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Department of History and Philosophy of Science

 

Welcome to the Department of History and Philosophy of Science. We hope that you will feel welcome and settle quickly in to your new role. This section provides useful information for starting at the Department.

  • First days
    • Email and Raven
    • HPS community
    • Induction meeting
    • Mail
    • Mailing lists
    • Opening hours
    • Parking
    • Staff directory
    • University card
    • Whipple Library
    • Whipple Museum
  • Employment and benefits
    • Annual leave
    • Academic short leave
    • Other types of leave
    • CAMbens
    • Expenses
    • Headed paper
    • Payment for ad hoc services
    • Payslips
    • Probation
    • Sabbatical and research leave
    • Sickness
    • Staff guides
    • Timesheets
    • University inductions
  • Guidance and support
    • Health and safety and fire safety
    • Management of new staff
    • Policies and training
    • Review meeting
    • Training and development
    • Welfare

First days

Email and Raven

As a member of staff, you will be given an email and Raven account. Raven is the University's central web authentication service.

HPS community

Our website gives information on our teaching and research staff, professional services staff, affiliates and PhD students. To add your details to this section email David Thompson. Once set up, you will be able to edit your own page.

People

Induction meeting

During your first few days, you will be invited to meet with a member of the HR team in the Department who will go through all of the information you need when starting with us.

Mail

We receive one delivery of post a day from Royal Mail and a delivery and collection of internal mail from the University Messenger Service (UMS).

Outgoing mail for franking should be placed in the large wooden shelving unit in the main office before 4.30pm. Any parcels going outside the EU require a CN22, available from Reception.

Mailing lists

You should have been made a member of all appropriate lists. lists.cam.ac.uk mailing lists identifies which mailing lists you are on.

Opening hours

The Department is open from 9am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday during term time, and from 9am to 5pm out of term time.

University term dates

Parking

There is no car parking on site for the Department. There is, however, plenty of cycle parking at the front and rear of the building.

Staff directory

You will be given the telephone and email list for everyone who is based in the Department. For those you wish to contact outside of the Department you can use the University's Lookup service.

University card

At your induction meeting, you will be issued with a University card. This card is necessary for borrowing books and for access to the Department. It is also useful for discounted travel on the Universal Bus.

Whipple Library

The Library is open Monday to Friday from 9.15am to 7pm during term time. Out of term time it closes at 5pm. The majority of staff are able to borrow ten books for a period of three weeks; however, certain staff are entitled to more for longer. Visit the Library website for further details.

Whipple Library website

Whipple Museum

The Museum is regularly used by the Department's staff for teaching and research.

Whipple Museum website

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Employment and benefits

Annual leave

The leave year runs from 1 October to 30 September; you cannot carry leave forward from one leave year to the next. Your leave entitlement is set out in your offer letter and contract of employment. Those working in support roles and on research projects, and those who have a visa to work in the UK, must submit an annual leave request. You must take your annual holidays at times approved by your line manager and which suit the workload of the Department. Periods of University closure will be taken as your annual leave (e.g. Christmas and Easter).

Annual leave form

Academic short leave

University Teaching Officers (UTOs) and Teaching Associates must notify Jane Clare of any days during term time that they are away from Cambridge.

Other types of leave

University policies on other types of leave, for professional or personal reasons, are outlined on the Human Resources website.

Human Resources: Summary of leave

CAMbens

This is the University's benefits scheme covering healthcare, childcare, bicycle hire and discounts for shopping.

CAMbens employee benefits

Expenses

In order to claim for reimbursement of travelling expenses and subsistence while on University business, you must complete the online expenses claim form, print it off and leave it in the Administration pigeonhole for processing. If you are unsure about claiming, it is better to check with the Accounts team beforehand.

A quick guide to expenses

Headed paper

For headed paper, please speak to Reception.

Payment for ad hoc services

The following are available online:

Payslips

We get paid on 26th of each month and payslips are only available electronically. They can be accessed via the Employee Self-Service (ESS) website by logging in using Raven. You can also see other HR/Payroll data relating to you, some of which you are responsible for keeping up to date.

Probation

The probation period for your appointment is set out in your offer letter and contract of employment. The Human Resources website has full details on probationary arrangements. When your probationary period is coming to an end, you and your line manager/mentor will be sent a reminder by the Staff Review and Development system to schedule a meeting. This system enables you to keep a record of your probationary and review meetings and training information. Managers and new members of staff are, however, encouraged to keep in regular contact throughout the probationary period.

