Category Archives: News

Events, News, Training

Training sessions for research staff – w/c 14 June 2021

The Graduate and Researcher College (GRC) is pleased to announce that a range of virtual training and development events are available for academic and research staff to book including four scheduled to take place next week:

Demand management for research schemes and relationships with external stakeholders – 14 June 2021, 10-11am

Consultancies and tenders – 16 June 2021, 11am-11.30am

Commercialising your research - 17 June 2021, 10-11am

Please see https://www.kent.ac.uk/graduate-researcher-college/academic-and-research-staff/training-and-development/grants-factory-training for further information about these events and links to book your place.

Coping with rejection – 15 June 2021, 11am-12pm

(The GRC is also offering 1:1 Coaching for PDRAs, RAs and Research Associates – 17 June 2021 and 15 July – 3 slots each day.)

Please see https://www.kent.ac.uk/graduate-researcher-college/academic-and-research-staff/training-and-development/grc-training for further information about these sessions and links to book your place.

Registration for these sessions is via Target Connect, the GRC event booking system, but please note that you will need to register for an account on Target Connect using your Kent email address before you can book any of these events.

These sessions are organised by the GRC as part of its new remit to support the development of colleagues who research throughout their careers and further information is available in our new web pages for academic and research staff.

Professor Paul Allain, Dean of the Graduate and Researcher College, said:

“These webinars are a great opportunity to learn more about relevant topics in targeted sessions delivered by specialist academic and Professional Services staff from Research and Innovation Services, IS Research Support, the GRC and the Divisions. They reflect our ongoing work to create an impactful programme of demand-led training and development for teaching and research colleagues across the University, which now includes some 1:1 coaching for PDRAs, RAs and Research Associates.”

Please note that most sessions will be recorded and made available to view after the event.

If you would like to suggest future sessions or to discuss researcher development at Kent, please contact the GRC.

We look forward to seeing you at these and future events.

Funding, News, Training

Undergraduate Summer Vacation Research Competition winners announced

The Graduate and Researcher College is pleased to announce the undergraduate winners of the Summer Vacation Research Competition 2021:

  • Penelope Agranov
  • Ellie Crocker
  • Carl Grevel
  • Jodie Harbour
  • Jonathan Hobbs
  • Sophie Laxton
  • Caitlin Moriaty
  • Katie Town
  • Juancarlos Valero.

These enthusiastic and motivated students will be employed as Research Assistants on a range of bespoke projects taking place in summer 2021.

Managed by our cohort of early career researcher winners, the students will gain valuable experience of working on real-life projects and thus learn more about the world of research whilst simultaneously boosting their CVs.

Hannah Greer, Work-Study Scheme Coordinator, highlighted the benefits of participation in the scheme for both researchers and undergraduates:

“The Summer Vacation Research Competition offers a unique chance to expand your skills no matter where you are on your early career path. Whether a postdoc looking to undertake additional project or line management, or a student wondering what the world of research is all about, the competition will broaden your horizons and skills set in a structured and supportive environment.”

Applications for this innovative opportunity for second and third-year students were managed by the Careers and Employability Service through its Work Study Scheme which helps students gain confidence and overcome barriers to graduate-level work.

For further information or to advertise an opportunity to students, please contact workstudy@kent.ac.uk. Some match-funding is available annually so do get in touch soon if you are thinking of recruiting Kent student-staff.

Events, News

Concordat focus groups for academic and research staff

As part of Kent’s commitment to the Researcher Development Concordat, the University is required to produce a Concordat Action Plan and Annual Report for submission to Vitae in June 2021. This work is being coordinated by the Graduate and Researcher College (GRC), whose remit includes supporting the professional and career development of academic and research staff in conjunction with colleagues in Divisions and other Professional Services departments.

To encourage input into these strategic documents, which will guide the University’s plans to implement the Concordat principles across the institution and record progress already made to embed support for researchers into our working practices, the GRC is organising three Concordat focus groups for staff who research at different career stages:

When to participate?

Early-career researchers (including PDRAs, RAs, Research Associates and ECRs): Thursday 13 May, 11am-12.30pm (online)

Mid-career researchers: Tuesday 11 May, 2pm-3.30pm (online)

Senior researchers and research leaders: Wednesday 12 May, 2pm-3.30pm (online)

The focus groups will explore:

  • the scope, accessibility and efficacy of current support for staff who research
  • barriers to accessing support, or to progression or job satisfaction
  • your recommendations for future planning and support for researchers.

Dr Alison Charles, Researcher Developer (Academic), said:

“These sessions are a great opportunity to discuss initiatives and ideas to support research staff and, most importantly, to tell us what more needs to be done to support your development. All feedback will be anonymised so this is your chance to say what you really think about researcher development at Kent and to ensure that the researcher voice is heard loud and clear.”

How to give us feedback?

To book your place at a focus group, please complete our expression of interest form.

