Elections by Congregation: Council (MPLS/ Medical Sciences) MT2023
Information on elections to this constituency
Vacancy
One member of Congregation elected by Congregation from members of the faculties in the Divisions of Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences and of Medical Sciences, to serve until the start of MT 2027 [vice Professor Kia Nobre]
The following nominations have been received:
General Information about this constituency
This constituency is comprised of four members of Congregation elected by Congregation from members of the faculties in the Divisions of Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences and of Medical Sciences.
Elections to this constituency restrict candidates to members of the faculties in the Divisions of Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences and of Medical Sciences. This means that all members of Congregation are eligible to nominate a candidate or to vote, but prospective candidates who want to stand for election must be a member of one the faculties in the Divisions of Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences and of Medical Sciences. (A list of these can be found in Statute VII).
The full term of office is four years (or less, when a by-election is held to fill the residue of the term of office for an elected member who is standing down early).
Nominations from a diverse range of Congregation members are encouraged, particularly those from underrepresented groups. The terms of reference and membership of Council are set out in Statute VI . Council is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor and meets on Mondays of Weeks 1, 4 and 9 of each term (Week 8 in Michaelmas term) and in July and September. Meetings begin at 2pm and usually last for 2–3 hours. Members of Council are the University’s charity trustees and have a responsibility for ensuring that Council conducts itself in accordance with accepted standards of behaviour in public life, embracing selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership. They must also play an appropriate part in ensuring that the business of Council is carried out effectively, efficiently and in a manner appropriate for the proper conduct of public business. Key skills include the ability to see issues from all angles, to discuss and question without being adversarial, to accept collective responsibility for decisions and to exercise common sense across a broad range of matters.
The terms of reference and membership of Council are set out in Statute VI.
Elected members of Council will ordinarily be expected to serve on a small number of other committees (typically between one and three, usually including at least one of the main committees of Council i.e. PRAC, GPC, Education Committee, Personnel Committee, Research Committee).
For further information, please contact the Head of the Governance Secretariat.
General Notes
The elections on 8 June 2023 will be conducted electronically.
Nominations
Hard copies of nomination forms will not be processed. Nominations must be made on an official nomination form. Completed nomination forms must be sent as an email attachment to the Elections Office by 4pm on Thursday, 11 May. Please ensure that the nominators listed in section D are also copied into the email when the nomination form is submitted, as this will act as verification of the nomination in lieu of supplying original signatures.
General requirements and eligibility
All candidates are asked to note the general requirements which apply to all committee members, as set out in Council Regulations 14 of 2002 (General Regulations of Council for Committees). Current members seeking re-election are also asked to check for specific restrictions on consecutive service. For further information, please see the eligibility and amendments to nominations sections within the Information about University elections pages of the Elections website.
Candidate’s statement
Candidates are invited to include with their nomination forms a written statement of no more than 250 words, setting out their reasons for standing and qualifications for the office being sought. In the event of a contested election, these statements will be published both online and in the Gazette.
Contested elections
In the event of a contested election, the successful candidates will be determined by an electronic ballot. An email with further instructions will be sent to eligible voters on Wednesday 24 May, using the email addresses provided in the electronic register of Congregation (NB with few exceptions, notably clinical staff, this will be the work address ending ‘ox. ac.uk’). Candidates’ statements will also be published in the Gazette dated 25 May. Voters may wish to read these statements before completing their electronic vote. The voting period will close at 4pm on 8 June.
Uncontested elections
If the number of nominations received by the closing date is no more than sufficient to fill the vacancies, the candidates nominated shall be deemed to be duly elected as of the close of the nomination period on Thursday, 11 May. When required, places will be allocated according to academic standing, as defined in Council Regulations 22 of 2002, Part 2: Academic Precedence and Standing. If the number of nominations received by the closing date is less than sufficient to fill the vacancies, those candidates nominated will be deemed elected unopposed, and the remaining vacancies will lapse, in which case, in accordance with the regulations, the places must remain vacant until appointments are made jointly by the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors.
Period of office
All vacancies are from the beginning of MT 2023 unless otherwise stated. In accordance with Congregation Regulations 2 of 2002, in any election where vacancies are to be filled for periods of different length, the elected candidates shall hold office so that the tenure of those who receive more votes shall be longer than that of those who receive fewer votes; but if the election is uncontested or if two candidates receive the same number of votes, the candidate senior in academic standing shall hold office for the longer period.
Further information
For further information, please contact the Elections Office (elections.office@ admin.ox.ac.uk).
