The placements aim to give undergraduates from underrepresented groups a first-hand opportunity to undertake a research project supported by researchers and receive information on graduate study.
Successful undergraduates will gain benefits in terms of confidence, skills and experience that will enhance their career opportunities and any future postgraduate applications.
Research experience placement students will be made an employee of the placement host organisation and receive a salary for the duration of the placement.
Placements will take place during Summer 2022 for a maximum duration of 8 weeks.
Just over 2 years on from the start of the pandemic, Aisha Dosanjh, Kent Union President, celebrates and reflects with the ‘Class of 2020’ at their celebration ceremonies in Canterbury Cathedral this week.
Watch Aisha’s full speech
Read Aisha’s speech
‘I am so honoured to be able to address all of you here today, 2 years and 6 days after we parted ways and the world went quiet. I am so pleased to be able to sit amongst you in this beautiful cathedral and share this once in a lifetime event with you. Of course, not everyone has been able to make this journey with us and we have lost family and friends along the way. I’d like us to take a moment to pause and remember them.
‘We could have never predicted what we’ve been through. When the pandemic began, I held my breath. I couldn’t make sense of the world, though I tried and tried to make sense of it, and grief hit me like a wave. Grief for the connections I had lost, grief for the routine I had gotten used to, grief for the things I had taken for granted. I forgot how to put one foot in front of the other.
‘I spent my days thinking about how close I came to finishing before the world turned upside down, how close I was to spending a day in July in this very cathedral. I had booked the day off work. I had looked at dresses. I felt very sorry for myself, actually. I don’t think I was able to properly process how I felt until recently. But upon reflection and having been able to digest at least a small fraction of the emotions I’ve been feeling these last two years, and after having found my feet a little after the wind had swept them up, I started to think about what my time here at Kent has taught me.
‘Education is not a commodity to be bought and owned, it is to be shared among our community. University isn’t just about lectures and classes and assignments and exams (although it starts to feel like that after about the 5th time you drag yourself up the hill for your Thursday 9am). Education is about giving us the opportunity to learn with each other, to share with each other, to challenge each other. Education is about opening ourselves up to transformation and emboldening one another. It is about using our newfound knowledge to grasp at the roots of injustice and being inspired to be a visionary. It is about expanding each other’s learning and committing to each other’s liberation.
‘Older members of the audience will know that many generations have fallen into the trap of exceptionalism, the idea that we are somehow vastly different to the generations before us. In some ways we are: access to higher education has never been easier and many of us who wouldn’t normally have been able to have the privilege to go to University have now been able to; cultures and identities have never been mixed and shared like they are now; compassion for those who are different from us has never been so bold. But change shouldn’t feel like a weight on our shoulders. It is gradual, something we create when we see a barrier and decide to move forward. Every time we stand up for justice, every time we insist on speaking the truth, and every time we refuse to compromise on our values.
‘I hope that you do not leave today feeling proud only of the certificate you hold in your hand but I hope you are proud also of your experiences. The energy you have invested into relationships, training with your society or sports club, fundraising for meaningful causes, representing your peers… helping others, and letting them help you. I hope you are proud of the change you have made to the world around us, and of the person you have become. When the pandemic began, I held my breath. But now I feel like I can breathe.
‘I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you something special that we created together, a crowd-sourced poem written by us, for us, brought together by Kent alumnus and former Canterbury Laureate, Dan Simpson.’
Do you know what a student hub is? Are you wanting more social space? Do you want more options to access student support services? What do you want the student experience to be like at Kent?
These are some of the questions that we want to ask you!
The University is looking to improve the online student guide and to create a new space on campus for students.
From John Sotillo | Director of Information Services
Following the disruption to our IT services at Canterbury last week, I’m pleased to confirm that the majority of our systems are now back online across the University. The outage was the result of a detected cyber-security incident and the necessary steps we took as a precaution to manage this. For some students and staff, the recovery from the original incident will take some time and we are working closely with affected Divisions to manage this process.
What happened
Earlier in the week our security systems detected a security breach in a specific area of the Kent network. As a result, Information Services (IS) and Divisional staff took prompt action to contain the initial situation and to prevent the attack from spreading more widely across Kent services and systems. We then progressed to more significant protective actions in order to counter the threat we had identified.
What we have done
As part of measures taken, we isolated the School of Engineering domain from the rest of the University network and reset some 1,000 affected users’ passwords. A consequence of taking these necessary measures was the loss of authentication for Wi-Fi, wired network connections in student accommodation and student PCs on campus. IS worked swiftly to restore the authentication system, with most services back online within 24 hours.
We are pleased to report that services are now restored across campus, with the exception of the Jennison building, which hosts the School of Engineering domain IT infrastructure. Work to mitigate the impact on Jennison continues and will take some time.
