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######################################################################## S-Lab News - September 2018 Supporting World Class Science ######################################################################## To view this newsletter in a browser, visit: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A2=S-LAB;82c670eb.1809p To ensure that this newsletter is delivered to your inbox, add [log in to unmask] to your address book. ######################################################################## In this Newsletter: * Conferences * Technical Staff * Resilience * Bullying * Flooring * Awards * Bristol Conference * Cavendish III * About Us * Contact Details * Subscription Details ######################################################################## * Conferences * 240 people are now attending the 40+ sessions and tours, and viewing 30 exhibitor stands, at our Bristol Conference on Sept 18. £24 HE early bird ticket offer ends Friday. See left for summary and click right for programme, flyer and booking access. Next up University of Birmingham on April 2-3. READ MORE: http://www.effectivelab.org.uk * Technical Staff * A Science Council blog explores the important role of technical staff in supporting the health and well-being of science students. The Conference also has two sessions on the University of Bristol's identification of 6 key themes in technical manager development: managing staff; developing improvement and other initiatives; procurement and value-for-money; sustainability; safety and health; and operational management. These are now used to guide technical career structures, job descriptions, career pathways (management and specialist), CPD and training. READ MORE: https://sciencecouncil.org/technicians-vital-front-line-support-for-student-wellbeing/ * Resilience * A Lab Manager magazine article reflects on learning from laboratory disasters in Texas, which included $1.5 billion of damage and the loss of most research animals and samples at the Houston Medical Centre. The advice includes having an emergency evacuation and co-ordination plan; backing up all key data onto a portable drive; keeping backup liquid nitrogen on hand; ensuring all contact information is current for alarm monitoring systems; maintaining a photo record of key equipment and facilities for insurance and blackout access; backing up critical samples of-site; and preserving unique animal strains through embryo cryo-preservation and/or sperm freezing. A Bristol Conference session highlights how digitally connected freezers can help mitigate risks of sample loss. READ MORE: https://www.labmanager.com/lab-health-and-safety/2018/08/laboratory-disaster-planning-lessons-learned-from-2001-tropical-storm-allison#.W41zfJNKjBI * Bullying * A Guardian article discusses bullying in labs, with alleged examples from the Sanger Institute. The Wellcome Trust has also revoked £3.5 million in funding from cancer geneticist Nazneen Rahman, following an investigation into allegations that she bullied people when she worked at the Institute of Cancer Research in London. READ MORE: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06131-8 * Flooring * A Laboratory Equipment article discusses key issues in choosing laboratory flooring. including avoiding slips, trips and falls; preventing and minimising surface contamination; easy cleaning; and enhancing indoor air quality. READ MORE: https://www.laboratoryequipment.com/article/2018/08/bottom-approach-laboratory-design ######################################################################## * Awards * The 2019 S-Lab and UKSPA Awards (which are being jointly administered) will open for applications on Monday, with an entry deadline of October 31st. The S-Lab categories are Best STEM Building, Refurbished Laboratories, and Laboratory Improvement (including sustainability). The UKSPA categories are Best Innovation Location and Best Innovation Project and there is a joint S-Lab/UKSPA Laboratory of the Year Award. Visit our web site on Monday for further details. Most of the Awards will be presented at the Birmingham Conference. * Bristol Conference * • Keynotes from the Met Office and 2 universities (Bristol, Irvine), 40+ sessions and Chemistry, Engineering, Life Science & Incubator tours, 30 exhibitors, with low rates for HE staff. • University of Bristol sessions - the Temple Quarter initiative and its flagship Quantum Technologies Innovation Centre; the Life Science Building; refurbished Engineering Labs; Green Labs programme (with Biomedical Sciences case study); equipment sharing; lab procurement, and technical manager CPD. • A stream on innovation- and collaboration-focused science spaces, including Reading’s Thames Valley Science Park; Unit DX in Bristol (with tour); the University of Plymouth’s conversion of AZ’s former Brixham Lab, and - perhaps the most successful ever - MIT’s Building 20. • Facilities - Met Office Data Centre; Cavendish III; London Pathology; reconfigurable services; benchmarking lab refurbishment costs; managing refurbs with occupants in situ; low-vibration and more. • Operations - chemical management, storage and risk assessment; cold storage; equipment reuse and sharing; F-gases; greenhouses and plant growth; procurement and more. • Rethinking ventilation - air handling and diffusion, extract, fume cupboards and supply. (Plus a half day training course on the topic at Bristol the day before i.e. 17 Sept.) • Energy/Environment - Bristol’s Green Lab initiatives; energy-efficient equipment; Environmental Product Declarations; waste and water minimisation; and more. • Management - Bristol’s new framework for CPD with 6 key themes of laboratory management: presentation and interactive workshop. * Cavendish III * A last minute entrant to the Bristol programme is a session on the new £300 million Cavendish III Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. This provides research and teaching labs, clean rooms, offices and teaching spaces, plus a public wing with lecture theatres and meeting space. The space is designed to meet the requirements of the next generation of physics research, with stringent temperature, noise, vibration and electromagnetic interference criteria. * About Us * This newsletter is from the S-Lab initiative, which supports good practice in laboratory design, operation and management through events, awards, guidance and other means. S-Lab is a partner of the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL). See www.effectivelab.org.uk for our privacy policy, more details of our work and forthcoming events, cases and guidance documents, and hundreds of presentations from past events. ######################################################################## * Contact Details * [log in to unmask] www.effectivelab.org.uk ######################################################################## * Subscription Details * You are subscribed to S-Lab News. To unsubscribe, visit: https://WWW.JISCMAIL.AC.UK/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=S-LAB&A=1 );); ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the S-LAB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=S-LAB&A=1