Graduate Study at Kent2011

Diane HoustonDean of the Graduate School

The Graduate School

Who are you?

• A Kent graduate

• A student who is new to Kent but who previously studied in the UK

• A student who is new to the UK

• A ‘home’ student

• A ‘European’ student

• An ‘international’ student

• Are you newly graduated or a number of years from your first degree?

• Why did you decide to do a PhD?

Postgraduate Education

• Over 500,000 PG students in the UK

• Only 10% of PG students are Doctoral students (doing research for a PhD)

• Majority of students are on taught courses leading to Master’s Degree, or post graduate diploma or certificate

• Education (18%) and business (22%) account for a significant enrolment in taught courses

• Non UK students account for 50% of masters students and 44% of doctoral students

Postgraduate Community at Kent

• Four locations

• Three Faculties

• A huge range of subjects

• Over 2000 postgraduates

• Green campus, fantastic views, beautiful city, great community

• Excellent teaching, training, support and facilities

• Individual focus

• Graduate School

What you should have done and need to do !

• Enrol....get IT account… pay fees!

• See your supervisor ..ways of working..teams

• Check if there are any taught courses you need to attend

• Check your access to office space/IT support

• Find out when the School holds research seminars and make sure you attend

• Find out who is the Director of Graduate Studies for your School

• Have a look at the Transferable Skills Training website and enrol for a skills review workshop

Things you must also do..

• Walk down the hill and climb the Westgate towers

• Walk up the hill and explore Blean Woodland – one of the largest and most ancient woodlands in the South

• Rent/borrow a bike and cycle to Whitstable on the Crab and Winkle Way

• Buy a railcard and spend 55 minutes getting to London – some of the world’s best museums and galleries are on your doorstep and they are free!

• Book well in advance and travel to Brussels and Paris on the Eurostar

The Graduate School

Mission: to lead and champion the strategic development of provision for graduate education and research at the University of Kent.

Graduate School Strategy – Five Goals

• To increase numbers of taught and research postgraduate students at Kent.

• To enhance the academic experience and research environment for postgraduate students.

• To develop a strong postgraduate community within the University.

• To support the personal and career development of postgraduate students.

• To introduce a strong system of governance for the management of graduate studies.

SenateVice-Chancellor

Graduate School BoardDean of the Graduate School

Faculty BoardsDeans

Faculty Graduate Studies CommitteeFaculty Directors of Graduate Studies

School Graduate Studies CommitteeSchool Directors of Graduate Studies

Staff/Student Liaison Committees Supervisor/Supervisory Team

Programme Approval Sub-Committee

Structure Diagram for PG Programmes

Student Involvement

Get involved…make your voice heard..

• Postgraduate Student Representatives

• Staff Student Liaison Committees (SSLCs)

• Postgraduate Student Surveys e.g. PRES

• Graduate Student Association

• The Graduate School www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool

The GradPost

The GradPost Editorial Team

A newsletter created by Postgraduates for the Postgraduate community.

Contact: Grad-editors@kent.ac.uk

Information on specific roles and opportunities that will look great on your CV and enhance your postgraduate experience at Kent can be found on our website: www.graduateschool@kent.ac.uk/gedroles

Postgraduate Experience Awards

• Do you have a great idea for a Postgraduate event at Kent?

• Apply for funding through the postgraduate experience awards and your idea could become a reality.

• Applications for up to £1,500 are invited for the Graduate School postgraduate experience awards 2011-12.

• Applications will be considered for funding to run events or projects with an interdisciplinary and/or external focus which will enhance the postgraduate experience at Kent.

• Application forms and more details at www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool/

Transferable Skills Training Programme

The Roberts Skills Report (2002)

SET for Success

• In 2001, Sir Gareth Roberts was asked by the Government to undertake a review into the supply of science and engineering skills in the UK. The review was commissioned as part of the Government's productivity and innovation strategy.

• He concluded that skills acquired by PhD graduates do not serve their long-term needs. Currently, PhDs do not prepare people adequately for careers in business or academia. In particular, there is insufficient access to training in interpersonal and communication skills, management and commercial awareness.

The Researcher Development Framework

Transferable skills are the skills which once developed give graduates a clear edge in the

job market and make researchers more effective and efficient in their work.

