open to students, staff and the public.

At 1pm there is a Short Talk on one painting, lasting 5-10 minutes.

In the 1880s, Thomas Holloway scoured the auction houses and broke price records to buy his collection of modern British paintings. Today, this collection of Victorian masterpieces is world famous – and here for you to enjoy!

Our exciting partnership with the London Mozart Players continues with a trailblazing side-by-side performance at Royal Holloway. Our Director of Orchestras Rebecca Miller, the London Mozart Players and the Royal Holloway Chamber Orchestra present an evening featuring Haydn’s treasured Symphony No. 103, 'Drumroll', Louise Farrenc's Overture No 2 for orchestra and showcasing a College Concerto Competition Winner, James Ellis, in Schumann's celebrated Piano Concerto in A minor.

£12.50 (concessions available). Tickets available on the door or book online.

Yoga Nidra is a traditional guided meditation and relaxation practice which has been found to reduce tension and anxiety and improve sleep.

This is a free of charge 45 minute session open to all ages and physical abilities. No experience is necessary.

Please bring: a yoga/exercise mat, blanket and pillow.

Please wear: any loose, comfortable clothing and warm socks.

Remember not to be late: There is no entry after the session has started to preserve the experience for the group as a whole.

Please email Moya at moya.watson@rhul.ac.uk to express interest in attending the session so that we can get an idea of numbers.

Please note this is a joint staff and student event.

Every Thursday from 5.15 - 6.30 pm in FE139, Founders.

Pay what you feel from 5p to £5.

Kundalini yoga classes bring together all the facets of yoga in a unique and effective way. Come and;
- strengthen and stretch your body
- stimulate your glandular system
-calm your mind

Beginners and those with physical limitations welcome.

For further information, please contact Rae Roberts on rae.roberts@rhul.ac.uk.

Don't forget to follow Staff Health and Wellbeing on Twitter @Wellbeing_RH for the latest information on future events and useful advice and information.