GRADUATE SCHOOL BULLETIN Issue 5 | November 2014
The start of a new academic session always seems an exciting time of year, particularly as we welcome a new cohort of research students. It is now three years since the Graduate School came into being, and we have certainly achieved a lot in that time. I am proud to announce that our Graduate School was rated third highest in the UK in terms of student satisfaction in the most recent International Student Barometer (ISB). This year, we are looking at what more we can do to support students who are experiencing difficulties either with their studies or with their personal lives, and also what we can do to support students who have families here with them. Keep a look out on our website for updates. Since the last edition of this Bulletin, we held our second annual Doctoral Research Conference which was a great success and attracted around 350 research students, as well as a good number of staff. You can read more about the event, and the winners of the associated competitions, in the pages which follow. Next term we will have our second Fairbrother Public Lecture and we have selected Nadya Ali, a current doctoral researcher from the Department of Politics and International Relations, for this important event. We received a good number of nominations from across the University, which reflects how many of our students are carrying out exciting, impactful research which is of interest to the wider public.
IN THIS ISSUE Travel Bursary Scheme – visit to Lille, France 2 Student-led Events Scheme – Nutrition Research Group Conference 2 From regional to national recognition 3
NEWS Doctoral Research Conference 2014 4 Ese Omoarukhe wins Student Business Idea Competition 6
FEATURES During the previous session, we reviewed how we support research students who undertake teaching duties within their Schools, and our new Preparing to Teach Programme has begun. This programme sits alongside our Leadership Programme and our extensive Reading Researcher Development Programme, which this academic year includes the new sessions, ‘Brand You’ and ‘Working with the Media’. Next term, we will be running a number of sessions to help our research students find out more about potential non-academic careers. There is much more information about upcoming events and competitions, and about what our students have been up to over the past year, inside this Bulletin. I very much hope that you enjoy reading it. Professor Dianne Berry, Dean of Postgraduate Research Studies
Spotlight on the Careers, Placement and Experience Centre 6 A Professional Doctorate…but what comes next? 7 COMING UP Seasonal Celebration 8 Leadership Programme 8 Fairbrother Lecture 8
Graduate School Bulletin
TRAVEL BURSARY SCHEME Visit to Lille, France Joao Melo Santos de Barros, a third year doctoral researcher from the School of Pharmacy, was awarded £100 to attend the 10th European Symposium on Biochemical Engineering Sciences (ESBES) on 7–10 September in Lille, France. He presented a paper on his latest findings entitled ‘Oral live bacterial vaccine formulation’. ‘My attendance at this conference was a great opportunity to hear top experts talking about their work and motivations, to learn what other research groups are doing, and to participate in active discussions which will hopefully inspire my future research ideas. I enjoyed the social and engaging environment surrounding the conference and I am sure that the scientific and social networks created during lunch and coffee breaks will be very useful in the future. I had the opportunity to present my work to a large audience and it was rewarding to understand that my research is interesting to my peers and my talk led to questions of both a technical and ‘general curiosity’ nature. I believe that this conference was a success and it has boosted my motivation to work and deliver good research.’ Information about the Travel Bursary Scheme can be found at www.reading.ac.uk/graduateschool/gs-travelbursary.aspx
STUDENT-LED EVENT Nutrition Research Group Conference
FROM REGIONAL TO NATIONAL RECOGNITION In summer 2014, Tina Jenkins was one of several candidates awarded a Regional PhD Bursary under a scheme set up to enable high quality candidates living within the immediate region to undertake a PhD at Reading. Shortly after she started her PhD in Fine Art in late September 2014, Tina was awarded the prestigious Threadneedle Prize for her mixed media work, ‘Bed Head’. The prize, one of the largest art prizes in the UK, is awarded annually for figurative and representational art. The Graduate School spoke to Tina to find out more about her journey from Reading to the national press. Bed Head Tina’s awardwinning mixed media work
First year doctoral researchers gave a three minute presentation with one slide to describe their research, second years presented a research poster and third year doctoral researchers delivered a 10 minute presentation. Presentations covered a wide range of nutrition related topics including the relationship between diet and disease risk. Prizes were awarded to the best presentation/poster in each year group. The conference was a huge success and was both a valuable learning experience and networking event for the presenters and delegates.
Alice Turner, a third year doctoral researcher in the Department of Food & Nutritional Sciences, was awarded £200 to organise a Nutrition Research Group (NRG) Conference on 23 June 2014. The aim of the conference was for a number of Departmental research groups to come together to showcase their research findings, broaden their knowledge base and to provide a unique opportunity to exchange ideas. Thirty doctoral researchers attended the event and presented their research to a large audience consisting of fellow doctoral researchers, MSc students studying on the Nutrition and Food Science degree, postdoctoral research fellows and supervisors.
