Category / PG research

This part of the blog features news and information for postgraduate research students and supervisors

Dr Paul Whittington attends Life Beyond the PhD 2018 Conference

Dr Paul Whittington pictured front far left

Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cumberland Lodge – an educational charity which tackles social divisions by promoting creative thinking and inclusive dialogue – held its 11th annual ‘Life Beyond the PhD’ conference.

Held over 5 days, the conference brought together PhD students and early career researchers for thought-provoking workshops, presentations and activities which explored the value of doctoral research both inside and outside of academia. Underpinning each of the activities was the Cumberland Lodge’s ethos of inclusivity, and insightful, interdisciplinary discussion.

Dr Paul Whittington, who completed his PhD in 2017 in the Faculty of Science & Technology, attended and benefitted greatly from presentations which included a variety of topics: Research Culture in the UK, Self-Leadership for Researchers, Techniques for Impact through speaking and writing, Public Engagement and Writing Interdisciplinary Research Proposals. These were presented by a variety of academics from institutions, including The University of Cambridge, Guardian Higher Education Network, Government Equalities Office and the University of London.

Paul also had the opportunity to collaborate with PhD students from around the country and to discuss and present his research to other delegates. On one day, he participated in an interdisciplinary team project which involved producing and presenting a research proposal tackling some form of social exclusion to a panel followed by a Q&A session. Paul presented a slide and subsequently his team won the challenge and received the “funding” – a box of chocolates that was then shared amongst the other teams.

Paul said: “Thank you very much to the Doctoral College for providing me with the opportunity to attend the Life Beyond the PhD Conference at Cumberland Lodge. It was very valuable to me and greatly appreciated.”

Design, Manufacture and Commissioning of a New Adapter Design for the Reciprocating Tribometer

Design, Manufacture and Commissioning of a New Adapter Design for the Reciprocating Tribometer

A tribometer is used to measure the coefficient of friction between a pair of specimens in contact. Locally manufactured test specimens necessitated the exploration of carrying out modifications to the tribometer adapter.  This poster, which was presented at the 10th Annual BU PGR Conference held in March 2018, addresses the importance, problem definition and novelty aspects of the modified adapter design for holding the fixed specimen in a reciprocating tribometer. Click the title to see the full poster.

Doctoral College: Researcher Development Programme

The Doctoral College would like to present the August monthly update.

In this August update we would like you to be reminded that the Doctoral College is open all summer and we are still holding one-to-one support sessions, so if you are not sure where to begin with your researcher development or where to go, come along and speak to one of us. Also, remember that the August Summer School Masterclass is now bookable click here.

Be aware that the brand new Doctoral College: Researcher Development Programme on Brightspace is now live. Workshop bookings, online resources and modules, plus much more are now accessible on this new platform. If you cannot access the platform, please get in touch.

Don’t forget to check out the Doctoral College Facebook page.

BU PGR Aishah Selamat in the running for IoD’s Student of Year 2018

Picture source: iodawards.com

BU PGR Aishah Selamat a third year PhD student from the Creative Technology Department has been shortlisted for the Institute of Directors (IoD) Student of the Year Award 2018. The award is aimed at recognizing students who have shown directors qualities in a project they have worked on in a business, employment or academic capacity. The IoD is the UK’s longest-running organization for professional and business leaders.

Aishah has recently pitched her project, alongside, her additional contributions to travelmanagement4u.com, UK Data Service, Global Blockchain Consortium and academic visiting lectureship to a group of judges at IoD’s main office in London. The winner of the Student of the Year Award 2018 will be announced at the prestigious Director of the Year Awards on the 18th October 2018 at the Royal Horticultural Halls.

 

CQR: Call for New Members and Seminar Presentations

The Centre for Qualitative Research welcomes new members and invites them to contribute to our on-going and successful Seminar Series in the coming Academic Year.

Doctoral Students and Academics from across disciplines and Faculties are welcome to join CQR. You can become a Full Member, meaning your publications and research income will be counted through CQR, or you can be an Associate Member.  You can be an Associate Member of several research centres at once. Doctoral students generally join the Centre where their First Supervisor is a member.

One way to participate in the Centre is to give a presentation at one of our seminars.  Information on how to do this follows.

“Go create!”

CQR Seminar Series, 2018-2019

BU 2025: “Advancing knowledge, creativity and innovation”

How have you used/are you using creative approaches in your qualitative research?

Sign up now to share your experience in our well-attended CQR Seminar Series for the next Academic Year!

Some possibilities:

1. Gathering data

Novel approaches to interviewing

Participant involvement in producing data (dance, poetry, media, etc)

Visual methods of collecting data (film, drawing, etc,)

2. Interpreting data

Panel interpretation

Auto-interpretive approaches (autoethnographic, autobiographic, autofiction)

Theatrical interpretation

3. Disseminating data

Film

Dance

Photography

Graphics, visual arts

Drama

Poetry

4. New ways of writing

Fiction

Scriptwriting

Poetry

Autoethnography

Just some suggestions!

Tell us how you might share your creative approach “in conversation” with CQR Seminar participants. This could be by sharing knowledge from a completed or on-going research project, or it could be a hands-on, participatory demonstration of a particular method.

There are nine monthly 50 minute seminars (usually the first Wed of each month) beginning in September.  We need to have your input in terms of title/subject now in order to book rooms and promote the series as a whole.  You may present alone or with a partner.

Please get back to Kip Jones asap with your ideas and to join CQR!  kipworld@gmail.com

 

 

 

Doctoral Summer School – hard work and fun!

The European Media Management Association Doctoral Summer School is a bi-annual event that has previously been run by institutions in Germany, Spain, Sweden, Portugal and Zurich. This year the Advances in Media Management (AiMM) research group hosted an international group of doctoral students at BU.

Dr John Oliver, Associate Professor of Media Management, said that “our aim was to create a community of learning where doctoral students, media industry professionals, BU faculty and professional services staff fused media management theory and practice to define the next generation of media management challenges”.

On the social side, delegates were given a Dorset cider tasting experience, an opportunity to see the grave site of Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein) and a Gala Dinner in The Library of the Miramar Hotel in Bournemouth.

Dr Oliver would also like to thank the Doctoral College for their support and those members of the AiMM team that helped plan and deliver what can only be considered to be an “excellent event” that has contributed to BUs international profile and reputation. Many thanks to: Dr Joyce Costello, Dr Chris Chapleo, Melanie Gray, Graham Goode, Maria Musarskaya, Muridzo Searchmore and Conor O’Kane.

BU Libraries are open all through the Summer

Both BU libraries (Bournemouth House Library at Lansdowne and The Sir Michael Cobham Library at Talbot) will be open over the summer break and library staff will be available for help and advice. Check the website for full details of the library opening hours over the holidays. A helpful guide on library facilities for research outlines the full range of services and resources that are accessible all year round.

If studying at home over the break,  loanable items can be borrowed for the whole of the vacation. Also, the e-journals and e-books that BU subscribes to are all available off campus. Detailed help in accessing e-resources off campus is available online in our library guide. If researchers are staying here in Bournemouth, there is plenty of quiet study space and computers in the library, as well as printing, copying and scanning facilities.

Note that due to essential maintenance work by IT Services, the libraries will be closed on the following dates although e-resources will continue to be available off-campus as usual:

Saturday 30 June: Bournemouth House Library closed all day.

Saturday 14 July: The Sir Michael Cobham Library closed all day.

Both libraries will be closed on bank holiday Monday 27 August.​