What you can do
We have strong security procedures and protocols at Kent but we all need to remain vigilant so that we can continue to work safely and securely online. There has been a rise in cyber-attacks on UK public sector / education sector organisations in recent weeks and these attacks have been intense, persistent and disruptive.
We are continuing our work to ensure that University services and systems remain secure. If you experience any problems or have any issues, please contact IT & Library Support.
We are deeply saddened and concerned by the invasion of Ukraine and our thoughts are with any of our students and staff who have been affected by the escalating conflict.
Over the past week we have identified several staff and students from Ukraine and Russia and have taken immediate steps to support these individuals. Additionally, we have been supporting students based in both countries to ensure we can get them to a safe place as quickly as possible. Teams are also tracing any further staff or students who have travelled to the regions to make sure they can get the help they need.
We understand this is a worrying time and we are here to help. Here are a range of support services available for both staff and students, including:
** The Online Module Registration deadline has been extended to 10.00 in Monday 28 March**
From Monday 14 to Monday 28 March 2022, Online Module Registration (OMR) is open for you to choose the undergraduate modules that you wish to study in the next academic year (2022/2023).
You will receive an email when OMR is open. Prior to this, you should read your Subject Requirements and view the OMR guidance to make sure that you are fully prepared. The guidance also details the step by step process of how to complete OMR.
OMR is not first come, first served for students entering Stages 2, 3 and 4. In order to give you the best opportunity to register for your preferred choice of module, please ensure that you have submitted your selections by Monday 28 March 2022.
Please note: Some students do not have to complete OMR. This includes those who are going abroad or to a year in industry next year, or if your course has entirely compulsory modules.
Living with Covid Following the recent Government announcements on ‘Living with Covid’, all legal Covid-19 restrictions in England have now ended.
However, this does not mean that Covid has gone away, and we all still need to keep the safety of others in mind while we are on campus – particularly for those who are vulnerable or who have close friends or relatives who may be.
What this means at Kent We are asking all of our students and staff to:
Stay at home if you have Covid-19 symptoms until you have had two negative lateral flow tests 24 hours apart
Wear a face covering in crowded indoor spaces as we have been
Get tested regularly if you can when you are coming onto campus
Where can I get test kits?
Test kits can be ordered online and from a number of community locations such as pharmacies and libraries. Unfortunately, as part of the recent Government updates we are no longer able to distribute test kits ourselves due to changes to the licences for universities.
“All of you have played a huge role in helping us respond to Covid and I am hugely grateful for the way everyone has pulled together throughout to minimise cases at Kent – this collective approach will need to continue as we enter this new phase in how we manage our response.” Professor Richard Reece, Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Education and Student Experience
As a valued member of our international student community, we’d like to invite you to complete a short survey on behalf of a UK organisation who would like to learn more about your decision to study in the UK.
The survey will take around 15 minutes to complete, and as a thank you for your time you will have the opportunity to enter a prize draw for the chance to win a first prize of £200 or a runner-up prize of £50 – £100.
Your responses will contribute to understanding about international students’ priorities when thinking about where to study, helping the UK to deliver the best experience for students like you now and in the future. Your responses are anonymous.
The deadline for completing this survey is Thursday 31 March.
Following the award of the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature to Emeritus Professor Abdulrazak Gurnah we have great pleasure in celebrating this wonderful achievement with a display of his works in the Templeman Library Welcome Hall.
Running from 10 February until 15 April, you can take your own journey to ‘Paradise’ and explore his stories of love and war, politics and history: in short, of human nature and the human heart in its infinite complexity.
His books, some of which were first drafted in the Templeman Library, have touched millions worldwide and shine a light on human experiences that are so often ignored. The Nobel Committee awarded this year’s Prize to Professor Gurnah for ‘his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.’
We are very excited to share the collection with our students, staff and visitors to the Library in-person or online! You can browse and borrow any book from the display or discover more in our digital resources list of e-books.
In an exclusive, sold out appearance at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre on Thursday 24 February 2022, Nobel Laureate & Professor Emeritus of English and Postcolonial Literatures Abdulrazak Gurnah returns to Kent to reflect on his life, writing, and sense of place and belonging. This event will be live streamed on the University’s YouTube channel so you will still be able to enjoy Professor Gurnah’s talk.
We’ll be holding an Open Event on Wednesday 23 February 2022, offering both face-to-face and virtual options.
Meet and chat to our academics and support staff, learn about funding and scholarship awards, and attend a Q&A panel with current students who progressed from undergraduate to postgraduate at Kent.
Come along and find out more about postgraduate life and what’s on offer for you, including exclusive scholarships, as a Kent grad.
Continue to pursue exciting areas in your field or a new area altogether, develop your skills and stand out.
Kent’s range of career-focused programmes will give you that employability edge and connect you to some incredible opportunities.
The entry requirement for many of our postgraduate courses is an actual or projected 2:2 and we’ll be taking a flexible approach, considering each student individually.
