All posts by gg297

Events, News

ReCapture

Unleash your creativity with an eye-catching snapshot and be in for a chance to win £250!

Are you a Master’s or a PhD student? Have you been thinking about innovative ways of presenting your research to colleagues or to the general public?

Tell a story about your research by sharing a photograph and win up to £250!

What is ReCapture?

ReCapture is a competition funded by the University of Kent’s Postgraduate Community Experience Award. It aims to promote postgraduate research carried out across the University by providing a platform for students to capture and share their research in a public-friendly photographic format. The competition will be a celebration of student research and will encourage networking between the academic communities of the Canterbury and Medway campuses. It also provides a novel and exciting platform for students to share their research with non-specialist audiences and to the local public.

How do I take part?

If you are a student undertaking a Master’s or PhD research* at either Canterbury or Medway campus, this is your chance to shine! In order to enter the competition, submit the following to graduateschool@kent.ac.uk by midnight on the 7th of April 2019:

  • An image, which reflects or captures your research or your experience as a researcher.
  • Your name, department/school and a title of image of maximum 12 words.
  • A short description explaining why you have chosen that particular image (max. 250 words)

You may only submit one image and it must relate to your own research or your experience as a researcher. The description of your image should be understandable to a non-specialist audience and to the general public.

By submitting an image, you agree for it to be used publicly free-of-charge by the University of Kent, for instance for it to be displayed within the University or feature in university’s promotional materials, publications or websites.

*Note that you are eligible to enter the competition if you are enrolled onto your graduate course up to and including the 30th of June 2019.

What should my image look like?

Your chosen image may be presented in either landscape or portrait orientation and may include any subject which you feel reflects your work. The photograph may either be presented in full colour or black and white. It must not have previously been submitted to or presented at any other photography competitions or events.

Note that any images, which infringe the copyrights of a third party or contain any harmful or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content will be disqualified by the panel. If in doubt, email one of the organisers using the contact details provided below.

The image may be taken using any imaging device, however should be of a minimum resolution of 300 pixels per inch (ppi) and submitted in either a .jpeg or .tif format. All images selected for the exhibition will be printed on A2 foamex boards (420 x 594 mm or 16.5 x 23.4 inches). It is advisable to format the photograph to match this size prior to the submission and to be aware of what your image will look like when printed out at this size. 

What happens next?

All images submitted for the competition will be judged by a panel consisting of; academics, graduate students and public representatives, according to the following criteria:

  • Subject content and strength of message, in relation to your research.
  • Creativity of presentation, visual communication and general appeal of image.
  • Image quality of photograph.

The very best images, up to 20 maximum, will be printed free of charge onto A2 Foamex boards and displayed at exhibitions on both Canterbury and Medway Campuses, which will be taking place over May (details to be confirmed). A public voting period will then commence in which students, academics and members of the public will be provided with the opportunity to vote for their favourite image, either online or by the provided ballot boxes.

The exhibitions at each campus will be followed by the final celebration and awards ceremony at the Medway campus during the week beginning with the 17th June. Students, academics and members of the public will be invited to this event to celebrate postgraduate research together and will be allowed to vote for the best entry. Votes collected during this event will be added to the ones received throughout the exhibitions at each campus. Prizes will be awarded to the top 3 exhibitors (£250, £100 and £50), who will be presented with their award and certificate.

After the competition has finished, one set of prints will be donated to the Woolf College in Canterbury, where they will be permanently displayed within the foyer. The second set will be gifted to their contributors who will get to keep an A2 Foamex print of their original image for free.

Contact Details

If you have any further questions or concerns regarding the competition, do not hesitate to contact us by email as follows:

For Canterbury campus:

Hal Dorrington: hgd3@kent.ac.uk

For Medway campus:

Vilius Savickas: vs261@kent.ac.uk.

Good luck and we look forward to seeing your photographs!

Funding, News

Call for Applications: British Library PhD research placements scheme

The British Library has announced a new Call for Applications for its PhD research placements scheme. This is open to all current PhD students (as long as they have the support of their PhD supervisor) and offers opportunities to develop and apply research skills outside the university sector. There are 22 bespoke placement opportunities available in various teams across the Library, and each placement has a dedicated BL supervisor and offers ‘behind-the-scenes’ staff-level access to the Library’s collection, resources and expertise.

