We are delighted to announce that the 2022 Graduate and Researcher College Prizes are now open for nominations.

These prizes recognise the excellence of Kent’s researchers and the outstanding work carried out by academic and professional service staff members in support of postgraduate research and education.

Visit our GRC Prizes website for more information and details about how to make a nomination. 

Posted on behalf of Patrick Stillman, Kent Union VP Postgraduate Experience

Postgrads!

I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, its election season at KU, and this Thursday you have a chance to shape your student leadership team for next year! The VP Postgrad position was introduced in 2019, and in the last two years it has been essential in ensuring that the voices of PGTs and PGRs are heard within the Union, in terms of events and campaigns we run, and that PGs have a seat at the table at all levels of University governance as well.

With the challenges that this year has thrown up, it’s more important than ever that PGs show up to vote in these elections, as your votes help give the officers the backing they need to make change and ensure your voices continue to be heard.

Every candidate is determined to improve the PG experience, when asked for their main reason for standing, here’s what they said:

“Hi, my name is Laura and I’m running to be your VP Postgrad Experience Officer because your voices need to be heard.

I’m the person who has the passion and drive to make sure that you are not forgotten about.”

“Hi, I am Atchana and I am running as your next VP Postgraduate Experience in this year’s election. I am aiming to break the stigmas around PG students and make sure these students are full incorporated into student life!  Whether it is Canterbury, Medway or one of our European location, PG students should get the attention we need!”

“Hey, I’m Tobi-Temple and I’m running for your next VP Postgraduate Experience. I desire to create better engagement between postgraduates (including international students and part-time students) and the SU. Great steps have already been taken by previous officers and I want to take things to the next level!”

“Hi, my name is Nelly and I’m running to be your next VP Postgrad Experience because I’m really passionate about making a difference to the student experience, be these tiny but annoying issues or wider national campaigns.”

All voting will be online on the KU website on Thursday 11^th March, and you can find out more about all of the candidates standing in the leadership elections here.

Full details can be found by clicking on the photo above.

Details about the University of Kent Award can be found here: www.fulbright.org.uk/going-to-the-uk/postgraduate-student-awards/awards-available/university-of-kent 

Funding Awarded to Jon Winder, PhD Researcher in the School of History

We are delighted to hear of the success of the Critical Excursions Trip on the Greta, supported by the Postgraduate Community Experience Awards. The trip aimed to improve the postgraduate experience at Kent by offering PhD students opportunities to manage and improve their mental health by spending time immersed in green and blue environments in the local area.

“It was amazing to spend time on the water, experiencing the wind and the waves rather than my laptop keyboard for a day. It was also great to meet such a wide range of other PhD students based at Kent and to hear about their research.” – Organiser, Jon Winder

We cannot wait to see what’s next for the Critical Excursions in Kent!

Find out more about the Critical Excursions in Kent here.

Dear Postgraduate,

I am delighted to welcome you to the University of Kent and to our postgraduate community. To ensure a smooth transition into Kent life and being a postgraduate student, the Graduate and Researcher College would like to invite you to take a look at its dedicated Hello 2020/21 Postgraduate webpage. This page enables postgraduate students to collect important university information and understand what resources are available to guide you throughout your time at Kent. There is a short presentation with plenty of links to various key resources which will help steer you through the first few weeks of your research or Master’s journey. 

At Kent, the Graduate and Researcher College works in partnership with academic schools, Divisions, central service departments, Kent Union and the Kent Graduate Student Association to enhance the quality of your student experience across all campuses and to create a vibrant postgraduate community. We aim to ensure that the academic and social interests of postgraduate students, both taught and research, are appropriately provided for within the University by developing a strong framework of specialist support for our students, high-quality postgraduate facilities and a wide range of study and research opportunities enriched by our external links with Research Councils and other organisations both nationally and internationally. 
 
On behalf of the Graduate and Researcher College team, I look forward to welcoming you to Kent.
 
Best wishes   
                                 

Professor Paul Allain
Dean of the Graduate and Researcher College

The Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, commonly known as the Researcher Development Concordat, is an agreement between stakeholders, of which Kent is now one, to improve the employment and support for researchers and researcher careers in higher education in the UK. For more information about the Researcher Development Concordat and its Principles visit the Vitae website.

