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.

The Graduate School is delighted to learn that Professor Nicola Shaughnessy (School of Arts) has been nominated as Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year in the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards 2018.  Professor Shaughnessy was nominated by the Graduate School, with valuable help from Michelle Ulyatt (Corporate Communications), after she won our prize for a Research Degree Supervisor this summer.

Since her appointment to Kent in 1999, Professor Shaughnessy has nurtured several generations of neurodiverse postgraduate students to success through creative and interdisciplinary approaches. This includes offering twice-monthly shorter tutorials and making use of Skype, interactive and open space technologies. Over the years, she has also developed a network of postgraduates working across disciplines and institutions on autism and gender. This online community offers cross-disciplinary research exchange and peer support.

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!

The Graduate School is delighted to be introducing a series of prizes to recognise the excellence of its postgraduate researchers and the outstanding work carried out by our academic and administrative staff members in support of postgraduate research and education.

The Graduate School Prizes will be awarded in the following categories:
• Research Degree Supervisor (one per Faculty)
• School Director of Graduate Studies
• Administrator working in support of postgraduate education and/or research
• Postgraduate Research Prize (one per Faculty)

Each prize will be in the sum of £500 and will take the form of a transfer to the winner’s school, centre or departmental budget for the 2018/19 financial year. The funds can be used for:
• Travel and subsistence in relation to research including conference fees, books, consumables, survey costs or any other cost that can be shown to relate to their research
• Staff development courses and related travel and subsistence costs

The prizes will be announced and presented at the Postgraduate Research Festival Launch Event on 18 June 2018 followed by a celebratory dinner, and the deadline for applications is 30 April 2018.

Please visit the webpage for full criteria and application information, and do not hesitate to contact the Graduate School with any queries: graduateschool@kent.ac.uk.

Congratulations to Professor Paul Allain, Dean of the Graduate School, for being chosen as the recipient of the Witkacy Prize for his ongoing work promoting Polish theatre abroad. The Polish Section of the International Theatre Institute announced the award on 27 March, World Theatre Day.

The Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy) Prize has been awarded by the Polish Section of the International Theatre Institute since 1983, and the prestigious award is given to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding achievement promoting Polish theatre on an international scale. An expert on Polish Theatre, Professor Paul Allain has been invited to take part in an upcoming theatre festival in Poland to mark the award.

In addition to his role as the Dean of the Graduate School, Professor Paul Allain is a Professor of Theatre and Performance at the University’s School of Arts, where he continues to supervise PhD students from around the world. Professor Paul Allain is the co-founder of the European Theatre Research Network and is author and editor of many works on Polish theatre, most recently as co-editor of the 2015 book Voices from Within: Grotowski’s Polish Collaborators.

Read the University announcement of Professor Paul Allain’s achievement here.

GambleAware has announced that it will fund a new PhD project to boost Great Britain’s problem gambling research capacity.

The funder would particularly welcome proposals related to the following areas:

• Anthropology
• Community development studies
• Corporate social responsibility (CSR) management studies
• Counselling and psychotherapy
• Economics
• Health studies
• Law and regulation
• Neurology
• Political science
• Psychology
• Public or social policy
• Social geography
• Social marketing studies
• Social sciences, including sociology
• Computing and technology.

The timetable is as follows:

• Call for applications published March 2018
• Deadline for written applications 31 May 2018
• Interviews June 2018
• Award made by 30 June 2018
• PhD commences Autumn 2018

Anyone interested in applying should view the application process here: https://about.gambleaware.org/media/1695/phd-call-2018.pdf or send any queries by email to commissioning@gambleaware.org.

Supervisors and applicants are welcome to contact the Graduate School if they require assistance with the application: graduateschool@kent.ac.uk

The Graduate School has decided to extend the deadline for the second round of applications to the Postgraduate Experience Award to Friday 27th April.

We are looking to fund projects with an aim of building the postgraduate community, so if you have a good idea for an event you would like to put on, with an interdisciplinary feel to it, put in an application! Previous funded projects include yoga and writing retreats, an external engagement competition, and an ethnobotanical nature trail round campus to name but a few.

The prize is worth up to £1500 and is a great way to develop project management skills.  For more information and the application form see our website https://www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool/news/pgexperience.html