Category Archives: News
Article on graduate teaching assistants’ dilemma over boycott
This article explores the complex position of the GTA entering a workforce in dispute:
http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/apr/22/should-phd-students-support-marking-boycott
The rabbit – Britain’s unloved pet?
Figure 1: Rabbit and food bowl. Photo: C Ellis
Submitted by Clare Ellis
Postgraduate Researcher Moulton College & University of Northampton
Rabbits are one of Britain’s top five most popular pets (PFMA, 2013) yet recent research (PDSA Wellbeing report 2013) has shown that they are often not kept in appropriate conditions, and hundreds of rescue centres all over Britain take in unwanted pet rabbits each year.
New research being carried out by research staff at Moulton College & the University of Northampton is investigating how BIG Britain’s bunny problem is. Read the rest of this entry
Institute of Health and Wellbeing: Theme leaders announced
Submitted by Katie Jones, Manager, Institute of Health and Wellbeing
The Institute of Health and Wellbeing is very pleased to announce that the leaders for each of our research themes have been appointed. In some instances, we have appointed a second leader to assist and bring together an exciting mix of skills and experience.
Calling PhD students and early-career researchers!
Researchers from the National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) are asking for input from UK-based research students and early-career researchers on the teaching and learning of advanced research methods.
PhD students, who are within five years of commencing academic employment, and researchers early on in their career have been asked to comment on brief summaries of four themes from NCRM research findings;
- challenges for learning advanced methods;
- provision of advanced methods training;
- approaches for teaching advanced methods;
- qualities of advanced methods teachers and learners.
The research is being conducted by Melanie Nind, Rose Wiles, and Daniel Kilburn at the University of Southampton and will be ‘live’ until Friday 18th April. See the NCRM website for more information and to participate.
HEFCE announce new policy for open access in post 2014 REF
Following on from their two stage consultation process last year, HEFCE have just announced their new policy for open access in the post-2014 Research Excellence Framework.
The policy applies to all journal articles and conference proceedings accepted for publication after 1 April 2016, but not to monographs, other long-form publications, creative or non-text outputs, or data.
Charles Oppenheim: Visiting Professor in Library and Learning Services
Professor Charles Oppenheim
In possibly the UK’s first arrangement of its kind, Library and Learning Services is delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Charles Oppenheim as Visiting Professor to the department.
Professor Oppenheim has had a distinguished professional and academic career and is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of Intellectual Property Rights and scholarly publishing. We are looking forward to benefiting from his expertise in a number of ways. In addition to delivering an annual lecture or workshop on his areas of specialism, Professor Oppenheim will provide academic leadership and mentoring to LLS staff engaged in research activity and will play an active role in the research life of the department.
Institute of Health and Wellbeing Internship Vacancies 2014
The Institute of Health and Wellbeing is pleased to offer four internships for Postgraduate Research (PGR) students across three projects.
Powerpointless
I thank my colleague, Helen Asquith, for cheering me up with this link this afternoon. You might enjoy a bit of Friday afternoon fun too.
Here are Rebecca Schuman’s thoughts on the use of Powerpoint in higher education.
We all know I’m guilty of these crimes. Are you?
Getty Images: the wider picture
You may have seen news reports over the last week – such as this one from the BBC – on Getty Images making a substantial chunk of its vast image library free-to-use on blogs and social media.
At first glance, this seems like great news for bloggers looking for quality images to accompany their posts. But as with most free lunches, you might want to read the fine print before you grab your knife and fork.
Swedish MA students join history workshop
Submitted by Professor Jon Stobart
On 10th and 11th March, a group of history research students from the University of Uppsala in Sweden visited the University to take part in a two-day workshop. The Swedish students are studying a two-year MA programme in Early-Modern History (taught in English), which has a strong research component.
The workshop was organised by Professor Jon Stobart and involved students on the University’s MA History programme, as well as history PhD students from Northampton and the University of Leicester. It provided an opportunity for detailed discussion of the historical sources and methods being employed by the British and Swedish students, and was organised around a number of themed panels which focused on topics from crime to consumption.
UON Graduate School Blog 