Blog Archives
PGRs. Are you getting the most out of your supervisory relationship?
Your working relationship with your supervisor is so important and getting the best out of the relationship can really help you to progress in your doctorate, making your life much easier. This workshop, run by Professor Ian Livingstone, who runs UON’s Supervisor Development Programme, helps you to consider what you want to get out of your supervisors and how to manage that. He will help you to gain a deeper understanding of the working relationship and what you need to do to to maintain a good relationship, thinking about how to communicate assertively and consider how to recognise and manage constructive and non-constructive criticism. A must for all Postgraduate Researchers.
The session will run from 10am-12noon at Waterside, Northampton on 24th January 2023. But there will also be an opportunity for PGRs to join remotely via Collaborate. You will be able to register and find the Collaborate link in the Gateway page below.
New Development Days for PGRs
The Graduate School are running new monthly Development Days for PGRs – a full day on campus on a theme – featuring practical workshops with lunch and the opportunity to meet with your fellow PGRs from across the university. Seriously consider taking a day out to do this. Doctoral study can be isolating and meeting up with others is a great way to share your concerns, chat about your research, share tips and tricks for progressing and increasing your motivation.
Please book on Gateway using the links below (click on the green Respond button). Contact Simone with any booking issues.
Read the rest of this entryWellbeing Day for researchers on January 18th 2023
Following on from our successful Wellbeing Week in September, we are hosting, on campus, a Wellbeing Day for researchers on the topic of Resilience in Research on the 18th of January. It is open to all postgraduate researchers and all staff doing research at UON. There will be two main sessions held on the day.
The morning session will be facilitated by Daniela Bultoc, an award-winning emotional intelligence and resilient leader coach. This interactive session aims to provide researchers with the space to focus on themselves, review where they are now and gain a renewed perspective on what is important to them. The session provides practical insights into building resiliency and refocusing in times of uncertainty or when dealing with setbacks.
Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on what helps them be at their best, what motivates them and what their strengths are. They will become more aware their own communication approach in different situations, and especially when solving problems or working with others.
The afternoon session will be facilitated by Cathy Smith, Dean of Research and Innovation, and will be a discussion based around different themes concerning the various challenges and concerns faced by researchers. There will be an opportunity for attendees to briefly discuss wellbeing issues they have experienced as a researcher at UON. And the discussion will cover how the University can support the researcher community and how we can support each other. You can choose to remain anonymous by submitting your thoughts, experiences, and questions around these areas beforehand to be brought up at the event in this section of the day. You can follow the links above for the sessions’ respective Gateway pages for more information, to see the schedule and to sign up for the sessions. Please note that the two sessions have separate sign ups and you need to sign up for both of them if you wish to attend the whole day. Lunch will be provided
PGRs – do you need a refresher on Transfer preparation? Ethics? Literature Searching? PURE?
If so, the Graduate School are running a series of online sessions on Tuesday 22nd November which you can join online on Collaborate. If you need a refresher of any of these topics below do book and come along to just that session. You don’t have to attend all day if just one session is relevant. The Getting Started day will feature….
10-11 Preparing for Transfer
11:15-12:30 Research Ethics
1:30-2:45 Getting Started with your Literature search
3-4:30 PURE – your online Research Presence
Book here on Gateway, where you will find the Collaborate link.
Wondering how to start your very own Research Blog? Join our new online workshop
A practical introduction to creating and publishing a Blog for your Research (online workshop)
24 Nov 2022, 12:00 to 14:00
Have you ever thought about starting a Research Blog but wasn’t sure where to begin or how to go about it?
Keeping a Research Blog is an excellent way to document your experience, keep track of your progress and share your research journey with others.
The Graduate School is hosting “A practical introduction to creating and publishing a Blog for your Research”, an online workshop that will introduce you to creating and setting up a blog on Campus Press (the University’s version of WordPress), how to customise it to your needs and how to publish it.
Find out more and sign up for the workshop on Gateway.
Are you a PGR in the beginning stages of your research journey?
Whether you have just joined the University of Northampton or have been with us for some time and need a refresher on the beginning stages of your research journey, the Graduate School would like to invite you to our Development Day: Getting Started which will take place online on November 22 from 10:00 to 16:30.
This series of webinars is for students who have recently joined a research degree programme at the University of Northampton. We will cover what to expect in your first year, how to prepare for key stages and events in your research project and how to prepare for the ethical approval process. There will be plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion.
To find out more information and to sign up please follow this link to the event’s Gateway page.
NVivo training for PGRs and staff doing research
Would you like to learn how to use NVivo? NVivo is a qualitative data analysis (QDA) management tool and Dr Hala Mansour is running two in-person workshops for the Graduate School, one for beginners in November and one for more experienced users in December on campus at Waterside. The workshops are open to Postgraduate Research Students and Early Career Researchers, academics and research staff.
Read the rest of this entryLaunch of PGR ‘Writing Buddies’ initiative
Deborah Babalola, Postgraduate Researcher and PGR Rep, and Simone Apel from the Graduate School are launching a new initiative for PGRs called Writing Buddies. Writing Buddies are small ‘micro-groups’ of writers coming together to write in a social space, which may be virtual or physical. They are micro-versions of structured writing retreats, where writers set themselves goals which they share with others, write for set periods together, then use the breaks to discuss ideas, share practice or just chat, often joining up again for another writing session. Social writing has helped many writers with productivity and motivation to overcome writing blocks and, just as importantly, can give support and a sense of belonging in a researcher writing community.
Read the rest of this entry2022 EMDoc PGR Conference: Call for abstracts from Postgraduate Researchers
The call for abstracts is open for the 2022 EMDoc PGR conference. If you are studying for a doctorate at UON you are eligible to apply. EMDoc consists of nine universities who are keen to work collaboratively to share best practice, resources and insights into doctoral research across all disciplines. The EMDoc Conference is a great opportunity for PGRs to discuss and promote their research as well as network with other researchers from across the East Midlands.
This year’s conference will be hosted online by the University of Lincoln, and will take place on the 21st September. UON PGRs are invited to submit abstracts for the conference (deadline 5th August), on the theme of “Interdisciplinarity and Collaboration”.
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Reviewing the UON Research Conference 2022
The annual UON Research conference was held on Tuesday 21st June online on Collaborate and on Wednesday 22nd June on campus in the Town Hall. The hybrid format allowed off-site students and those not able to come onto campus a platform to present and to attend, but still gave those people who wanted to come onto campus the opportunity for a traditional conference format, to meet and network. Over the two days we had 2 keynotes, a brand new (for us!) Pecha Kucha style of presentation, 38 oral presentations from both postgraduate researchers and staff and 4 ‘Roundtable’ sessions.
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UON Graduate School Blog 