Some updates from NAM2016 and the UKSP Business meeting

Best regards
Philippa and Iain

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UKSP Council Elections

We formally announced the call for nomination and election of the UKSP Council. There are vacancies for: Chair, Deputy Chair and ordinary members -  Permanent academics (4), Postdocs (2) and PhD student (1)

Nominations will close on July 29th. Email nominations to [log in to unmask] AND [log in to unmask] Candidates should get two colleagues to nominate them and also need to send a brief motivation statement and photo.

The e-voting period will be August 1st to 14th with details to follow.

Please start considering nominations now: we need people from a wide range of institutions.

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Action points and decisions from UKSP Community Meeting
Nottingham NAM/UKSP 29th June 2016

	- UKSP2017 will be held as part of NAM2017 in Hull. UKSP for 2018 and beyond will be decided at a future date. Consideration should be given to compressing solar sessions into fewer days. NAM organisers to be advised to keep costs as low as possible (including availability of low cost accommodation).
	- UKSP community encouraged to bid for “outside London” meetings under auspices of RAS – typically 2 day meetings – on solar topics
	- A mentoring scheme will be set up on a trial basis. A list of people willing to mentor will be made available via the webpage, mentees should contact a potential mentor directly (see below)
	- The Chair will assemble information on the benefits of EU cooperation (grant funding etc) and potential risks of BREXIT, to be passed on to RAS to be used in appropriate campaigning and lobbying. (see below)
	- The UKSP community regrets the loss of Postdoctoral Fellowships, and urges STFC to reinstate these.
	- Links to the outreach and mission presentations will be available on the UKSP website

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Mentoring scheme

UKSP are organising a mentoring scheme on a trial basis. It may be useful for people to speak to a mentor outside their own institution to get advice on a specific matter (e.g. grant application, promotion, job applications) or to dicuss more general issues concerning career, research, work-life balance etc. This could be a one-off discussion or a longer term relationship. 

The names of mentors will be listed on the UKSP website, and anyone wishing for a mentor shoudl contact an appropriate person directly. (Of course, being listed as a mentor brings no obligation to accept all such requests!).

If you would be prepared to act as a mentor, please email [log in to unmask] Anyone at Postdoc level or higher is encouraged to volunteer.

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Effects of BREXIT

It was decided at UKSP Community meeting to collate information on the benefits of EU membership - and the potential detrimental effects of BREXIT. This would include information on EU grant funding, studentships etc. Please send a summary   (one per group, preferably) to [log in to unmask] This will be passed on to RAS to aid in their campaigning and lobbying, and will also give UKSP a basis on which to make independent submissions.

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