Category Archives: Student Guide

Recruiting for the Pint of Science

The Pint of Science festival is an international public engagement festival taking place over 3 days each May. The University of Kent has been running sold-out events for the past 3 years. In 2019, 35 UK cities held over 600 events, increasing to 40 cities/towns in 2020.

Over 1,000 scientists will have the opportunity to explain their research in an accessible form to the general public – mainly in bars and pubs.

The idea is to provide a platform which allows researchers to share their research with the public. This is a fantastic opportunity to engage the public with your research and to get experience of sharing it with new audiences.

Call for expressions of interest

In 2020, we will again be holding Pint of Science events in Kent in three locations: Canterbury, Medway and Tonbridge. We have selected a number of pubs and are looking for expressions of interest from speakers, particularly Early Career Researchers and final year PhD students looking to develop their skills and experience in talking about their research.

If you are interested, please email us at  pintofscience@kent.ac.uk with the following details by  Friday 14 February:

1. Your name and school

2. A summary of your research (max 100 words)

3. Your plan for an interactive session of 20-30 minutes (max 100 words)

4. An explanation of how you will make it engaging for the public audience – an important interactive component (max 100 words).

The Big Catering Survey 2020

Want to win £200, £100 or £50 of KentOne credit?

Help Kent Hospitality improve catering services by completing their short survey and you could win 1 of 3 amazing prizes to spend in catering outlets, Blackwell’s bookshop, Templeman Library, and more!

The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete and focuses on eating habits, nutrition and health, sustainability and environment, and technology. By leaving your email address, you will be entered into their prize draw.

First Prize: £200 KentOne credit

Second Prize: £100 KentOne credit

Third Prize: £50 KentOne credit

The survey closes on Saturday 29 February at 23:59 GMT. Good luck!

If you have any queries, please contact catering@kent.ac.uk

Student Case study Dan Bird- EP points Beats by Dr Dre

When you sign up to the Employability Points Scheme, you never know where it may take you. For Dan Bird, he has gained a range of videography rewards with organisations such as the Historic Dockyard Chatham and Landmark London, leading to an amazing opportunity to work with Beats by Dr Dre in their LA office. This opportunity arose from a chance meeting at a summer camp as part of their year in industry, where Dan and his friend Joe, met Beats Head of the Marketing. From this meeting, both Dan and Joe were invited out to LA to do promotional filming.

Dan and Joe, took their personal videoing equipment out to LA to film educational unboxing videos designed to give an in depth detailed review and educate the selling points of the product. These videos are stored on the company iPad App, which all staff have access to and can use to help enhance and develop productivity. Unfortunately the videos are not available to the wider public, but Dan was able to log the experience on his Employability Points portfolio.
Dan started to collect Employability Points in his first year after meeting the team and talking about the scheme, activities that could be logged and potential rewards that could be gained such as internships.

Dan has logged points for his freelance videography and photography. He has worked for a furniture company and hotels in London, recording promotional videos. One of Dan’s most memorable events was filming a Bar Mitzvah in American, which was obtained through contacts he met at summer camp. His work at Beats by Dr Dre has earnt him 50 points, which has pushed Dan’s points to over 500, which can be converted into rewards, such as internships and work experience, over the summer.

Visit our EP blog to read the full article.

Afro-Diasporic Legal Network Black Discussion Series

Law students Khaliq Martin and Siena Phillips and their team were successful with being awarded a Community Scholarship for a project aimed to empower and uplift BME students at the University of Kent – the Afro-Diasporic Legal Network (ADLN) Black Discussion Series.

What is the ADLN?

The ADLN is a collective of law students that encompass the intersection of being Black and from the African-Diaspora. It was created in recognition of a lack of Black legal supportive infrastructures at the University of Kent despite the fact that such systems exist in many institutions.

The network aims to provide opportunities for Black students in the academic/professional legal sphere, to conduct knowledge exchanges, and provide peer-to-peer support in hopes of decreasing the social attainment gap at the University recognized in the 2016 EDI Report.

The network was developed with 3 principles in mind: to support the political and legal education of Black law students, to provide academic, career, and wellness support, and to continue to push the bounds of inclusion for black students.

As an informal society the network is not registered with Kent Union.

What is the ADLN’s Black Discussion Series?

The Black Discussion Series is a pilot project that was developed by the ADLN after an internal assessment, conducted by its committee, highlighted that black students suffered from anxiety and stress as a result of institutional shortcomings. The Series seeks to mitigate these pressures which correlate with the social attainment gaps recognized by the EDI Report.

The discussions are designed for young black men, women, and non-gender binary individuals to deconstruct their university experience through a space created to resolve issues, establish peer-to-peer support, and incorporate academic dialogue from a political/legal lens.

The Series will take place this spring term 2020, for further information please email afrodiasporiclegalnetwork@gmail.com.

i-Teams 2020 launch

On January 29 2020, the Hub for Innovation & Enterprise, part of Kent Innovation and Enterprise launched its first i-Teams session. i-Teams is supported by the business and innovation gateway team at the University of Kent and delivery partners the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce . A programme funded by the Enabling Innovation, Research to Application project (EIRA).

‘i-Teams is a great opportunity to blend the line between academia and the corporate world’ James Valentino, Head of Innovation, Digital & Marketing at Lucas

The challenge sponsors:

Lucas: A Kent based Construction Company originally specialising in spray painting.

TMLEP: Improving Patient Safety and Healthcare Standards: A Medical Logistics Enterprise Practice.

Southeastern: Southeastern have been running a rail service between London, Kent and parts of East Sussex since 2006.

‘We are really excited to be working with the University of Kent. We are looking forward to hearing about the inspiring ideas that could help improve the customer experience across our services.’ Graham Mollison, Southeastern

The Challenges:

Southeastern Rail: ‘How can you enhance the passenger experience?’

