postgraduate research at kent 2015 professor diane houston dean of the graduate school dr tim...
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Postgraduate Research at Kent 2015
Professor Diane HoustonDean of the Graduate School
Dr Tim HopthrowAssociate Dean (Graduate Studies)
The Graduate School
Getting Started…
• Enrol...get IT account…pay fees!
• See your supervisor ...ways of working…teams
• Check if there are any taught courses you need to attend
• Check your access to office space/IT support
• Find out when the School holds research seminars and make sure you attend
• Find out who the Director of Graduate Studies for your School is
• Make plans for the year
The Graduate School
Mission: to lead and champion the strategic development of provision for graduate education and research at the University of Kent.
Postgraduate Research Handbook
• Updated for 2015-16
• Everything you need to know about being a postgraduate researcher at Kent
including information on:
• Student Services
• Local community information
• Regulatory information
The GradPost
The GradPost Editorial Team
A newsletter created by Postgraduates for the Postgraduate community.
Contact: [email protected]
Information on Gradpost opportunities that will look great on your CV and enhance your postgraduate experience at Kent can be found on our website:www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool/news/gradpost/html
Postgraduate Research Festival
• Annual Postgraduate Research Festival takes place in May
• Open to all postgraduate students
• Students can present their work to a wider academic audience
• Opportunity to network with academic staff and peers
The Graduate School is running ‘Producing an Effective Research Poster’ workshops (16th February, 2nd March and 21st March 2016).
For more information please contact [email protected]
Postgraduate Experience Awards
• Do you have a great idea for a Postgraduate event at Kent?
• Apply for funding through the postgraduate experience awards and your idea could become a reality.
• Applications for up to £1,500 are invited for the Graduate School postgraduate experience awards 2015-16.
• Applications will be considered for funding to run events or projects with an interdisciplinary and/or external focus which will enhance the postgraduate experience at Kent.
• Examples of projects funded in 2014 “Take the Floor!” - an innovative workshop on improving presentation skills led by
PhD students from the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies. “Home|Less” – an interdisciplinary conference organised by four PhD students on
the meaning and implications of the concept of home
• Deadline for applications is 27th November 2015
• Application forms and more details at www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool/
Postgraduate Space
• Postgraduate communal space – top floor of Cornwallis East
• Templeman Library – study carrels, student PC rooms, silent and social study rooms www.kent.ac.uk/is/templeman/pdf/services.pdf
• PCs and study hubs on campus www.kent.ac.uk/student/studying/pcrooms/index.html
• Postgraduate space in your school – this may be a common room or shared desk space
The Researcher Development Programme
The Researcher Development Framework
Transferable skills are the skills which once developed give graduates a clear edge in the
job market and make researchers more effective and efficient in their work.
A. Knowledge and Intellectual Abilities
B. Personal Effectiveness
C. Research Governance and Organisation
D. Engagement, Influence and Impact
Following Sir Gareth Roberts’ review of higher education, the UK research councils (RCUK) issued a joint skills statement to all universities, identifying seven areas in which UK postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers should develop further skills while pursuing their research. Following wide consultation this statement has recently been updated and has evolved to become the Researcher Development Framework (RDF). All of our training falls under the four headings of the RDF:
Kickstart your PhD: Researcher Development Assessment Workshop
• Compulsory for all PhD students
• 3 hour workshops held throughout the autumn term
• Workshop topics: the Researcher Development Programme, resources for PhD journey, responsibilities of PG researcher and supervisory relationship
• The workshop also helps you to reflect on and assess your current skills and introduces the Researcher Development Assessment (RDA)
• Once you have attended this workshop you will be prompted by the system to complete your RDA online.
• Work with your supervisor to complete the assessment and use this as the basis of your research and skills training
• Must attend this workshop AND complete online assessment as part of the Probation process
The Researcher Development Programme
• Kickstart your PhD: Guidance, Skills and the Researcher Development Assessment (first years)
• Writing skills workshops (one-to-one tutorials and writing retreats)
• Writing for journals and getting published
• Rapid reading
• Research methods and statistics (including: SPSS, LaTeX, MATLAB)
• Negotiation skills
• Library skills
• Leadership
• Presentation skills and Impact
• Time / Stress Management
• Networking
• Research Ethics
• Teaching and marking skills
Online training
The key advantage in using our online training is that you can access high quality training where ever you are and where you need it. Thousands of individuals regularly miss training because they cannot attend workshops either because they are part-time, distance-based, or because workshops do not deliver training when it is really needed.
