Over the summer the Library is open every day between 09:00 and 19:00.  If you need to find a place to study outside those times the following facilities are available:

• Oaks Study hub: 24 hours a day, with KentOne card access
• Nickle Court Study hub: 24 hours a day for all Park Wood residents, scan your key fob to gain entry
• Park wood Study hub: 24 hours a day, scan your KentOne card or Park Wood key fob to gain entry
• Rutherford Study hub: 7am – midnight
• Tyler Court A Study hub: 8am – 6pm for all students, and 24 hours a day for residents in Tyler Court A

Exciting talks for the next Medway Postgraduate Research Café on Friday –

‘Biohacking and Open Source Technology: What could these really mean to modern day scientists?’

And Medway Makers will give a talk ‘If you thought nothing was happening in Medway!!!’

Do come along on Friday July 10^th at lunchtime for coffee, tea, juice, biscuits and a catch up with your fellow researchers, in the Gillingham Building G2-04  (1.00pm – 2.00pm)

Social Scientists from across the South East Doctoral Training Centre will be coming to Kent tomorrow for their 4th annual conference.

The programme includes Keynote Academic Talks, a Journal Editors Panel, Interdisciplinary student-led sessions, posters and student pecha kucha presentations. The Conference will also provide an excellent networking opportunity for students and academics involved in the SEDTC. Click here to view the full programme.

The Graduate School looks forward to seeing all those who registered for this event.

The Centre for English and World Languages (CEWL) at the University of Kent is offering two hours of free English classes in Keynes College for non-native speakers of English every weekday from Monday 29th June to Thursday 9th July 2015 from 13.45 to 15.55.

Employability points can be obtained for attending the classes.

To confirm your place at the classes, please email cewlcelta@kent.ac.uk.

Our fifth Postgraduate Research Festival is nearly upon us!  Students and staff are welcome to come along to the day-long event on Monday 22nd June, in the Grimond building.  The varied programme will include academic talks, postgraduate poster presentations, three minute research presentations and student discussion panels.  Refreshments will be provided throughout the day so do come along and find out what everyone is doing.

The QAA Higher Education Review Team which visited Kent in March 2015 identified several features of good practice including: ‘The range of informal and formal opportunities provided to postgraduate research students, which create a vibrant and interdisciplinary academic community’ (Chapter B11 (Research Degrees)).  The final report has now been published on the website of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA).

The report stated in relation to Chapter B11 (Research Degrees) of the QAA UK Quality Code for Higher Education that: ‘There is evidence of a positive research environment created through formal and informal interdisciplinary arrangements where students and staff benefit from social interaction and the exchange of ideas. In particular, the Graduate School offers a range of student-facing activities through coordination of the Researcher Development Programme, monthly research cafés, the annual postgraduate research festival, the GradPost newsletter and the Postgraduate Experience Awards through which students can apply for funding to run an interdisciplinary event aimed at enhancing the postgraduate experience. Weekly research seminars are also provided where students can present their findings and latest chapters and receive feedback from peers and staff. Visiting researchers are also invited to present at these sessions. Students also receive regular sessions on preparing and submitting papers. The students met by the review team had derived considerable benefit from their interaction with others through the broad range of opportunities for disseminating research.’

The QAA review team also recognised the benefits of the Graduate School’s Global Skills Award Programme for postgraduate taught students, which has been running successfully since 2010.  The report stated that: ‘Students described its value both in terms of their development but also for networking opportunities which are particularly advantageous for international students.’

Professor Diane Houston (Dean of the Graduate School) said: ‘These findings are testament to the excellent work being undertaken by School and Faculty Directors of Graduate Studies, Postgraduate Administrators and the Graduate School Team in supporting and bringing to fruition such a wide range of opportunities for our postgraduate community across the University.’

Other features of good practice identified by the QAA report included the following:

• The responsive and timely approach to supporting prospective students in their admission to the University across all levels of provision.
• The strategic approach to creating an internationalised environment, which enables students to develop their academic, personal and professional potential.
• The accessibility of university-level information available on the website to stakeholders.

Calling all social scientists!

Registration for the 4^th Annual South East Doctoral Training Centre (SEDTC) Conference, happening here (Grimond Building, University of Kent) on Thursday 02 July 2015 (10.00 – 17.30), is now open!

The programme of events includes Keynote Academic Talks, a Journal Editors Panel, Interdisciplinary student-led sessions, posters and student pecha kucha presentations.

The Conference will also provide an excellent networking opportunity for students and academics involved in the SEDTC.

Full details of the day and the registration form are available here.

We will be running the inaugural Postgraduate Research Café on the Medway campus, on Friday 15^th May in the Medway building, M0-02, at 1.00pm – 3.00pm

You are all invited and welcome to attend.  The Postgraduate Research Cafe is a great way to support your fellow PGRs and offer questions and feedback.

We will supply tea, coffee and biscuits, please feel free to bring your own lunch.   A further programme of Research Cafés in Medway will be published soon.