LUGrad

TRAINEE GRADUATE   FINANCE BROKER REQUIRED City   of London based Salary package of £32,500 basic and £108,000 OTE uncapped in   year 1

Capital Fortune is a results   driven, award winning, niche, mortgage and protection broker committed to   providing the best service in the industry. They are currently recruiting   Graduate Finance Brokers to join their City based team. With a first class starting   salary of £32,500 and an expected OTE in year 1 of £108,333 (uncapped), they   are very clear on what they want.They’re looking for hugely   ambitious, highly energetic, super bright, articulate individuals committed   to their customer service ethos and driven to push their award winning   business further forward. Their City Brokers are trained to be top of their   game and are targeted to be within the top 1% of the industry. The Company   has a significant Internet business generation presence and the Company   guarantees to provide 50 new business enquiries each week. Their clients are   sourced nationally and include numerous TV, media and sports personalities,   High Court Judges and City executives who want competitive advantage in   placement of their mortgages and insurance. Their clients require and deserve   the best. The Team have a unique, ‘A’   player winning attitude and successful candidates will learn to take full   responsibility giving no excuses. They will be able to deliver 100% on   customer promises and be encouraged to inspect everything they themselves   expect from managers, colleagues, suppliers and clients. They will be   naturally introspective and have a real desire to grow and learn. The Company has recently won   numerous industry awards including Excellence in Treating Customers Fairly as   well as being recent finalists at The British Mortgage Awards 2011 and The   Money Marketing Financial Services Awards 2011. They have been Adviser of the   Year two years in a row for their mortgage network and have recently obtained   the British Standard ISO9001 for their Quality Management Systems. The Company provides both   external and internal training through their Training Academy and successful   candidates will receive unbeatable market expertise, understanding of psychological   and risk profiling, self enhancement tools and systems. Importantly, they   will become one of the highest earners within the industry.   Key Requirements • 1st Class / Upper Second   Class Degree – Actual or Expected   • Winning Positive, Can-Do   Attitude, Financially Driven and Determined   • Excellent telephone   and face to face communication skills   • Ability to follow   systems, rigorously multi-task and work under pressure providing a full and   detailed, objective audit trail   • High IQ and High EQ     • Ability to capture, analyse, research and apply numerical and written   data   • Ability to follow systems, multi-task and work under   pressure providing a full and detailed, objective, accountable audit   trail   • Superior communication and customer service   skills   • Computer and technology proficient To apply   for the role of Trainee Graduate Finance Broker, go to our website at www.capitalfortune.com/recruit where   you will be asked to upload your current CV and to undertake a 20 minute   pre-screen questionnaire. Closing date for applications is midnight Thursday   May 17. Successful applicants will be invited to a Graduate Selection Day to   be held all day on Saturday May 19th 2012 on Lancaster University Campus.

Two-day introductory course in Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling using AMOS GRAPHICS

Suitable for beginners, only basic familiarity with SPSS and regression modelling required.
Postgraduate Statistics Centre, Lancaster University May 17th and 18th 2012.
A mix of lectures and supported practical sessions covering the theory and practice of modelling using FA and SEM.

Day 1:
Introduction to AMOS Graphics
Latent variables and exploratory analysis
Introduction to measurement models and structural models

Day 2:
Assessing model fit in SEM
Model improvements and comparisons
Multiple group analysis
Constraints, dependent latent variables, independent observed variables and corrlated error

http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fas/cpd/statistics/courses/Structural-Equation-Modelling-Course
Please contact Angela Mercer (a.j.mercer@lancaster.ac.uk) with any queries and for a full timetable.

Excursions Journal

Call for Papers: Science/Fiction

 Science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths.[1][1]
Karl Popper

Arts research needs to change direction, to look outwards, and investigate the audience not the texts. It needs to link up with sociology and psychology and public health, and create a body of knowledge about what the arts actually do to people. Until that happens, we cannot even pretend that we are taking the arts seriously.[2][2]
John Carey

Every brilliant experiment, like every great work of art, starts with an act of imagination.[3][3]
Jonah Lehrer

As the ‘Two Cultures’ debate of the mid-twentieth century, and the ‘Science Wars’ of the 1990s, suggest, relations between the sciences and the arts and humanities have often been characterized by mutual suspicion, frustration, and misapprehension. In academia, interdepartmental competition for diminishing resources has only exacerbated this trend.

