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Postgraduate Research at Kent 2014
Professor Diane HoustonDean of the Graduate School
Dr Tamar Jeffers McDonaldHumanities Faculty Director of 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
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
The Graduate School
Mission: to lead and champion the strategic development of provision for graduate education and research at the University of Kent.
Contact DetailsProfessor Diane Houston, Dean of the Graduate School
Cornwallis South East room 19
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
SenateVice-Chancellor
Graduate School BoardDean of the Graduate School
Faculty BoardsDeans
Faculty Graduate Studies CommitteeFaculty Directors of 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
Postgraduate Research Handbook
• Updated for 2014-15
• 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 June
• 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 (9th December 2014, 24th February 2015 and 25th March 2015). 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 2014-15.
• 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 28th November 2014
• Application forms and more details at www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool/
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.
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:
The Researcher Development Programme is open to all postgraduate research students.
The range of workshops running during the 2014/15 academic year will include the following:
• 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 (including: SPSS, LaTeX, and Qualitative methods)
• Statistics
• Negotiation skills
• Library skills
• Leadership
• Presentation skills and Impact
• Time / Stress Management
• Networking
• Social Enterprise
Kickstart your PhD: Guidance, Skills and the Researcher Development Assessment Workshop
• Compulsory for all PhD students
• 3/4 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 training
• Must attend this workshop AND complete online assessment as part of the Probation process
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
Faculty of Humanities
• School of Architecture
• School of Arts Drama Film History of Art
• School of English
• School of History
• Centre for American Studies
• Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS)
• School of Music and Fine Art (Medway) Fine Art Event & Experience Design Music and Audio Art
Page 18
School of European Culture and Languages
Classical & Archaeological Studies
Comparative Literature
English Language & Linguistics
French
German
Hispanic Studies
Italian
Linguistics
Philosophy
Religious Studies
Broadening your horizons: School, Faculty, University
Page 19
Each School in Humanities is host to Research Centres – there are 23 across our Faculty
There are also three interdisciplinary Faculty Centres:
Centre for American Studies
Canterbury Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS)
Kent Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (KIASH)- hosting the KIASH lecture series
…and one cross-Faculty Centre:Centre for Critical Thought (Politics, Law, SECL, Arts)
Progression through your research degree
Key Contacts for Research Students:
• Your Main Supervisor
• Your Supervisory Team
• Your School Director of Graduate Studies (with responsibility for research programmes)
• Your Postgraduate Student Representative
• Postgraduate Administrator
• Faculty Director of Graduate Studies
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
Supervisory Issues
• 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.
Page 27
Unit for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching – UELT
Offers a programme of events open to all those who teach within the University:
• Academic Practice Forum: a chance to find out about, and discuss, things which matter to us in our academic work
• Professional development seminars
• Work in Progress seminars
• The Associate Teacher Education Programme (ATAP)
Contact: [email protected]
The Student Learning Advisory Service (SLAS)
• Advice and guidance on study skills and learning development
• Typical topics we support: Extended essays, dissertation and reports The MPhil and PhD Effective reading and note-taking Time management and organisation The supervisory process Maths and stats English for Academic Purposes (EAP)
• Consult www.kent.ac.uk/learning
• Contact us by email [email protected] for students based on the Canterbury campus and [email protected] for students based at Medway
• Call in and see us 9-5 across the academic year. We are next to Santander on the Canterbury campus and in G0-09 on the Medway campus
• Ask for a 1:1 appointment
• Come to our free workshops www.kent.ac.uk/student/skills/canterbury/index.html
University of Kent Careers and Employability Service
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/
• quick queries (drop-in & email)
• one-to-one careers interviews
• careers library
• careers website
• job vacancy database
• free careers literature
• talks & presentations throughout the year
• help making job applications
• careers fair in November
Welcome from Information Services
We look forward to meeting you and to supporting you in
your research.
We offer you:
•an excellent range of digital resources
•first-class, accessible IT facilities
•PGR Research Space
•friendly support staff
•in-depth assistance from your liaison librarian
•specialist collections and archives
Key library and IT resources for you:
www.kent.ac.uk/library/postgrad
The Employability Points Scheme
• Gain both ‘real life’ skills and work experience through the EP Scheme to stand out to prospective employers.
1. Undertake extra-curricular activities.
2. Log your activities on MyFolio and receive points.
3. Cash in points for rewards.
• With 81 graduates applying for each graduate position, you must find a way to stand-out to prospective employers. Sign-up to the EP Scheme to ensure you gain the skills and experience to complement your academic achievements.
• Get Involved – Get Rewarded!
Extra-Curricular activities include:•Volunteering•Attending workshops•Part-time work•Organising events•Joining societies•And much more…
Rewards include:•Internships•Project placements•Work experience•Training•Company experiences•Vouchers•And much more…
