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Lectured Out

Posted in Biographical, Education with tags , , , , , on July 10, 2013 by telescoper

Just time for a quick post today because I’m quite knackered. Both my lectures for the Summer School I’m attending were this morning, and each was 90 minutes long – though there was a 30 minute coffee break between the two. The students therefore had to out up with me droning on most of the morning so were probably sick of the sight of me by lunchtime although they were quite polite about it. MOst of the participants went off on an excursion after lunch, but I decided to stay behind and take a siesta. I’m definitely too old for hiking in this heat.

The conference organizers told me that ninety minute lectures are apparently quite normal in Germany. I’m not sure why. I don’t think students can concentrate for that length of time, and it’s a definite strain on the lecturer too. I find even an hour lecture quite tiring, actually, but that’s more the effect of expending nervous energy walking backwards and forwards trying frantically to tell if anyone is understanding what I’m talking about. I usually enjoy lecturing actually, but it’s definitely stressful at the time. Now that I’m Head of School I won’t get to do as much teaching in the future as I did in the past. I suppose I’ll miss that “contact” with students, but I don’t think their education will suffer at all as a consequence of not being taught by me!

This is graduation week at the University of Sussex; finalists from the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences actually graduate tomorrow. In normal circumstances I would be there to read out the names as the graduands parade across the stage, but I committed to attend this Summer School long before I’d even been appointed to my job as Head of MPS so felt I shouldn’t leave the organizers in the lurch. The Deputy Head of School will therefore do the honours at tomorrow’s ceremony. I haven’t been there long enough to get to know the graduating class very well, so it’s quite fitting that he’s looking after them on the big day. In other words, I don’t think I’ll be missed. I also see that final year students from the School of Physics & Astronomy at Cardiff University will be graduating next Monday (15th July). I’ve known some of them for almost four years so feel a bit sad that I left before they finished, but I’m sure I won’t be missed on that occasion either. I bet most of them have already forgotten I was ever there!

Anyway, on the off chance that any graduating students from either Sussex or Cardiff happen to read this, I hope you enjoy the graduation ceremony and associated celebrations and wish you well as you embark on the next stage of life’s journey.

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Germany Calling…

Posted in Biographical, Books, Talks and Reviews, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , , on July 7, 2013 by telescoper

Just a quick post to break radio silence and announce my arrival in the picturesque town of Bad Honnef, spa town in Germany near Bonn in the Rhein-Sieg district of North Rhine-Westphalia. We’re right on the banks of the Rhine actually, and there are some fine views of castles and hills to be had all round.

To get here I took my life in my hands and flew with a German budget airline called Germanwings from Heathrow to nearby Bonn-Cologne airport. I mean it’s near to Bad Honnef, not to Heathrow. Apart from the fact that I had to queue for an hour at check-in because the staff apparently didn’t know how to operate the computer system, and the flight was delayed leaving because it was delayed on the way in, it wasn’t actually too bad; we arrived only about 25 minutes late and I was able to have a few beers and some food when I arrived at my destination.

The reason for this expedition is that I’m giving two lectures at the Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft (henceforth DPG) Summer School on Inflation and the CMB. The list of other speakers is very impressive so I assume that some form of administrative error is responsible for my invitation, and especially for the fact that I’ve got to give two lectures while everyone else is just giving one…

Anyway, it’s lovely weather here – although a little on the toasty side for my cold English blood – and I hope to get the chance to take a few pictures as well as some updates from the meeting. I also hope to find out why this place is called Bad Honnef. I know I’ve only been here a few hours, but it seems to me that, as Honnefs go, it’s really not bad at all…

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Prudential Negligence

Posted in Biographical, Finance with tags , , on July 4, 2013 by telescoper

It’s been a long day, but before heading home I thought I’d do a quick post to update what looks like turning into quite a saga. Not long ago I blogged about a surprise letter of condolence I received about my father’s death. It was a surprise because my Dad died nearly six years ago…

The letter I referred to above actually came from the Annuities Department of the Prudential. I didn’t name them in my previous post because I didn’t want to rock the boat, and in any case I couldn’t remember the Pru being among the list of companies I wrote to after the funeral all that time ago. In between my previous post and now I had the chance to go through my old correspondence and establish that I did, in fact, write to the Prudential soon after my father passed away. To confirm this, a few days ago I received another letter from them admitting that they received my letter in 2007 and failed to act on it. I hadn’t pursued the matter at the time, probably because I thought they would just stop the small annuity he was apparently receiving from them and that would be that. In fact it turns out some money is owed (and has been owing all this time) to my Dad’s estate and nobody at Prudential bothered to do anything about it until now. I’m not impressed.