But this polarized picture belies the rich possibilities presented by the intersection and / or re-articulation of these two fields. In this spirit Excursions calls for critical scholarly work on any aspect of the relationship between science and the humanities. We welcome submissions from any discipline, within the contexts of academia, scientific/cultural institutions or society itself. We strongly encourage work that questions or challenges preconceived disciplinary boundaries.

Submissions may consider, but are by no means limited to:

o    The question of ‘truth’ in science, art, literature, and the humanities

o    Science fiction / Fiction as science / Science as fiction (or scientific narrative)

o    The Two Cultures / The Science Wars / The Sokal affair

o    The notion of the experimental in art and literature

o    ‘Impact’  and the instrumentalization of academic research. Can and should science and humanities research be assessed against the same criteria?

o    The public legitimization of science / climate change denialism / the UEA email affair

o    Psuedoscience and the humanities. Karl Popper regarded Marxism and Psychoanalysis as ‘pseudosciences’ because their findings were unfalsifiable. Should the humanities be concerned about this kind of criticism?

o    Popular science writing

o    Engagement with the work of figures such as Thomas Kuhn, Karl Popper, Bruno Latour.

Scholarly papers should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words and must follow Harvard style guidelines. We also encourage creative submissions in media such as film, photography, or audio. For creative submissions, please include an abstract and a brief biography (no more than 150 words) along with your submission. All enquiries should be sent to enquiries@excursions-journal.org.uk. Submissions should be made via our website, www.excursions-journal.org.uk, no later than 1^st August 2012.

This Call for Papers is also issued under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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QUANTITATIVE CRIMINOLOGY (including latent class analysis) TIMETABLE   

Tutor: Professor Brian Francis

Wednesday, 9th May 2012

9.30     Registration

10.00    Introduction to quantitative criminology.  The measurement of crime.   Sources of data.

The main UK and US datasets. Resources.

11.00    Refreshment Break

11.30    The offenders index and the MOJ police national computer data.  The   meaning of recidivism.

Measuring and assessing recidivism.  Logistic regression and ordinal regression.  OGRS.

12.30    Discussion and practical

13.15    Lunch

14.30    Criminal justice experiments and quasi-experiments.

Introduction to matching.   Propensity scores.

15.30    Refreshment Break

16.00    Practical work and discussion. The coid study.

Thursday, 10th May 2012

9.30     Concepts in criminal careers.  Desistance.  Specialisation.  The forward specialisation co-efficient.  Escalation.

10.30    Practical.

11.00    Refreshment Break

11.30    Finding patterns in data. Introduction to latent class models and clustering. The British crime survey.

12.30    Lunch

13.30    More on latent class analysis. Covariate models.  Patterns in criminal careers.  The Francis paper.

14.30    Practical.

15.00    Refreshment Break

15.30    Group/based semi-parametric models. Latent trajectory models.  The D’unger paper.

16.30    Final discussion and end of course.

For more information regarding our courses, please go to our ‘new’ short course website at: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fas/cpd/statistics/

Or contact the Short Course Administrator, Angela Mercer, email a.j.mercer@lancaster.ac.uk.

See our e-brochure at www.maths.lancs.ac.uk/psc.

POSTGRADUATE TAUGHT EXPERIENCE SURVEY 2012

This is the Postgraduate students’ opportunity to provide feedback on their courses through the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey. In order to take part, look out for an email inviting you to complete the survey which will be arriving in your Lancaster inbox soon. This is a great opportunity for you to give confidential, anonymous feedback on your course, Lancaster University and also LUSU.

Last year over 650 students took part. This year we want even more!

If you want to know more, go to the PTES website

TAI CHI

Tai Chi Chuan is a Chinese martial art that is considered by many to be the pinnacle of philosophy, healing and self defence. Fylde College and Student Based Services have teamed up to offer free classes throughout the Summer Term. Students and staff are welcome to come to any of the classes, but to best appreciate the benefits to health, confidence and self-awareness, it is recommended that you attend as many as possible. The classes will give a strong insight into some of the fundamentals of Tai Chi practice, including Qi Gong (chi gung) traditional Yang Style Long Form, self defence applications, drills, partner work and meditation.

