The Graduate School aims to ensure that your academic and social interests are appropriately provided for within the University wherever you are based.
Professor Diane Houston (Dean of the Graduate School) and her team work in partnership with academic schools, faculties, central service departments and the Students’ Union to enhance the quality of the postgraduate student experience across all campuses and European centres to create a vibrant postgraduate community.
The Graduate School also supports a wide range of activities enabling postgraduates to promote their research interests and studies as well as opportunities to meet and socialise.
In addition to the initiatives highlighted below please keep an eye on the Graduate School’s events calendar for further information.
The Graduate School is located on the third floor of the Cornwallis East building on the Canterbury campus, with offices for its staff and a postgraduate training room. There is also an adjacent networking space which postgraduates can used for socialising and study.
Postgraduate inductions
University-level postgraduate inductions are taking place on the following dates:
Wednesday 21 September – Canterbury taught Master’s students
13.00 – 14.30 Social Sciences (Woolf College Lecture Theatre)
14.45 – 16.15 Humanities and Sciences (Woolf College Lecture Theatre)
Thursday 22 September – Medway postgraduate students
11.00 – 11.20 Taught Master’s students (Rochester Building RC-09)
11.30 – 12.30 Postgraduate Researchers (Rochester Building (RC-09)
Friday 23 September – Canterbury Postgraduate Researchers
9.30 – 10.45 Social Sciences (Cornwallis South East Lecture Theatre 2)
10.30 – 11.45 Sciences (Cornwallis South East Lecture Theatre 3)
11.30 – 12.45 Humanities (Cornwallis South East Lecture Theatre 2)
The GradPost newsletter
The quarterly postgraduate newsletter (The GradPost) is supported and coordinated by the Graduate School. Postgraduate students can join the GradPost editorial team and/or contribute articles for publication in the newsletter. Further information about the GradPost can be found online. Please email GradPost if you would like to become involved with the newsletter.
Postgraduate Experience Awards
Postgraduate students have the opportunity to bid for funding up to £1,500 via the Postgraduate Experience Awards to coordinate their own events and projects aimed at enhancing the postgraduate experience at Kent. Proposals for funding are required to have an interdisciplinary and/or external focus.
Projects funded previously have included a cross-disciplinary Latin American Society and Research Network, an interdisciplinary conference on Social Movement, and a short story reading group.
Postgraduate students will be notified when the awards are open for applications during the course of the academic year.
Postgraduate Festival
The annual Postgraduate Festival in the summer term provides our students with the opportunity to present their work to a wider audience, network with their peers from across the University and attend academic talks.
Global Skills Award
The Global Skills Award programme for postgraduate taught Master’s students which comprises of a range of lectures on global issues and a series of workshops, has been specifically designed to improve your employability in a competitive job market. The programme is free and those who successfully complete the programme will receive an award certificate.
Researcher Development Programme
The Researcher Development Programme for postgraduate researchers is coordinated by the Graduate School.
The programme provides a range of workshops and online training opportunities designed to enhance your skills as a researcher and prepare you for a variety of careers.
The coverage of the programme has been developed in line with Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework and it reflects the UK Research Councils’ aims to develop exceptionally skilled researchers for the 21st century.
PhD students will be notified in September about booking a place on one of our ‘Kick-start your PhD’ Workshops.
Postgraduate Research Café
The Postgraduate Research Café takes place monthly and provides an opportunity for postgraduate researchers to showcase their research in an informal setting and network with researchers from a variety of disciplines.
Postgraduate Handbooks
All new postgraduate students will receive a copy of the 2016-17 Postgraduate Handbook at the induction. You can also download a copy online or pick one up from the Graduate School.
The handbooks contain useful information about postgraduate study and research at Kent, details of academic and regulatory processes as well as local information for students who are new to Kent.
We look forward to welcoming you to Kent – come and meet the Graduate School staff in Cornwallis East or contact us via:
- email: graduateschool@kent.ac.uk.