Supervisor Development Programme 2015-16

The university runs a development programme for supervisors who are new to research degree supervision, co-ordinated by Professor Ian Livingstone.  It is a validated university postgraduate course and it is delivered as two modules – Workshops and Observation.  It is a requirement of our research degree regulations that everyone who is new to supervision takes the first module – the workshops.  The second module is optional but if you complete both you are awarded the Postgraduate Certificate in Research Degree Supervision which you can count as one completion when putting together supervisory teams. Even if you have previously supervised research students, there may be some elements of the programme that you would find useful.

In 2015/16 the workshops will run 9.30-4.00 on Wednesday 16th, Thursday 17th and Friday 18th September 2015. There will be a further session of seminars led by participants – dates to be negotiated.

If you are intending to join this programme in 2015/16 and have not yet contacted Ian Livingstone, please do so now. (x 3362; email: ian.livingstone@northampton.ac.uk)

Images of Research is at Park Campus!

IMG_20150309_132015Images of Research is now on display on the ground floor of Rockingham Library at Park Campus until 23rd March so, if you missed it at Avenue, do go along for a browse and vote for your favourite three. It is generating a lot of interest among students and staff, a fascinating exhibition of research excellence.

If you don’t manage to see it in the flesh, so to speak, then why not vote online? And do tell your colleagues and students about it!

Wellcome Trust takes publishers to task

The Wellcome Trust has long had an open access policy, expecting all the authors that they fund to make their published outputs available immediately upon publication in an open access form.Wellcome Trust London

However, in recent years they have stepped up their compliance monitoring, not only of their authors’ publishing behaviours, but also of the publishers’ practices subsequent to publication.

This post, published this week, analyses Wellcome Trust open access spending for the year 2013-2014.  It makes fascinating reading.

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Call for papers: School of Education conference deadline end of March

SoE research conferenceThe closing date for the submission of abstracts is fast approaching for the School of Education’s 6th Annual Research Student Conference. PhD and Masters students are invited to submit an abstract by 31st March 2015. The conference will be held in the Sulgrave Building, School of Education, Park Campus, on Friday 26th June and Saturday 27th June 2015. Please see the call for papers post for more details on the conference and how to submit.

Violence: Children, family and society conference 2015

Submitted by Associate Professor Jane Callaghan

First call for papers (first call closes 31st March)

Domestic violence conference wordleWe invite submissions for a 3 day conference exploring violence, to be held at the University of Northampton, 24-26 June 2015.

Violence is part of the daily lived experience of many people round the world. As a tool of domination and control, it impacts negatively on people’s health, mental health, interpersonal relationships, harms communities and produces a range of sociopolitical effects. This three day conference aims to provide an interdisciplinary and multi-professional context to consider the experience and impact of violence on children, families, individuals and society. We will also consider interventions and responses to violence at individual, interpersonal, community, political and social levels.

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Access all areas: Palgrave’s offer returns

Palgrave journals-banner-smallPalgrave is once again offering free online access to their entire portfolio of journals for the whole of March.

The collection covers a range of subjects in business, social sciences and humanities.

To access the journals:

  • You must be on campus (authentication is by IP address so you will only be able to access these resources on campus).
  • Browse or search for papers:
    • Browse by journal title
    • Browse journals by subject
    • Advanced search (note that the advanced search will return results for ebooks and book chapters, neither of which are included in the trial).
  • To get an email alert of new tables of contents, sign up here

Don’t forget: the trial ends on March 31st so make the most of it while you can!

Workshop – Open Access: the implications for your research

Graduate School WorkshopsIf you are a researcher, whether a research student or research staff, it is important that you understand the implication of open access, where research papers are made freely available online, rather than published in high-cost subscription journals. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) announced last year that all post April-2016 UK research must be open access in order to qualify for funding assessments.

In the light of this, Dr Miggie Pickton and Nick Dimmock from LLS are holding a 2 hour workshop on Open Access on Thursday, 12 March from 15:00 to 17:00 in the TPod, Rockingham Library, Park Campus. If you would like more information please see the booking page here https://openaccessmar15.eventbrite.co.uk.

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Cumberland Lodge Scholarship – Opportunity for PhD researchers

Canon Dr Edmund Newell, Principal of Cumberland Lodge, invites doctoral students from The University of Northampton to apply to become Cumberland Lodge Scholars.

Launched in 2014, the Cumberland Lodge Scholarship scheme provides 1st or 2nd year doctoral students with the opportunity to take part in our conference programme over a two year period, receiving training and gaining experience in communication, public engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and networking.

Read more about the scheme and how to apply in the leaflet Cumberland Lodge Scholarship Leaflet. If you apply and are successful, please let the Graduate School know.

You can find out more aboutthe organisation at http://www.cumberlandlodge.ac.uk/aboutus

Good luck!

Workshop: The digital academic, research impact and employability

Digital academic posterI have just been sent details of the following workshop (thanks to Jeff Ollerton and Cheryl Gardner) which may be of interest to research students and academic staff:

Workshop – ‘The Digital Academic: Tools and Tips for Research Impact and ECR Employability’

Monday 23rd March 2015
Coventry, UK

What does it really mean to be ‘a digital academic’? How can you build your online academic profile via social media? Do hiring committees actually care about your ‘digital academic impact’?

To help you identify the must-have technologies and tools for being a modern digital academic and the skills to manage them successfully, jobs.ac.uk and Piirus are hosting an exclusive half-day workshop event. Find out more and register  on Eventbrite.

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 →