Author Archives: linaelazhab
The PGR Induction Experience
For me, this was re-treading old ground anew. For me, this was a small, calm homecoming. Although I have been back to the Northampton area since I was last a student there a few years ago, I have not set foot onto campus in quite some time. Not since I was robed out for a graduation. That ceremony in all its robed circumstance felt like the termination of something special; now, being inducted once more at the University of Northampton, that special something is being revisited and re-experienced. That being my ongoing relationship with this incredible institution. If I sound whimsically nostalgic to the point of emotional, that is because I very much am – I did both my BA and my MA with UoN. Returning in 2026 for my PhD is a full circle moment and also an arrow fired into the unknowable future. The campus hasn’t changed since I was last here those few years ago: it’s still square and grey and shiny, it’s still clean and sparse yet alive with action and business, but I feel very different. When I first came here for an open day I was seventeen, clueless, overwhelmed and less well-academically clued in than I am these days. Now, at twenty-five, I really appreciate UoN for what it is when I step once more onto the contours of campus – it is a space for curious minds to come up for air, it is curvaceous glossy buildings dedicated to your passions, it is endless helping hands and wise minds. Being here again reminds me of why I want to join everyone in the pursuit of the academic. This time round, however, I’ve got no classmates, no cohort, no lecture timetable – there’s just me and my doctoral project. That really is quite thrilling.
Induction for Post-Graduate Researchers is a four day event. As someone from out of town, and therefore someone who will be doing their PhD nearly totally remotely, that means a lot of thinking time commuting in the rush hour traffic for four days. I think about how many times I have done this journey since I was an undergrad fresher in 2019; I could drive it blindfolded. I think about how unbelievably lucky I am to have such a strong supervisor team and academic department to guide me over these next years of study. I think about how, this time, I am going to take a good ID card photo as the last two were so dire. Alas, on the first morning, I am given a new sparkly university email address and a new pre-printed ID card. Whilst the turnstiles are now open to me, I don’t spot any cameraman. Then I see it: the photo of myself I had to upload for my application. I stare back at myself from the small white rectangle that unabashedly boasts the end date for my course six years from now. A scary date, but a good ID photo finally. We’re off to a good start.
In terms of information and being informative, UoN’s PGR induction program is top of the range. Inductees are spoilt for information. Indeed, by the fourth day, I have received enough factoids, titbits, pieces of advice and resources to satiate six years of doctorate study. And, as a tried and tested technophobe, I have even started to be converted to the university’s multitudinous systems. The main takeaway: don’t get overwhelmed, it’ll all make sense fast. And whatever doesn’t, doesn’t matter! I am now a few weeks into my project and the overwhelm has subsided as I have made sense of everything that is thrown at inductees. Keep your eyes and ears open during induction sessions – it will all come in handy at some point. I thank every person involved in all four days, in particular their welcoming demeanour. I always feel that I am in safe hands, that any question will be answered, that everything has been thought of. I am reminded of how I felt at eighteen starting my undergrad: UoN knows how to take care of its students and researchers.
Lunch is also provided each day. Never turn up such a rare opportunity for a free meal. Thank you to the caterers, you made a room of anxious inductees much more relaxed.
The induction took place at the proverbial top of the world: the Learning Hub’s Leatherseller’s Hub, with a panoramic view of Northampton town. For mid-March, the weather was stunning. I constantly found myself staring past the sessions’ screens and out to the cloudless skies over the four days, and feeling giddy to be back as a student. I have so many memories in this library. Indeed, on the first day of induction, I went to my favourite section of the fourth floor bookshelves as I used to a daily basis on my undergrad. I picked up the books that I read in my first year, still sat on the shelves ready to be explored again. I thumbed through copies of texts I had snuck into the library for in my face mask during my years of lockdown degree. Now I select books that I will use for my PhD – a project I never actually thought would come to be. It is only by the generous encouragement and support of UoN staff across both my department and the graduate school that I have felt brave enough to take on this next academic level. Having felt that it was beyond reach since graduating from my MA, I feel proud to be starting my PhD experience.
