In the Dark

Here I am in the flat I’ve been renting for the past three and a half years. I’m just packing the last of my belongings ready to take back to Cardiff. I’ll be handing back the keys this afternoon and then heading for the railway station.

I left my job at Sussex at the end of last week, but the tenancy of the flat doesn’t expire until tomorrow so I thought I might as well make the most of it.

Tomorrow is the annual Pride celebration in Brighton, which I’ve decided to miss for logistical reasons. I hope it goes well though, especially for the weather.

It’s a warm sunny day and I may go for a stroll along the promenade before I leave. I still think that Brighton would have been a nice place to live, if only I’d been able to find the time to enjoy it, but I have no regrets about returning to Cardiff. When you start to dread going into work every morning it’s definitely time to make a change. It was an immense relief when I removed the Sussex University email account from my mobile phone!

But this isn’t really a time for looking back. I am looking forward to the next few weeks because I’m not actually starting work at Cardiff until September. I’m going to spend most of August pottering about the house, though I do have a (hopefully short) stay in hospital scheduled for routine maintenance.

It will probably feel quite strange when I do get back to work at Cardiff, but at least there will be some familiar faces!

Update: courtesy of Southern Rail I had to stand all the way from Brighton to Victoria. They could only muster four coaches for a peak time train. I won’t miss Southern Fail that’s for sure..

As the date of my departure from the University of Sussex approaches, I find myself doing various things here for the last time. Last night’s valedictory event was a dinner at Pelham House in Lewes with some of the other Heads of School at the University of Sussex. There are 12 Schools altogether (including Brighton & Sussex Medical School, which belongs both to the University of Sussex and the nearby University of Brighton). The Heads of these Schools form a group, imaginatively called the Heads of Schools Group (or HOSG for short).

The Heads of School meet on a regular basis to discuss matters of mutual interest (and, more importantly to share juicy gossip). Once a term they meet for a dinner too, and the latest those events was last night.

As it happens two other Heads of School are stepping down at roughly the same time as me: Tom Healy (English) and Brian Hudson (Education and Social Work), so last night’s dinner was a leaving do of a sort, in which the nearly departed (including myself) were given gifts and made short speeches. More importantly, we had a sumptuous meal, excellent conversation in the very pleasant setting of the “Panelled Room”.

Here’s a picture of me unwrapping my gifts. The charming hat, which I am wearing in what I am told is the correct style, is one of the presents I got. That’s Tom Ormerod in the background.

I won’t miss the administrative side of my current job and am looking forward to concentrating a bit more on the things I think I’m better at, i.e. teaching and research, but I will miss the chance to converse with academics from different fields and find out what happens on the other side of various disciplinary boundaries. A few weeks ago, for example, I was the independent Chair of an interview panel for lecturers in drama for the School of English, an opportunity that came my way because of my position as a Head of School. It was great fun, and I’m very glad that a couple of very good appointments were made.

More generally, it’s always been a pleasure to see things from the perspective of other academic fields through the Head of School’s group. Many of the difficulties we face are common to all disciplines, but sometimes changes in policy or process have a disproportionate effect on some subjects. When the HOSG has had to come together to support one another it has always done so, and long may that collegiate spirit continue.

I’d like therefore to end this piece by saying a very public “thank you” to Diane Mynors (Engineering & Informatics) who is currently Head of the Heads of Schools Group (Capo di Tutti Capi) for organizing last night’s dinner and to all those who came for making it such a pleasant evening.

I’d also like to thank all the Heads of School by name for being such great colleagues over the years: Tom Healy (English); Brian Hudson (ESW); Laurence Pearl (Life Sciences); Tom Ormerod (Psychology), Andrea Cornwall (Global Studies); Tim Jordan (Media Film & Music); Steven McGuire (Business, Management and Economics); Diane Mynors (Engineering and Informatics); Clive Webb (History, Art History & Philosophy); Andrew Sanders (Law, Politics and Sociology); and Malcolm Reed (BSMS).

Best wishes to you all for the future!

I’m not getting much time to blog these days because there’s so much to finish off before I step down from my position as Head of School for Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Sussex.

Today I chaired my last Progression and Award Board. This is the meeting at which we check examination results against the criteria for awarding a degree (for graduating students) or students to progress to the next stage of their course (if they are continuing). Today’s was for students taught postgraduate programmes in Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy. In previous weeks I’ve done two other PABs: one for UG graduating students (Years 3 and 4) and another for progressing students (Years 1 and 2). That’s in addition to doing a similar job as external examiner at the University of Cambridge. Which reminds me, I need to write a report for that…

On top of that I’ve had three solid days of interviews for faculty positions in Mathematics and Statistics which are part of a strategic plan that involves expanding and diversifying the research and teaching in Mathematics, to go alongside similar expansion and diversification in Mathematics.

Oh, and this afternoon I have to chair my last meeting of the MPS Executive Group.

I’m glad I’ll be leaving the School when it’s doing well, with record student numbers, increasing faculty numbers, higher than ever research grant income and good league table positions for its two Departments. On the other hand, I have had enough of the enormous administrative workload and have no regrets about stepping down. I’ve tried my hand at management. I think I’ve done some good things here, and am definitely leaving the School in a better position than when I arrived. But it’s definitely time for me to move on.

I was at South Kensington Technical Imperial College on Monday to do a PhD Examination. After the viva someone asked me if I was enjoying “winding down” before my departure on 31st July. In fact it’s been even more intense than usual over the last few weeks. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve heard sentences that begin with the words “Before you go, can you just….”.

I’ll get a bit of a break next week to do focus a bit on science, as I’m off to a meeting in Ghent (Belgium) on Maximum Entropy and Bayesian Methods, known as MaxEnt for short.

When I get back my last main responsibility will be the Graduation Ceremony for Mathematical and Physical Sciences on 19th July. After that I may finally get “to wind down” a bit!