No special equipment needed. Please wear something comfortable and unrestrictive. Classes start promptly so please arrive on time.

Instructor: Spencer Garry

Location: A041, Great Hall complex

Time: 12.45 – 1.45pm on Wednesdays throughout Summer Term              

PGSA NEWS

For those of you not on Facebook, here is some recent news from the PGSA.

1. Gradstock is coming! Please fill out the following questionnaire so we can begin to draw together an idea of what grad students want from the event: click here
2. We now have a lusu.co.uk site: http://graduate.lusu.co.uk/ However, it won’t be until towards the end of April/beginning of May when I’ll have time to add a sufficient amount of content for it to be anywhere near decent. If anyone has any suggested content/ideas for content, please do comment below or send me a message.

See the PGSA’s facebook page – CLICK HERE

WILCOCK SCHOLARSHIP

Are you a current postgraduate student who was formerly an undergraduate member of Bowland College?

If so, this could be useful to you… CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE

SURVEY

Please could you take a few minutes to complete this survey? It’s on the link between mobile advertising and product involvement.

It’s only eight questions and takes no longer than five minutes to complete.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DKJYMGN

Many thanks!

Poetry Workshop Weekend

Brantwood, Coniston, Cumbria

Creativity and the Spirit: creative writing with poetry

with Dr. Geraldine Green

Through a variety of writing exercises, this poetry workshop allows time and space for the imagination to explore, invent and roam. As well as producing new work, we will also spend time on feedback and editing, and host an evening of poetry reading for course participants and tutor. Some sessions will take place outdoors.

22-24 June 2012

2pm Friday 22nd until 2pm Sunday 24th June

£212 per person

Includes refreshments, lunch on Saturday & Sunday, dinner on Friday & Saturday

Pre-booking is essential.

Residential option available

Further details please contact: enquiries@brantwood.org.uk

Doctor Geraldine Green
Associate Editor Poetry Bay
www.poetrybay.com
www.allbook-books.com/html/literary_reviews.html
http://a-gender.org/poets/geraldine-green
http://www.brantwood.org.uk/CreativewritingwithpoetrycourseatBrantwood.htm

LEGAL ADVICE

Free legal service available to student members and staff, on the basis that Clarkson Hirst will offer a free initial 24 minute consultation and then a further 30 minutes of free legal advice and assistance. This will also include writing letters to third parties such as landlords or employers, etc. Go to LUSU information desk (below Spar) for more information.

TABLE TENNIS

This is a quick message from the Table Tennis Club! If you are interested in joining the Table Tennis club and have played lots of table tennis before, perhaps for your county, or even your country please email me at a.fuller@lancaster.ac.uk Table Tennis at Lancaster is very strong and we play against some of the best teams in the country from other universities. In the past we have had some very good players from graduate college so if you play get in touch!!

Thanks, Alasdair Fuller

Table Tennis; University Team Captain

 ATHLETICS CLUB

Lancaster University Panthers Athletics Club Whether you want to get fit or be competitive then we have a group for you. We have a track session on Wednesdays with training for field and track events and an indoor session with a personal trainer every Thursday. There are also hill, sprint and endurance sessions. You can come as often as you like and we have plenty of socials on too.

Our training times are:

Monday : 6.30-7.30 meet at Barker House Farm in Cartmel, Wednesday : 2-3 at Salt Ayre, meet at 1.00 at the Chaplaincy centre for bus into town, Thursday : 2-3 at the sports centre for a strength and conditioning session, 6.30-7.30 meet at Barker House Farm.

Find us on facebook by searching LUPAC (https://www.facebook.com/PanthersAC) or sign up to the mailing list on the website – www.lancasteruniversityathleticsclub.co.uk. See you at training!

Lancaster University, Department of Sociology Intellectual Party 2012

Lancaster Sociology research students would like to invite other PhD students to our annual Intellectual Party in the summer of 2012.

The event will be held on 2-3 July and is a great opportunity to present your work at Lancaster in a friendly and supportive environment. The Intellectual Party offers you the chance to collaborate with other research students, to participate in practical workshops, and to have a lot of fun in the process! There will also be plenty of opportunity to meet and engage with some of the University’s well-known researchers.