A. Knowledge and intellectual abilities,

B. Personal effectiveness

C. Research governance and organisation

D. Engagement, Influence and Impact

Following Sir Gareth Roberts’ review of higher education, the UK research councils (RCUK) issued a joint skills statement to all universities, identifying seven areas in which UK postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers should develop further skills while pursuing their research. Following wide consultation this statement has recently been updated and has evolved to become the Researcher Development Framework (RDF). All of our training falls under the four headings of the RDF:

The Transferable Skills Training Programme is open to all postgraduate research students whether full-time or part-time (including Masters, MPhil or PhD) and for postdoctoral researchers.

The range of workshops running during the 2011/12 academic year will include the following:

• First year Skills Review

• Writing skills workshops (one-to-one tutorials and writing retreats)

• Publishing

• Rapid reading

• Team working

• Statistics

• Negotiation skills

• Library skills

• Leadership courses

• Personal effectiveness

• Time / Stress Management

Booking workshops

Researchers will need to register with the Graduate School’s

online workshop booking system before they can book

places on our workshops. This can be accessed via the Graduate

School website www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool/skills

Choose Online Booking System from the left hand menu.You will then be asked to enter your Kent user id and password, which will take you to the online booking system.

Once Logged In

When you have logged in this is the first page that you will see.

To view all forthcoming workshops use this button

The Workshop Screen

This screen details all forthcoming workshops in the next 30 days. You can use the Search button to search by Skills Area, title or facilitator.

If you wish to book onto a workshop click on the title of the workshop. You will then be taken through to the workshops details screen which provides all details about the workshop.

Workshop Details

To bring up all the workshop details press the blue box in the calendar.

To book a place press here.

All details, session aims and any preparatory work are displayed here.

My Bookings

You can easily see what workshops you have booked by using the “My Bookings” tab.Here you will see a list of all workshops that you are booked onto and any for which you are on the waiting list.Clicking on the workshop title will bring up the workshop details screen above. You can also cancel your booking from this screen if you need to do so.

First Year Skills Review Workshop

• Compulsory for all PhD students

• Half-day events held throughout the autumn and spring terms

• Will introduce the skills training programme and help you to reflect and asses your current skills

• Work with your supervisor to complete the assessment and use this as the basis of your research training

• Must be completed as part of the Probation process

Online training

The key advantage in using our online training is that you can access high quality training where ever you are and where you need it. Thousands of individuals regularly miss training because they cannot attend workshops either because they are part-time, distance-based, or because workshops do not deliver training when it is really needed.  Using our online workshops, you can access training  24 hours a day/365 days a year wherever you are - at home, at your desk, in the halls of residence, at the library or in the laboratory.

1. Epigeum online courses2. The Good Viva Guide3. Viva Guidance 4. The Alternative Guide to Funding5. Blueberry Training

Epigeum courses

Titles include:

• Ethics

• Research Methods

• Literature Review

• Intellectual Property

• Project Management

• Getting Published

• Selecting a Conference,

• Presenting and Networking

• Career Planning

• Avoiding Plagiarism

• Entrepreneurial Resources

Progression through your research degree

Key Contacts for Research Students:

• Your Main Supervisor

• Your Supervisory Team

• Your School Director of Graduate Studies (with responsibility for research programmes)

• Your Postgraduate Student Representative

• Postgraduate Administrator

Key Information for Research Students

• School Postgraduate Student Handbook

• University Regulations for Research Programmes of Study www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/quality/regulations/research/phdres.html

• Code of Practice for the Quality Assurance for Research Programmes of Study in particular: Annex H (Supervision)www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/quality/rescode2005/annexh.html

Annex K (Progression and Examination)www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/quality/rescode2005/annexknew.html

• New Progression Monitoring Stages (introduced for the 2011/12 academic year)

Research Students’ Responsibilities

• Annex H (Supervision) of the Code of Practice outlines the responsibilities of research students (see Section 5).

• Responsibilities include: Ensuring that you are familiar with University Regulations. Preparing adequately for supervisory and progress review

meetings. Agreeing a clear programme of work with your supervisor. Making records of supervisory meetings. Contributing to the research environment of your academic school

and the wider University community. Seeking advice from your supervisors in an active manner and

taking the initiative in raising problems or difficulties. Attending a first-year skills review workshop, completing a skills

audit and discussing this with your Supervisor (PhD only).

Supervisory Interaction

• You should have a meeting with your main supervisor at a minimum of once every four weeks

• The “meeting” may be face to face or it may take the form of an email exchange or telephone conversation

• You should complete a supervisory record form following the “meeting” and send this to the supervisor for agreement.