Organising Committee (from left to right) Anna Macready, Kumari Rathnayake, Michelle Weech, Dafni Vasilopoulou, Rosalind Falize and Alice Turner 2
I’m looking at the subjective space of painting; somewhere between analysing painting and using painting to analyse yourself. I’m looking at that in terms of how artists make marks and why certain marks are repeated. I’ll be researching Freudian and Lacanian terms of hysteria in my work, which is practice-based.
What do you plan to do after your PhD? I want to continue both my practice and teaching. I find the teaching stimulating, and students often ask questions that you forget to ask yourself. The conversations that you can have at the University make it a really inspiring environment to be in. I could function purely as an artist but it’s a lot more beneficial to my practice to be in a University environment. I also have access to expertise and materials in other disciplines such as Psychology and Philosophy, a stimulation you don’t have at institutions which focus exclusively on art.
Was Reading the obvious choice for your research? Yes, a lot of the tutors in my department have relevant expertise. With John Russell having done a lot of research on Irigaray and Rachel Garfield having researched Lacan, I have supervision from a team of researchers I wanted to work in different areas.
Alice stated, ‘I benefited greatly from the experience as it allowed me to improve my organisational and event management skills, whilst developing my communication abilities when working as part of the Organising Committee. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and hope to organise something similar in the future.’ Further information about the scheme can be found on the Graduate School website: www.reading.ac.uk/ gs-studentledevents.aspx
Can you tell us about the research that your PhD will involve?
Has winning a large national Prize such as the Threadneedle Prize brought obligations? What is your connection with the region? I was brought up in Woodcote originally and have lived in the region for a number of years. My husband was connected with the University Diving Club and through that I came to be aware there was a University here. I had originally wanted to study fashion and photography after I left school but wasn’t able to finance it at the time. It was only once I’d had my children and a family connection with the Diving Club that the thought of studying at Reading came up. I did my undergraduate study here and have just finished my Master of Fine Arts (MFA). I’ve also taught in the Department of Art. I had always kept in working contact with the Department even when not studying here and, for the last two years, I’ve lectured on the Fine Art International Foundation Programme, which involves intense one-to-one work with new international students.
I wasn’t expecting to win the prize so I wasn’t prepared for it. There have been a lot more opportunities and the last few weeks have been manic with requests. I’m looking forward to getting back to my research but it’s been great. I’ve got a solo show with Threadneedle at the Mall Galleries (central London) in March 2015 so I’ve got the pressure of preparing work for that and showing I can follow it up but it’ll be fun. I’ve already signed up for RRDP sessions on ‘Stress-busting’ and ‘Developing professional researcher networks’ as it is good to learn from the experience of others! Further information on Tina Jenkins’ work: www.saatchiart.com/tinajenkins Further information on the University’s Regional PhD Bursaries: www.reading.ac.uk/gs-regionalphdbursary.aspx
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Issue 3 | November 2013
Graduate School Bulletin
NEWS
DOCTORAL RESEARCH CONFERENCE 2014 3
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The Graduate School hosted its second annual Doctoral Research Conference on 1 July. 350 doctoral researchers from across the University congregated in the Palmer Building to watch the PhD Researcher of the Year presentations, Three Minute Thesis Competition and Science SLAM presentation and view the Research Poster and Research Image Competition Displays.
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The PhD Researcher of the Year (ROY) Competition featured presentations by the four Faculty winners outlining their research and experience at Reading. Birte Julia Gippert, School of Politics, Economics and International Relations was the overall winner and was presented the PhD ROY award from the Vice-Chancellor, Sir David Bell. Birte’s presentation gave an overview of her doctoral research which involves the study of states that have gone through periods of internal war or violent conflict and how they can be supported externally after such experiences. Since winning PhD Researcher of the Year, Birte has been awarded runner-up in the International Studies Association’s (ISA) Kenneth Boulding Award. This Award is given annually to the graduate student who has delivered the best peace research paper at the most recent ISA meetings. Birte will be presented with her award at a ceremony at the ISA annual convention in New Orleans, in spring 2015. Thirty posters were displayed as part of the Research Poster Competition. This aim of this competition is to allow participants to communicate their research, raise the profile of their research and to prepare them for presenting at extern al conferences. Jacob Bishop’s poster entitled ‘Pollinators: a buffer against climate-driven yield loss?’ won first prize. This is the second year in a row, that the winning poster has been submitted by a doctoral researcher from the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development. Is there no stopping them? Our audience gave a particularly warm welcome to Charlotte Hill, School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy, the winner of Reading’s inaugural Science SLAM competition. Slammers have to present their area of research in six minutes using props, costumes
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and audience participation but not Powerpoint slides. With the use of wooden claves and a willing audience, Charlotte clearly demonstrated how cannabis can treat the epileptic brain in a fun and engaging way. Sixteen finalists, selected from heats conducted earlier in the year, competed in front of our conference audience for the title of Three Minute Thesis Champion 2014. Chosen by our Judging Panel, the winner, Sarah Mitchell, Marketing and Reputation, Henley Business School, received first prize for her presentation ‘Exploring the role of brand in volunteer choice of charity’. Shamala Sundaray, from the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, won the People’s Choice Award voted for by conference delegates for her presentation entitled ‘Last scene: sans communication?’
