Appointments

University of Sussex. Ben Martin, professor of science and technology policy studies, has been appointed director of the Science Policy Research Unit.

Department for Education and Employment

Tim Stevenson, member of the board of Burmah Castrol plc, chief executive of the Lubricants Group, and Rosemary Thorne, group finance director of Sainsbury's, are to be non-executive members of the department's management board.

University of Bristol

Gianni Angelini, British Heart Foundation professor of cardiac surgery, has been elected chairman of the British Society for Cardiovascular Research for three years; Ray Satchell, director of the language centre, has been elected chairman of the Association of Directors of University Language Centres in the UK and Eire.

The Booker Prize

Gillian Beer, professor of English at Cambridge University, author and critic, is to chair the 1997 Booker Prize panel.

Royal Holloway, University of London

Vice principals from September 1997: Robert Lethbridge, professor and head of the department of French (academic development); John Turner, professor and head of the history department (planning and resources); Francis Robinson, professor and immediate past head of the history department (research and enterprise).