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Compulsory online courses for PGRs

If you are a PhD or MPHIL student at UON but have not yet applied for Transfer, please note that there are 3 compulsory elements to your doctorate which you need to satisfy before you can progress through Transfer.
- Induction is the first. You must have attended a PGR Induction in either October or March.
- and 3. The other compulsory elements comprise two online courses, Becoming an Ethical Researcher and Research Integrity (UK) Second Edition – Core course. These courses are fully online, you can access them in your own time, working at your own pace.
It makes sense to pass these courses before you consider applying for Transfer and it is best to start soon after your Induction. So click on the links above and please make sure to read the instructions for access. If you have any questions please contact Simone Apel in the Graduate School.
The process is slightly different for our Professional Doctorate students. Your induction runs at the start of your facilitated modules and the compulsory online courses are embedded into the assessment of the facilitated modules for DProfPrac students, with DBA students completing the courses at the beginning of the thesis module.
The two compulsory courses are accompanied by a number of other optional online courses in research methods and literature review. So do take a look and see what is available for you – access is via Gateway (under the menu ‘Online courses’).
Dust off your cameras, dig out your sketchbook – Images of Research is back in 2022!

The Graduate School’s Images of Research (IoR) competition is back! The Call for Images is now open, so, if you are a researcher (staff or research student) at the University of Northampton, why not take part? Pick up your camera or paintbrush and produce a unique image which captures the essence of your research, or an element of your research, in a visual, artistic or photographic way. Top that off with a snappy title and 150 word summary and that is all you need to do to participate. See the IoR 2021-22 Rules and Guidelines for how to apply.
This year’s IoR will, again, be a double competition, where viewers can vote for their top three favourites and an expert judge will also choose their top three. Entries (see below) must be emailed to Simone Apel by the extended close date of March 31st 2022.
Read the rest of this entrySupervisor Development Programme ~ 2022
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 2022 the workshops will be delivered on:
Tuesday 20th, Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd September 2022 at the University of Northampton’s Waterside Campus.
You will need to attend on all three days of the programme. Read the rest of this entry
Supervisor Development Programme ~ 2019/20
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 2019/20 the workshops will be delivered on:
Tuesday 17th, Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th September 2019 at the University of Northampton’s Waterside Campus.
You will need to attend on all three days of the programme.
There will also be a delivery of the programme in July 2020, probably on Tuesday 7th, Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th. Read the rest of this entry
Postgraduate Researcher Award 2018 – winners’ reports
In 2018 The Graduate School launched the Postgraduate Researcher Award to 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 was available to full-time or part-time postgraduate research students at the University of Northampton. The award was to support and enhance research activity of various kinds (for example, additional travel costs, purchase of specialist equipment, researcher development). The four successful applicants have submitted reports on their award, what they used it for and the benefit it had on them and their research. Read the rest of this entry
Supervisor Development Programme ~ 2018/19
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 2018/19 the workshops will be delivered on:
Tuesday 19th, Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st February 2019 at Platform in the centre of Northampton Read the rest of this entry
PGR Intern opportunity for a UoN Postgraduate Researcher
Are you a Postgraduate Researcher at UoN? Would you like to come and work with The Graduate School as an intern? We are looking for a current PGR to work with us for a year, to provide administrative support for the researcher development programmes, events and inductions and gain valuable experience working in a busy researcher development environment. You need to apply by 29th August! Read the rest of this entry
The first UoN Research Conference 2018 – a great success.
On the 20th to 21st June, The Graduate School and the Faculties held their first joint conference. Over two days we had over 40 oral presentations from postgraduate researchers and staff from across the University , displayed about 30 research posters and held our second 3-Minute Thesis competition, which was won by Emmanuel Offori-Attah, a postgraduate researcher in the Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology.

photo by Maitreyee Buragohain

photo by Maitreyee Buragohain
The main conference was live streamed across the Web over the two days. Congratulations to all of those who took part in what was a very successful event.
If you would like to watch the video of the recording, both days are available online.
For Wednesday 20th June (Day 1) there are 2 recordings due to a break in the live stream – part one and part two. For Thursday 21st June there is just one video. Do view the programme if you would like to see the session timings. Please direct any comments and feedback to Simone Apel in the Graduate School.