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Socials & Other Information
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Dear Oxford researchers,
 We hope you are doing well! OxRSS is offering a range of activities – check out the upcoming International Picnic and the new book club, or if you want to start running with a group express your interest in the possibility of a Park Run group. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Town & Gown Run
OxRSS congratulates our researcher colleagues who took part in the Oxford Town & Gown run! The group trained together, and ran on Sunday, 14 May, in glorious sunshine.
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Spread the word about OxRSS!
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!
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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International Picnic – Saturday, 17 June, 12.30-3.30pm, at Maison Française d’Oxford
We warmly invite you to attend an International Picnic, an event co-hosted by OxRSS and OUNC (Oxford University Newcomers’ Club), with kind support from the Researcher Hub. At this family-friendly outing, you are welcome to bring partners, children, other family and friends (but no pets please). The idea is to bring food and drink of different cultures from your connections and collaborations, so please bring a dish and/or beverages to share. Some food, soft drinks, plates, cups and cutlery will be provided. If you have a picnic set or picnic blankets/rugs, please bring them if you can. If you wish to attend, please fill in your details on this FORM; and for any questions please contact Jen. If a high chance of rain is forecast, we will host the event inside the spacious main building. We are looking forward to seeing you and hope you enjoy the picnic!
Location: Maison Française d’Oxford, 2-10 Norham Road, OX2 6SE (MAP)
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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.
This pan-University initiative has been organised by the Wellbeing Programme Team.
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 - Tuesdays, 7.30pm, city centre
 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? The group meets weekly in the city centre, in changing locations. Book discussions happen on the 2nd and 3rd Tuesdays of the month, and social catch-ups on the 1st and 4th Tuesdays. If you would like to participate or 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, 30 May and 13 & 27 June, from 8pm
Games night on 13 June is part of the Thriving at Oxford wellbeing event series, and all University staff are welcome!
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.
LGBTQ+ Pub Social – Wednesday, 14 June, from 7pm
This evening is part of the Thriving at Oxford wellbeing event series, and all University staff are welcome!
 OxRSS is hosting an LGBTQ+ pub social at the Jolly Farmers (city centre). Just like the regular pub socials, EVERYBODY is welcome to attend! As usual, meet inside and look out for the OxRSS sign on one of the tables. No need to sign up in advance, but feel free to get in touch with Isabelle beforehand if you want more information.
Pub Socials – Thursdays, from 7pm
We are looking for pub host/co-host volunteers! OxRSS is looking for people to help host the ever-popular pub socials. It's FUN and EASY to do and you meet great people! You don't need experience, and new arrivals are welcome to host. Write to us at committee@oxrss.ox.ac.uk if you are interested in knowing more!
 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.
1 June – The King’s Arms (city centre) – Daria
8 June – The Victoria (Jericho) – Gul
15 June – Host needed!
22 June – Chequers (city centre) – Jen
The pub social on 22 June is part of the Thriving at Oxford wellbeing event series, and all University staff are welcome!
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New! Park Run group – Express your interest
We are looking to start a running group to join in together with Park Run in University Parks (5K, Saturdays, 9am). If you’re interested, please send an email to Yinxue.
Interested in playing football?
 Come join our weekly football matches! All levels are welcome. Depending on interest, we play 11-a-side in University Parks (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 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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NEW! Parent & Toddler Group with the Newcomers’ Club – Wednesdays, 19 April - 14 June, 10.45-11.30am, at the University Club
NB: The toddlers' group will not meet on 31 May (school term break) - but do come to the OUNC coffee morning that day! (toddlers are welcome)
 The Oxford University Newcomers’ Club (OUNC) invites OxRSS members and their families to come to the Parent & Toddler group, held weekly during term time at the University Club (MAP). Please share this with your partners even if you are not able to attend! This is a chance for toddlers to play together and for parents to relax and chat. After 11.30, you are welcome to join the OUNC weekly coffee morning (Wednesdays, 10.30-12noon) at the ground level of the University Club. Please register your interest HERE; and if you have any questions please contact Morine.
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!
Get involved in Reproducible Research Oxford
Reproducible Research Oxford (RROx) is a grassroots collective of students and staff across the University who encourage research to be ‘reproducible’ in a broad sense: open, transparent, and rigorous. RROx is the local chapter of UK Reproducibility Network. Lately, RROx has appointed 8 new leads and liaisons to run initiatives around networking, training, and other activities. Click HERE to learn more, and/or get involved by joining the mailing list!
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.
Andrew Chamblin Memorial Concert – Thursday, 22 June, 8pm, at Christ Church Cathedral and livestreamed online
The 17th annual Andrew Chamblin Memorial Concert will be given by Thierry Escaich, who will play an hour-long programme of organ works by Bach, Franck, Vierne, Brahms and Widor. The concert is free, and no tickets are required. Everyone is welcome to attend the live concert, or to watch the live-streamed performance HERE.
Public Lectures on Medical Ethics – 27 & 28 June, 6pm, at Harris Manchester College (Chapel)
27 June – Professor Lydia Dugdale (Columbia University, USA) will consider the ethical imperative of cultivating hope among medical professionals. To see more information and register, please click HERE.
28 June – Professor Brian Brock (Aberdeen University) will consider the art of listening as integral to good medicine. To see more information and register, please click HERE.
Medical Researchers Sought for Fieldwork Interviews
Joy Nam, a PhD student on a Collaborative Doctoral Programme with the Bodleian and University of Glasgow, is looking to interview 5 medical researchers (Post-doc/RS4 level to Profs) for her fieldwork. She is investigating researchers' mental models of knowledge in their fields (Medicine, Chemistry, History and Law) toward improving literature discovery systems, by taking into account disciplinary differences in scholars' expectations of how information should be organised. Due to the nature of her study, these 1-hour interviews take place face-to-face in person. Joy is in Oxford now until 2 June, and 28 August – 29 September. She is happy to meet in Headington or the city centre. If you would like to do an interview or learn more, please contact Joy.
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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