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1 PhD Researcher of the Year Faculty winners (from left to right) Dimitra Kavarnou, Samuel Groth, Rosalind Fallaize and Birte Julia Gippert 2 Birte Julia Gippert, PhD Researcher of the Year 3 Sarah Mitchell, Three Minute Thesis winner 4 Jacob Bishop, winner of the research poster competition 5 Shamala Sundaray, winner of the Three Minute Thesis Peoples’ Choice Award 6 Conference delegates 7 Tom Webb, winner of the research image competition 8 Charlotte Hill, Science SLAM presenter
New within the conference programme this year was the Research Image Competition. Doctoral researchers had to provide an insight into their research project using an eye catching, intriguing image with an accompanying short description. Eight images were displayed in the Palmer Foyer. Tom Web, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences won both the Judges’ and the People’s Choice Award for his research image entitled ‘There’s something in the air’. Find out more about the Doctoral Research Conference, including videos of the winning presentations at http://blogs.reading. ac.uk/graduate-school/doctoral-research-conference-2014
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Graduate School Bulletin
NEWS
FEATURES
SPOTLIGHT ON the Careers, Placement and Experience Centre
STUDENT BUSINESS IDEA COMPETITION Ese Omoarukhe, a first year doctoral researcher from the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences collected £1000 in prize money and a Pitman Mentorship after winning the inaugural Henley Business School and Pitmans Ideafest Student Business Idea Competition with ‘Hi’FAB’. ‘Hi’FAB’ is a beverage whose main ingredient is an extract from the Hibiscus Sabdariffa plant, which has been shown to lower blood pressure and regulate sugar levels. Ese hopes to develop the beverage and promote it as a health drink to combat hypertension and Type 2 diabetes.
The Careers, Placement and Experience Centre (CPEC) provides support to current doctoral researchers at Reading who would like to explore their career options. It can be found on the first floor of the Carrington Building, Whiteknights Campus and provides a full range of services, advice and support for research students. Currently there are six Careers Advisers employed within CPEC; each one works with different specialisms so you will be advised by someone with some background knowledge in your area / Faculty. There are several sources of help: A good starting point is to check out the CPEC website which can be found at www.reading.ac.uk/careers. Here researchers can book for events, sign up for job alerts, arrange to meet employers and access career information. CPEC also has a specific page for postgraduate students www.reading.ac.uk/ careers/postgrad CPEC also run a wide range of workshops and presentations. Some of these provide an insight into different career areas while others help doctoral researchers increase their effectiveness in the recruitment process with advice on making effective applications, CVs and handling interviews. Many employers run sessions for CPEC, so researchers can find out directly what qualities they are looking for in a candidates and how best to impress them on paper or at interview.
Since winning the competition in July, Ese has been busy finetuning her business plan with the help and support of Jurek Sikorski (Henley Business School), Roger Gregory (her Pitman assigned mentor), supervisors and colleagues from within her Department and industrial contacts.
In collaboration with the Graduate School, CPEC are running several sessions this term just for doctoral researchers. These are focussed on job applications, CVs, interviews and creating an effective social brand. Please refer to the Graduate School Careers & Development Opportunities Autumn Brochure for full session details http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/ graduateschool/Career_and_development_brochure_ Autumn_2015.pdf
PREPARING TO TEACH
All doctoral researchers are welcome to use CPEC’s one to one service if they have specific queries or want to explore career options in further detail. To use this service just visit CPEC between 9.00am–5.00pm every weekday or ring 0118 378 8359 if you would like to make an appointment.
The Preparing to Teach Programme has been designed to support doctoral researchers who contribute to teaching and learning activities across the University. This includes assisting in laboratory or computer classes, demonstrating, running problem solving sessions, taking tutorial classes or seminars, giving lectures, performing assessments and providing feedback. The programme will run in the autumn and spring term of each academic year and will be delivered by the Centre for Quality Support and Development (CQSD). Full details of the programme and how to book can be found at www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/graduateschool/ Preparing_to_Teach_Brochure_final.pdf
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Issue 3 | November 2013
A PROFESSIONAL DOCTORATE… but what comes next? Marek Kubik graduated from the University this summer with an Engineering Doctorate (EngD), from the Technologies for Sustainable Built Environments (TSBE) Centre. The TSBE is an industrial Doctoral Training Centre for construction technology, climate and business enterprise research and was established in 2009 with a £6 million grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Marek followed a four year programme instead of the traditional three year PhD; which included an industry based research project and University taught modules relevant to the project. He was sponsored by AES, a global power company, supported by two academic supervisors and spent a significant amount of time based in industry.