Naturally I’m a bit cheesed off with this, as I now have to do a number of things (like getting a copy of my father’s death certificate) in order to claim the residual funds. I’ll also be expecting quite substantial compensation for the gross negligence Prudential have shown too.

However, the main reason for posting about this episode is that it doesn’t exactly inspire me with confidence about the workings of the Prudential. That’s worth bearing in mind by any academics who have taken out Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) in order to plan for early retirement or to make up for missing years’ contributions. You see, the USS voluntary contribution scheme is in fact managed by Prudential…

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Slow Progress for Female Physics Professors

Posted in Biographical, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , , on July 1, 2013 by telescoper

One of the more pleasant jobs I have to do these days is to congratulate staff in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Sussex when they get promoted, whether it be to Senior Lecturer, Reader or Professor. There has been quite a crop of promotions at all levels in the School recently, owing to the excellent contributions made by so many people to teaching, research and other aspects of the work we do.

One of the successful promotion candidates in the latest round was the Head of our Experimental Particle Physics group, Antonella de Santo, whose promotion to Professor of Physics makes her the first ever female Professor of Physics at the University of Sussex. I’m rather embarrassed to admit that, actually, as the University has existed for 51 years, but at least I can say better late then never!

Anyway, Antonella’s well-deserved success prompted me to look into the statistics of female physics & astronomy professors. I’ve already posted about how the proportion of female undergraduates studying physics as been stuck at around the 20% mark for a decade despite strenuous efforts to widen participation. A recent (2012) study by the Institute of Physics contains a wealth of statistical information about staff in Physics departments, which I encourage people to read if they’re interested in the overall issue with equality and diversity in physics. Here I’ll just pull out the figure (based on a 2010 survey) that out of a total of 650 Professors of Physics (and/or Astronomy) in the UK, just 5.5% were female. At that date about 20 physics departments had no female professors at all; that would have included Sussex, of course.

Another University, Liverpool, also recently appointed its first female Professor of Physics in the person of Tara Shears, another particle physicist. The current  Head of the  Department of Physics at Imperial Collge is Joanna Haigh, (who I thought was the first to occupy such a position until corrected by the comment below) so there are signs that career prospects are improving for female physicists, but progress is painfully slow. The first ever female Professor of Physics in the United Kingdom was Daphne Jackson, a nuclear physicist, who took up her Chair at the University of Surrey way back in 1971. It’s interesting to note that when Daphne Jackson studied physics as an undergraduate at Imperial College she was one of only two women among the 88 undergraduates in her year.

I don’t personally think that there’s a significant gender bias when it comes to the consideration of promotion cases at the University of Sussex (or at any other institution I’ve worked at), but there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that women are much more reluctant than men to put themselves forward for consideration at any level. I hope that recent successes in MPS, such as Antonella’s Professorship and Readerships for astronomer Kathy Romer and mathematician Vanessa Styles, will provide the necessary encouragement.

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A Bit of Simon Fanshawe

Posted in Biographical, Brighton, Politics with tags , , , , on June 30, 2013 by telescoper

27On Friday I attended a very interesting event on the University of Sussex campus. This was arranged to mark the forthcoming end of the term of office of the current Chair of Council of the University of Sussex, Simon Fanshawe (left). Simon Fanshawe OBE is, of course,  a well-known radio and TV broadcaster, award-winning comedian and co-founder of the campaigning organization Stonewall. He also has an interesting taste in suits, and provided evidence of that in his outfit on Friday. But enough of matters sartorial. Simon has been Chair of Council for six years, and served as a member of Council for as many years before that, so really has contributed a huge amount to the University over that period. I think it’s safe to say that he has had a much higher profile in his role as Chair than most of his counterparts in other UK universities, so the idea of having a special event in his honour was thoroughly well justified.

First we had a series of three short lectures by Sussex on various issues relating to equality and diversity and how their relate to power and governance. More specifically these were talks about female islamic religious leaders, the nature of political corruption and attitudes to it in different countries, and a particularly fascinating talk by Robert Livingston that touched on many things, including how facial features seem to correlate with success in leadership positions.

After that there was a wine reception and a nice dinner with lots of stimulating conversation. For some reason a major topic on my table was bell-ringing, and why English church bells sound so different from those in continental Europe. I wrote some stuff about that years ago, while I was teaching probability, and may blog about it in future. Everyone else seemed to head home via taxi after dinner, but I wobbled off to the bus stop and got the trusty No. 23 back to Kemptown.

