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Socials & Other Information
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Dear Oxford researchers,
We hope you are doing well! OxRSS is offering a variety of activities and we look forward to seeing you soon.
Come be a host!
Hosting or co-hosting OxRSS events is fun, and a great way to connect with other researchers from across the University. We are especially looking for people to help host/co-host pub socials (you get to pick the pub!), Oxford walks and visits to colleges. If you'd like to volunteer or learn more, please contact Jen or write to us at committee@oxrss.ox.ac.uk. |
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The industrial action box below in this email
signals information about the university strike issues.
Would you like more information personalised to research staff
about the industrial action and union?
Let us know by clicking HERE.
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Please encourage your researcher colleagues to sign up to the OxRSS mailing list! They can click HERE and then on the sign-up link on the right, under DON'T MISS OUT!
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For Information – Related to Industrial Action
Research staff have been asking us about the industrial action / strikes and how it relates to you.
Though all planned strike days are now concluded, the industrial action continues. Recently the results of the re-ballot were announced, providing a continued mandate for industrial action.
A key, but often unknown, point to note is that the disputes pertain to research staff too and research staff are eligible to become members of the union (http://ucu.org.uk/).
The disputes are about fixed-term precarious contracts, pay and pension issues, workload, and inequality. There is a very helpful FAQ if you would like more information about all things related to the industrial action and how it might impact you, whether you are a member or not: UCU - FAQs
Would you like more information personalised to research staff about the industrial action and union? Let us know by clicking HERE.
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Thriving at Oxford: Wellbeing Events – 12-23 June
 Thriving at Oxford is a two-week wellbeing event series for University and College staff, offering a mix of online, in-person and hybrid events focusing on the six domains of wellbeing (health, work, values & principles, social growth, personal growth, and financial wellbeing). Activities include presentations, yoga and fitness, museum and walking tours, parenting and carer support – and much more! You can view the full Thriving at Oxford programme and book events HERE.
During that fortnight, OxRSS is opening the following events to everyone at the University: board games night (13 June; costs £6 and requires booking), LGBTQ+ pub social (14 June), and our weekly pub social (22 June). So invite your friends and colleagues along!
Also, the Researcher Hub is hosting sessoins on breathwork (16 & 19 June), ice cream at the Cricket Pavillion in University Parks (16 June), and wellbeing with Roddy Bray (22 June). And People & Organisational Development (POD) is hosting a careers club session (20 June).
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Book Club - Register interest!
 Books are our best company … with a warm cuppa curling up on the sofa or enjoying sunshine by the river. If you share our passion for reading, why not join our new book club? Cat is setting it up and we're looking for people to register interest and volunteer to help co-host. Meetings will be in person, fortnightly in central Oxford, and the group will read one book per month. If you are interested or would like to know more, please email Cat!
 Get in touch! Photography... or Photogra-coffee?
Are you interested in photography? Want to grab a coffee and casually take some pictures with others around Oxford? If so, please contact Liam.
Board Games Night – Tuesday, 2 & 16 May, from 8pm
Board games nights are taking place at the Thirsty Meeples board games cafe in Gloucester Green. The cost is £6 per person (plus a drink or snack). If you wish to participate, please register HERE so that we can book a table for the correct number of people. If you wish to register after 5pm the day before the event, or would like more information, please contact Mike or Keri.
Pub Socials – Thursdays, from 7pm
 We look forward to seeing you at our weekly pub socials! Join us for some informal and friendly chats. No purchase of alcoholic drinks is required. Please contact the respective host with any queries. Please contact Jen if you'd be able to host future pub socials.
4 May – The Star (off St Clements/Cowley Rd) – Phil
11 May – as yet no host – We are looking for pub host/co-host volunteers!
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Interested in playing football?
 As the days are getting longer and warmer, we would like to organise weekly football matches. All levels are welcome! Depending on the received interest, we may play 11-a-side in University Park (for free) or 7-a-side in the Sports Centre of Iffley Rd (approximately £2.50 per person). If you are interested, please subscribe to the following WhatsApp group by next Sunday, 7 May, https://chat.whatsapp.com/JgMowVEI5zyH3L74LZvkPt, and we will start from there to see what day of the week and time would suit most people. Alternatively, you can send an email to Tommaso or Nicholas.
Oxford University Newcomers’ Club Singing Group – Tuesdays, 5.45-7pm during term
 Come join the Oxford University Newcomers’ Club singing group! OUNC would like to extend a warm invitation to any OxRSS members who are interested in singing to join in our practice sessions. You do not need any prior singing experience – just an interest in singing! We welcome singers of all voice ranges and abilities to this social singing group, so come by for some enjoyment with music-making. You can find out more by contacting Elizabeth; and you can register interest in this brief FORM. Otherwise, just come by!
