Next Grounded Theory Forum – 8th October 2014

Winter_im_OberdorfSubmitted by Sarah Neill

The next Grounded Theory Forum will be held on Wednesday 8th October from 1-3pm, in C226 Cottesbrooke, Park Campus.

Two interesting articles that have used Grounded Theory in advertising research will be discussed. One is looking at offensive advertising and the other is advertising to children.

For more information and to register please email Sarah Neill.

Research students: Would you like MS Office for free?

University of Northampton IT Services are pleased to announce that all University of Northampton students are now able to download Microsoft Office 365 for free – saving £59.99.

You will receive the latest Microsoft Office suite including Word, Excel and PowerPoint available on up to 5 devices across Mac, PC and mobile.

To download Microsoft Office 365 please visit: https://portal.microsoftonline.com and login using your University (student) email address and password. If you have any questions or queries about this offer, please contact itservices@northampton.ac.uk

Supervisor Development Programme 2014-15

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 2014/15 the workshops will run 9.30-4.00 on Thursday 5th March 2015, Tuesday 10th March and Friday 13th March. There will be a further session of seminars led by participants – dates to be negotiated.

If you are intending to join this programme in 2014/15 and have not yet contacted Ian Livingstone, please do so now. (x 3362; email: ian.livingstone@northampton.ac.uk)

New Term, New Research Developments in the CCN&CT

September is upon us and as well as a host of new undergraduates, the month has seen a number of new research developments within the Center for Contemporary Narrative and Cultural Theory.

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10 ways that PhD students can use Twitter

Twitter_iconHere’s an interesting blog post from the University of Warwick

To find out what other research students are discussing then try searching Twitter for one of these hashtags: #phdchat; #phdadvice; #phd; #acwri; #phdforum or #gradchat.

If you haven’t used Twitter before then there is plenty of help to get you started.

Image credit: By David Ferreira [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The blogroll grows

If you’re interested in what’s happening in Research around the university, be sure to check out our Research Support Hub blogroll in the right-hand menu. This collects links to other blogs produced by researchers across the institution – I’ve just added the Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences blog, bringing us to a total of sixteen sites covering a broad range of disciplines and interests.

Similarly, if you’re a University of Northampton researcher with your own blog, or you’ve created a site for a conference or a project, email me the details and I’ll add you to the roll.

Part-Time Research students: Are you 18 months away (or less) from submitting?

university-of-birminghamIf so, you may be interested in a Part-Time Researcher Finishing Workshop, which will take place on September 30th.

Graduate School WorkshopsA joint workshop by the Universities of Birmingham and Northampton, it will be hosted here in Northampton in the TPod, Rockingham Library, Park Campus. Sessions will include Editing & Finishing your Thesis, Preparing for the Viva, Careers talks with advisers via Skype from the University of Birmingham and a session on Getting Published.

For more information please see the booking page. Please note there are few places left on the workshop, as it has been open to regional universities, so get in quick if you are interested! Please note this is only for part-time students and those with less than 18 months to thesis submission.

 

Programme for the SOTA Postgraduate Conference Announced!

On Thursday 18th September and Friday 19th September, the School of the Arts will be convening its annual postgraduate conference.  We are looking forward to keynote lectures on Thursday 18th September by Visiting Professor, Victor Ukaegbu (The University of Bedfordshire) and Professor Ebitsam Ali Sadiq (King Saud University) on Friday 19th September.

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Resource trial: Photographic Youth Music Culture Archive

PYMCA logoThe Library has just arranged trial access to the Photographic Youth Music Culture Archive (PYMCA).  This extensive resource comprises over 100,000 images of social history and youth culture covering ” fashion, music, art, design, travel, genres, social issues, lifestyles, sports, nightlife, environments, humour and much much more…”.  It also includes text based materials.

The free trial lasts until the end of November.

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Meeting funders’ open access requirements – your views needed

NorthUni277Would you like to be submitted to the next REF?

Are you likely to bid for Research Council funding?

If the answer to either of those questions is ‘Yes’ then you may already know that you will be expected to publish your research articles, and maybe even your data, in an ‘open access’ manner (HEFCE, RCUK) .

But do you know how to go about doing this? Do you have any concerns about it? Do you need any help?

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