We have recorded our third consecutive year of growth in the 2025 National Student Survey (NSS), with students reporting their most positive experience yet.

• The results show overall satisfaction among students rising to 83 percent up from 81 percent in 2024, with gains across every survey category
• For the first time, every Faculty surpassed 80 per cent overall positivity
• and, at subject level, five areas achieved 100 per cent student satisfaction

Read the full story here.

Since 1845, Queen’s University has shaped lives, driven innovation and strengthened communities. In our 180th year, we want to celebrate the real-world impact of our research, education and partnerships – and the Northern Ireland Science Festival (NISF) provides us with an amazing opportunity to do so.

NISF have opened their call for submissions for events in the festival (11-22 February 2026), and colleagues are asked for their input and collaboration on a University-wide response to the festival in 2026, as part of the celebration of our 180th Anniversary.

As part of the ongoing Digital Transformation strategy, the University is launching a new research ethics management system – QUB Worktribe Ethics. This online platform provides a single end-to-end system for the creation, submission, review and approval of research ethics applications.

The system will be rolled out to the University Faculty and School Research Ethics Committees (RECs) in a phased manner. The onboarding will start with submissions to MHLS Faculty REC, followed by EPS Faculty REC and then all the AHSS School RECs, dates below:

• MHLS Faculty REC launch: 11 August 2025
• EPS Faculty REC launch: 22 September 2025
• All AHSS School RECs launch: 6 October 2025

As part of the UK Government's National Security Act 2023, the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) came into effect on 1 July 2025.

Registration is mandatory if you are involved in an arrangement which meets all of the following four conditions:

• An arrangement with a specified foreign power or entity; and
• A direction or instruction from that foreign power or entity; and
• The relevant activity is being carried out in the UK (this may be formal (for example, research) or informal (for example, a verbal agreement); and
• The activity is not an exempted activity under the Scheme.

Find out more here.

Following the academic staff briefings on 3 July, we are seeking further feedback from academic colleagues on proposed Changes to Academic Progression Policy and Profiles.

Your perspective is crucial in shaping these important changes.

• Please share your feedback using the form at this link by Friday 8 August.

Applications are invited for the Queen’s University Teaching Awards 2025. The closing date for receipt of applications is 4.00pm on Thursday 31 July 2025. Queries can be directed to Liz McDowell on e.mcdowell@qub.ac.uk.

• Full details are available on the Centre for Educational Development (CED) website.

The University is currently recruiting to a number of positions internally.

Staff can view internal and external vacancies through iTrent Employee Self-Service.

The Staff Round Up Summer schedule continues. The next fortnightly editions will be published as follows:

• Monday 4 August
• Monday 18 August

The Staff Round Up will resume its weekly schedule from Monday 1 September.

To facilitate the year end process, please note the following arrangements for raising sales invoices to customers for activities carried out prior to 31 July 2025:

Qfis Sales order invoices

• Up to 31 July 2025: All sales orders relating to activities completed prior to 31 July 2025 should be fully approved and posted to QFIS by 4pm on Thursday 31 July 2025. Invoices in progress but not fully approved by 31 July 2025, will be posted to the new year.
• Friday 1 August 2025 – Friday 8 August 2025: Sales order function will be available on QFIS but during this period there will be a delay in the email and posting of invoices. Invoices raised during this period will be emailed to initiators and posted to QFIS in the August 2025 period (202501) from 8.00am 11 August 2025.
• Any sales orders raised from 1 August 2025 relating to activities carried out in the period prior to 31 July 2025 should be clearly identified as relating to financial year 2024-25 using the GL reference field and the invoice text. By exception and where material, manual adjustments will be made by the Accounting Services section of Finance to the 2024-25 accounts.
• From Monday 11 August 2025: Sales order invoicing will operate as normal. All fully approved sales orders will be posted in financial year 2025-26.

If you have any queries, please contact the Accounting Services section of Finance by emailing sorequests@qub.ac.uk.

All Queen's staff and students are invited to the annual Queen’s Pride Picnic on Wednesday 23 July from 12.00pm to 2.00pm. This free celebration event will include music, entertainment, and the opportunity to purchase food and drinks from the on-site food trucks and ice-cream cart.

• Register to attend here.

Step away from your desk and into nature! Join Active Campus every Wednesday this Summer for a refreshing stroll through the beautiful Botanic Gardens, taking time to relax, recharge and connect with colleagues in a calm and scenic setting.

• Every Wednesday at 1.15pm for a 20-minute walk
• Meet at the front of the Lanyon Building

The following courses are available to support staff wellbeing within Queen’s. Please register via iTrent Self-Service,* unless otherwise indicated. *Search for 'Wellbeing' to see available courses.

