Invitation to Images of Research 15-16 Private Viewing
You are cordially invited to
The Graduate School’s Images of Research
Private Viewing & Drinks Reception
on February 1st 2016 at 5:00-6:30pm.
Introduction by Professor Simon Denny at 5:45pm
Please register your interest in attending for catering purposes
We look forward to seeing you there!
Discipline-related research skills from the School of Social Sciences
The School of Social Sciences offers a programme of multidisciplinary training workshops. Subject-specific training and support is also offered via a diverse range of specialist research groups. Their programme is open to all PGRs at the University of Northampton.
Workshops coming up in 2016 include Research Impact, Researching with Vulnerable Groups (a joint workshop with the School of Health), and Open Access in the REF. Read the rest of this entry
Merry Christmas and a happy new year…
…to all research students and supervisors, staff and students at the University of Northampton.
Best wishes for a successful 2016 from everyone in The Graduate School, Top Lodge.
We will be open until Thursday 24th December 4pm and then closed until Monday January 4th 2016.
Simone, Ian, David, Twiggy and Laura
BIS announces review of the REF
“Universities and Science Minister Jo Johnson today (16 December 2015) launched a UK-wide review of university research funding to cut red tape so that universities can focus more on delivering the world-leading research for which the UK is renowned.
Following the decision to protect the £4.7 billion annual science and research budget in real terms during this Parliament, the Research Excellence Framework (REF) review will help ensure the government gets the most return from its investment.
The review will be chaired by the President of the British Academy and former World Bank Chief Economist Lord Nicholas Stern.”
Read more here: Government launches review to improve university research funding
Piirus – connecting researchers
If you are looking for a new research partner or wishing to extend your research network then Piirus may the place to start.
Open to anyone with an academic email address, once you have signed up and entered your own details, Piirus enables you find other researchers with similar interests to your own. Think of it as a research dating service for potential collaborators!
Why not take a look? I’d be interested to hear how you get on.
The NECTAR journey: from acceptance to compliance
The University’s new Open Access policy – driven by HEFCE requirements for the post-2014 REF – has a simple message at heart for publishing researchers: act on acceptance. In practice, this means timely deposit of items in NECTAR, and we’ve made a few changes to help with this. This post takes a look at the NECTAR workflow, from acceptance to publication.
Important: new open access policy for the University
At last week’s meeting of the University’s Research and Enterprise Committee, members approved a new open access policy for the University. Aligned with, and supporting, HEFCE’s open access policy for the REF, the University policy states:
The University supports the principle of open access and expects researchers to share their research outputs freely, subject to legal, ethical, commercial or contractual constraints.
From 1st April 2016:
• All researchers will record bibliographic details of their research outputs in NECTAR within three months of the date of acceptance for publication, presentation or other dissemination in the public arena.
• The authors of journal articles and conference proceedings will upload the accepted full text copies of their work to NECTAR within three months of acceptance for publication.
• The full content of other research outputs should be deposited In NECTAR as soon as possible.
• All full content will be made openly available immediately or following the expiry of an agreed embargo period.
EPSRC science photo competition 2015
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s Science Photo Competition 2015 is well underway and there is still time for you to share your research through pictures – and win prizes in a range of categories. Submission deadline is the 19 December 2015. Read the rest of this entry
The Metric Tide: Are you using bibliometrics responsibly?
Recent years have seen an increase in the use of metrics for research assessment. Whether using citation data to support REF scores, calculating an h-index to compare researchers or research groups, or choosing a journal according to its impact factor, researchers, their managers and their funders have become increasingly reliant on quantitative evaluation.
On the face of it, an h-index is an attractive proposition: just one number to sum up both the quantity and the quality of a researcher’s output. Likewise, a journal’s impact factor distils the reputation of the journal into a single metric. Unfortunately, for evaluating the quality of research, many would say that these are reductionist at best and, at worst, fundamentally flawed.
Two transfer seminars coming up – support your fellow researchers
You are cordially invited to the transfer seminars of two of our research students, Umar Kyari and Joanne Alexander, both from the School of Social Sciences.
Umar’s seminar will be held on Monday 14th December from 2-2:30pm in Sulgrave S010, Park Campus and his study title is “Networks of Protest: The Role of New Social Media in the Arab Spring uprising”.
Joanne’s seminar will be held on January 18th 2016 at 15:00 in room N25, Naseby, Park Campus. Entitled “Deconstructing the Intergenerational Transmission of Family Violence”, the seminar may be of interest to those studying/working in the fields of social work, psychology, nursing, health and wellbeing, and sociology.
Please do go along and support your fellow researchers.
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