Please note that if you are unable to attend a focus group, we encourage you to submit feedback anonymously via our feedback form, available until 23.59 on 31 May 2021.

Finally, there is still time to complete the CEDARS survey, running at Kent till 23.59 on 19 May 2021. Learn more in the blogpost or go straight to the survey via this link.

Any queries, please contact the GRC. We look forward to receiving your feedback.

News

Culture, Employment and Development in Academic Research Survey (CEDARS) 2021

Tell us what you think! The national CEDARS survey is now live at Kent and asks academic and research staff about their experiences, needs and views as part of a larger sector drive to promote positive research cultures and career development in academia.

CEDARS is your chance to tell the University about your views and experiences as a research-active member of staff. Key benefits are as follows:

  • The information you provide will be used to inform Kent policy and practice relating to researcher employment, management and development. This should benefit not only you, but also have long-lasting impact for future researchers.
  • The survey should provide a clearer picture of Kent’s progress towards implementing the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, to which the University signed up in June 2020, and towards upholding its HRER commitment to support its researchers.
  • A good response rate and national benchmarking would provide leverage for future changes at Kent.

The CEDARS survey is hosted on Online Surveys, a secure web environment, and is anonymous. It is managed by Vitae, the international organisation supporting the professional development of researchers.

Who should participate? The survey targets colleagues who research at all career stages. This includes staff who are active researchers, teaching staff engaged in research (including ‘teaching & scholarship’ staff) and academic staff who manage researchers.

The Graduate and Researcher College (GRC) is coordinating this survey, as part of its new remit to support all academic and research staff in their career and personal development. This includes curating a range of training and development sessions, many of which are now available to book via Target Connect, including some taking place next week.

To complete the survey, please go to this link. The survey runs till 23.59 on 19 May 2021.

Any queries, please contact the GRC and thank you in advance for taking part in this important survey.

Events, News, Training

New training sessions for research staff from w/c 26 April 2021

The Graduate and Researcher College (GRC) is pleased to announce that a range of virtual training and development events are now available for academic and research staff to book including three scheduled to take place next week:

Essential elements of a successful grant application – 26 April 2021, 10-11am

Click here to book your place.

Sharing sensitive data, GDPR and research ethics – 27 April 2021, 3-4pm

Click here to book your place.

Copyright and open access publishing – 28 April 2021, 10-11am

Click here to book your place.

Registration for these sessions is via Target Connect, the GRC event booking system, but please note that you will need to register for an account on Target Connect using your Kent email address before you can book any of these events.

These one-hour online sessions are organised by the GRC as part of its new remit to support the development of colleagues who research throughout their careers and further information is available on our new web pages for academic and research staff.

Professor Paul Allain, Dean of the Graduate and Researcher College, said:

“These webinars are a great opportunity to learn more about relevant topics in targeted sessions delivered by specialist academic and Professional Services staff from Research and Innovation Services, IS Research Support, the GRC and the Divisions. They reflect our ongoing work to create an impactful programme of demand-led training and development for teaching and research colleagues across the University.”

Please note that most sessions will be recorded and made available to view after the event.

If you would like to suggest future sessions or to discuss researcher development at Kent, please contact the GRC.

We look forward to seeing you at these and future events.

Awards, News

Kent Pol/IR Student Hollie MacKenzie wins National PhD Prize

Quote

Congratulations to Pol/IR PhD student Hollie Mackenzie who has won the Sir Ernest Barker Prize for best doctoral thesis in political theory in 2020 from the UK Political Studies Association. Hollie’s thesis is titled ‘A Schizo-Revolutionary Labial Art-Politics’ and in keeping with the argument of the thesis and Hollie’s artistic practice it was presented as a sculptural piece in its own right. The thesis was examined by Prof. Rosi Braidotti (Utrecht) and Prof. Maria Drakopoulou (Kent).

‘The experimental form as art project is both daring and perfectly attuned to the theme and thus suited to the content matter: a feminist practice of aesthetic and theoretical resistance’. Prof Braidotti (Utrecht).

Upon hearing news of the prize, Hollie commented: ‘I’m absolutely delighted to be awarded this prize. It was a huge risk to submit an art-thesis instead of a traditional thesis, and the determination and hard work paid off. Creating an enfolded piece of scholarly writing and a melting sculpture was my feminine reinvention of the traditional idea of a thesis to challenge the hypermasculine systems, structures and content in which theses are written and defended in the discipline of political theory, and being awarded the Sir Ernest Barker Prize from the Political Studies Association confirms thata schizo-revolutionary labial art-politics is a welcomed and timely approach to creatively confront the hypermasculine institutionalisation of knowledge.

The experience of the art-thesis also presents a challenge to the reader that was welcomed by Braidotti and Drakopoulou, who both commended it was ‘highly innovative’, ‘highly original’, and ‘more approachable and enjoyable’.It is a pleasure to see that my call for different forms of expression, teaching and learning within political theory is being welcomed and I hope that it invites others to create a much needed space for feminine difference through their own responses to the question of what a schizo-revolutionary labial art-politics might become.’