Click on the image below to read the Letter of Commitment to the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers from Professor Karen Cox, Vice-Chancellor and President.

Graduate School Prizes 2020

The Graduate School is delighted to announce the winners of the 2020 Graduate School Prizes.

Postgraduate Researcher

 
Laura Thomas-Walters, School of Anthropology and Conservation, with particular recognition for her contribution towards public engagement.

“I’m extra delighted to have been awarded the prize in recognition of my efforts in public engagement, and I hope that it will encourage future students to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Graduate School to work with our local communities.” – Laura

 “Since beginning her PhD, Laura has spent over 300 hours working as an outreach ambassador for the university. One activity she devised that has proved particularly popular has been a week-long event with Year 8 pupils from Brompton and Chatham, where students have the opportunity to develop an intervention to help protect elephants and rhinos.” – Professor Bob Smith

Boniface Otieno Oyugi, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, with particular recognition for his contribution to publications and grants.

“I am truly humbled by this award. It reminds me of Don Zimmer’s words “What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle and giving 110% all the time.” A big thank you an amazing team at the Centre for Health Services Studies and to my biggest supporters Prof. Sally Kendall, Dr. Olena Nizalova, and Prof. Stephen Peckham.” – Boniface

“Over the last three years, Boniface has made an exceptional contribution to the postgraduate culture by publishing peer reviewed articles and commentaries in high impact journals besides presenting in international conferences.” – Professor Sally Kendall

Alice Helliwell, School of Arts, with particular recognition for her contribution towards cohort-building.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to my supervisor Michael Newall for the nomination. His patience, encouragement and continuing support are truly appreciated. I am also grateful to be a part of the School of Arts research community; it is a great place to be!” – Alice

“Alice is a key figure in the School of Arts postgraduate community, doing an enormous amount to foster community, collaboration and research activity.” – Dr Michael Newall

Gianna Maria Eick, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, with particular recognition for her contribution towards external collaboration.

“I want to thank my PhD supervisors Heejung Chung and Trude Sundberg for nominating me for the Postgraduate Research Prize. Without their constant advice and support, my excellent progress with my research and my international collaborations with renowned scholars in our field would not have been possible.” – Gianna

“What characterises Gianna distinctively compared to her peers is her drive and ambition in pursuing an academic career in addition to her research rigor and excellence. This can be evidenced by a number of achievements including the number of publications currently in review in top peer-reviewed internationally leading journals.” – Dr Heejung Chung

Simon Cooksey, School of Computing, with particular recognition for his contribution towards impact

“This prize means a lot to me, recognition of the impact of my research is very fulfilling. I will use the prize money to continue my research: allowing engineers to use high-performance computer hardware to its maximum capability.” – Simon

“Simon has been involved in several high impact projects, both academic and industrial. He has been instrumental in the development of the best technical specifications of the world’s most used programming languages and processors. Simon is an exceptional PhD candidate, utilising his skills to effectively complement the skills of his collaborators and driving novel research with remarkable impact.” – Dr Mark Batty

Postgraduate Administrator 

Emily Rae, Paris Centre Administrator

“Thank you for the prize! I love working with our students in Paris and helping them discover the city through their studies and activities.” – Emily

“I have been unfailingly impressed by just how efficiently Emily oversees the student experience at Reid Hall…time and again both staff and students comment on the excellence of the administration in Paris… Her role in Paris is a particularly demanding one (not least, of course, because she has to operate in two languages), and yet she makes it look easy. I count myself lucky to be able to benefit from her professionalism.” – Professor Ben Hutchinson

Postgraduate Supervisor

Dr Tamar Jeffers McDonald, Head of School of Arts

“I’d like to say thank you to all my amazing doctoral students, past and present. I learn so much from them and am so honoured they value my support.” – Tamar

“Tamar is a dedicated and inspiring supervisor, excelling in the quality of her supervisions. She puts equal emphasis on the importance of good writing and sound research, particularly in a historical context, but her approach is not prescriptive; she allows PhD students to shape their own research, locate their own sources, and – sometimes – make their own mistakes, but not through unapproachability and distance. Instead, she is always available as a guiding presence, whether through in-person meetings, Skype calls or via (impressively quick) email responses.” Carolyn King