My doctorate project is a personal one for me. One of the most fascinating takeaways from the induction week is actually how different each person’s project is from everyone else’s in the room. Indeed, whilst I watched many of my colleagues grapple with data handling, research plans, the nitty-gritty of medicine, computing, law, psychology, I felt far more abstract. My project is a PhD By-Practice, specifying in creative writing. Rather than conducting a study or research, instead of number-crunching and interviewing participants, I have to simply…write. There’s more to it than that, of course, and I believe in the proposal I have set out with the university, but a lot of the induction sessions I felt didn’t apply to me in my creative bubble. This, of course, is not the case; each session contained something vital on how to be a PGR. Whether ethics, integrity, or the turmoil of using all of the sites and online tools available to students, there is a lot of responsibility to doing a doctorate, and the induction days presented these with the correct jovial gravitas.
As I begin my project, and the creative juices start to flow, I am keeping in mind that I am now a part of something bigger, that something special I mentioned earlier – I am now another member of the University of Northampton’s respectable research machine. I am part of its academic community; I am once again undertaking exciting studies in an institution I know and trust. As are all my fellow inductees, all about to branch off in newfound thought-provoking pathways of PGR-ing. With my new black lanyard in hand, and a few obligatory online courses to tackle, I depart from campus on the last sunny day feeling fulfilled, daunted, energised and ready to start researching. Four days down, six years left to go…
Blog post written by: Joe Butler
5 Things I Loved About the PhD Induction Week
Starting a PhD can feel a bit vague at first, so induction week was actually really helpful in making things feel more concrete. Instead of trying to cover everything, I thought I’d share with you five things I really loved about the induction week.
1. How genuinely welcoming it felt
From the moment we arrived, it didn’t feel stiff or overly formal, which I think everyone was probably half expecting. Lina, Xose, Matthew, and the rest of the team were brilliant and made a real effort to create a relaxed, open atmosphere. It made it much easier to settle in and just get on with it rather than overthinking everything.
2. Realising everyone is a bit unsure (and that’s normal)
Talking to other PhD students was probably the most reassuring part of the week. Whether people were just starting or already a year, two, or more in, there was a shared sense that no one really has it all figured out. And that was … oddly comforting. It made the whole process feel a lot more doable and a lot less like you’re supposed to have a master plan from day one.
3. Hearing what other people are working on
Listening to people talk about their research was another highlight. There was such a mix of topics, but what stood out the most was how much thought and care these researchers put into their work. It was one of those moments where you realise you’re in a room full of genuinely interesting people, which was both humbling and motivating at the same time.
4. Letting go of the idea that everything has to be perfect from the start
A big shift for me came from the more informal conversations during the week. It became clear quite quickly that research proposals aren’t set in stone and that changing direction is not only allowed but expected. That took a lot of pressure off. It made it easier to see the PhD as something that develops over time rather than something you have to get exactly right straight away.
5. The sessions that stayed with me
Some sessions naturally stood out more than others. Dr Patrice Seuwou’s session on equality, diversity, and inclusion was one of them. It led to some really interesting conversations and got me thinking about things I hadn’t really considered in depth before. It’s also probably where a new research interest started to form, which I wasn’t expecting going in.
Alongside all of that, the more practical sessions on ethics, time management, tools and expectations were useful in giving a clearer idea of what’s ahead. Nothing felt overwhelming, but it made it clear that there’s a lot to think about beyond the research itself.
Overall, the week made the whole idea of starting a PhD feel less like stepping into the unknown and more like joining something that, while still challenging, is shared with others going through the same process.
Blog post written by: Andra Abu Ghuwaleh
Becoming an Insider: Research, Language and Identity
Starting a doctorate is about more than timetables, systems and introductions. It is also about beginning to inhabit a new identity: that of a researcher.
This week I was privileged to spend four days with over 20 people from across the world at an induction event hosted by Dr Xose Rosales and his amazing team from the Graduate School.
It was a week of new beginnings and the creation of a new identity as a postgraduate researcher at UON. I started thinking about what that meant to me and, while catching up on LinkedIn, came across a post about shibboleths. I had always understood Shibboleth as a form of authentication used to access academic journals, but it seems it is also “those little verbal passport checks that reveal whether you are comfortably inside the tribe or an outsider” (Warner, 2026).
