Blog Archives

Wellbeing 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?

Photo by Rodion Kutsaiev on Pexels.com

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.

Graduate School Development Day: Getting Started (ONLINE)

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.

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Launch 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.

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2022 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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Phone-a-Thesis! Round 2 of a great initiative for PGRs is open!

It’s time for round 2 of Phone a Thesis! The proactive “Phone a Thesis” project promotes additional peer support for PGRs, with the aim of giving us opportunities to talk to other PGRs about our research, to get us used to practicing this with like-minded other students in a supportive way.

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Showcasing the very best research at UON’s 2022 Annual Research Conference

Tuesday 21st June (online) and Weds 22nd June (on campus)

Hosted by The Graduate School

The Creative Hub

The University of Northampton’s Annual Research Conference will be a hybrid in 2022 – Tuesday 21st June online and Wednesday 22nd June back on our beautiful campus for the first time since 2019.

The conference provides an ideal opportunity for all researchers – postgraduate researchers, early career researchers and experienced researchers – to present their research and to discuss and share good practice with others in a supportive environment. And we have a great opportunity for you to network and catch up with colleagues over lunch and breaks on our face to face day on Weds. Our Conference Twitter is #UoNResearchConf22 so do feel free to promote the event.

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