Blog Archives
Claire’s Adventures in PhDland
It took me two years to get to my actual research question and to feel like I knew what I was trying to investigate. There were the obvious things of life – work, family, health, money – but I felt like I was wading in academic treacle to get anywhere. I went down what felt like thousands of rabbit holes, trying out different perspectives around my theme, and created a plethora of conceptual models (once I had figured out what one was). I read. A LOT. It felt very tangled and messy and, looking back on it, I needed all that time to get my head around what I was actually doing.
As I was working out what I was actually looking at, I talked to many many people. My supervisors, of course, held me accountable in academic terms to the level and quality of PhD research, even if they haven’t necessarily understood exactly what I was exploring at the time. My family often look at me as if I have finally lost it, particularly when I get excited about a bit of analysis that gives an interesting insight, but they also ask questions which make me think from a different perspective and bring me coffee too! My industry network is a fantastic sounding board, making sure that my research is grounded in practice and generating insight that is applicable and impactful for the events industry.
At various points through the process, new collaborators have emerged, offering opportunities to explore new areas or engage industry in my research in a different way. These have been, and are, incredibly exciting and perhaps a little distracting. It has led to me being part of a national network and now leading on their industry research activities, and I am part of a team developing AI-driven experiential learning to apply the findings of my research. However, all of this has taken a lot of time and energy and, at times, has torn me away from focusing on my research and prioritising it.
There is something wonderful about people being interested in one’s research and creating something that has value and impact on the industry that I love being part of. Inadvertently, I seem to have built a new reputation and profile for myself that is based on my brain and insights, less so on my event management skills and capabilities. Not having yet completed my PhD, I feel somewhat an imposter but I am taking a moment in this blog to realise how far I have come from those first months of nervous excitement and confusion as I started, through developing my question, to collecting data and now to analysis and writing up.
I know I still have a long way to go to complete my PhD but I know how I’m going to get there, which is more than I started with! To anyone else who feels a bit lost and overwhelmed with it, hang on in there, get support, lean on your support network, stay curious and focus on the goal whether it’s hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly or in a lifetime.
Blog post written by: Claire Drakeley
Call for Posters from PGRs! Enter the Postgraduate Researcher Poster Competition 2024
The Graduate School has launched the call for entries for the 17th Annual PGR Poster Competition, which will be held on campus on Thursday May 23rd. Our Poster Competition is open to all doctoral students at UON and is an excellent development opportunity for presenting research, for improving communication and for networking with other doctoral researchers & visiting staff. The Entry Form is here, the new deadline for entering is April 29th. You have until May 23rd to produce and print an A1 landscape poster, which you need to bring with you. There will be Amazon voucher prizes to win – £100 for the winner and 2x £75 for the runners up!
Read the rest of this entryExternal PhD Student… Need Resources?
Not based at Northampton and been frustrated that you can’t access that book that you so desparately need to complete your studies?
Go to https://www.sconul.ac.uk/sconul-access and fill in the online form using the drop down options.
- to state the type of student you are (e.g. PhD full-time, PhD part-time)
- where you’re a student (i.e. University of Northampton)
- it will then ask you to select an institution local to you where they’d like to access resources (it only lists those institutions in the scheme)
- a window then pops up with an “apply for access” button
- click it, fill in the rest of the information and the university at the other end will processes your application and allow you to borrow resources from their library.
A large number of Universities are part of this scheme.
In regards to inter library loans, the British Library will send journal articles anywhere, because they can send them via email via secure electronic delivery. Unfortunately, British Library inter library loan books have to be collected from the University of Northampton.
PhD Transfer Seminar – Rethinking the Robinsonade…
Dear all,
You are all cordially invited to attend Bochra Benaissa’s PhD Transfer Seminar at 2.15pm on Wednesday 4 October in room MY120 (Maidwell Building, Avenue Campus)
Please see Bochra’s synopsis:
Rethinking the Robinsonade: Self and Environment in Twentieth-Century Desert Island Narratives
Bochra Benaissa
My research explores the ways in which modern Robinsonades can be read in the light of an alternative approach to island narratives, bringing to light ways in which the earliest Robinsonades seek to marginalize the specificity of environment and geography, whilst the modern ones depend upon them as the dominant themes. Although it might seem that all desert island stories are similar since they all address the question of an autonomous human nature, the first two chapters of this study show how the self can more productively be viewed through a study of the protagonist’s interaction with other creatures existing on the island. It also explores the relation that the protagonist builds with his or her surroundings and how in the more recent Robinsonades, this suggests a new ecological understanding of the self.
The objective of the introductory chapter is to situate the research in the context of the genre’s development since the early eighteenth century, demonstrating how the values which it embodies have changed historically. The second chapter then focuses upon texts from the twentieth-century Robinsonades and their preoccupation with transformations of the self in relation to non-human animals. Using an eco-critical approach informed by the work of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, particularly their notion of ‘becoming animal’, it examines literary constructions of man and the environment and explores how twentieth-century desert island narratives are often used to understand and critique man’s dominance over nature.
PhD Studentship: Transforming Lives, Inspiring Change: Investigating the social impact of university access strategies and approaches
Pay & Expenses: £15000 p.a. (including £1000 research expenses) and tuition fees for 3 years. Please note, the award covers tuition fees at the UK/EU rate only; those not eligible to pay UK/EU tuition fees must demonstrate that they can fund the difference.
Overview: The social mobility in Higher Education agenda recognises that widening access to University by extending opportunities to gain a place of study is not enough. It is also essential to investigate what happens to students once they embark upon a course, the support they receive, the experiences they undergo and the journey they take through different stages of the learning lifecycle. These phases form the platform upon which activities and learning opportunities can be effectively evaluated, innovation can be facilitated and targeted activities can be developed to address identified priority areas. Read the rest of this entry
UON Graduate School Blog 