Teaching Fellowships
Seven University fellowships have been awarded for outstanding contributions to teaching and the development of student learning. Angi Malderez in education and Joanna Drugan in French were awarded three-year fellowships with each having access to project funding of £15,000 and an annual honorarium of £1,000. In addition, a two-year fellowship with project funding of £10,000 and an annual honorarium of £1,000 was awarded to Syd Donald in German. A further four one-year Fellowships of £4,000 project funding and a £1,000 honorarium were awarded to Martyn Clark in continuing education, Kirsty Forrest in anaesthesia, Sarah Hudspith in Russian & Slavonic studies and Tom Roper in education. Full details of the scheme are available at http://www.leeds.ac.uk/sddu/leeds/fellowship/

Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Alan Pearman and the Pro-Deans for learning and teaching have made three nominations for the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme. They were to: Professor Deborah Murdoch-Eaton in medical education & paediatrics (experienced category), Sarah Hudspith (rising star category) and Chris Butcher, SDDU (support staff category). Full details of the scheme are available at http://www.ntfs.ac.uk/

Chair forum meets
The UK's first forum for public sector chairs – set up by the University – meets tonight (March 22) in London. The Public Chair's Forum will hear British Lung Foundation chief executive and former Audit Commission chair Dame Helena Shovelton talk about the 'Perils and pleasures of chairing an NGO'. The Leeds University business school-run Forum will meet six times a year, giving leaders of public bodies a unique chance to share experiences and discuss problems. Forum members include chairs of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, Acas, the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the Disability Rights Commission. LUBS Dean, Professor Andrew Lock said: “Public body chairs often find their roles and the expectations of them to be ambiguous, and clearly value the opportunity to share experiences with others.” For more information contact Juliet Simons, j.l.simons@adm.leeds.ac.uk 0113 343 4384.

Fair trade
The University has established a steering group to consider how its commitment to fair trade can be extended. This builds on the University’s plans to open a fair trade coffee bar on campus, selling a range of drinks and snacks, and the existing range of fair trade products already available.

Is anybody there?
Professor Katie Wales of the school of english has been awarded a research fellowship to work on ‘A Rhetoric of the After-Life: Conversations with the Dead’, or the discourse of spiritualist mediums. If anyone has any experiences they’d like to share with her (in confidence), contact: k.wales@leeds.ac.uk

Creative fellow
This year’s fellow in creative writing at the University is Peter Sansom. Huddersfield-born Sansom, who was previously poet-in-residence for Marks & Spencer, joins Leeds from financial services group Prudential.