• There is a supervisory record template under Annex H (Supervision) at: www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/quality/rescode2005/index.html

• The supervisory record template covers:

Progress made since the last “meeting” Areas discussed at the “meeting” Work agreed

Progression Monitoring

Review Stages Timing

Induction review Within 6 weeks of registration (for both PT and FT research students)

Probation review After 6 months of registration for FT research students and 8 months for PT research students

End of year reviews At the end of each year

Mid-year reviews (if necessary)

Mid-year reviews may be scheduled in cases where concerns are raised at an end of year review

Submission review 3 months prior to the minimum period of registration (e.g. 3 years for FT PhD and 5 years for PT PhD students)

Annex K (Progression and Examination) of the Code of Practice provides detailed information about the review stages and links to the review forms: www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/quality/rescode2005/annexknew.html

End of Year Reviews

End of year reviews will require panels to make a more formal progression decision as follows:

1) That the researcher is making exemplary progress for the award for which (s)he is registered and should proceed with his/her registration or

2) That the researcher is making satisfactory progress for the award for which (s)he is registered and should proceed with his/her registration or

3) That there are concerns about the researcher’s progress but (s)he may proceed with his/her registration subject to a mid-year review during the next academic year or

End of Year Reviews Continued…

If the Panel determines that the student has not made adequate progress and/or has not produced work of sufficient quality to enable him/her to complete their current research degree, it may make one of the following recommendations:

4) That the researcher transfer his/her registration to the award of Mphil (in the case of PhD students);

5) That the researcher transfer his/her registration to award of MA/MSc/LLM (in the case of MPhil/PhD students);

6) That the researcher should withdraw from the University.

Supervisory Issues

• Supervisors and students are expected to treat one another with courtesy and discuss any problems at the earliest opportunity thus allowing any issues to be resolved quickly and effectively.

• This is a rare occurrence but should there be a more serious breakdown in the main supervisor/student relationship, the matter should be brought to the attention of the School Director of Graduate Studies who will review the situation.

• Concerns about supervision should be raised at the earliest opportunity – complaints about poor supervision will not be grounds for making an academic appeal at a later stage.

Initial Meeting with your Main Supervisor

Ensure that you have a meeting set up with your Main Supervisor within the first two weeks of registration to discuss: How your supervisory team-student relationship will work (e.g.

preferred means of contact, feedback mechanisms and turnaround times)

Your meeting schedule Your work plan Any initial concerns Skills training requirements What you will be required to prepare for your induction review

(six weeks after registration) How progression monitoring will be handled within your

academic school (i.e. any school specific requirements) Facilities/resources

Additional sources of help and support

• Student Learning Advisory Service

• Careers Centre

• UELT

• Student’s Union

• Graduate Student Association

The Student Learning Advisory Service (SLAS)

• Advice and guidance on study skills

• Typical topics we support: Extended essays, dissertation and reports The MPhil and PhD Effective reading and note-taking Time management and organisation The supervisory process Maths and stats

• Consult our www www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/learning

• Contact us by e-mail learning@kent.ac.uk

• Call in and see us, 9-5 across the academic year. We are in the UELT building

• Ask for a 1:1 individual appointment

• Come to our free workshops http://www.kent.ac.uk/student/skills/canterbury/index.html

University of Kent Careers Advisory Service

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/

• quick queries (drop-in & email)

• one-to-one careers interviews

• careers library

• careers website

• job vacancy database

• free careers literature

• talks & presentations throughout the year

• help making job applications

• careers fair in November

Unit for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching – UELT

Offers a programme of events open to all those who teach within the University:

• Academic Practice Forum: a chance to find out about, and discuss, things which matter to us in our academic work

• Professional development seminars

• Work in Progress seminars

• Day conferences

UELT - Training for teaching..

Getting to Grips with HE Teaching

• Free

• One day workshops for new postgraduates who are about to start teaching

• Autumn term

• Contact graddean@kent.ac.uk

The Associate Teacher Education Programme (ATAP)

• Free

• Open to all postgraduates who teach for the University of Kent

• Nationally recognised

• Consists of two 15-credit modules: each module runs for 5 weeks on Friday mornings

However…… it’s very popular!

Contact Details

Professor Diane Houston

Cornwallis South East rm19

D.M.Houston@kent.ac.uk

Graduate School Staff

• Suzie Morris, Graduate School Administration Manager S.M.Morris@kent.ac.uk ext: 3182

• Ros Beeching, Graduate School Coordinator graddean@kent.ac.uk ext: 7838

• Rhiannon Binns, Transferable Skills Training Coordinator skills@kent.ac.uk ext: 4785