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The Engagement team is looking to increase capacity in the short term to help deliver some of its core public engagement activity including our funding programmes Beacon Bursary, Train & Engage and deliver informal networking opportunities for the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Public Engagement Network. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone looking to get some initial experience in a busy & varied university Public Engagement team. Previous experience of working with ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº structures is desirable but not essential. The role holder will be closely supported by the Public Engagement team and encouraged to attend online fortnightly Public Engagement team meetings, monthly Engagement team meetings, Keep Learning sessions and additional informal team catch-ups. The role can be work from home, in office at Bidborough House or a blend of the two.Full details can be found in the Job Description.Main purpose of the roleSupport the delivery of our core Public Engagement programme alongside the Public Engagement team and wider Engagement and ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Culture colleagues.Diversity statementWe encourage applications from those who are underrepresented in the sector and at ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº including but, not exclusive, to non-graduates, disabled, D/deaf and neurodiverse people, LGBTQ+ people, people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds, especially women. We also welcome applicants from a range of educational backgrounds and therefore do not require a minimum formal qualification for this role.Length of timeThe role is for 28 days between Monday 25th October and Friday 10th December. Deadline for submission is 09:00 on Tuesday 5th October – submissions after this time cannot be accepted.Please upload your CV to our Recruitment and Sourcing Centre Team at Advantage xPO who are our partners and running this recruitment round. Please do state at the top of the CV that you are interested in this role. Interviews will take place online between Mon 11th to Thurs 14th October. This role is being paid at a Grade 6 equivalent. 

This week ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Culture News features a takeover by Oliver Patel, Manager of the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº European Institute and Research Assistant for ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Grand Challenges. Oliver holds an MSc in Philosophy and Public Policy from LSE and a BA in Politics and East European Studies from ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº.Over the next three articles, Oliver will be reflecting on on our Transformative Technologies festival which happened back in June. The programme of events was fuelled by ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº research exploring the power of technology, and its potential to radically reshape the world we live in. So let's dive in and see what he found![[{"fid":"5371","view_mode":"large","fields":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Big Data Sing","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Big Data Sing","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Big Data Sing","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Big Data Sing","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"600","width":"900","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]Data is ubiquitous in the digital age. Virtually everything we do, both online and offline, is measured, recorded and stored as data. Information about the messages you send, the websites you visit, the videos you watch, the food you buy, the trains you take, is sitting in a large data set somewhere, being used by someone - probably to make money. The unfathomable amount of data which is generated each day has become the most valuable resource in the world; it is the currency which fuels the likes of Google, Facebook and Amazon. The explosion of big data sets - and the tools we have at our disposal to analyse them - presents serious challenges and ethical quandaries, as well as great opportunities for advancement. Through debate, discussion and music, Big Data Sing explored these important issues, in what proved to be a fun, engaging and insightful evening for all involved.Situated in the majestic Grant Museum of Zoology, appropriately surrounded by centuries worth of data collected by natural scientists (stored in glass boxes as opposed to Dropbox), participants were treated to a banquet style setting complete with food, wine and entertainment. Throughout the evening, the Big Data Choir performed a number of big data related renditions. Songs about the opaque and mysterious nature of cloud storage solutions, and the ridiculous number of zeros associated with various units of data storage (yottabyte, anyone?) were among the most amusing hits, and provided a welcome respite from the mind-boggling topics being discussed.[[{"fid":"5379","view_mode":"large","fields":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Big Data Sing","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Big Data Sing","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Big Data Sing","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Big Data Sing","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"600","width":"900","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]The audience was also treated to insightful talks from two ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº scientists. Dr David Barber from ¹û¶³Ó°Ôºâ€™s Computer Science department opened proceedings with a talk about big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning. He stressed that most advancements in artificial intelligence, such as search engines and self-driving cars, are driven by big data. However, big data is meaningless without big computing (i.e. enhanced computer power to process the data). Second, Dr Li Wei from the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº School of Pharmacy spoke about the indispensable role that access to personally sensitive big data sets plays in her research. She explained that without access to medical data about the types of painkillers patients take, her team might not have established that there is a causal link between painkillers with higher sodium content and increased risk of hypertension.[[{"fid":"5375","view_mode":"large","fields":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Big Data Sing","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Big Data Sing","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Big Data Sing","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Big Data Sing","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"600","width":"900","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]These fascinating talks about the future of artificial intelligence and the use of personal data sparked heated debate amongst participants, who were encouraged to share ideas throughout the evening. Questions debated by the audience included how much privacy should be given up for the sake of scientific advancement, how many people should self-driving cars be allowed to kill before being considered too dangerous, and whether an advanced security safe is a better place for private documents than Google Drive. The diversity of the audience ensured for an interesting discussion, in which everyone got involved. All in all, Big Data Sing was one of the highlights of the Transformative Technologies Festival. The mixture of academic discussion, debate and music proved to be a hit, and the audience members went home with enhanced understanding of a defining feature of the modern world: big data.