TMLEP: ‘How can you generate profit from TMLEP’s portal?’

Lucas: ‘Investigate how we can exploit existing and emerging technologies to build upon existing relationships and communicate more effectively with customers to drive a better customer experience.’

‘Having been involved with the Employability Points Scheme for a number of years, when asked to join i-Teams as a challenge provider, we were more than happy to help.’ Alexander Acaster, UK Clinical Services Manager at TMLEP

Read the full article on the Hub for Innovation Blog:

If you want to know more about i-teams or even attend the grand finale, please contact the Hub team at: unikenthub@kent.ac.uk or on 01227 827376

Brain Cognition Emotion Music (BCEM) Conference

We are pleased to invite you to a one-and-a-half day conference at the University called Brain, Cognition, Emotions, and Music (BCEM) — The Quartet With a Missing Link.

When: 20 – 21 May 2020

Where: Canterbury Campus

The purpose of the conference is to bring together evidence from psychology and neuroscience (broadly defined), to clarify how it is that music can convey and induce emotions so powerfully. We have a fantastic group of invited speakers:

– Prof David Huron, The Ohio State University, USA

– Prof Stefan Koelsch, University of Bergen, Norway

– Prof Joydeep Bhattacharya, Goldsmiths University of London, UK

– Prof Andrea Halpern, Bucknell University, USA

– Dr Marcus Pearce, Queen Mary University of London, UK

Both short talks and posters are encouraged and there is no registration fee.

For more information please visit the the BCEM website

Deadlines for submission are February 29 for oral presentations and March 31 for posters.

Please contact Amir-Homayoun Javadi at info@bcem.uk if you have any questions.

Hope to see you there!

Graduate School Prizes 2020

The annual Graduate School Prizes recognises the excellence of Kent’s researchers and the outstanding work carried out by academic and administrative staff members in support of postgraduate research and education.

The Graduate School Prizes will award prizes in the following categories:

Postgraduate Research Prize

Research Degree Supervisor Prize

School Director of Graduate Studies Prize

Postgraduate Administrator Prize

Postgraduate Teacher Prize

Early Career Research Staff Prize

Apply or nominate a candidate now via the Graduate School website where you will find the criteria for each prize and a nomination form.

Deadline for nominations is Thursday 9 April at 23.59.

Read about last year’s winners.

Volunteering Opportunities Fair 2020, 4 Feb

Volunteering is a great way to gain skills and experience to add to your CV whilst giving back to the community.

Come along to the Volunteering Opportunities Fair 2020 Tuesday 4 February 12.00-15.00 in Keynes Atrium.

This is a chance to meet with the following organisations offering local opportunities to get involved:

-Alzheimers Society
-British Red Cross
-Canterbury and District Early Years project
-Canterbury Homeless Outreach
-Demelza
-East Kent Mencap
-KAB
-Kent Marrow
-Kent Uni Blood Team
-KSSCRC
-League of Friends
-Porchlight
-Rethink Canterbury
-Strode Park Foundation
-Time to Give KCC

Find out more information about the event or learn more about our new volunteer scheme and how you can log your hours.

Free careers events- careers fairs, workshops and advice

The Careers and Employability Services (CES) are holding a huge number of events on a range of topics such as:

-Succeeding in applications
-Interview and Assessment Centres Q&A
-Speed Interviewing events
-Recruitment Agencies & Jobs Boards Fair
-LinkedIn Profiles
-How to talk to employers
-Professionalism and Work Etiquette
-The Kent Volunteer Scheme at Medway
-Finding inclusive employers (Disability/LGBTQ+ friendly)
-Talking about your disability to employers
-Competency and strength based interviews
-Race, Sexuality & Disability in Business
-Career Management
-Career Management for mature students and career changers
-The Hidden Job Market
-Tips on finding summer internships and work experience
-How to network
-Developing resilience in the recruitment process
-Meet the employer events
-Volunteering Opportunities Fair

To take advantage of these free events, see the Careers events calendar, or if you are in your final year of an undergraduate programme, you can see the Finalists events calendar and filter by ‘Careers’ to see targeted career events to prepare you for life after University.

Don’t miss out: there’s still time to do a Study Plus course

Study Plus courses run throughout the term, with several taking place or starting during Enhancement Week (Week 19). They enable you to learn about subjects that interest you and gain new skills.

KE024-Talking Cultures helps increase your awareness of cultural differences.Thinking about learning Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin or Russian? Try a taster session (KE181, KE181, KE183, KE184)

Put your ideas in to action with Screenwriting (KE087). Dirty History (KE004,) looks at the Medieval period as portrayed on film and TV and King Arthur at the Movies (KE195) focusses on Arthuriana in film.

Spend time in the woods, learning about crafts such as Coppicing (KE060) and Making a Brash Fence (KE161). Learn how to fell a tree with KE193 .Not only will you learn useful skills, but you will benefit from being outdoors and connecting with nature.

KE201- Vampires of the Fin-de-Siècle, examines the vampire myth as explored by writers of the nineteenth century. KE149 (Let’s Talk About Art), KE202 (Art and Politics) and KE203 (Art and Society) introduce you to art history, exploring the interaction of art and politics and the artist’s role in society. All start in Week 19.

KE095 Communicate with Confidence starts in Week 19, with a second session in Week 20.

KE122 Digital Photography is back during Weeks 19-23.

Prepare for an IELTS English language test with KE178 during Weeks 19-23.

KE097 Meditation for Study, Work and Life will introduce you to different techniques, such as mindfulness. Learn about Taoism with KE145.

If you are interested in Chinese Medicine, join KE171.

You can sign up for all of these courses in SDS workshop:

To see the full range of courses running this term, see the Study Plus website