Thinking about that in the context of the induction event, I became curious about the language that helps make a group of curious individuals into insiders in a research community. At UON, as a part-time staff member, I am already familiar with terms such as REF, TEF and FHEA, and in my full-time job, Data Lake Houses, MDM (Master Data Management) and DPIAs (Data Protection Impact Assessments) are all common insider terms in my community. So I started thinking about the shibboleths that make us insiders, members of our own discipline-specific Communities of Practice (CoP), as well as a wider researcher CoP within UON.
Listening to the range of presenters at the induction sessions, we were introduced to ORCID, not the flower, but an Open Researcher and Contributor ID; PURE, not water, but a research information management system; NILE, not the river, but Northampton’s Integrated Learning Environment; and a team we will undoubtedly spend time with LLSS, the Library Learning and Support staff. Oh, and did I mention the ARC, the annual research conference?
Then the was RDB, RDC, and possibly my favourite acronym, FRAKE: the Faculty Research and Knowledge Exchange committee.
But insider status is not conferred by acronyms alone. Language matters because it helps us navigate systems and signals belonging, but the deeper markers of research community lie elsewhere. They show up in learning what it means to wrestle with the literature, in recognising that a rejected journal article is not necessarily failure, and in understanding why a good question often becomes more complex the longer you sit with it. Becoming an insider is not just about speaking like a researcher; it is about beginning to think, read and question like one.
I am not sure I am looking forwards to all of the harder parts, but understanding their value in the learning journey is key.
Developing a deepened understanding of what it means to make a claim to knowledge, and the limitations that must apply to that claim and the multiple ways to problematise something are things which motivate me. As a group, having a shared curiosity, a desire to know and understand why, alongside an acceptance of differing views will undoubtedly be key to our success as researchers, and I’ll be honest, going to the edge of the map of current knowledge in my area and venturing into the unknown, moving into an area marked “there be dragons”, excites me.
I wonder how many rabbit holes there are to go down and which one will contain the gold, is energising.
Knowing that I have a community of like-minded individuals to share it with makes that journey all the more motivating.
So, back to the beginning: the creation of a new identity. That identity formation has begun and will deepen over the next few years. I am excited to share that journey with those at the induction, with other UON researchers, and with the amazing Graduate School staff who worked tirelessly, both in front of us and behind the scenes, to make the event such a success.
If this week was an introduction to the language of research, it was also an introduction to the generosity of the research community within UON. As we learn the language and behaviours of those within it, I hope we will be as open to welcoming future cohorts of new researchers as those we met this week were for us.
Blog post written by: Ian Hall
How it started and how it’s going
As I reach the first year milestone of my PGR journey and sign up for year two, I find myself reflecting on how the year has gone.
It started with training on the systems, processes and some consideration of the road ahead. It was great to meet the other PGR students and the support team tasked with guiding us through. Everyone was daunted at the prospect of going it alone and losing the weekly structure of seminars, even those that had been working in between. The first step of planning the project seemed a simple process, without the weight of having any of the research! And the initial compilation of secondary research presented a huge mountain that only experience suggested could be slowly surmounted. Being organised was key, logging reading and annotations until enough books had been consumed to get some words down. This came as a big relief – the huge piece of writing had been started, each word one less to summon up. The necessary ethics courses and applications were testing and I felt the need for more training here – each project is different by requirement and it’s difficult for the process to flex accordingly. Self-motivation is key throughout, the various events, conferences and faculty get-togethers have really helped step back and see the bigger subject picture periodically. Attending Transfer seminars has given a great perspective on what is required from my turn at this key step. And for a part time student, having a chapter and view on how the overall thesis will look in 18 months felt challenging at about the 9 months mark. But, with some writing done and seminars attended, it suddenly felt achievable and it’s in the diary well ahead of schedule. My supervisory meetings have been productive and really moved the project on, allowing me to air my thoughts and hear them out loud, whilst receiving some expert critique and ideas. They seem to come around very quickly, especially when there are school holidays to contend with and study breaks are needed.
