Author Archives: Simone Apel

Academy scholarship competition for full time research students

academy_public_sphereThe Institute of Ideas Academy is back – a residential weekend retreat which is unashamedly intellectual. From Friday 17th July to Monday 20th July, in the countryside of Bedfordshire, you get the chance to discuss The Public Throughout History, from the Greek and Roman Republics to the more complex, mobile, global publics of the present day.

For the fourth year, The Institute of Ideas will be running the Academy Scholarship Programme for full time students of ANY academic discipline. Successful applicants will be eligible to attend the annual Academy weekend for the heavily subsidised rate of £60, including accommodation and full board. Read on for details of how to apply. Read the rest of this entry

The psychology of dance: Problem solving and mood – seminar

Figari-tango32

“Figari-tango32” by Pedro Figari Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Submitted by Dr Helen Clegg

The next psychology seminar will be on Wednesday 25th February at 3.30pm in F43 with refreshments from 3:15pm.  The speaker will be Dr Peter Lovatt from the University of Hertfordshire. Below is his title, abstract and a brief biography.

Title: The Psychology of Dance: Studies in problem-solving and Mood.
Abstract: In this talk I will introduce several areas of Dance Psychology and describe the work of the Dance Psychology Lab. I will describe our work on the relationship between dance and problem solving and on dance and changes in mood/health. In both of these areas we have carried out lab-based research and extended/applied our work to people with Parkinson’s disease. I will also discuss some of the challenges people experience when they are asked to dance. Not everyone, it seems, feels like they are born to dance. Read the rest of this entry

Graduate School workshops in March

March hareMarch (and spring!) isn’t far away, so here is a quick rundown of the Graduate School workshops happening next month. Q Methodology is a research method used to study people’s “subjectivity” (their viewpoint) and Roshni Khatri will be running an introductory workshop to Q Methodology.

Personal Effectiveness Day focuses on negotiation, conflict handling skills, with strategies to handle the doctoral ‘roller coaster’. Quantitative Data Analysis 1 covers basic data analysis and variability and Dr Miggie Pickton and Nick Dimmock look at Open Access and the implications for your research. Please read on for full details. Read the rest of this entry

PGR Student Poster Competition 2015: Call for entries

PostergenericAre you a UN Postgraduate Research student, registered on one of our research degree programmes? If so, you may be interested to know that the Graduate School are holding their 10th Annual Poster Competition on Wednesday 13th May 2015, so why not take part? We are offering a first prize of £100, and two second prizes of £75 and it’s an excellent opportunity for you to illustrate and discuss your research. The competition will be held in Newton hall at Avenue Campus between noon and 3pm. Read the rest of this entry

Grounded Theory Forum meetings coming up!

Grounded theory forumSubmitted by Dr Sarah Neill, School of Health

The University of Northampton’s Grounded Theory Forum has set some dates for forthcoming meetings. Please put these dates in your diary and contact Sarah Neill if you would like to attend. They are:

Tuesday 17th March 2015 from 1-3pm in Cottesbrooke room C212, Park campus.
Fiona Barchard leads a discussion on ‘Constructivist and constructionist approaches to grounded theory’. Fiona is a Prof Doc student using GT in her thesis module.

Thursday 18th June 2015 from 1-3pm in Cottesbrooke room C212.
Topic and speaker to be agreed

The University wide Grounded Theory Forum was started by Sarah with colleagues from Education and Social Sciences. The forum discusses GT approaches, challenges and developments and would interest those teaching grounded theory, researchers using grounded theory, including post docs and doctoral students.

 

The doctoral roller coaster: managing the stresses of doctoral study

Frustrated_man_at_a_desk_(cropped)If you are a research student at UN you might be interested in “Personal Effectiveness Day: Managing professional relationships & handling the doctoral roller coaster”. This unique day-long workshop focuses on emotional and personal issues, often neglected but most definitely challenged during doctoral study.

The morning session, on Tuesday 3rd March, delivered by Karin Blak, Relationship Therapist and Trainer, focuses on the challenges of handling professional relationships, (with supervisors or research colleagues, for example) and aims to hone research students’ negotiation and conflict handling skills. The afternoon session, delivered by two UN PhD alumni, Dr Matthew Callender and Dr Richard Hazenberg, addresses some of the emotional challenges of research degree study, and offers strategies & solutions for handling the lows.

Read the rest of this entry

2015 ABTA Doctoral Researcher Awards

ABTAimage.jpgABTA (the Association of British Turkish Academics) announces its 2015 Doctoral Researcher Awards to promote and reward academic and scientific excellence among researchers pursuing doctoral degrees in the UK. The competition is open to all research students regardless of their nationality and there are prizes from £200 up to £400. The deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday 30th March. Read the rest of this entry

Images of Research 2014-15: Vote for 3 favourites

The Images of Research exhibition is now open in the Avenue Gallery corridor and will stay there until February 27th 2015. After this it will travel to Park Campus, to be displayed on the ground floor of Rockingham Library from the 9th to 23rd March, then at Avenue Library entrance after Easter.

If you don’t manage to see it in the flesh, so to speak, then why not vote online? Just follow the guidelines below. Read the rest of this entry

SRHE Professional Development Programme – workshops for researchers

Srhelogo

The SRHE have some valuable workshops coming up for researchers (including research students) – Research Approaches and Methods on Wednesday 18th February, a one day writing retreat on Friday 20 February and Demystifying and Preparing for the Doctoral Viva on Wednesday 4th March. Other workshops coming up later include Peer Review – a Workshop for Newer Researchers, An Introduction to Constructivist Techniques and Publishing Academic Articles: A Way Through the Maze, to name a few. For more information about SRHE workshops for researchers see the Upcoming Events page and look for the workshops labelled “Network – Professional Development Programme”.

All workshops cost just £60 for non members and are free for members. Full time research students can join SRHE for as little as £35.

 

New career planner for researchers

Research Careers front coverJobs.ac.uk, the UK based online careers and jobs bank for universities, research institutions, commercial and public sector employers, has announced a new tool in its repertoire. It’s an excellent Career Development Toolkit for doctoral students and research staff, written by Clare Jones, an experienced researcher careers professional at the University of Nottingham. Read the rest of this entry