Blog Archives
A warm welcome to all of our new PGRs from everyone at the Research Support Hub!
From 27th to 30th October 2015, The Graduate School welcomed 38 new postgraduate research students, all joining the University to start a research degree, some part-time, some full time, some off-site, many from overseas. 38 is the highest figure for a single induction here at Northampton.
Over the four days they were launched into their doctorate by an intensive series of workshops, including an introduction to the procedures and processes of doctoral study, support sessions where they met many members of University staff, IT sessions where they learnt some new research skills and a presentation session where they all gave a 5 minute talk on their research. Congratulations to all of the 38 PGRs and welcome to the University of Northampton. You can read more here.
English language workshops coming up.
If you are a research student for whom English is not your first language, you may be interested in some workshops which are taking place on 11th, 18th and 25th November. Helping to improve your language skills, the workshops are open to PGRs from all Schools. More details can be found in the flier below. Contact Susie Cowley-Haselden for more information. Read the rest of this entry
Deadline extended for Images of Research 2015-16 – there is still time to enter!
If you haven’t yet had time to take a photo or draw a picture reflecting your research there is still time. The deadline for the Graduate School’s Images of Research competition has been extended to a final deadline of 5pm on 24th November 2015. Just grab your camera or pencil/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. Add a snappy title and 150 word summary and that is all you need to do to participate.
IoR will, again, be a competition, where viewers can vote for their top three favourites. Entries for IoR 2015-16 must be emailed to Simone by November 24th 2015. Read on for the rules…
Catching the Living Naming the Dead: DNA in Forensic Science – Thursday 26th November 2015
You are invited to a guest lecture delivered by Professor Mark Jobling on Thursday 26 November at 5.15pm in Sunley Conference Centre. Professor Mark Jobling, Professor of Genetics in the University of Leicester’s Department of Genetics is passionate about communicating science to the public and has recently spoken out against the business of genetic ancestry. Mark has spent his career working in the area of human evolutionary biology where he focuses on the genetics of the sex chromosomes. This has led him to explore diverse topics such as the genetic legacy of Genghis Khan, whether we can confidently predict surnames from Y-DNA forensic profiles (focusing on Viking migrations), the impact of Diasporas on the making of Britain and the possible role of Y chromosome gene variants that increase risk for coronary artery disease. Read the rest of this entry
Workshops coming up: “Creativity in Research” and “Influencing, negotiating and networking”
We have a treat for all our postgraduate research students and early career researchers on 4th November, in the shape of excellent trainer, broadcaster and consultant Dr Adair Richards.
Adair will be running two workshops, in the morning Creativity in Research, and in the afternoon Influencing, negotiating and networking.
Funding opportunity: AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships
The British Library is currently advertising three Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships, to begin in October 2016. The call is open to researchers of postdoctoral standing with a contract of employment with a UK HEI.
There are three research topics:
- The Working Life of Scientists: Exploring the Culture of Scientific Research
- Digital Publishing and the Reader
- Hans Sloane’s Books: Evaluating an Enlightenment Library
Further details and the application form are available from the British Library website.
2015-16 Changes to postgraduate research degree documentation
Research student volunteers needed for PGR Induction
Are you a research student and would you like to help out at our next Research Student Induction on Friday 30th October at 2:30-3:45pm in MY120, Maidwell, Avenue Campus? Would you also like a free late lunch?
The Interviews with Current Students session is a chance for the new students to ask questions about the PhD/doctoral experience here at Northampton. The chatting is informal and happens around the table – there is no presentation required. Chances are you have probably been through this from the other side when you attended your Induction.
If you are interested please email simone.apel@northampton.ac.uk as soon as possible.
Researcher help desks – Autumn 2015
A new term means that researchers have new opportunities to drop in to the library to get help. As usual, Nick and I are offering weekly help sessions at alternate campuses and we’d love to have some visitors.
The dates and times are below.


