* John Troy , head of the School of Accounting and Economics at Napier University, has been elected president of Space, an international network of European academic institutions. It is the first time a UK academic has been elected to the three-year post.
* Leeds University has appointed: Steve Hencher , director of civil engineering consultants Halcrow Group, to a chair in engineering geology; Wally Gilks , of the Medical Research Council's Biostatistics Uni, Cambridge, to a chair in statistical bioinformatics; John Plane , professor at the University of East Anglia, to a chair in atmospheric chemistry; Peter Roberts , chair of the Academy for Sustainable Communities, to a chair in sustainable spatial development in the School of Earth and Environment; and Mark Kearney of King's College London, to a chair in cardiology.
* Elaine Murphy , Baroness of Aldgate, has been appointed chair of the council at St George's Medical School, University of London.
* Ulster University has appointed: David Kretzmer , Bruce W. Wayne professor of international law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, to a professorship in law; and Don MacRaild , professor of history at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand, to a professorship of history.
* Greenwich University at Medway has appointed Stuart Ashenden director of academic planning. Dr Ashenden will also work at the university's School of Engineering.
* John Ludden , of the French National Centre for Scientific Research, has been appointed director of the British Geological Survey, succeeding David Falvey in October.