Nominations
Nominations for elections to this constituency are published weekly in the Gazette and on this website as they are received and processed. The details of any nominations received can be seen by clicking on the candidate's surname in any adjacent tabs.
Professor Armin Reichold, MA Oxf,Dipl Phys Dr rer nat Dortmund, Balliol, Faculty of Physics
Nominated by:
Professor Phil Biggin, Lady Margaret Hall, Department of Biochemistry
Professor Fabian Essler, Worcester, Department of Physics
Professor Adrian Kelly, Balliol, Faculty of Classics
Dr Samina Khan, St Anne’s, Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach
Dr Sandra Paoli, Balliol, Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics
Mr Simon Probert, Brasenose, Department of Physics
Dr Natalie Naïri Quinn, Lady Margaret Hall, Department of Economics
Professor Ian Shipsey, St Catherine’s, Department of Physics
Dr Lisa Walker, Balliol, Faculty of Clinical Medicine
Professor Jan Westerhoff, Lady Margaret Hall, Faculty of Theology and Religion
Professor Krina T Zondervan, MSc Leiden, MSc Rotterdam, DPhil Oxf, St Edmund Hall, Faculty of Clinical Medicine/Nuffield Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health
Nominated by:
Professor Baroness Kathy Willis, Principal of St Edmund Hall, Department of Biology
Dr Jane Barlow, St Hilda’s, Department of Social Policy and Intervention
Professor Francis Barr, Trinity, Department of Biochemistry
Professor David Clifton, Reuben, Department of Engineering Science
Professor Sir Rory Collins, St John’s, Nuffield Department of Population Health
Professor Richard Cornall, Magdalen, Nuffield Department of Medicine
Professor Henrike Lähnemann, St Edmund Hall, Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages
Professor Helen McShane, Harris Manchester, Nuffield Department of Medicine
Professor Melinda Mills, Nuffield, Department of Sociology
Contested elections
In the event of a contested election, candidate statements will be published in the Gazette and on this website. The details of any candidate's statements received can be seen by clicking on the candidate's surname in any adjacent tabs.
I am a Professor of Physics and Tutorial Fellow at Balliol College. Educated in Germany (University of Dortmund), I have worked at NIKHEF (Amsterdam), Fermilab (Chicago), DESY (Hamburg) and PTB (Braunschweig). In 1998 I started as a research officer and became a University Lecturer and Tutorial Fellow at Balliol in 2011. My research interests are neutrino- and accelerator-physics and dimensional metrology with applications across industry and science. I chair my department’s innovation and enterprise committee, working to increase the societal relevance of my colleagues’ research. I am experienced in college and departmental governance e.g., as elected member of the Physics Management Committee. As admission co-ordinator for Physics, I introduced quantitative contextual measures into our admissions metrics and optimised these through correlations with final examination results.
During the 2018 pension crisis I campaigned to protect pension benefits. If elected I will do my utmost to ensure that they are restored to pre- 2022 levels.
I will work to persuade Council to refocus its attention on people as its first priority. This demands a remedy to the problems of ever-increasing workloads and ever-decreasing real term salaries.
Sustainability in all facets of University’s life is a topic I care about and am actively involved with in my Department, applying solar cell technology from one of our spin-out companies.
I am convinced of the merits of academic self-governance. If elected by Congregation, I will view it as my duty to strengthen Council’s connection to our democratic processes.
As a student, staff member, and University/College committee member, I have long-standing experience of Oxford University life and leadership.
I arrived as an Erasmus exchange student in 1993, read for a DPhil in epidemiology, and held several fellowships to establish my career in women’s health and genomic research. As Director of Graduate Studies, I gained in-depth understanding of the rewards and challenges of educating our next generation. As Head of Department, I led our staff and students through the pandemic, the after-effects of which continue. With my team, I have provided new strategic directions; built cross-departmental and -divisional collaborative opportunities; replaced long-term fixed with permanent contracts to increase job security and satisfaction; and established a leadership framework focused on greater transparency and inclusion in decision making, and career/leadership development opportunity.
I am acutely aware that the University and its faculties/departments face substantial economic and societal challenges due to the pandemic, Brexit and long-term concerns such as climate change. However, I believe that Oxford is well placed to face these challenges through innovative leadership, building on strengths and embracing change where needed. This University should be a place where people from all backgrounds come to be inspired and challenged, but also to feel supported, secure, and invested in. I care deeply about issues of inequality, and the rewards reaped by increasing diversity and providing people with working environments in which they can thrive.
It would be a privilege to serve as your representative on Council to work towards these goals.
Contact the Elections Officer
For further information, please email the Elections Office.
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