Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama

Simon Jones

The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama has appointed Simon Jones acting head of strings. The promotion of Dr Jones, currently head of the college's historical performance department, represents part of the institution's plan to enhance its string training. He will lead the department's strategy for broadening the training on offer to students, mirroring professional practice. "We already have a very fine training provision in stylistic and contemporary string performance, and we number many of the UK's finest chamber musicians and orchestral leaders among our staff," he said. "We have one of Europe's finest concert halls at the heart of our college, which will now also become a focal point for significantly enhanced chamber music training, development of the visiting artist programme and the appointment of internationally renowned concert artists as visiting chairs in string performance." Dr Jones completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Bristol and attended the University of Oxford before obtaining his PhD in string performance practice from the University of York.

King's College London

Ann McNeill

The newly appointed professor of addictions in the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London is looking forward to helping people stub out smoking. In the role, Ann McNeill, formerly chair in the University of Nottingham's Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, will build up the focus on tobacco at King's National Addiction Centre and work with health partners to translate research to the local community. She said that the centre "is one of the most productive in Europe, so to be able to nest smoking within other addictions there would be unique". She also looked forward to developing new collaborations within the institute: "The relationship between smoking and mental health is another interest of mine: smoking rates remain very high across those who have mental health problems." Professor McNeill added that King's will become part of the UK Centre of Tobacco Control Studies - a consortium of 10 universities focusing on reducing the harms caused by smoking. "People often forget that smoking is the largest single cause of death and disease, as well as causing untold misery in families through the suffering and premature death of loved ones," she said. After studying at Nottingham and the University of London, Professor McNeill worked at King's Institute of Psychiatry before holding various academic and public sector posts focusing largely on tobacco control and research.

University of South Australia

Anthony Elliott

The new director of the Hawke Research Institute at the University of South Australia said that the role he took up last month is a "challenging opportunity" in the context of Australian social science. Anthony Elliott is one of 10 social scientists recently appointed by the institute - a "big investment" in the field. "What really excited me was the public political brief of the institute," he said. "It is Australia's largest centre of social science research and over the years has made a vital contribution to informing public debate." He added that the social sciences "shouldn't be closed in on themselves" and that practitioners have a responsibility to engage with the public, something to which the institute is committed. Despite not wanting to be seen as "jumping on the bandwagon" of Australian higher education's expansion into the Asian market, Professor Elliott added that it was crucial geopolitically for the Hawke Institute to become more closely connected with social science and humanities researchers in Asia. "We're well placed to do it because the university has made a staggering level of investment into what the institute is going to be," he said. Professor Elliott gained a BA from the University of Melbourne before completing his doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge. He has held various positions at the universities of Kent and the West of England, The Open University and University College Dublin. Before joining South Australia, he was chair of sociology at Flinders University.

University of Birmingham

Nicola Kalinsky

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Birmingham has appointed its latest director. Nicola Kalinsky, currently deputy director and chief curator of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, National Galleries of Scotland, will in January become the institute's sixth leader, following the departure of Ann Sumner, who left in the spring to become the first director of the Birmingham Museums Trust. Ms Kalinsky will lead the Barber through a major building redevelopment, an area where she has form: she was instrumental in the popular multimillion-pound transformation of the Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. Besides her scholarly expertise in 18th-century art, Ms Kalinsky is also interested in the use of design and interpretation to increase public enjoyment of fine art within traditional gallery spaces. After reading history and English at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, Ms Kalinsky obtained an MA at the Courtauld Institute of Art. She has held positions at Dulwich Picture Gallery and University College London.

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Other changes

The University of Northampton has made a number of appointments. Kathleen Mortimer and Holger Siemons have been named to associate professorships in marketing communications and professional practice and education, respectively. Professor Mortimer previously held senior positions at the Auckland University of Technology and the University of Bedfordshire. Professor Siemons has held senior positions in industry, including roles at Deutsche Telekom. Glyn Daly, previously reader in politics and sociology at Northampton, has been promoted to associate professor in these fields. He will launch an MA in international political economy and oversee expansion of a PhD programme in politics and international relations. Jane Callaghan, John Horton and Anthony Kay have been named associate professors in psychology, research and enterprise and biomechanics, respectively.

The University of Worcester has awarded Mindaugas Balciunas, the secretary general of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, an honorary professorship. Professor Balciunas, who is also a member of the Europe Board of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), played a key role in Worcester's development into one of the most successful basketball universities in Europe. His PhD thesis was the template for the conditioning programme for Lithuania's elite youth players and Worcester staff worked with him to adopt it for England Basketball.

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Samer Bagaeen has been seconded to the Higher Education Academy as built environment discipline lead. He holds qualifications in architecture and planning from University College London and is a chartered town planner and surveyor. Since 2008 he has been subject leader for town planning at the University of Brighton.

The University of Bath's School of Management has appointed Dimo Dimov to lead the development of a research group in entrepreneurship.