This year we are inviting people to submit abstracts in relation to a series of themed Salons and more mysterious Secret Gardens. We are also planning a special gallery of ideas about crises. The Party will culminate in a spectacular finale but the action need not end there. If you wish to stay an extra day, you are welcome to join us on a sociological expedition to the world-famous Lake District.

Our Intellectual Party is more than just another conference – it combines academic challenge with plenty of fun!

If you are interested in joining us, and presenting a paper on your research, please visit:

http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/events/sociology/summerconference/index.php

All subjects are welcome, so long as they can be linked to sociology. The deadline for submissions in 14th March. The registration fee for non-Lancaster students is £65. This includes refreshments, dinner and lunches during the two day conference. If you wish to attend the trip to the Lake District, a further cost will be incurred.

If you have any queries please contact Angela Loxham (loxham@exchange.lancs.ac.uk).

Looking forward to hearing from you,

The Summer Conference Committee

EPIGEUM

The Epigeum materials are now available at https://mle.lancs.ac.uk/  and should be accessible by all PGR students who have registered with the university in the last 3 months. (We don’t have enough licences to make the programme available to students in their second year and beyond, I’m afraid, but we do have some spare to pick up new registrations as the academic year progresses.) A link to this site should appear at www.rdp.lancs.ac.uk shortly.

POSTGRAD GROUP

Mondays @ 8pm

Postgrad Group is a social group which includes postgraduate students, members of university staff, mature students and ex-students who have stayed in Lancaster.

The group usually meets on Monday nights starting at 8pm. We spend our time having socials, presentations from group members or visitors, or stimulating discussions on a range of topics. It’s a great way to meet new people and get to know Lancaster a bit better. We also welcome members from varied backgrounds, and try to tailor our programme to reflect this. For more information and to find out what we’ve got planned for this term, please email postgradgroup@gmail.com or visit our website http://sites.google.com/site/lancsunipg

THE LANCASTER AWARD

At Lancaster we value the academic achievements of our students, but also recognise the importance of those activities you engage with outside of your programme of study.

The student experience is enhanced by including extra-curricular activities and, with more graduates than ever before and increasing competition for jobs upon leaving University, these are vital to your future prospects.

The Lancaster Award aims to encourage you to complete activities, help you to pull them together in one place and then be recognised for your accomplishments. We want you to stand out from the crowd – the Lancaster Award will help you to do this.

The award has now been made even more Postgraduate friendly.

• Post graduate students on 1 year courses can work towards the March 23^rd 2012 deadline rather than the 2^nd December 2011 deadline that exists for final year students.
• Those students can also use evidence from previous Universities for the  “work experience” and “additional skills” sections of the Award. They must however attend our Career Development workshops and get involved in Campus and Community activities.

More details can be found at

http://www.lancs.ac.uk/careers/award/?q=index

A student’s perspective …

“Despite being a final year PhD student I decided to start the Lancaster Award as it seemed a great way to explore and evaluate the skills I have gained throughout my time here.  I knew it was a recognised award so would be good on my CV and great practice for application forms and interviews for future jobs. Some examples of the activities I have undertaken are Student Ambassador, Assistant Dean and Academic Tutor.  The award actively encourages you to get involved in the University community and the Insight courses that CEEC offer are a great way to meet people and learn something different to your degree. Finally I feel the completion of this award will give me an edge in job applications against other candidates and another topic to reference in potential interviews for jobs “

NUS SURVEY

The National Union of Students (NUS) has launched a major piece of research into students’ experience of financial support.

- Are you constantly living out of your overdraft? Do you have to work long hours alongside your studies to sustain yourself financially? Have you had to take on credit card debts? Are you struggling to pay for childcare or travel costs to study?

- NUS believes that there is a way to finally join up student support schemes and are researching the sector to develop this system. They have released a survey which asks questions about how you fund your living costs whilst studying and what you think of the support you receive. The research covers all levels of study from further education through to postgraduate studies.

- As response rate from postgraduate students is particularly low, NUS wants to hear from you about what you think works well – and what might need changing – about how you are supported.

- To help create a new way of supporting all students, please fill out the NUS Student Financial Support Survey.

And to thank you for your time, we will enter you into a draw to win a cash prize of £500 or one of ten £50 cash prizes.

The survey should take around 20 minutes to complete and can be completed confidentially.

