Blog Archives

Call for organisers: UON Annual Research Conference 2024

The University of Northampton’s Annual Research Conference is a 2-day conference which gives UON researchers, from Postgraduate Researchers to Professors, an opportunity to present their research.

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This year we are, again, offering the conference organisation opportunity to a Faculty or group of Centres. The chosen group will set a (broad, inclusive) theme for the Conference, choose a Lead Organiser and convene a conference organising committee to deliver the event. The Conference will run on 25th and 26th June – 25th June in the Leatherseller’s Hide, Learning Hub and the 26th will be online. There are funds available to support the organisation of this conference.

If you are interested in applying in your Faculty or Centre/Institutes (or group of Centres/Institutes) please read the document below where you will find guidance on how to apply.

Closing date for applications is 22nd January 2024. The chosen organising committee will be announced in late January.

A warm welcome to our new postgraduate researchers starting in October 2023

A four day induction from 30th October to 2nd November saw us welcome a further 31 postgraduate researchers to the University of Northampton.

The 4-day biannual Induction Programme is run by The Graduate School in October and March and is compulsory for all PGRs starting out on their PhD or MPhil. The Induction aims to launch them into their studies by offering them a variety of workshops and talks, including research degree processes and procedures, skills development, open access, library resources, EDI and research integrity. Our new researchers also gave presentations on their research topic, had an induction into their Faculty, met members of staff at the University who will support them along the way and created a WhatsApp cohort to keep them in touch with each through their studies.

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3-Minute Thesis – call for applications extended to Thursday 25th May!

The call for applications from PGRs has been extended to midnight 25th May. If you have reached the Transfer stage (or past Transfer) you will be eligible to apply to take part in this exciting and rewarding presentation event, which will be held at the Graduate School’s Update Day in the Town Hall, Waterside on June 9th at lunchtime. The winner will be awarded a £75 Amazon voucher.

To take part, you will be required to outline your thesis in a three-minute presentation and one slide, written for a general audience in plain English! In order to apply you must be a PGR at Northampton going through Transfer at present or have passed the Transfer stage of your PhD. DBA and Professional Doctorate students are encouraged to take part too but you must be in the research phase of your doctorate. Here is the entry form.

The winner of our 3MT will have the opportunity to represent UON and present at the East Midlands Doctoral Network (EMDoc) 3MT Competition later in September, which will be held online. And this year we are hosting it at Northampton!

Skills development “Preparing for 3MT” will be held online on 30th May. Go to Gateway to book your place.

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Event – Graduate School Development Day: Finishing

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The Graduate School’s new Development days are monthly, in-person events on campus, with lunch. These will offer experiential learning, discussion and networking, group work and collaboration – all those things that are far better delivered in-person than online. Each day will have a theme and our first day is on Finishing your Doctorate

Our Graduate School Development Day: Finishing is happening on campus on the 14th of November! It is a full day event (with lunch provided!) designed for those who are in the writing up stage of their doctorate. Consisting of two parts, it will start with a workshop led by Prof Ian Livingstone about editing and proofreading your work. It will be followed by a session with Dr Emel Thomas which will explore the core aspects of the viva experience and include a Q&A panel with UON doctoral alumni.

If you are in the final stages of writing your thesis and preparing for the viva, we invite you to join us for this day packed with valuable information and opportunities to network with your fellow researchers. Find out more information about the sessions and schedule and register for the Development Day on Gateway.

3-Minute Thesis 2022 – and the winner is….

The Graduate School’s 3-Minute Thesis competition for PGRs took place online, on Blackboard Collaborate, on September 8th.

Nine of our postgraduate researchers took part, gallantly stepping up to undertake this not-so-easy challenge. To take part, they were timed and judged – presenting their research in just three minutes with only one simple slide!