What have you been doing since you graduated?
Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give a new 1st year doctoral researcher?
I took up an advisory position in AES, the company I completed my doctorate with, reporting directly to the Vice President for UK & Ireland. I have responsibility for mapping a route to market for energy storage, something that follows neatly on from my research. Recently, I successfully led a bid through the first round of Innovate UK funding to support a $6.6m 10MW battery storage project in Northern Ireland (the largest of its kind in Europe). I am also organising a high profile energy storage seminar hosted by the All Party Group at Stormont, Northern Ireland’s Parliament.
My first piece of advice is to publish early. Publishing international conference papers and journal papers helps hone your writing ability and gives you material that can be readily dropped into your thesis. Second, plan ahead. Your time shoots by and you need to factor in writing-up time. I began dedicating a couple of days a month to start writing up 18 months ahead of submission. Finally, enjoy it. It is unlikely you will ever again get the opportunity to have as much flexibility to work in an area and to really think about how to solve the challenges your field faces.
Was there anything you did at Reading that you feel has helped you in your new position?
And finally, where do you want to be in 5 years?
The supportive attitude of the TSBE Centre to pursue career development opportunities, such as my secondment in UK Parliament, teaching STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in local schools and Henley Business School mentoring was very valuable. The Graduate School was a useful entity, both in terms of facilities and in networking outside my immediate research group.
Why did you select Reading? I chose to undertake an EngD at Reading as I wanted a project with strong links to industry and that focused on an immediate industry challenge in the field of sustainability. Working for both the University and my industry sponsor has allowed me to gain invaluable experience, which I believe is the single most important factor in gaining employment post completion.
What was your biggest challenge during your studies? The biggest challenge was managing the divergent expectations of academia and industry, and keeping both sides happy with the scope and nature of my research. The EngD programme requires delivery on both fronts; the full academic rigor and contribution to knowledge of a PhD, but with added industrial impact and relevance.
I would like to be in a position where I can look back and be proud of delivering the change urgently needed in the energy sector. I want to see ‘us’ on a trajectory of avoiding catastrophic climate change and relieve energy poverty where it exists.
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COMING UP SEASONAL CELEBRATION On Wednesday 3 December, 17.00–19.00, the Graduate School will be holding its Seasonal Celebration. At this annual event, doctoral researchers get the chance to test their general knowledge with the ever-popular Graduate School quiz and enjoy some mulled wine and mince pies. All students will be emailed directly with further details.
LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME 2015 Graduate School & Henley Business School Now in its third year, the Graduate School’s Leadership Programme, ‘Making a difference as a leader – developing your leadership potential’ is now open for applications. Taking place at both the Greenlands and Whiteknights campuses, this three-day (9, 10 & 24 February 2015) intensive programme is led by Dr Claire Collins and Dr Bernd Vogel from the Henley Business School and has been designed specifically for doctoral researchers. The aim of the programme is to help students, whatever their subject area or professional experience, to improve their understanding of leadership and to recognise the importance of leadership skills in relation to their own career ambitions. The programme is open to 2nd and 3rd year full-time and 3rd, 4th and 5th year part-time doctoral researchers.
For further information, eligibility criteria and to download an application form, go to: www.reading.ac.uk/Leadership_programme.aspx Please note that the closing date for applications is Friday 12 December 2014.
FAIRBROTHER LECTURE 2015 After the success of the inaugural Fairbrother Lecture in May 2014, the Graduate School is delighted to announce that the 2015 lecture will be delivered by Nadya Ali, a doctoral researcher from the Department of Politics and International Relations. Named after Jack Fairbrother, who in 1929 became the first student to be awarded a PhD from the University, the Fairbrother Lecture is an annual event at which a current, or recent, Reading doctoral researcher presents their work to a wider audience.
The lecture is entitled: ‘Governing Britain’s Muslims: how effective is counter-radicalisation?’ and will be based on Nadya Ali’s PhD research into the British Government’s current policies and strategies for combating radicalisation amongst British Muslims. The lecture touches on key political debates taking place in Britain today, and asks what are the limits of counter-radicalisation policies? Further information can be found at www.reading.ac.uk/gs-fairbrotherlecture.aspx
Please note that all Graduate School events are listed in our 2014–15 schedule available at: www.reading.ac.uk/gs-events.aspx
GRADUATE SCHOOL BULLETIN For more information, please contact: Graduate School Old Whiteknights House University of Reading PO Box 217 Whiteknights Reading, RG6 6AH gradschool@reading.ac.uk www.reading.ac.uk/graduateschool
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