Sabbatical and research leave (UTOs only)

If you are applying for sabbatical or research leave you must submit form CHRIS/67 to the HPS Board two terms before the leave is due to take place.

Sickness

All staff are required to report their sickness absence. You should notify the Departmental Office on the first day of illness and submit a CHRIS/62 Sickness Self Certificate upon return. If you are off sick for more than 7 days you will also need to submit a Statement of Fitness for Work ('Fit Note') obtained from a doctor.

Staff guides

For key details on terms and conditions, policies, practices, facilities, benefits and trade unions refer to the Staff Guide (for academic, academic-related and research staff) or Assistant Staff Handbook.

Timesheets

All staff employed on EU grants and all part-time research staff employed on RCUK grants must keep timesheets.

University inductions

The University's central induction website is tailored to those who have just joined the University.

The Welcome to Cambridge event takes place twice a year. There is a talk given by a senior member of the University and the chance to meet fellow new starters from other departments.

You are expected to complete all modules of the Staff Induction Online within your first month. This training provides an overview of the University and helps you to settle in to your role here.

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Guidance and support

Health and safety and fire safety

You will receive a tour of the building during your induction meeting at which point the local health, safety and security procedures will be explained. You should also consult the Department's health and safety policy.

It is important that within your first week you ensure you have done the Safeguarding Yourself and Others module from the Health and Safety Induction Online (approximately 15 minutes required).

The remaining sections of the Health and Safety Induction Online training should be done within your first month along with the Fire Safety Induction Online (approximately 15 minutes).

Management of new staff

Those of you who are responsible for sponsoring or employing research staff in the Department should familiarise yourself with the information on career management for contract research and teaching staff.

You should be having regular probationary meetings with your new staff. If everything is going well then you can probably avoid being too formal, but you should still be meeting regularly to discussing their work and ensure that they have the opportunity to ask any questions.

There are strict UKBA rules for people on visas – it is essential that they book their holidays and report any absences due to sickness or for other reasons. They must also keep their contact details up to date on the Employee Self Service. Those on EU grants also have to keep timesheets. Please do what you can to help ensure that staff comply with these requirements.

Policies and training

You should review the Equal Opportunities, Dignity@Work, Children and Vulnerable Adults Safeguarding and Bribery and Corruption policies, and information on Disciplinary Action, Grievances and Appeals.

The Equality and Diversity online training and the Bribery Act online training should be completed within your first month.

There is also a requirement to complete the Prevent Module 1 training within your first month.

Review meeting

At the end of your first year in post, you will expect to have a review meeting, which will occur annually. The Staff Review and Development system will send you a reminder when the meeting is due. This system enables you to record all of your review dates and training information. More information can be found in the human resources section of our website.

Training and development

The University provides many different opportunities for training both in-house and externally with the Skills Portal and through the Personal & Professional Development Office.

Welfare

The Department has a webpage to provide staff with links and guidance for all matters concerned with welfare.

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Further information and facilities

Booking seminar rooms

  • All rooms must be booked in advance through Reception.
  • Any activity which is not part of the published teaching or seminar programme must have prior approval from the Department.
  • Morning activities should start and finish on the hour.
  • Lunchtime activities should be limited to an hour.
  • Activities lasting longer than an hour should take place later on in the afternoon when the schedule is a little bit more flexible.

Booking supervision rooms

  • The booking of supervision rooms is self-service. Contact Reception for further information.
  • All bookings should be made on the hour.
  • Block bookings of more than two hours together are not allowed.
  • These rooms should be used for HPS supervisions only.

Calendar

You can subscribe to the Department calendar to keep track of events.

Events

Any event or activity which is not part of the published teaching or seminar programme must have approval from the Department by completing Part I – Permission request form and giving it to the Departmental Office. You will then be advised to carry out a risk assessment by completing Part II and Part III – Event booking and risk assessment form.

There may be the occasional exception but we expect everyone to try to comply with this.

We have detailed information on how to organise a seminar, reading group, workshop or conference on our webpages.

Financial regulations

All staff members making purchasing decisions on behalf of the Department must consult our financial policy and read the finance pages of our website.

Local information

Administration

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