Overall, I’ve felt in control, organised, pleased to find I have the first 13,000 words done and am getting ready for transfer. The project has evolved and expanded as my knowledge has grown, but the subject is clearly defined and approach structured and this has not changed, which has really helped. The UoN inter-library loan service has been invaluable – they have quickly provided over 60 books for review which form a significant proportion of my Bibliography. The PGR workspace has been a great sanctuary from the rest of my life and provided a routine for study. The Waterside Cafe has fuelled me with restorative sausage baps, which may well require me to thank them in my final thesis. I wonder if I can offer any words of wisdom to anyone contemplating becoming a PGR? I think clarity on your topic, ongoing review of structure, focusing on bringing out your personal creativity and perspective are key. And my advice? You can do this – break it down, plan it out and take it a bit at a time, it will happen.
Blog post written by: Catriona Lougher
Connections and Cowrie Shells: My PhD Journey
My mother had a shell on her dressing table. I liked to hold it, to feel its smooth round body and its blunt row of teeth. Egg-like. Dappled. I looked it up one day in an old encyclopaedia which had a double-page spread on sea creatures. Cypraea tigris. A tiger cowrie. I read that its disrupted colouration served as camouflage from octopuses and mollusc-eating cone snails, and that the word ‘cowrie’ derived from the Swahili term for porcelain. Cowries are known as effulgent shells: shiny, radiating light. My mother told me that if I held the shell to my ear, I’d be able to hear the sea. So, I’d do as I was told, sitting very still, cupping the shell in my hand. Hush …
Summer holidays were deckchairs and windbreaks; burning pebbles; sunburnt skin; tangled hair; sand-scored toes; screaming seagulls; and the cold briny water, holding me as I bobbed on my back, looking up at the sky.
I’ve been fortunate to have had many opportunities of indulging my love of the oceans since those carefree, childhood days, not least through my love of kayaking and wild swimming. Currently, I’m indulging my childlike curiosity again through my research of women’s stories of the polar regions. And, unexpectedly, the cowrie has returned.
Cowries originate from the tropical Indian and Pacific oceans. Most likely, the large tiger cowrie that had ended up in our house in Kent had been plucked from a shallow coral reef in Hawaii and imported as a decorative item. The lustre of its shell would have been its downfall, as only live cowries have the desired gloss for it to be a curio. The snail would have died during processing.
Cowries are emblematic of beauty and suffering and are closely associated with the female form. Swollen belly, slit beneath. Womanhood, fertility, birth.
African legends endow the cowrie with life-giving properties bestowed by the sea goddess, as well as wisdom and protection. Cowries are powerful talismans of the ocean. Magical. Spiritual. Yet, cowries have also been ‘shell currency’, aligned with slavery and exchanged for the human trade of men, women, and children.
In the plantation society of Victorian Barbados, the crafting skills of Barbadian women tied them to contracts to fuel the fashionable craze of ‘conchylomania’ (shell collecting) that swept England and the United States in the 1800s. At the Bridgetown Curiosity Shop, the women skilfully crafted ‘sailors’ valentines’, keepsake shell mosaics in wooden boxes that were purchased by the sailors on whaling ships when they stopped in the Caribbean to restock and refuel, before returning home to gift them to their loved ones. Sometimes the sailors kept them in their pockets as they sailed the Arctic seas.
Cowries represent my PhD journey, as I endeavour to chart an unnavigated course that takes me from source to sea, across oceans and continents, cultures and histories. They are a reminder of how entangled our human lives are with the more-than-human, and how a literary thesis also requires a multi-disciplinary awareness of the entanglement of the arts and sciences. Sometimes I still feel like the child that I was, sitting alone, listening to the sounds of the sea, but maybe I’m beginning to understand a little more of our interconnected world and the contribution that my research can make.
Blog post written by: Clare Moss
Thesis Title: Challenging the Cultural Narrative of Arcticism through Contemporary Women’s Life-Writing of the Polar Regions
CALL OPEN: Images of Research 2026
All researchers (staff and research students) at the University of Northampton are invited to participate as the Call for Images is open for our 14th Images of Research competition. Create a unique image – a painting or a photograph – that captures the essence of your research or captures an element of it in an artistic way. Include a catchy title and a 150 word summary and your entry for Images of Research will be ready for submission. You can find more information on how to apply in the IoR 2025-26 Rules and Guidelines.