Anyway, I may post later on about some things that popped into my mind as a result of the talks and the subsequent discussion and conversation but for the time being I’ll just mention a very tenuous link with Simon Fanshawe that involves taking a little trip down memory lane. The picture below was taken in either 1988 or 1989 (I’m not very good at dates). It shows me and my partner at the time, Roger, preparing to act as volunteer waiters at a fund-raising dinner (somewhere in Lewes if I remember correctly) organized by the Communist Party of Great Britain:

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I wasn’t involved very much in campus politics when I was a graduate student at Sussex (from 1985 to 1988) or a postdoctoral researcher (1988-90) because I found most of it depressingly puerile and short-sighted, that being especially true of the sizable lunatic fringe which also had a disagreeable taste for mindless vandalism. Sadly, times haven’t changed in that respect. I did, however, during that time become an avid reader of magazine called Marxism Today which I thought contained the most incisive political writing of the time and which therefore prompted me to join the CPGB, and eventually became Branch Secretary until I left for London in 1990. Incidentally the Cee-Pee-Gee-Bee decided to dissolve itself as a political party in 1991 and became a sort of leftist think-tank called Democratic Left.

Anyway, the point about that photograph is that the after-dinner speaker on that occasion was none other than Simon Fanshawe, although I doubt if he remembers!

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And the nominations are…

Posted in Biographical, Sport with tags , on June 24, 2013 by telescoper

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of handing out an award. I even got to say “and the nominations are…” before reading out the name of the lucky winner. This was all part of a little event to celebrate “Commit to Get Fit“, a challenge run by Sussexsport which involved staff from all over the University embarking on a range of physical activities and which ran throughout May.

Anyway, staff taking part were encouraged to keep a blog about their experiences using the University’s SPLASH resource and it was my duty to present a prize on behalf of the jury. There turned out to be over 200 individual posts, which meant a lot of work reading them in the days leading up to the ceremony. As it happened, the prize for the best blog series was actually awarded to Gemma Farrell from the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), of which I happen to be Head. But it wasn’t a fix. Oh no…

Here’s me presenting the treasured brown envelope to Gemma.

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Anyway, the whole CTGF campaign seems to have gone off pretty well. Maybe I’ll even take part myself next year, as opposed to sitting on my backside reading blog posts…

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The Glory of Love

Posted in Biographical, Jazz on June 22, 2013 by telescoper

I haven’t had any of my Dad’s favourite musician, Humphrey Lyttelton, on here for a while so here’s an old favourite. This is Humphrey Lyttelton and his Band vintage 1955, i.e. after the departure of brilliant trombonist Keith Christie, which consisted of Humphrey “Humph” Lyttelton himself (trumpet), John Picard (trombone), Wally “Trog” Fawkes (clarinet), Bruce Turner (alto sax), Johnny Parker (piano), Freddy Legon (guitar), Mickey Ashman (bass), and George “Hoppy” Hopkinson (drums).

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Congratulations, here and there..

Posted in Biographical, Education with tags , , on June 14, 2013 by telescoper

Well, the academic year has finally come to an end at the University of Sussex. This afternoon we had another marathon meeting of Senate to round off the week and today was also the last day of the examination period; final-year students had their last exams earlier in the assessment period so their papers could be marked and scrutinized in time for yesterday’s meeting of the Progression and Awards Board. Although we were operating under new regulations this year, so there was some nervousness about how it would go, it all went pretty well in the end. The recommendations of the PAB were checked by the University authorities yesterday as I went up to London for an event at the Royal Society and when I returned to work this morning it was my (very pleasant) job to sign off the pass lists and also sign the certificates relating to prizes for outstanding students.

When all was done, the pass list was put up in the foyer of Pevensey 2 at which point a scrum of anxious students formed around it to find out how they’d done. 

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The vast majority of the faces I saw had very happy smiles on them, as I knew would be the case because I had seen the results beforehand and knew how well so many of them had done! Champagne corks popped and prizes were handed out. There then followed a celebratory BBQ outside the building, organized by staff and students. The weather didn’t look very promising, and it remained rather windy – threatening to blow smoke into the building and possibly set off the smoke alarms – but it was a nice occasion.

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Unfortunately I had to leave in mid-party to attend a Senate briefing meeting, followed by Senate itself, which went on from 2pm until almost 6 during which time the Sun came out. The weather thus looked favourably on similar celebrations going on around campus, but not on those couped up in Bramber House for the Senate meeting.

Anyway, as Head of School I’d just like to say congratulations to all this year’s graduating class on their achievement and wish them well as today’s celebrations no doubt continue into the evening and perhaps beyond. I’d also like to all staff in the School for working so hard to get everything done so the students got their results in time and in good order; to the lecturers and examiners for getting their marks in on time; to the PAB members for their diligence in following the procedures; and, above all, to the wonderful staff in the MPS office for their huge contribution to the administration of the process. It’s the first time I’ve been involved in examinations here and the support staff did a fantastic job, sometimes under very difficult circumstances.