Take part in the survey now by visiting the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/studentfinance

ENSEMBLE ORCHESTRA

Dear all who are interested,

I am hoping to get together an ensemble of orchestra, a Soprano-Alto-Tenor-and-Bass choir and SATB soloists with the view to performing Mozart’s Requiem Mass on one or more occasions. No performance dates are booked, but should enough interest in performing be shown then I will do all I can to get something together.

To register said interest, you can e-mail me on a.brunskill@lancaster.ac.uk.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Andrew

LANCASTER UNIVERSITY CRICKET CLUB

If you’re into cricket then here are a few reasons why you should join us…

• 1^st XI in BUCS 2A North – good standard
• 2^nd XI due to join BUCS this year
• Legendary Roses weekend v York (both teams)
• Indoor team entered in BUCS 2011/12
• A social side playing against local clubs
• Training twice a week in brand new facility
• Easter 2012 Cricket Tour to Europe in the pipeline…

join the group https://www.facebook.com/groups/141352622610821 or email matt.weller@lancaster.ac.uk

SIFE

Do you have a creative hobby?

Do you want to make money from it?

Then SIFE Capture is the place to go. We are looking for entrepreneurs with creative talents who want help with making money from them.

You may be in a band

You may make handmade jewellery or make greetings cards

You may be an artist or photographer

You may be a writer

We can help you all.

The best thing of all is that it is free and you keep all the money you make.

Sadly places are limited and it is first come first served so don’t miss out on this opportunity.

If you are interested or have any questions please email r.powers@lancaster.ac.uk with your name and brief description of what you business or creative talent is.

Cheers

Richard and Aiden

SIFE Capture Project Team Leaders

PROOF READING & WRITING SERVICE

Carol Bennett (MA, Dip.TEFL, Cert.Ed.)

‘For the past nine years, Carol has advised students on every aspect of postgraduate writing, from initial research to final proof-reading. She has provided a much valued professional and friendly service that has transformed the academic performance of those who have worked with her. I can’t think of a better person to help you!’ (MA Director, Lancaster University, 2010).

Are you close to completing your thesis or dissertation and need proof reading and writing advice? For details of rates and methods go to: www.carolbennett.co.uk, call 01772 686773 or email: carolmarybennett@gmail.com.

NATURAL HEALTH CARE

The Natural Health Care Centre welcomes a new practitioner to its team: Paula Foster, Medical Herbalist, lancasterherbalist@live.co.uk who will be working on Thursday mornings from the centre at the Chaplaincy Centre. Contact her via e-mail³. Other therapies available at the centre are Acupuncture, Alexander Technique, Massage, Reflexology and Shiatsu. For more info go to our website: www.naturalhealthcare.org.uk⁴

 NEED TO TALK?

If you need someone to talk to but don’t think you need formal counselling – why not get in touch with our Welfare Officer? Email b.abram@lancaster.ac.uk. She is there to listen, offer advice or simply let you get some worries off your chest. Don’t wait until your worries affect your studies, get in touch now.

EPRINTS REPOSITORY

Would you like to make your research better known when you have finished  your thesis?  You can now add a copy of your thesis to the Lancaster EPrints Repository.  Students who register from October 2011 are required to deposit one copy electronically, but people who are already registered are encouraged to do so once their work is complete. There’s more information here about electronic theses at Lancaster: http://lancaster.libguides.com/etheses

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ADVISORY SERVICE

The International Student Advisory Service is part of Student Based Services, based in University House. We are the designated Lancaster University immigration and advice service provider for all our international students.

We can be contacted either via:

•            The Base – a one stop enquiry desk for Student Based Services located to the left of the reception in University House – call in or telephone (01524 5)92525

•            Speak to us directly via telephone on (01524 5)92010 for advice or to make an appointment to see one of our Advisors regarding immigration and welfare issues.

•            Use out quick response email service international.support@lancaster.ac.uk

You can find further information on our webpages http://www.lancs.ac.uk/sbs/international/

UNITE WITH BUSINESS JOB VACANCIES

New vacancies are available to view at the vacancy portal:

http://www.lancs.ac.uk/sbs/ceec/unitewithbusiness and on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/home.php?sk=group_172690796078805&notif_t=group_activity

Printed copies of current job vacancies are also available on the careers noticeboard in the Graduate College common room.

If you wish to post an advetisement here, please contact j.hulland@lancaster.ac.uk