Professor Murray Smith, Professor of Film Studies, School of Arts

“I’d like to pay tribute to all of my research students, from whom I have learned and grown in too many ways to mention – quite literally, I couldn’t have won this award without them! And I’d like to thank my colleagues, academic and professional, who have been vital in further supporting the students I’ve supervised. Most awards go to individuals, as in this case, but of course most good things arise from collective effort and effective teamwork. And that is certainly true here.” – Murray

“Murray is exceptional in giving outstanding support to his research students…I regularly hear PhD students speaking of his care and exacting attention to detail in reviewing their work, and in his mentoring them as teachers. Most striking is the successes that Murray’s students enjoy once they have graduated. I have also seen Murray steer students from less prepossessing backgrounds, and with less stellar academic profiles, to gain permanent academic jobs immediately after leaving Kent. That is an extraordinary feat in such a competitive job market.” – Dr Michael Newall

Postgraduate Teacher 

Eva Sigurdardottir, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research

“I want to thank Dr Jack Cunliffe for nominating me, supported by Dr Rob de Vries. I have learned a lot in the four years I have been teaching at University of Kent. I have been given the freedom to explore and find my own style of teaching with the support of my colleagues. I really appreciate winning the Graduate School Prize for Postgraduate Teacher and will take it as a token of people realising that there is a method to my madness.” – Eva

“She has developed a sensitive understanding of how the students are learning the material and is able to tailor her delivery to the audience. Based on this understanding, she has made year on year improvements to the teaching material – despite the fundamentals of research methods not shifting greatly over the short term – and has done much to help the Qstep team improve our teaching materials. The work she has done will be used by convenors in future years.” – Dr Jack Cunliffe

The Graduate School was delighted to receive a high number of exceptional nominations for this year’s Graduate School Prizes competition. The Graduate School recognises the significant contribution made to the University of Kent by Postgraduate Researchers, Postgraduate Teachers and academic and professional services staff across the University. We would like to thank everyone for their excellent work in support of postgraduate education and research at Kent.

Dear Postgraduate Students,

I would like to pass on some advice and information in relation to impacts resulting from Coronavirus. Whilst we might all feel alone in the face of this pandemic, please remember that we can and should work together to overcome it. If the Graduate School specifically can help with anything that your module or programme convenor or School/Centre cannot, please do ask. We might not be in the office but we are still very much at work.

You will find general advice and information from the university here as well as on the government’s webpages. Do follow these regularly as they are frequently updated. Below are some reflections on issues which you might be facing.

1. If you anticipate that the nature of your research methods or process for your dissertation or a special project are being severely affected by the current situation (eg unable to meet specific groups, visit an archive, unable to travel etc) please discuss this with your dissertation supervisor in the first instance. They will be able to help you adjust/rethink your approach and make appropriate changes. If it is getting late in the progress of your research to make significant alterations, then be honest and open about any such limitations in your thesis. Those examining you will be understanding, but they can only be so if you make this explicit in your writing. Give serious thought to moving away from using person-to person evidence in the short and possibly longer-term towards deploying other safer or virtual modes of data collection where feasible. Your health and that of others is paramount!
2. Please check with schools, supervisors and your Director of Graduate Studies about access to facilities such as work spaces and labs. This might well change in the coming days, so it is best to start planning bearing this in mind.
3. Keep in touch with your supervisor/course convenor by skype, phone calls or by email.
4. You should no longer do any group work or other social activities related to your dissertation research or course. We all need to follow the government’s social distancing guidelines. The university advises that where your research involves working at or with an external partner, for now you should be following that institution or group’s own guidelines for safe working. This may of course be changed at short notice.
5. Further information and guidance about examinations and assessments is currently being prepared by the Academic Registrar’s office and you will all be notified of this once that is finalized.

Everything will probably take more time than usual at the moment, and it will be hard to focus – we will all need to learn to adjust. There may well be further changes to processes that need to be made as the pandemic unfolds. We will let you know of any that affect you as soon as possible.

Above all, please stay safe and look after yourself and those close to you.

Best wishes

Professor Paul Allain
Dean of the Graduate School