The application deadline is 5 pm on Monday, 18 February 2019. Most placements can take place any time between May 2019 and March 2020 (any restrictions to this are specified in the individual placement profiles). Each placement is for 3 months full-time or (if feasible) the part-time equivalent.

Full details, including information on how to apply, is available here: https://www.bl.uk/news/2019/january/phd-research-placements-2019

Please direct questions to Research.Development@bl.uk.

News

Postgraduate Community Experience Award Winners Autumn 2018

We are thrilled to announce the winners of this year’s Postgraduate Community Experience Awards.

Laura Thomas-Walters won an award for her ‘Craft your PhD’ project. PhD students will have the opportunity to explore alternative ways of communicating their research, while enhancing their own well-being through mindful creativity.

Luke Shoveller and Abigail MacGregor won an award for their project ‘Finding your Feet: Exploring Kent, by Foot’. This project focuses on a series of walks that will take postgraduate students on a journey through the Kent countryside. The aim is to support postgraduates’ health and well-being by seeking to forge a stronger relationship between students and the local natural and built environment.

Katja May has been awarded funding for an interactive workshop that will look at key issues and best practice in anti-racist higher education. Katja will have the support of the BARC Collective, a collective of early and mid-career academic women of colour committed to bringing together scholars and students of colour and anti-racist allies to develop anti-racist pedagogy and practice.

Hal Gruffydd Dorrington and Vilius Savickas are teaming up to collaborate on a creative research project across Medway and Canterbury campuses. They have been awarded funding to organise a visual competition which will explore the research being undertaken at Kent.

Congratulations to all of our winners.

Details on how you can get involved with the winning projects will be announced in the New Year.

Events, Funding

Miss the SeNSS Applicant Briefing Sessions?

The Graduate School hosted several information sessions for students in Autumn 2018 on how to apply for SeNSS-funded studentships. Were you unable to attend one of the sessions but want to find out more about how to apply for a SeNSS-funded studentship? 

Please contact the Graduate School with any queries: graduateschool@kent.ac.uk

News

The Launch of Kent’s Global Challenges Doctoral Centre (DCGC)

Staff and students are invited to the launch of the new Global Challenges Doctoral Centre (GCDC) on Monday, 5 November 2018, from 3-4pm in Darwin Lecture Theatre 3 (DLT3).

The University of Kent has established the GCDC to serve as the nucleus for Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) PhD training activities at Kent. The GCDC is therefore dedicated to doctoral research addressing the challenges of economic development and well-being faced by developing countries on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list.

As part of this new initiative, the University of Kent is offering eight GCDC doctoral scholarships (covering an annual stipend at UKRI rates, tuition fees and a research training support grant), and applications can be both student-led and project-led. The first four GCDC-funded doctoral students commenced their studies in the academic year 2018-2019, and the 2019-2020 call for applications can be found here.

If you are interested in learning more about the GCDC and its work, please join us at the launch event on Monday, 5 November. At the event, the four current GCDC students will present their research projects, and the GCDC academic lead, Dr Ingvild Bode, will provide further information and be available for questions regarding the 2019-2020 GCDC scholarships calls for applications.

Please confirm your attendance for the GCDC launch event by emailing Grace Grussenmeyer at graduateschool@kent.ac.uk.

Events, Funding, Training

CHASE and SeNSS Briefing Sessions for Staff and Potential Students

Are you interested in applying for a CHASE or SeNSS-funded studentship but are unsure where to begin? Are you a supervisor or administrator supporting CHASE or SeNSS-funded students?

The Graduate School is hosting several information sessions for staff and students in the Autumn of 2018 on how to apply for CHASE-funded and SeNSS-funded studentships. Please click on the links below for more information:

Please get in touch with the Graduate School at graduateschool@kent.ac.uk with any queries and to reserve a place on one of these sessions.

Awards, News

Congratulations to Julie Anderson, recipient of the Jinty Nelson Award for Inspirational Teaching & Supervision in History 2018

Dr Julie Anderson (Reader in History, University of Kent) has recently been awarded the Jinty Nelson Award for Inspirational Teaching and Supervision in History 2018. The Graduate School would like to congratulate Julie on her incredible contribution to the research, teaching and student experience culture at the University of Kent.