Using our online workshops, you can access training 24 hours a day/365 days a year wherever you are - at home, at your desk, in the halls of residence, at the library or in the laboratory.
1. Epigeum online courses2. The Good Viva Guide3. Viva Guidance 4. The Alternative Guide to Funding5. Blueberry Training – training podcasts on a variety of business skills
www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool/skills/onlinetrg/index.html
Other sources of help and advice…
• http://www.kent.ac.uk/learning/programmes/postgraduate.html
• www.kent.ac.uk/library/postgrad
• www.kent.ac.uk/careers/
• https://www.kent.ac.uk/teaching/qualifications/pgche/index.html
SenateVice-Chancellor
Graduate School BoardDean of the Graduate School
Faculty BoardsDeans
Faculty Graduate Studies CommitteeAssociate Deans (Graduate Studies)
School Graduate Studies CommitteeSchool Directors of Graduate Studies
Staff/Student Liaison Committees Supervisor/Supervisory Team
Programme Approval Sub-Committee
Structure Diagram for PG Programmes
Student Involvement
Get involved…make your voice heard..
• Postgraduate Student Representatives – School, Faculty, University
• Staff Student Liaison Committees (SSLCs)
• Postgraduate Student Surveys e.g. PRES
• Kent Graduate Student Association
• The Graduate School www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool
Contact DetailsProfessor Diane Houston, Dean of the Graduate School
Cornwallis East 3rd floor, room 323 [email protected]
Graduate School Staff
• Suzie Morris, Graduate School Administration Manager [email protected] ext: 3182
• Ros Beeching, Graduate School Coordinator [email protected] ext: 7838
• Dr Jo Collins, Postgraduate Development Advisor [email protected] ext: 16133
• Carla Doolan, Postgraduate Development Coordinator [email protected] ext: 4896
• Joanna Addison, PA to the Dean and Graduate School Assistant [email protected] ext: 4785
• Deborah Molloy, Graduate School [email protected] ext: 4089
Getting Aquainted...
• Walk down the hill and climb the Westgate towers, visit the Cathedral and St Augustine's Abbey
• Walk up the hill and explore Blean Woodland – one of the largest and most ancient woodlands in the South
• Rent/borrow a bike and cycle to Whitstable on the Crab and Winkle Way
• Buy a railcard and spend 55 minutes getting to London – some of the world’s best museums and galleries are on your doorstep and they are free!
• Book well in advance and travel to Brussels and Paris on the Eurostar
Faculty of Social Sciences
• Faculty of Social Sciences is the largest in the University, with more postgraduate students than the other two faculties combined
• Comprises 9 Schools/Centres: Anthropology & Conservation; Economics; KBS; KLS; Politics & IR; Psychology; SSPSSR; Centre for Journalism; Centre for Professional Practice
• Incredibly diverse; at first sight you might wonder what these divergent Schools could possibly have in common
• But what unites this community is the shared interest of its members in social relations
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Community and diversity
• That could be social relations in the animal kingdom, e.g. Anthropology project on male-female aggression & sexual coercion in chimpanzees
• Or human relations in all their complexity: violence & war collective bargaining & social networking child development management of drug offenders corruption in financial institutions community based micro-finance arrangements the psychology of the highest performing athletes the impacts of obesity on the local and global economy
• Often research on these themes is conducted collectively by colleagues from different Schools in the Faculty
Community and diversity
• Projects currently underway in the Faculty include: Gender management strategies adopted by female
entrepreneurs The impact of cannabis use on career, relationships &
health Water pollution protection regimes in Ethiopia The economic psychology of giving, public goods &
leadership Polygraph testing for sex offenders The social psychology of conspiracy theories Equipping athletes with the correct mindset to recover
from injury The impact of gender imbalances on peace &
democratisation in China and India
Key Information for Research Students
• University and School Postgraduate Student Handbooks
• University Regulations for Research Programmes of Study www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/quality/regulations/research/phdres.html
• Code of Practice for the Quality Assurance for Research Programmes of Study in particular: Annex H (Supervision)www.kent.ac.uk/teaching/qa/codes/research/annexh.html
Annex K (Progression and Examination)www.kent.ac.uk/teaching/qa/codes/research/annexknew.htm
Research Students’ Responsibilities
• Annex H (Supervision) of the Code of Practice outlines the responsibilities of research students (see Section 5).