As in previous years, this year’s IoR will consist of two parts – viewers can vote for their top three favourites and a ‘guest’ judge(s) will pick their top three as well. All you need to do is make sure that your entries follow the Rules and Guidelines linked above and submit your image via this form by the close date of March 23.
The Graduate School launched its first Images of Research in 2013. Justin Lance, then Head of Corporate Programmes at NBS said of it “this is such a wonderfully simple, yet powerful, concept to showcase the diversity and flamboyance of research across the University.” Indeed, this is a perfect opportunity for you to express your creativity and engage a broader audience with your research. Every year, Images of Research are displayed around campus and selected images find their way into different University publications.
Browse through the Images of Research 2025 Brochure to take a look at last year’s entries.
If you have any questions please contact Lina in the Graduate School.
We look forward to your entries!
PGR publication – ‘Saccharomyces cerevisiae’ as a Model for Reprogramming of Eukaryotic Cells: Implications for the Study of the Relationship Between Metabolism and Inflammation in Chronic Disease
Neill Friedman is a biochemistry Ph.D. candidate at the University of Northampton, researching mitochondrial function and metabolic health. A former telecoms entrepreneur, Neill entered higher education at 52, completing a Sport and Exercise BSc at UON, after overcoming obesity and a late-diagnosed learning disability. His journey from personal transformation to scientific research reflects a deep commitment to lifelong learning and the power of second chances. He is passionate about demystifying science for mature learners and exploring how lifestyle influences cellular health.
The published paper, a collaboration between Neill his supervisor Dr Alexander Lehner and UON Biochemistry undergraduate student Glirstar John De Britto, details a novel model for examining mitochondrial reprograming in eucaryotic cells and discuses the possible implications for developing a better understanding of the relationship between lifestyle and health.
Here is the link to the paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12013-025-01844-w
My UON Journey and Experience of the Images of Research (IOR) 2025
My educational journey at the University of Northampton (UON) has been a long and fulfilling one. I began with a BA in Business Entrepreneurship and Management, followed by an MSc in International Marketing Strategy. I am now pursuing a PhD focused on the Adoption of Responsible Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence (AI) in UK and Maltese Agriculture. My research explores the perspectives of agricultural professionals on adopting AI technologies and responsible AI practices.
Recently, I entered the Images of Research (IOR) 2025 competition. Although my research is rooted in the social and business aspects of AI adoption in agriculture, translating those concepts into a single, accessible visual image was a unique and creative challenge. The competition brief invited participants to design a distinctive image (whether a painting or photograph) that artistically captured the essence of their research, along with an engaging title and a 150-word summary.
The Graduate School provided clear guidance, including a rules and guidelines document and examples of previous entries. Lina was also incredibly helpful in answering any queries I had throughout the process.
This year’s competition featured 11 submissions and included two awards: the People’s Choice (won by Clare Moss) and the Judges’ Choice, which, to my surprise and delight, was awarded to me. I had entered with no expectations, only a desire to gain experience and learn from the process. I never imagined I would be selected as the judges’ winner.
Creating my IOR image gave me a chance to express my research visually, in a way I hadn’t done before. I used a photograph of a vibrant Maltese pomegranate field as the backdrop, rich in colour and symbolic of tradition and cultivation. The image is split into two halves, like a visual balance scale. On the left stands a traditional Maltese farmer, seated on his tractor with his dog by his side, a warm, human moment that reflects the heritage and hands-on nature of conventional farming. On the right, in contrast, is a more modern Maltese field featuring an AI-powered irrigation device, symbolising the forward-looking potential of smart agriculture.
The image invites the viewer to consider how tradition and innovation can coexist. I aimed to keep the composition simple yet meaningful, ensuring that anyone, regardless of academic background, could grasp the essence of my research at a glance.
To my fellow PGRs: I wholeheartedly encourage you to take part in opportunities like this. Events run by the Graduate School are fantastic for expanding your research visibility, building your confidence, and connecting with others in the PGR community. Even if you don’t win, the experience itself is invaluable. You never know what you’re capable of until you try.
Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisory team: Associate Professor Dr Tatiana Gherman (First Supervisor), Dr James Mshelia (Second Supervisor), and Dr Nadeem Aftab (Director of Studies). Their guidance and encouragement have been instrumental throughout my PhD journey so far.
Blog post by: Henrietta Farrugia
Images of Research 2025: voting now open!
The Graduate School’s 2025 Images of Research (IoR) is now open for ‘People’s Choice’ voting. This year we have a collection of 11 fabulous research images from across the university. IoR showcases research in a unique way – researchers produce an original image, which can be a photograph or artwork, and write a short, engaging summary describing how the image links to their research. This results in an exciting exhibition, showcasing UON’s research diversity.
To vote for your favourites, view the Images of Research Brochure, then choose your favourite two in the IoR 2025 Voting Form. Please vote for your favourite two in no particular order, taking into account BOTH the image and the abstract. As a guide, a winning image would be one that:
* Is visually appealing AND
* Has an accompanying abstract which is well written, clearly connects with the image and ensures viewers, who know nothing about the research topic, will understand and find interest in the research presented.
The People’s Choice closes on Monday 23rd June at 12pm Please note that there is only one vote submission allowed per person, and voting is restricted to the UON community.
We are also holding a second competition around Images of Research. Each year we invite guest judges to choose a winner. The winners of both competitions will be announced at the UON Research Conference at Waterside on Tuesday 24th June.
Good luck to all our entrants!
Re-defining, Re-exploring and De-claiming methodological research. Yes, to De-claiming
I’m so happy to have recently won the poster competition at our university’s 18th annual postgraduate researcher poster competition. As a current PhD student focusing on inclusion, particularly in culture, race, gender, and dyslexia (disability), I find this acknowledgement encouraging and energising.
My academic journey began at the University of Northampton (UON), where I earned my Master’s in Special Educational Needs and Inclusion (SENI). It was also at UON that I received support in being identified as dyslexic and subsequently excellent assistance in completing my Master’s. This emotional and challenging experience of being diagnosed late with dyslexia nurtured my passion for exploring this area and questioning why I was not identified earlier. It motivated me to pursue a PhD to explore the awareness of dyslexia in education, particularly concerning culture, race and gender.
When the poster competition was announced, I saw that one of the themes was methodology. I saw it as a fantastic opportunity to showcase my research on how I am exploring the educational experiences of Black African women with dyslexia within the UK educational system in a visual and accessible manner, as there is limited research in this area.
The application process was refreshingly straightforward, requiring only a brief abstract and a few details submitted via a Microsoft form. Designing the poster was enjoyable, although it was challenging to avoid overloading it with excessive information, and using Canva proved helpful. Printing the poster was equally straightforward. I used the recommended printers, Merland, for the printing service, and they were quick to print the poster and incredibly supportive throughout the process. The staff knew UON’s poster competition guidelines and offered guidance on layout, ensuring the final print appeared professional. Although there is a cost to print the poster, the university reimburses it.
I felt excited yet nervous on the day of the competition as I did not know what to expect. However, the atmosphere quickly calmed my nerves. The standards set by the other competitors were remarkably high; they conveyed their research in a manner that showcased their passion for it, and it was wonderful to observe the diverse approaches people took with their research. The judges were approachable and genuinely engaged with the work presented. Their questions were differentiated and engaging and resembled a conversation more than an interview or interrogation, making the experience enjoyable and enlightening. It was a fantastic opportunity to reflect on my work and gain fresh perspectives.
Although winning the competition was a proud moment, it was about taking part, getting exposure, and thinking outside the box for my research, which can sometimes be a lonely journey. I am thankful for the encouragement of my supervisors (Dr. Emel Thomas and Dr. Cristina Devecchi), ASSIST (Katie S), and the support of The Graduate School and the team at Merland.
If you are a student considering entering a poster competition, I highly recommend it. It is a fantastic way to share your work, build confidence, and connect with others passionate about making a difference in whatever field you are in.
Blog post written by: Aina Amure
UON Graduate School Blog 