Changing institutional research strategies

University research strategies make statements about research ambitions, but rarely speak directly about scholarly communications. At the same time, communication of all sorts has become central to a university, whether to support recruitment, present a public profile, or to respond to events. This chapter seeks to explore the relationship between institutional research strategies and scholarly communications, and to see how each may have affected the other and how they might do so in the future. It describes the purpose and structure of an institutional research strategy, and how these are changing. It highlights the linkages between strategy, implementation plans, and policies, where the latter encourage desired behaviours. In the context of scholarly communications, the research strategy is the public document in which an institution states its commitment to such forms of communication: that discovering new knowledge and sharing that discovery in meaningful ways are at the heart of the institution. The discussion then moves to the changing nature of scholarly communications, including the Open agenda, and questions how scholarly communications fits into the wider spectrum of institutional communications. The chapter concludes that there has probably been little direct connection between research strategies and approaches to scholarly communications, but that this is changing. Both institutions and individual researchers wish to demonstrate the quality, relevance and accessibility of their research, in order to be attractive to collaborators, funders, and employers. Successful institutions will ensure that strategy and scholarly communications activities are mutually supportive, to the benefit of their researchers and the organisation

Thoughts on international research partnerships: How should we go about creating and supporting them?

What is new? This paper explores the approaches an institution might take internally to support the different types and scales of research partnerships.  It identifies three levels of partnership (individual, group or topic, and institutional), and suggests the variations in support each requires. What was the approach? The paper is based on personal experiences and observations of practice, originally written as a briefing note for a colleague. What is the academic impact? While other papers consider the relationship between the partners, this paper focuses on the conditions for success within one organisation, which will ultimately have an effect on the other members of the partnership.  It complements those papers that examine the inter-relationships between the partners. What is the wider impact? Practitioners will be able to use these reflections to understand, evaluate and if necessary evolve their own institution’s approach to research partnerships.  Funders and policy makers might similarly be able to use them in setting their expectations for the partnerships they create or require

Magnetic fields and differential rotation on the pre-main sequence

Maps of magnetic field topologies of rapidly rotating stars obtained over the last decade or so have provided unique insight into the operation of stellar dynamos. However, for solar-type stars many of the targets imaged to date have been lower-mass zero-age main sequence stars. We present magnetic maps and differential rotation measurements of two-higher mass pre-main sequence stars HD 106506 (~10 Myrs) and HD 141943 (~15 Myrs). These stars should evolve into mid/late F-stars with predicted high differential rotation and little magnetic activity. We investigate what effect the extended convection zones of these pre-main sequence stars has on their differential rotation and magnetic topologies. ©2009 American Institute of Physic

Communication and disease

Being a healthy traveller involves communication in more than one sense of the word. Health administrations have a responsibility to prevent illness associated with international travel and trade without undue interference to these inevitable activities. Past experience of travel-associated disease transmission should determine epidemiologically justified and cost-effective preventive measures. The aeroplane transmits disease faster but should not become the scapegoat for travel-associated ill health. Viral influenza can spread rapidly because of air travel but the latter's role in transmission of diseases such as cholera and smallpox in the past or viral haemorrhagic fevers in the future may not be clear cut. Surveillance activities are essential to enable the earliest possible detection of disease because measures taken with the intention of keeping a disease out of a country cannot be foolproof. Frank and rapid exchange of information between national epidemiological services is essential for effective control of international spread of diseases. National health administrations have an obligation to provide travellers with reliable information. A specific programme co-opting the medical profession, travel agencies of every form and the media is necessary. The World Health Organisation should collaborate with national health administrations in the prevention of disease associated with trave

Foodways, Families, and Festivities: Ethnobiology and Cultural Conservation in a Rural Missouri Community

Food customs and traditions bind human groups together in many ways--Socially, geographically, temporally, and emotionally. This thesis describes the intricate relationships between food, ritual, and cultural identity in a rural German-Catholic community in Missouri. By drawing on the anthropological, cultural geographical and folkloric literature surrounding rural Missouri, a portrait of foodways emerges, which in turn illuminates valuable, often understated regional cultural traditions. Religion and ritual are understood as crucial to the continuity of regional identity--it is reinforced and made resilient through shared Social action. The dispersal of ritual feasts and fasts throughout the calendar year regulates collective behavior, interactions, conversations, and the pace of everyday life in this little-studied region. These community behaviors and rhythms are most apparent when studied ethnobiologically, as customary bonds forged between humans and their natural environments and resources. Foodways studies examine carefully the production, preservation, distribution, and consumption patterns of regional foods. These studies have a rich history of ethnographic description that bridges the gulf between eating as a mere mechanism of survival and eating as a culturally constructed event. Specific recipes and knowledge of food preservation are displayed focally during family reunions and meals, highlighting the unspoken, powerful link between region-specific subsistence practices and the Social values and identities shared and sustained within this German-Catholic community. Given the recent decline of rural farming communities throughout the United States, this thesis seeks to convey how cultural continuity in a rural community is preserved through eating together, and how food, family, and kin-based rituals collectively reinforce the Social fabric in this uniquely Midwestern cultural landscape by addressing questions of how cultural memory is preserved through foodways, the role that community institutions play, and the manner in which these Social institution\u27s articulations of shared values, mutual support, and self-sufficiency are made visible. Ultimately, this thesis serves to illustrate, on a broader level, how foodways studies can inform ethnographic understandings, the histories, beliefs, and behaviors that foster continuity in cultural life

The Impossibility of “Freedom as Independence”

Most of the recent work on freedom is concerned with the liberal-republican debate. The latest move in this debate has been made by List and Valentini who argue in favor of a conception of freedom (called "freedom as independence") that is located midway between the liberal and republican conceptions. In this article, we review some key aspects of the debate that led to List and Valentini's move and then argue that their midway position is untenable. We first show how the debate has given rise to List and Valentini's (republican-inspired) view that unfreedom is created not merely by more or less probable constraints (as liberals have claimed) but by the sheer possibility of constraints. We then argue that this position on possible-but-improbable constraints makes unfreedom ubiquitous and that "freedom as independence" is therefore an impossible ideal. In the course of our argument, we rebut some possible rejoinders that appeal to the difference between positive normative and non-normative constraints and to the ways in which "freedom as independence" is an open and versatile concept

Understanding and assessing climate risk to green infrastructure: experiences from Greater Manchester (UK)

The existing body of research into the environmental and socio-economic benefits of green infra-structure supports the case for it to be positioned as a form of critical infrastructure, particularly in urban settings. It is broadly recognized that extreme weather and climate change pose signifi-cant risks to critical infrastructure systems linked to the provision of services including electrici-ty, water, communications, and transport, and consequently risk assessments and associated adaptation strategies are common practice. However, although green infrastructure is also at risk from extreme weather and climate change, threatening the realization of benefits that it can de-liver in urban settings, associated risks to green infrastructure are not widely understood or as-sessed in practice. This paper discusses the status of existing research on this topic and uses this as a foundation for a Greater Manchester (UK) case study that assesses the risk of low water avail-ability to grassed areas, which represent a key element of the city-region’s green infrastructure. In doing so, the paper demonstrates how risks linked to extreme weather and climate change can be assessed spatially to inform green infrastructure planning. In summary, this paper aims to raise awareness of extreme weather and climate change risk to urban green infrastructure, present an empirical case study and associated methodological approach on this topic, and ultimately to support efforts to enhance the resilience of urban green infrastructure to extreme weather and cli-mate change