Nadine Ansorg, Head of School, commented: ‘Hollie’s thesis radically challenges existing notions of how a PhD dissertation might be executed and look like, and fundamentally questions the hypermasculine institutionalisation of knowledge. By way of artistic practice, Hollie provides new ways of a feminine artistic problem of what a thesis may become for generations to come.’

The thesis was co-supervised by Dr Iain MacKenzie (Kent) and Anna Cutler (Tate), with Dr Harmonie Toros serving as second supervisor. Hollie was also awarded the University of Kent Social Sciences Seminar Teaching Prize 2018.

This is the second time in less than 10 years that the prize has come to the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. The 2013 Sir Ernest Barker Prize was awarded to Dr Benoit Dillet (now, University of Bath) for his thesis ‘The Outside of the Political: Schmitt, Deleuze, Foucault, Descola and the Problem of Travel’, also supervised by Dr Iain MacKenzie.

Hollie with another of her pieces, titled ‘Duration.’
Awards, News

Summer Vacation Research Competition 2021 winners announced

The Graduate and Researcher College is pleased to announce the winners of the Summer Vacation Research Competition 2021:

  • Dr Miyoung Ahn, Centre for the Study of Higher Education
  • Dr Francesca Cavallo, School of Arts
  • Dr Christopher Dunmore, School of Anthropology and Conservation
  • Ioannis Galanakis, School of Economics
  • Aino Petterson, School of Psychology
  • Suzi Sapiets, Tizard Centre

This event, now in its fourth year, attracts PDRAs, RAs and Research Associates looking to gain additional project and line management experience through an established scheme in which they are supported by central and Divisional University colleagues.

Applications in this atypical year addressed a range of topical issues including understanding inequality in UK HE, assessing the economic impact of the recent ‘eat out to help out’ scheme and educating about climate change in Brazil. Their national and global focus reflect Kent’s role as an innovative research-intensive institution which strives to find answers to diverse challenges by exploring relevant questions for the benefit of the local, national and international communities it serves.

Professor Shane Weller, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Innovation, said:

“I am absolutely delighted to support this year’s Summer Vacation Research Competition, which was promoted across the Divisions as part of our strategy to enable our students actively to participate in research. The competition benefits both our early career researchers and our undergraduate students. It is particularly pleasing to see that the approved projects align so well with two of the University’s new Signature Research Themes (‘Environment, Food Systems and Natural Resources’, and ‘Future Human’), whilst a third reflects another proposed theme (‘Inequalities and Diversity’). I wish all competition participants every success in their endeavours and very much look forward to reviewing the project outcomes and discoveries.”

Applications for this innovative opportunity for second- and third-year undergraduates to gain research experience are being managed by the Careers and Employability Service, and will open on 22 March. We look forward to receiving applications from enthusiastic and motivated students who are interested in learning more about the world of research through active participation in a real-life project.

News, Training

New web resource for academic and research staff

Kent’s commitment to supporting colleagues who research is further demonstrated with the launch of a new section of the Graduate and Researcher College (GRC) website. The ‘Academic and Research Staff‘ webpages provide a wealth of information for academic researchers and are designed to showcase the wide range of information, resources and support available to them.

Divided into four sections comprising 27 pages, this online portal includes information about the University’s strategy to support staff who research and emphasises our efforts to build a supportive and inclusive research culture. Highlights include details of forthcoming central and Divisional training and development sessions, as well as recordings of and material from previous sessions which can be viewed on demand via the relevant GRC SharePoint pages.

Professor Paul Allain, Dean of the Graduate and Researcher College, commented: “The recent expansion of the GRC to enable us to support staff as well as postgraduates marks the start of an exciting journey for researcher development at Kent. Our new webpages are one of a series of steps on the road to increasing awareness about the services and support which are provided by the University for our academic and research colleagues.”

A further phase of web development is planned for Summer 2021, which will focus on the three areas covered in the  Researcher Development Concordat: environment and culture, employment and professional and career development. In the meantime, we trust that our new digital resource will become your first port of call for information relating to academic and research staff development.

News

Kent Union Student Leadership Elections – PG Voting

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 11th March, and you can find out more about all of the candidates standing in the leadership elections here.

News

PDRA/RA communications survey – we would love you to share your views

With Valentine’s Day almost upon us, the Graduate and Researcher College would love to hear from Postdoctoral Research Associates, Research Associates and Research Assistants about how best we can communicate with each other.

To kick-start the conversation, we have created a short survey which we are asking you to complete to guide us in the right direction.

The research environment is constantly changing, never more so this year, and the GRC remit has recently been expanded to support you in your ongoing development as a researcher.

Please help us to help you by letting us know how you would like us to engage with you. The link to the survey has been sent to relevant staff – please email kentgrc@kent.ac.uk if you haven’t received it.