• Financial Advice 1-to-1 Sessions: 29 July and 30 July (in person). Book directly via the provider here.
• Substance Misuse Awareness: 20 August (online)
• Communicating with Empathy and Understanding Through Change: 28 August (online)
• Working through Change and Building Resilience: 17 September, 22 October, 20 November and 17 December (online)
• Stress Management Policy – The Line Manager's Role: 23 September (online)

The annual Marine Lab Open Day will take place on Saturday 2 August from 10.00am to 3.00pm alongside Portaferry Sails and Sounds Festival. This is an accessible, free, family friendly event. Come along and meet the scientists working at the lab, see the wave tank in action, and meet some local marine life from Strangford Lough.

This is a drop in event. Booking is not required.

As part of the University’s ongoing commitment to supporting managers across Queen’s in leading their teams through change, we’re pleased to share the Leading Change Toolkit.

Effective communication is essential for successful change - it must be clear, consistent, and engaging.

The Leading Change Toolkit provides managers with practical resources, expert tips, and guidance to facilitate open dialogue, encourage active listening, and promote meaningful engagement throughout every stage of the change process.

The current Co-Chairs of iRise – the University's Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network – are completing their term. Expressions of Interest are now invited for the two Co-Chair positions, which opens a development opportunity for new colleagues to be involved in the network.

• Staff interested in the roles are asked to please complete this Microsoft form before close of business on Friday 1 August.

The University and the Students’ Union encourage all staff to familiarise themselves with our online reporting tool, Report and Support. This system enables students to request support if they have experienced or witnessed:

• bullying;
• harassment;
• hate crime;
• and/or sexual misconduct.

There is also an option for staff or students to make a report on behalf of another student and anonymous reports can be made too. Advice and Guidance for staff on supporting disclosures is available from the Safe and Healthy Relationships website.

We are developing a digital strategy that will improve your experience at work, enhance how we deliver for our students, and enable us to operate more sustainably, both environmentally and financially.

• Read the latest update on our digital transformation journey.

As part of the University’s commitment to fostering an inclusive, accessible, and supportive workplace, we’re pleased to announce that all Queen’s staff – and their families – now have free access to Read&Write for Work. 

Originally developed to assist neurodivergent users – including those with dyslexia – Read&Write for Work offers a suite of discreet, user-friendly tools to help individuals of all abilities with reading, writing, and communication.

• Learn more and download the software today. 

A reminder that staff leaving the University must return all university-issued IT equipment prior to their employment end date. This includes, but is not limited to: 

• Laptops, desktops, and monitors 
• Mobile devices, such as phones or tablets 
• Peripheral hardware, including monitors, headphones, keyboards, mice, docking stations and power supply 
• Storage devices such as external hard drives or USB drives 

The equipment should be returned to the IT Helpdesk or to a designated IT Officer.

The Postdoc Showcase 2025, celebrating Queen's postdocs and research staff, will take place on Friday 26 September from 9.30am to 6.00pm in The Canada Room/Council Chamber under the theme 'Voices of the Future: Postdocs Shaping Tomorrow'. There is still time to register and submit an abstract.

• The deadline for submission of abstracts to present a talk or poster has been extended to Friday 25 July at 23.59pm.
• Colleagues can register to attend and submit an abstract here.
• Find out more about the event here.

Recent posts from Queen's Policy Engagement (QPol):

• Cold public attitudes in the face of the climate crisis, by Professor Katy Hayward, Dr Jonny Hanson and Dr Paula Devine
• The new African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls, by Dr Ronagh McQuigg
• The Serendipity of Science: COVID's Silver Lining, by Professor Mark Lawler
• Saving the National Cancer Plan: The triumph of evidence over opinion by Professor Mark Lawler

The Conversation is a news website featuring articles by academics, often republished to global media outlets. Articles by Queen's academics published in The Conversation have been read by 23.8 million people internationally.

