Category Archives: Graduate School
Reviewing the UON Research Conference 2022
The annual UON Research conference was held on Tuesday 21st June online on Collaborate and on Wednesday 22nd June on campus in the Town Hall. The hybrid format allowed off-site students and those not able to come onto campus a platform to present and to attend, but still gave those people who wanted to come onto campus the opportunity for a traditional conference format, to meet and network. Over the two days we had 2 keynotes, a brand new (for us!) Pecha Kucha style of presentation, 38 oral presentations from both postgraduate researchers and staff and 4 ‘Roundtable’ sessions.
Read the rest of this entryUON Images of Research 2021-22 – Results!
Dr Cathy Smith, Dean of Research, Impact and Innovation, announced the winners of the 2021-2022 Images of Research competitions yesterday at the UON Annual Research Conference. Congratulations to the winner of the main competition, Oluwaseyi Omoloso from B&L, chosen by our Guest Judge Haley Morris-Cafiero from Art and
Design. Oluwasyi’s image was submitted in collaboration with Ebenezer Laryea, Amin Hosseinian Far and Adrian Pryce and was entitled FRESHPPACT: Levelling our Mounting Plastic Problem (above).
Haley’s runner-up was Dr Peter Jones from FAST, with his image Desire Lines of Physical Activity (right). Images with their abstracts can be seen in the catalogue of entries below.
Read the rest of this entryCelebrating live events at the 2022 Graduate School Poster Competition

On Tuesday 24th May the Graduate School held their first poster competition for 3 years, running alongside the annual Update Day. The exciting face to face event was held in the Creative Hub space, with posters displayed on the fixed TV screens, with postgraduate researchers presenting their research alongside.
The winners were announced by Professor Matthew McCormack, Head of Graduate School. First prize, a £100 Amazon voucher, was won by researcher Hadiza Azi from Health and Biological Sciences. Hadiza’s poster was entitled “Utilisation of Maternal Health Care Service in Bauchi State, Nigeria: Exploring the Limiting Factors”. Hadiza said of the competition “The event was great, and it provided us the opportunity to meet face-face after such a long time.” Two second prizes of £75 in vouchers were won by Allyson Green from Humanities and Patrick Yeboah from Accounting and Finance. Congratulations to all the winners.
Presenters commented how good it was to back on campus for an event. One said “I met some lovely people and it’s so interesting to discuss research with each other. Reinforcing what we are doing helps the critical discourse and reflection.” Another commented “. I got a lot out of the day as it gave me the confidence to talk about my research and really own it. I wasn’t sure what to expect initially but I’m trying to challenge myself more this year and it was a great experience. I would definitely welcome more face-to-face activities. It was good to meet new people and catch up with others.”
Invitation to the Annual Research Student Poster Competition 2022
The Graduate School would like to invite you to their Annual Postgraduate Researcher Poster Competition on Tuesday 24th May 2022, 1pm to 4:15pm, in the First floor exhibition space of the Creative Hub, Waterside campus. The poster competition is a development opportunity for doctoral research students, who present their research on a research poster, giving short 1-1 verbal presentations alongside. So why not come along to meet some of our PGRs. Read the rest of this entry
Holiday reading… and watching for PGRs!

If you are looking to develop some research skills during the Easter (or summer!) holidays we have a wide range of courses, slides and other resources on offer online, as well as recordings of Graduate School webinars. Read on to find out where you can access these….
Read the rest of this entryPostgraduate Researcher Award 2022

PGRs are invited to apply for funding from the 2022 Postgraduate Researcher Award and have until Friday 29th April to do so. The Postgraduate Researcher Award provides up to £1,000 to support a research student in the pursuance of their research degree programme at the University of Northampton. The Award is available to full-time or part-time postgraduate research students at the University of Northampton. DBA and DProfPrac students must have completed the facilitated modules and be eligible for registration on the Professional Research Module.
The intention of the Award is to support and enhance research activity of various kinds (for example, additional travel costs, purchase of specialist equipment, researcher development). Funds awarded must be spent by 31 July 2022. Read on for conditions and how to apply.
Read the rest of this entryGraduate School Update Day and 2022 PGR Poster Competition

When: Tuesday 24th May 2022 10:30am-4:15pm;
Where: CH105, First floor, Creative Hub, Waterside Campus
The Graduate School is pleased to announce the first Update Day since June 2019. Annually, prior to the pandemic, we have held this day for postgraduate researchers and their supervisors to get together to discuss topics of relevance via workshops. And, just as importantly, to provide a space for both parties to meet, discuss issues and support each other – and enjoy a nice lunch.
This year’s workshop sessions will be on Equality and Diversity for Researchers and a discussion session on doctoral study and supervision in a post-Covid environment. As well as Update Day, we’ll be holding our annual PGR Poster Competition. Please add the event into your calendars. For more information, the schedule and to book a place see the Gateway page.
March 2022 PGR Induction: A warm welcome to our new postgraduate researchers
A four day induction from 7-10th March saw us welcome a further 24 postgraduate researchers to the University of Northampton.
The 4-day biannual Induction Programme is run by The Graduate School in October and March and is compulsory for all research students starting out on their PhD or MPhil. The Induction aims to launch PGRs into their studies by offering them a variety of workshops and talks, including research degree processes and procedures, skills development, open access, library resources, EDI and research integrity. The students also gave presentations on their research topic, had an induction into their Faculty and met members of staff at the University who will support them along the way.
Read the rest of this entryCall for Entries; Graduate School Research Poster Competition 2022
The Graduate School has launched the call for entries for the 15th Annual Research Poster Competition and the call for entries closes on May 3rd. The competition is open to all PGRs at UON. Posters will be displayed digitally in an exhibition at Waterside, with an in-person judging session, on May 24th at Graduate School Update Day. The competition will be held from 12:15pm through to prize giving at 3:30pm.
The aim of the event is for PGRs to create a digital poster that explains their research to a mixed audience of non-subject specialists. At whatever stage in the research process you are, do take this opportunity to share your work with others and gain valuable feedback. For further information on the rules of entry, please see the Guidelines.
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