• Responsibilities include: Ensuring that you are familiar with University Regulations. Preparing adequately for supervisory and progress review
meetings. Agreeing a clear programme of work with your supervisor. Making records of supervisory meetings. Contributing to the research environment of your academic school
and the wider University community. Seeking advice from your supervisors in an active manner and
taking the initiative in raising problems or difficulties. Attending a Researcher Development Workshop, completing a
Researcher Development Assessment and discussing this with your Supervisor.
Supervisory Interaction
• You should have a meeting with your main supervisor at a minimum of once every 4 weeks for full-time students (every 8 weeks for PT students)
• “Meeting” should generally be face to face, occasionally an email exchange or telephone conversation may have to replace this.
• Following the “meeting”, you should complete a supervisory record form on the Student Data System (SDS) and once this has been completed it will be sent to your supervisor for agreement.
• The supervisory record template covers:
Progress made since the last “meeting” Areas discussed at the “meeting” Work agreed
• Only one supervisory record is required for July/August.
• The SDS will remind you when a supervisory record is due for completion.
• See pp.6-7 of Postgraduate Research Student Handbook for details on completing supervision reports
Initial Meeting with your Main Supervisor
Ensure that you have a meeting set up with your Main Supervisor within the first two weeks of registration to discuss: How your supervisory team-student relationship will work (e.g.
preferred means of contact, feedback mechanisms and turnaround times)
Your meeting schedule Your work plan Any initial concerns Skills training requirements What you will be required to prepare for your induction review
(six weeks after registration) How progression monitoring will be handled within your
academic school (i.e. any school specific requirements) Facilities/resources
Supervision
• 88% of Kent students are happy with their supervision (PRES 2015, top quartile nationally)
• Supervisors and students are expected to treat one another with courtesy
• Discuss any problems at the earliest opportunity so any issues to be resolved quickly and effectively
• Should there be a more serious breakdown in the main supervisor/student relationship, the matter should be brought to the attention of the School Director of Graduate Studies who will review the situation
• Concerns about supervision should be raised at the earliest opportunity
Progression Monitoring
Review Stages Timing
Induction review Within 6 weeks of registration (for both PT and FT research students)
Probation/end of year review
At the end of year 1 for FT research students and PT research students
End of year reviews At the end of each year
Mid-year reviews (if necessary)
Mid-year reviews may be scheduled in cases where concerns are raised at an end of year review
Submission review 3 months prior to the minimum period of registration (e.g. 3 years for FT PhD and 5 years for PT PhD students)
Annex K (Progression and Examination) of the Code of Practice provides detailed information about the review stages and links to the review forms: www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/quality/rescode2005/annexknew.html
Progression Monitoring on SDS
• Your review documentation will be recorded on the Student Data System (SDS). See p.7 of Postgraduate Research Student Handbook.
• The SDS will provide dates by which the different reviews are due.
• It will be the responsibility of the Review Panel to complete the documentation on-line but once it is completed you will be able to view this on-line.
• Annex K (Progression and Examination) of the Code of Practice for Research Programmes of Study provides details of what needs to be prepared in advance of a review.
Working During Your Studies
There are various opportunities to undertake paid and unpaid work during your studies. Benefits include:
•Earning extra income
•Networking and making new contacts
•Gaining experience and learning new skills
•Tier 4 Visa Students All Tier 4 postgraduate students may work up to 20 hours per
week until the end of their course. PGR students may have the opportunity to undertake work
placements which are integral to your PhD research. These opportunities should be discussed with your supervisor and School.
2014-15:
-Over 5,100 students
-130 business and organisations
-567 rewards
T: @EmPoints
W: www.kent.ac.uk/employabilitypoints
The Employability Points SchemeGet Involved! Get Rewarded!
1. Take part in extra-curricular
activities
2. Claim Employability
Points
3. Get rewarded!
Activities can include: volunteering, attending workshops, joining societies, working part-time, etc.
Rewards range from internships, project placements, work experience, training sessions, assessment centres and vouchers!
Gain both ‘real life’ skills and work experience through the EP Scheme to stand out to prospective employers.