Read the latest:

• Rightwing populist Sanseitō party shakes Japan with election surge, by Dr Rin Ushiyama
• Russian Imperial Movement: how a far-right group outlawed by the UK is spreading terror across Europe, by Dale Pankhurst
• Action is the antidote to ecological grief and climate anxiety – an ecotherapist explains, by Dr Louise Taylor
• Golden eagles were reintroduced to Ireland, but without prey they’re now struggling to thrive, by Dr Fiona McAuliffe (Scotland's Rural College) and Dr Neil Reid (QUB)
• Is your cat vocal or quiet? The explanation could be in their genes, by Dr Grace Carroll

Read the latest staff news stories on the Staff News and Community Gateway:

• Queen’s awarded £4.35 million in new funding to recruit world’s top researchers
• Queen’s Technician Awarded Prestigious Papin Medal
• Queen’s celebrates three years of rising student satisfaction in landmark national survey results
• Queen’s climbs global Impact Rankings and excels in the Sustainable Development Goals
• In Pictures: Summer Graduation 2025
• Queen's researcher co-winner of ‘Outstanding Pharmacy Early-Career Researcher Award’
• Queen’s Reboot Café wins Innovation in Student Experience Award at the CUBO Awards
• Queen’s Professor hosts international critical care trials conference in Belfast
• Queen’s recognised for commitment to Fairtrade standards with Fairtrade University Award
• In Pictures: Queen’s Marks Refugee Week 2025
• Queen’s academic awarded prestigious Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship

Joining Queen's as a student and then as a lecturer in French, Dr Poppy Boyd now works as a Language Support Officer and is one of the Staff Forum representatives for the Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility Directorate. 

• Profile: Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility Directorate Staff Forum Representative, Dr Poppy Boyd.

Staff are invited to view the summer edition of the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work newsletter here.

If you would like to be added to the School's newsletter email distribution list, please email sseswmedia@qub.ac.uk.

All staff interested in the advancement of clinical trials across industry, healthcare, and academia are warmly invited to the Lewis J Hurwitz Lecture 2025 and Collaborative Industry Clinical Trial Awards event on Wednesday 10 September from 9.00am to 1.00pm in the Basement Seminar Room, Wellcome-Wolfson Institute, Health Sciences campus. Tea and coffee will be provided.

• Register to attend here
• Apply for the Collaborative Industry Clinical Trials Award 2025 here

The Business Alliance Team has launched the 2026 Collaborative Studentship call. The University has committed to a number of studentships*, commencing in October 2026, for projects across the institution that will involve significant work with a non-academic partner. Partnerships with private sector industry, government departments, agencies and voluntary sector organisations that meet the above criteria will all be considered.

• Full information on the call can be found on the Business Engagement and Partnering SharePoint site.
• Applications should only be made via this form.

Details of ongoing works being carried out across the University campus can be found on the Estates Directorate webpage.

This week’s new and returning films at Queen’s Film Theatre, your cinema on campus.

• Barry Lyndon
• Friendship
• Harvest
• Ran

The Naughton Gallery invites staff to the latest instalment in its acclaimed sports exhibition series, 'CRYIN' AT THE GYM'. All are welcome.

The Gallery is open daily from 11.00am to 4.00pm. Admission is free.

Limited places are available for the next session in the Naughton Gallery's popular Silversmithing series, taking place on Saturday 23 August from 10.00am to 4.00pm. No previous experience is required – just bring an apron and enthusiasm!

The workshop costs £50 per person. Please contact art@qub.ac.uk to reserve your space and for further information.

Staff support

• Article: AI Fatigue? Why It Matters: Professor Philip Hanna argues that turning away from AI isn’t the solution, especially in education. The article explores why developing AI awareness and capability is essential for staff and institutions alike.
• Watch the AI Hub's AI Case Studies of Queen's staff.
• View and use AI Self-Help Guides on the AI Hub;
• Find recordings of the AI Hub's AI Building Blocks sessions;
• Listen to Jisc's Beyond the Technology Podcast, featuring Queen's.

Learning and Development's July programme of events is now available. From Learning for all, Leading and Managing and Queen’s, LinkedIn Learning, Nature Masterclasses, and Recruitment and Selection Training, there are courses to suit everyone.

• AI in Research Writing
• Gemini in Google Docs
• How to lead through a downsizing or restructuring programme
• Advanced Python: Top tools for Data Science and Engineering

Applications are invited for the SEDA Leading Education for Sustainable Development in the Curriculum programme. The programme is open to Module Co-ordinators or Programme Directors, or members of staff who have significant influence over the curriculum development and design of credit-bearing courses.

The programme will run from September to December 2025. Places are limited to 15.

• Find out more and apply via iTrent.

The comprehensive Preparing for Queen’s resource (formerly Getting Started at Queen's) is now live on the My Queen’s website, supporting both prospective and incoming students as they consider or prepare for university life at Queen's.

Staff are invited to explore and share the resource now to help their students get started.

The Pre-Semester Welcome Programme supports new and returning students as they begin or continue their journey at Queen's. The main events run from 8-12 September with daily activities designed to help students connect with peers and engage with campus life before classes begin. Further events continue throughout the following weeks until October, supporting students as they settle into university life. Staff are invited to explore and share this non-compulsory programme to help their students get involved.

• View the full event details here.