Empowering Futures: UON Graduate School’s Comprehensive Biannual Induction for Postgraduate Researchers
Date 17 November 2023
In October and March the Graduate School runs a mandatory 4-day postgraduate researcher (PGR) induction on campus at Waterside. This October we welcomed 31 new PGRs, who are now studying for PhDs at UON.
A four-day induction from 30th October to 2nd November saw the Graduate School welcome a further 31 postgraduate researchers to the University of Northampton.
The 4-day biannual Induction Programme is run by The Graduate School in October and March and is compulsory for all PGRs starting out on their PhD or MPhil. The Induction aims to launch them into their studies by offering them a variety of workshops and talks, including research degree processes and procedures, skills development, open access, library resources, EDI and research integrity. Our new researchers also gave presentations on their research topic, had an induction into their Faculty, met members of staff at the University who will support them along the way and created a WhatsApp cohort to keep them in touch with each through their studies.
Many of our new PGRs are working professionals and academics, many studying part time. Induction aims to welcome all new PGRs, helping them to feel part of the University research community and giving them the perfect grounding for the long research degree road ahead. Philip Mathe, one of our new PGRs in FHES said of the event “Having spent a week with the Graduate School in Northampton, preparing the groundwork for my PhD research, I already feel supported and confident that the University will support my development, my welfare and my academic project. The week is a great combination of information and engagement and knowing that we are not working in isolation but as part of a wider cohort and research community has just enthused me even more. I definitely made the right choice, selecting UON to support my research.” Our next PGR Induction will be from March 18-21st 2024, where we will welcome another cohort into the UON researcher community. You can find out more about the UON Graduate School and see what we have on offer.
My name is Simone Apel and I am the Researcher Development Manager for the Graduate School. We manage and support postgraduate researchers at UON and my role is specifically around researcher skills development.