‘Dr Anderson is an outstanding undergraduate teacher of history and a creative and highly effective supervisor of postgraduate historians in her field. Her enthusiasm for her subject is clearly infectious, and she has inspired a whole cohort of students to work with her, studying the history of modern medicine and disabilities in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The panel particularly liked the way she breaks down the daunting task of completing a doctorate into manageable steps or ‘milestones’, building both students’ confidence and their theoretical and transferable skills. Thus, her PhD students are encouraged to maintain a clear schedule for researching and writing the thesis, but also to publish a book review, give conference presentations each year, submit an article for publication in year two, undertake placements and outreach activities outside academia, and train to teach undergraduates. The collaborative and supportive atmosphere she has established – combined with her sensitivity to the mental and emotional struggles of postgraduate work – is much appreciated by her students and colleagues and will be an inspiration to others. In sum, her work provides a template of excellent supervision and teaching.’ (Judges’ citation)

News

Farewell to Sian, we wish her luck as great things lie ahead!

Today is a bitter sweet day in the Graduate School as we say goodbye to a dear friend and team member, Sian Epps, Graduate School Assistant and PA to the Dean of the Graduate School. The Graduate School team would like to thank Sian for her work supporting the Graduate School and its endeavors for the last two and a half years.

Sian joined the Graduate School in September 2015 after finishing her BSc in Sociology and Social Science, and she has worked in several different capacities within the team in that time – most recently as PA to the Dean of the Graduate School. Sian has been an important and valuable member of our small team, and she will be dearly missed.

Sian began a part-time MA in Sociology at the University of Kent in 2017, and she has recently been hired by Migrant Help, a charity that works to provide advice and support to vulnerable migrants in Dover. The Graduate School would like to congratulate Sian on her new post and wish her well in all of her future endeavors!

Awards, News

University of Kent wins 3rd place for Postgraduate Whatuni Award

The results are in for the Whatuni Student Choice Awards (WUSCAs) 2018, and we are delighted that the University of Kent has been awarded 3rd place for the Postgraduate Award out of thirty-seven universities across the UK. The University of Kent climbed nine places in the postgraduate category, going from 12th place in 2017 to 3rd place in 2018. In addition to ranking in the top three in the postgraduate category, the University of Kent ranked 5th for the International Award (climbing from 8th place in 2017).

The WUSCAs celebrate the best in higher education, and universities are selected based on 36,000+ reviews submitted via Whatuni.com by university students across the UK. The 2018 awards ceremony took place at The Brewery in London on 19 April, and the event was hosted by comedian, Katherine Ryan. The Graduate School team was delighted to be in attendance to represent the University of Kent for the Postgraduate Award nomination, and members of the International and Enrolment teams attended to represent the University for the International Award nomination.

Congratulations to the University of Kent for ranking so high in two categories of the 2018 Whatuni Awards. The Graduate School would like to particularly thank all of the members of academic and administrative staff who work to support our postgraduate and international students at Kent.

See the top three in each of the fifteen WhatUni Awards 2018 categories here, view all of the rankings and categories here and read the official Whatuni press release here.

Events

Registration now open for South East Hub 2018

Join us at the University of Kent for the 2018 South East Hub, a postgraduate and early career researcher conference with the theme: ‘Victims, Perpetrators, Bystanders and Collaborators as historical concepts: Redundant labels, useful categorisations or somewhere in between?’

The South East Hub 2018 will be held in the Grimond building (University of Kent, Canterbury campus) on 19th June and is co-funded by CHASE and the University of Kent School of History. The conference is an opportunity for research postgraduates and early career researchers to discuss their topics in a friendly and supportive environment. This year, papers will address the conceptual utility of the terms victims, perpetrators, bystanders and collaborators in a variety of historical contexts.

The panels are: ‘Accusation, Collaboration and Resistance’, ‘The Victim Voice’, ‘Simultaneous Categories’, and ‘Regimes and the Right’. The keynote talk will be delivered by Professor Tim Cole and is entitled, ‘Perpetrators, victims and bystanders: Writing integrated histories and geographies’.

The conference is free to attend. Lunch, tea and coffee will also be provided, and a wine reception will follow the event. Please note that there are limited spaces, so places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration closes on May 18th, so register as soon as possible to secure your attendance at the conference.

Register here: https://goo.gl/forms/FKUZT8PgaxqV4eMu1​ 

If you have any questions about the event or require any further information, please get in touch with Kate Docking and Ellis Spicer at southeasthub2018@outlook.com.

The conference webpage can be viewed here: www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool/southeasthub2018.html