Location: Wesley Memorial Methodist Church (New Inn Hall Street, MAP)
Squash Sessions – Saturdays, 10.30am
Join us for informal squash Saturdays! Sessions are for up to 8 people and take place at Iffley Road Sports Centre. The meeting point is outside the sports centre near the bike park. You’re welcome to bring your own racquet or hire one from reception for £1.50. To reserve a place, please email Subhashisa.
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| Personal & Professional Development Activities |
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Interdisciplinary Discussion Groups
Interested in meeting other researchers working on related problems or with shared methods but who are perhaps in a different field? Join an informal group where members will meet to discuss these issues, get feedback on their own work, or collaborate on something new. The following groups have been formed and plan to meet once every two weeks (dates, times, and location to be announced). For information on participating in these groups, please email the contacts named below.
Register your interest! Participant Engagement in Qualitative Research
Discussing methods, approaches, and considerations about care for participants and effectiveness in elicitation of beliefs, perceptions, or experiences of sensitive topics. To find out more and register interest, please contact Liam.
Register your interest! Meta-Research, Open Science, and Research Reproducibility
The reproducibility crisis has affected multiple research fields, and scientists are calling for a change in the research culture (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661319302906). Meta-research was created to identify solutions to the current situation, and Open Science is one of the solutions to improve transparency of research. We will bring together researchers from any academic field to share their experience on meta-research, open science and reproducibility by hosting journal clubs, research-in-progress presentations, and invited talks. If you are interested in this group going ahead, please let us know by contacting Lazaros.
1. Network Analysis – Charlie
We look at the application of network data structures in different fields (social networks, cognitive networks, ecological networks, etc.), and common challenges encountered in their analysis and interpretation.
2. Statistical Inference & Computing – Charlie
We discuss all manner of topics in statistics, both theoretical and computational, and draw on our diversity of backgrounds to overcome myopia in the methods applied in our respective fields.
3. Anthropology & Psychology: Comparisons & Divergences – Anthony
The aim is to bring anthropology into critical dialogue with psychology for a more holistic approach to human sciences research.
4. The notion of ‘presence’ in an interdisciplinary approach – Elena
We endeavour to find out how much overlapping exists when various disciplines speak about the notion of ‘presence’. For instance, what does a physicist have in mind? And a historian?
5. Leading Education with Legal Lens (LELL) – Vincent
The aim is to explore the intersection between education and law in relation to educational leadership, school issues and advice to governments and policy-makers. Please contact Vincent if you are interested in learning more!
If you are interested in leading a group focused on a different topic, please contact Liam or Jen. We are keen to facilitate links between colleges and researchers from across all disciplines.
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Fieldwork Initiative to Stop Sexualised Trauma Training (FIIST) – Wednesday, 3 May, 1.30-3.30pm (Zoom webinar)
This webinar is organised in collaboration with the Researcher Hub and facilitated by Jerika Loren Heinze (founder of the Fieldwork Initiative). It imagines the future of anthropological research without its current barriers in fieldwork bias – specifically sexual harassment in the field – through adoption of pre-fieldwork training crafted by survivors of fieldwork violence. The webinar encourages positive changes in the way we approach research pedagogy to include more equitable practices. For more information and to register, please visit HERE.
HAPP One-Day Conference ‘Order and Chaos’ – Saturday, 3 June, 10.30am-5pm (in person & livestreamed online)
This conference will examine the evolution of the theories on order and chaos across the centuries and their prospects for future advances. Everyone is welcome. Details and weblinks to register for the conference to attend in person or online are given HERE.
OUNC Coffee Mornings – Wednesdays, 10.30am-12-noon, at the University Club
 Oxford University Newcomers’ Club (OUNC) welcomes all new University staff and/or their partners and family members to come to coffee mornings on Wednesdays at the University Club (MAP; events calendar). Drop in, come on your own if you like – everyone is welcome!
Accommodation offer – Shielder sought for shared house in OX4 3AW
 Accommodation available for a shielder (clinically vulnerable or similar) in a house observing Covid safety measures. Share a beautiful, light, newly refurbished and quiet house with female researcher working (remotely) within the University. Near local shops and take-away restaurants on Magdalen and Cowley Roads; 30-minute walk to Carfax. Rent £1,150/month inclusive (no extra bills), covers your own 2 rooms (a bedroom and a study/sitting room) and your private bathroom. Kitchen, main living room and large garden are shared. On-street parking with resident permit from Council. For information, please contact Ann.
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Please email Jen if you’re interested in volunteering
to help host OxRSS activities described above,
or have ideas for future events and activities.
We’d love to hear from you!
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Wishing you all our best,
Jen, Liam and Claudio
Liam Guilfoyle – OxRSS Co-Chair
Claudio Cortes Rodriguez – OxRSS Co-Chair
Jennifer Allen – Events Manager
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