Author Archives: Simone Apel
New workshop for PGRs: Critical Thinking and Academic Communication
Dr Qian Zhang in Educational Linguistics is running a development day on 31st January 2023 from 10am until 4pm which will help PGRs to critically read and analyse academic sources, express arguments clearly and concisely and improve their critical reading and writing.
The development day will be held on campus at Waterside and you can sign up here on the Gateway page. The day includes all refreshments and lunch.
PGRs. Are you getting the most out of your supervisory relationship?
Your working relationship with your supervisor is so important and getting the best out of the relationship can really help you to progress in your doctorate, making your life much easier. This workshop, run by Professor Ian Livingstone, who runs UON’s Supervisor Development Programme, helps you to consider what you want to get out of your supervisors and how to manage that. He will help you to gain a deeper understanding of the working relationship and what you need to do to to maintain a good relationship, thinking about how to communicate assertively and consider how to recognise and manage constructive and non-constructive criticism. A must for all Postgraduate Researchers.
The session will run from 10am-12noon at Waterside, Northampton on 24th January 2023. But there will also be an opportunity for PGRs to join remotely via Collaborate. You will be able to register and find the Collaborate link in the Gateway page below.
New Development Days for PGRs
The Graduate School are running new monthly Development Days for PGRs – a full day on campus on a theme – featuring practical workshops with lunch and the opportunity to meet with your fellow PGRs from across the university. Seriously consider taking a day out to do this. Doctoral study can be isolating and meeting up with others is a great way to share your concerns, chat about your research, share tips and tricks for progressing and increasing your motivation.
Please book on Gateway using the links below (click on the green Respond button). Contact Simone with any booking issues.
Read the rest of this entryPGRs – do you need a refresher on Transfer preparation? Ethics? Literature Searching? PURE?
If so, the Graduate School are running a series of online sessions on Tuesday 22nd November which you can join online on Collaborate. If you need a refresher of any of these topics below do book and come along to just that session. You don’t have to attend all day if just one session is relevant. The Getting Started day will feature….
10-11 Preparing for Transfer
11:15-12:30 Research Ethics
1:30-2:45 Getting Started with your Literature search
3-4:30 PURE – your online Research Presence
Book here on Gateway, where you will find the Collaborate link.
NVivo training for PGRs and staff doing research
Would you like to learn how to use NVivo? NVivo is a qualitative data analysis (QDA) management tool and Dr Hala Mansour is running two in-person workshops for the Graduate School, one for beginners in November and one for more experienced users in December on campus at Waterside. The workshops are open to Postgraduate Research Students and Early Career Researchers, academics and research staff.
Read the rest of this entryLaunch of PGR ‘Writing Buddies’ initiative
Deborah Babalola, Postgraduate Researcher and PGR Rep, and Simone Apel from the Graduate School are launching a new initiative for PGRs called Writing Buddies. Writing Buddies are small ‘micro-groups’ of writers coming together to write in a social space, which may be virtual or physical. They are micro-versions of structured writing retreats, where writers set themselves goals which they share with others, write for set periods together, then use the breaks to discuss ideas, share practice or just chat, often joining up again for another writing session. Social writing has helped many writers with productivity and motivation to overcome writing blocks and, just as importantly, can give support and a sense of belonging in a researcher writing community.
Read the rest of this entryWelcoming Lina to The Graduate School
We’d like to congratulate Lina El-Azhab on her appointment as our new Researcher Development Administrator in the Graduate School. Lina will be supporting all researcher development activities for both PGRs and Supervisors, working with Simone Apel and Ian Livingstone. She will be administering our inductions, development programmes, Graduate School events and other initiatives, such as Wellbeing Week and the Annual Research Conference. A very warm welcome to the team, Lina, from Matthew, Ian, Laura, Billie, Twiggy and Simone!
3-Minute Thesis 2022 – and the winner is….
The Graduate School’s 3-Minute Thesis competition for PGRs took place online, on Blackboard Collaborate, on September 8th.
Nine of our postgraduate researchers took part, gallantly stepping up to undertake this not-so-easy challenge. To take part, they were timed and judged – presenting their research in just three minutes with only one simple slide!
The winner of our 3MT was Carey Allen, part-time PhD student in Psychology, with her presentation entitled “Can sound bath meditation help students experience durable inner peace?” Judges Prof. Matthew McCormack, Dr Hala Mansour and Simone Apel rated each presentation on content, delivery and slide design. Carey will now represent UON at the East Midlands Doctoral Network (EMDoc) Conference 3MT Competition on 21st September, which will also be held online. Congratulations to Carey and good luck in the EMDoc 3MT!
All PGRs are welcome to attend the EMDoc conference – click on the link above to register. As well as Carey, two other PGRs from UON are presenting their research there. Zoe Stevens from Arts and Humanities, with a paper on “The Female Body: An Interdisciplinarity Approach” and Sally Sharp from Education on a joint presentation (with PGR Rachel York from the University of Derby) entitled “Interprofessional collaboration in qualitative doctoral research”. Best of luck to all presenters.
Researcher Wellbeing Week: 12th-16th Sept
The first Wellbeing Week for staff doing research and postgraduate researchers at UON, will be held from 12-16th September. Based on the Action for Happiness 10 Keys there will be a variety of events, online and in-person on campus, freely available for you to tap into. For the full list log into Gateway with your University ID and see the Calendar…. or read on for an overview. Book your place via Gateway.
Read the rest of this entry2022 EMDoc PGR Conference: Call for abstracts from Postgraduate Researchers
The call for abstracts is open for the 2022 EMDoc PGR conference. If you are studying for a doctorate at UON you are eligible to apply. EMDoc consists of nine universities who are keen to work collaboratively to share best practice, resources and insights into doctoral research across all disciplines. The EMDoc Conference is a great opportunity for PGRs to discuss and promote their research as well as network with other researchers from across the East Midlands.
This year’s conference will be hosted online by the University of Lincoln, and will take place on the 21st September. UON PGRs are invited to submit abstracts for the conference (deadline 5th August), on the theme of “Interdisciplinarity and Collaboration”.
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