Interdisciplinary Kent: Three Films

As long time readers of this blog will know, I've been working with Jasper Bouverie of Funder Films to produce three short films celebrating the University's roots in - and on-going support for - interdisciplinarity. The films were finished in time to be premiered at Kent's 50th Anniversary shindig on 5 September, and are now available on its YouTube channel, below:

• Past: youtu.be/S4t0QSG4o84
• Present: youtu.be/CTvVnktO5yA
• Future: youtu.be/k3AUi3cqOG4

In presenting the films, Jasper gave a thoughtful and passionate introduction to the project, to why it was important to him, and why interdisciplinarity is important for us all. Here is a transcript of his words:

Playing in the Sand

In the last decade sandpits have become a familiar part of the academic landscape. For those of you not familiar with the concept, they are a way for academics to get together in a hotel far from the everyday pressures and demands of their university lives, to think about their research and work with others to develop new ideas.

Last week we invited Knowinnovation to run a sandpit for the new research consortium between the universities of Kent, Essex and East Anglia: Eastern ARC. It took a long time to get to this point as I had started talking to them about the possibility of such an event in October 2013.

Interdisciplinary Kent: Premiere, 5 Sept 2015

An Eastern ARC interdisciplinary sandpit in May

The University of Kent was founded on strong interdisciplinary principles. It harnessed the mood of the time by questioning the siloed nature of learning, and the college structure was an attempt to encourage both staff and students in diverse disciplines to meet and interact. Whilst the departmentalisation of the seventies and eighties led to the loss of some of this serendipitous freedom, the ethos remained. The size of the University, the range of subjects and the concentrated campus encourages academics to meet others outside of their specialism.

University of Kent Research Prizes

I wrote last year about the development of a research prize competition here at Kent. If you read the post you'll know that it wasn't a straightforward gestation; however, when we launched it there was a good deal of interest, and we received 40 applications by the deadline in January.

After the hours of fretting, worrying, and of explaining the potential benefit to a sceptical audience, I was really pleased to see this interest. Moreover, I was pleased to see the quality and diversity of the research that had been put forward. It demonstrated a vibrant research culture, and I felt humbled to be a part of this world, both at the University, and as part of a national and global endeavour.

There were 12 winners in total: three faculty winners in each of the three categories, and three overall winners. They were:

Interdisciplinary Research ‘Sandpits’

As part of the Kent’s 50th Anniversary celebrations, the University is funding three interdisciplinary research ‘sandpits’.

Sandpits are residential interactive workshops that take place over three days. Having a period of time to work with others, to focus on broad issues, test ideas and assumptions and develop interesting solutions to difficult problems is a rare opportunity in today’s academy, and goes back to the founding interdisciplinary, collegiate principles of the University.

Kent Research Prizes Scheme Launched

To recognise exceptional achievements in research, and to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, the University is this year launching a new Research Prizes scheme. As well as recognising the most outstanding work in each Faculty, there will be specific prizes for excellent work undertaken by early career researchers and by doctoral students.

All the details are available on the Kent Research Services website here. Do give some consideration to your own work, or that of colleagues who you feel have produced exceptional work recently, and whose outstanding achievements deserve to be recognised by the University and the wider community.

If you have any questions about the scheme don't hesitate to get in touch with me.