Meanwhile, back in Cardiff, similar events will have unfolded there. I don’t know how many of the graduating class from Cardiff University School of Physics & Astronomy are likely to read this blog nowadays. A few did in the past, but have probably stopped now that I’ve left. Just in case, however, I’d like to congratulate them all on their success and express regret that I didn’t see the same kind of smiles on their faces as I did on the Sussex students!

Well, that was the week that was always going to be very busy. Now I’m going to head home, put my feet up and tackle the latest Private Eye crossword. Oh, and maybe a glass or two of wine…

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Replacement Plug

Posted in Biographical, Education, The Universe and Stuff with tags , on June 11, 2013 by telescoper

Time moves on. I just noticed that an advertisement has appeared for my old job at Cardiff University.

Faculty Position in Theoretical Astrophysics or Cosmology

(Senior Lecturer/Reader/Professor depending on experience)

The School of Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University has an immediate vacancy for a permanent faculty position in Theoretical Astrophysics or Cosmology. Applications are particularly welcome from applicants who can work closely with existing observational astronomers in the School.  The position can be at any level from Senior Lecturer to full Professor depending on the experience of the appointed candidate.

 The appointee will be expected to strengthen further the existing programme and have demonstrated a world-class programme of research. The appointee will also be expected to teach theoretical astrophysics and physics courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

 Further information about the School may be found at http://www.astro.cf.ac.uk/ and further details about employment at Cardiff University as well as downloadable application forms may be found on the University website at http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/jobs/  under vacancy number 1046BR.

 Informal enquiries regarding this position may be made to Professor Walter Gear, Head of School (Walter.Gear@astro.cf.ac.uk).

If the person that eventually gets the job applies as a result of seeing the advert here it would be rather ironic! I’d consider applying for it myself, but it says the applicant  must “have demonstrated a world-class programme of research”, which clearly rules me out!

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Intimations of Mortality

Posted in Biographical with tags on June 10, 2013 by telescoper

Life is full of such strange surprises, not all of them pleasant. This morning I received a letter from a well-known insurance company which had arrived at my Brighton address having apparently followed an extremely circuitous route.

The letter begins

We have been advised that Mr Alan Coles has sadly passed away. I am very sorry to hear about the death of Mr Coles. Please accept my sympathy at what must be a difficult time.

I was quite surprised by this, as Mr Alan Coles (my father) actually passed away in October 2007, i.e. almost 6 years ago. Although this was a long time ago, the letter brought back painful memories of that time and cast a dark shadow over the day.

I haven’t written much about this on here, as it happened before I started blogging, but perhaps its time to write something. Here is an excerpt from an earlier post about Benwell that refers to my father’s relocation to Dorset from his (and my) home town of Newcastle upon Tyne in the 1980s:

As time went on and the recession bit harder, the social and material fabric of Benwell gradually deteriorated. There were increasingly frequent burglaries and car thefts. It became a no-go zone at night. His business started to fail and debts began to mount. The stress of watching the neighbourhood falling apart and coping with the constant threat of break-ins at the shop and his flat eventually got too much for him. He packed everything he could into his van and fled to the South coast to live with his sister in Weymouth, leaving the dilapidated shop and all his debts behind. I’m sure there’s a similar story behind all the other empty shops in Benwell.

It was in Weymouth that he died. I had just moved to Cardiff at the time, and I had to go to Dorset by train to try to sort out his affairs and dispose of his meagre possessions, most of which were bundled off to charity shops. I remember the desolation that engulfed me as I sat in his bedroom amongst all that was left of the life of a father who was, in truth, always a stranger to me. Stacks of useless stuff, hoarded for no apparent reason like memories he couldn’t obliterate, now at last were going where they belonged: in the bin.

My parents separated when I was at School, at which point I went to live with my mother. My relationship with my father had never been close, but thereafter we kept only sporadic contact. I felt guilt. I had no right to that sense of loss.

As you do in such situations, I busied myself trying to tidy things up. I went through his papers, contacted banks and building societies to close a few accounts, arranged for his pension to be stopped, and informed various others about his death. He hadn’t written a will, but the net residue of his “estate” was rather small. Probate not being required, permission was quickly received to divide what remained, after paying for the funeral, between his next of kin, i.e. me and my brother.

Now, six years on, it seems there might be a bit more to divide between us. Though I doubt it will amount to very much, I’ve replied to the letter as best I could, and will wait and see what develops. Maybe this time the closure will be permanent.

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