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Practical Support

If you have a specific question or problem, you may wish to visit our frequently asked questions page, which contains links to information and resources relating to a range of queries commonly raised by ECRs. In addition, the Policy and Resources Library links to a range of internal and external documents relevant to your career as a researcher.

Employment Issues and Queries

Human Resources deal with all matters relating to your employment at the University and are divided into the key areas of:

• Personnel  - Here you will find all of the Terms and Conditions of your employment and Employment Related Policies, Guidance and forms.
• Payroll and Pensions  - Here you will find information relating to your pay and pensions, including relevant documents and forms.
• Organisational Development  - Here you will find information relating to training and support offered by the Oranisational Development Unit. You will also find information and guidance relating to Appraisal.
• Equalities  - Information, guidance and policies relating to Equality and Diversity.

Each School/Unit has a dedicated HR advisor and Payroll/Pensions contact who should be your first point of contact if you have questions or concerns relating to your employment, pay or pension.

Human Resources is located in Room 338, Sussex House.

For general enquiries:

E: human.resources@sussex.ac.uk

T:+44 (0)1273 877769, ext. 7769

 

Families and Childcare support

Childcare

There is a purpose built nursery on-site that caters for children aged 3 months -5 years. The The nursery is operated by The Cooperative Childcare and is open daily from 7.30am-6.30pm. For more information see the nursery website.

During school holidays Sussexsport run holiday activities and camps for 5-16 year olds.

You can find information about other local childcare providers at www.childcare.co.uk and www.ofsted.gov.uk.

Carer Support Policies

The University offers a variety of carer support policies and schemes to provide benefits to staff members with (or expecting) families.

You should contact the HR advisor for your area if you have any questions relating to the family friendly policies.

 

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Occupational Health Service

The Occupational Health Service  offers confidential advice on health, safety and well-being at work. The service works to prevent work related ill health; reduce risks to health from occupational hazards; and promote health and safety. The team consists of qualified nurses and a sessional doctor, who have specialised in Occupational Health.

The service covers a wide range of activities including:

• pre-employment health screening
• assessment of fitness to work after an illness or injury
• management and self-referrals; advice to staff and managers regarding sickness, absence or serious illness
• regular health surveillance checks or medicals depending on the nature of work carried out
• referrals for counselling
• health promotion
• training

To access occupational health services you can either talk to your line manager/supervisor or HR contact who can refer you, or alternatively you can make a self-referral.

Occupational Health is located in Hastings building.

E: occupationalhealth@sussex.ac.uk

T: +44 (0)1273 87 7255 (ext. 7255)

Health, Safety 

The Health, Safety is responsible for advising on all aspects of health and safety in the University. On their webpages you will find all of the health and safety guidance and policies relating to carrying out your role at the university.

Each building will have a trained Health and Safety Coordinator who should be your first contact if you have any questions or concerns relating to health and safety.

The Health, Safety and Wellbeing Office also offer a range of health and safety training courses for staff. These range from general courses open to all staff including first aid, manual handling and fire warden training, to specialist courses for example on handling specific hazardous substances.

Sussexsport

Sussexsport run the two sports facilities on campus the Sports Centre and the Falmer Sports Complex. The facilities offer state of the art fitness suites, weights, sports courts and a wide range of fitness classes and sports clubs, along with sports injury clinics and a therapy room.

To use the facilities you can either ‘pay as you go’ or sign up for one of the membership options, which can be deducted from your monthly salary.

Wellbeing Support for Researchers

The Researcher Development have created a Wellbeing Support for Researchers web page with a hub of information on health and wellbeing support across the University for researchers.

International Researchers

The University of Sussex is a partner in the European Commission’s EURAXESS initiative, which provides support for researchers and their families living and working in Europe. The Euraxess UK website provides excellent information and resources for international researchers moving to the UK.

If you are a member of current/prospective Sussex staff and have a question that you think Euraxess might be able to assist with, please email euraxess@sussex.ac.uk

Department for Language Studies offers a range of resources, training and support for members of staff for whom English is not a first language.

IT Support

IT Services provide help, support and training for staff on a wide range of IT related issues.

Their website provides a wealth of information on troubleshooting common issues, using the university networks and email systems, storing your research data safely.

There is also dedicated research support team which provide support and advice to researchers about using IT systems within their research and support High Performance Computing within the University. They also have good contacts with the wider research community. Contact researchsupport@its.sussex.ac.uk

You can report problems and request assistance from ITS online via the red ‘help’ button on their website. You can also visit the IT service desk in Shawcross or telephone the general enquiries line (ext. 8090) +44 (0)1273 678090.

For staff there are also significant discounts on software (e.g. Microsoft Office) for your personal devices.

 

Library support for research

The library has a dedicated research support team for research staff. They offer bespoke one-to-one resource awareness sessions, provide information on Open Acess issues and run various workshops and events to engage with the research community on campus. They also manage the Sussex Research Hive, the Library’s dedicated space for researchers.

 

Professional Development

Reserchers can access training and support for professional development from:

• Researcher Development – Tailored workshops for ECRs, mentoring, Inductions, ECR Forum, committee experience as an ECR Representative.
• Researcher Development Programme – Face to Face and online workshops for postgraudate researchers (PGRs) and early calreer researchers (ECRs).
• Careers and Employability Centre – Careers events.
• Organisational Development – Workshops, training programmes, action learning, coaching for all members of University staff.
• Academic Quality and Partnerships 
• Technology Enhanced Learning - Supporting staff in the effective use of emerging techniques and technologies

For more information visit our Training and Development webpages.

 

Room Booking and Catering

Room booking requests for general teaching spaces (GTS) should be made through the online Room Booking Facility, you will need to log in with your ITS username and password.

Bookings of other non-GTS rooms are usually managed by the School or Unit offices.

Catering for events can be booked through the SussexFood website. You will need to register with them and know the project code to which you will charge the booking. The budget holder will need to approve catering requests to secure the booking.

 

Travel and Expenses

Staff expenses are claimed through the University's Finance System. Information about how to claim your expenses is provided on expenses page of the Finance website. You should ensure that all claims for travel and subsistence expenses are in line with the University’s expenses policy.

 

Starting at Sussex

Researcher Development are very pleased to bring you a 28 page interactive Welcome Guide for new ECRs joining the University. 

Alongside general information about the University, the Welcome Booklet includes information about:

• Researcher Development(foremly Research Staff Office) and other support services around the university
• Support for your career development
• Support for your research
• Practical guides on factors such as policies, employment queries, term dates, insurance
• Information on living in Brighton and relocating from overseas

The booklet also contains a helpful induction check list for new ECRs to complete in their first few days and in their new role.

*Please be advised that the Welcome Guide is currently not fully updated. However, it still contains valuable information for new starters. We encourage you to visit the University's webpages for all staff and other resources. We appreciate your patience as we work to transfer the guide's information into a more accessible format.

Contact Us

  @SussexResearchr