Carey Allen’s 3MT slide

The winner of our 3MT was Carey Allen, part-time PhD student in Psychology, with her presentation entitled “Can sound bath meditation help students experience durable inner peace?” Judges Prof. Matthew McCormack, Dr Hala Mansour and Simone Apel rated each presentation on content, delivery and slide design. Carey will now represent UON at the East Midlands Doctoral Network (EMDoc) Conference 3MT Competition on 21st September, which will also be held online. Congratulations to Carey and good luck in the EMDoc 3MT!

All PGRs are welcome to attend the EMDoc conference – click on the link above to register. As well as Carey, two other PGRs from UON are presenting their research there. Zoe Stevens from Arts and Humanities, with a paper on “The Female Body: An Interdisciplinarity Approach” and Sally Sharp from Education on a joint presentation (with PGR Rachel York from the University of Derby) entitled “Interprofessional collaboration in qualitative doctoral research”. Best of luck to all presenters.

3-Minute Thesis – call for applications

In 2022 the Graduate School’s 3-Minute Thesis competition for PGRs will take place online on Collaborate on September 8th from 11:30am to 1pm.

To take part, you will be required to outline your thesis in a three-minute presentation and one slide, written for a general audience in plain English! In order to apply you must be a PGR at Northampton going through Transfer at present or have passed the Transfer stage of your PhD. DBA and Professional Doctorate students are encouraged to take part too but you must be in the research phase of your doctorate. Click here for the entry form.

The winner of our 3MT will have the opportunity to represent UON and present at the East Midlands Doctoral Network (EMDoc) 3MT Competition later in September, which will also be held online.

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March 2022 PGR Induction: A warm welcome to our new postgraduate researchers

A four day induction from 7-10th March saw us welcome a further 24 postgraduate researchers to the University of Northampton.

A development session at PGR Induction

The 4-day biannual Induction Programme is run by The Graduate School in October and March and is compulsory for all research students starting out on their PhD or MPhil. The Induction aims to launch PGRs into their studies by offering them a variety of workshops and talks, including research degree processes and procedures, skills development, open access, library resources, EDI and research integrity. The students also gave presentations on their research topic, had an induction into their Faculty and met members of staff at the University who will support them along the way.

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Focus on you – Wellbeing day

We don’t always prioritise our own wellbeing even when we know we should. Staff, students and researchers have the chance to focus on their wellbeing on Thursday 7th February 2019 at a dedicated Wellbeing day: Focus On You – part of Changing Futures Week 2019: Read the rest of this entry

Poster Competition winners!

The Graduate School’s 13th Annual Poster Competition for Postgraduate Researchers was held on Wednesday 22nd May in Rockingham Library, Park Campus.  The event offered the students the opportunity to present their research in the form of a poster, practice their presentation skills to a non-specialist audience and a chance to win a prize of £100 or £75.

17 research students from different Faculties presented their posters, which were assessed by seven judges, a mix of University staff, academic and support staff. One first prize of £100 and three runners up prizes of £75 were chosen.

The winners were Charlotte Brooks from the Faculty of Health and Society who won the £100 first prize. The three other prizes of £75 were awarded to Amanda Ash from the Faculty of Health and Society, Frances Hudson and Shalini Bisani from the Faculty of Business and Law. Congratulations to all our winners.

Images of Research 2017-18 winners announced!

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Avenue gallery corridor exhibition in February

The winners of the Graduate School’s Images of Research (IoR) exhibition and competition 2017-18 have now been chosen! 38 images from UoN researchers, both postgraduate students and staff, were submitted, along with short abstracts, to illustrate a research project in an engaging way for a general audience. There were submissions from all Faculties and in a variety of disciplines, from science to literature, psychology to nursing.

There were two competitions –  four winners chosen by our guest judge, David Stevens from UoN marketing, and a public vote. The ‘public’ votes were counted from those on paper at the launch and exhibition in February 2018 at Avenue gallery corridor and the travelling exhibitions in March/April, plus the 800+ online votes via the Research Support Hub!  Read the rest of this entry