Welcome to our weekly update highlighting news and upcoming events for the PGR community for the week ending Friday 19 March 2021. All the links can be found within the Doctoral School Friday email sent out via Blackboard. 

In our update this week: 

  1. 3 Minute Thesis competition | entry deadline 16 April 2021
  2. SIPS PG Research online showcase and poster competition | 21 April 2021, 1-4pm 
  3. Research Methods @ SHU: Navigating ethical dilemmas of conducting research with young children | April & May (online) 
  4. PGR student reps invited to join PGR wellbeing Hallam Guild group
  5. 5. The Publishing Conference | 24 & 25 April 2021
  6. Inside Academia – Articles and podcasts on mental health, wellbeing and mindset in academia 

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  1. 3 Minute Thesis competition | entry deadline 16 April 2021

Taking part in the 3 Minute Thesis competition is a great way for you to develop your communication skills, share your research with a broader audience, and raise your profile within and beyond the university. Don’t just take our word for it though, see what previous participants have to say and take inspiration from the Vitae 3MT archives. You will be supported throughout the process and, to help you decide if 3MT is for you, we are running a drop-in next week about 3MT and the CK21 conference more broadly. Ask any questions you have about either by joining the Q&A on zoom at 1pm on 26 March (link in Friday email).  

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2. SIPS Postgraduate Researchonline showcase and poster competition | 21 April 2021, 1-4pm

The Sheffield Institute for Policy Studies are holding their Postgraduate Research showcase and poster competition online again this year which welcomed entries from across the university. You can register for the SIPS showcase to be part of a supportive audience for the students presenting their research projects, to find out about their work, and maybe even pick up some tips for your next online poster presentation. 

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3. Research Methods @ SHU: Navigating ethical dilemmas of conducting research with young children | April & May (online) 

This series of lunchtime seminars is intended for post-grad students, academics and researchers from a broad range of departments and disciplines to come and discuss why they might include children and young people in their research and how they could go about doing so. The seminars are informed by the latest ethical principles of the university. 

The seminars will be conducted on Zoom and consist of short presentations and workshop activities to enable participants to identify and explore the ethical opportunities and issues associated with including children in research within their own fields of study.   

To attend or for more information, please email Christina Fashanu (Lecturer in Early Childhood) 

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4. PGR student reps invited to join the Hallam Guild PGR wellbeing

We are inviting a small number of student reps to join the Hallam Guild PGR wellbeing group which looks at what we can do across the PGR community to promote good mental health and wellbeing. If you are already a student rep for your subject area, or just interested in getting involved with the work of the PGR wellbeing group, please email doctoralschool@shu.ac.uk to discuss further. 

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 5. The Publishing Conference | 24 & 25 April 2021

 Comma Press are proud to present The Publishing Conference, taking place on 24 and 25 April in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University 

The two-day conference is designed to make publishing more transparent for those who are looking to forge a career in the industry, and to increase accessibility to the sector, particularly for those in the North of England where the conference would usually take place. 

The conference includes two free events that will be live streamed to YouTube: an introduction to the industry with James Spackman and a panel on how to break into the industry with four publishing and recruitment professionals.  

Further information on the conference and the two free sessions can be found on the Doctoral School blog.  

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6.Inside Academia – Articles and podcasts on mental health, wellbeing and mindset in academia

Inside Academia is a platform aiming to positively change the culture that surrounds mental health, wellbeing and mindset in academia. They are publishing a series of articles from members within the community, in which they describe the experiences they came up against, how it affected them physically, mentally and emotionally, and how they overcame such experiences.  Inside Academia hope these articles will serve as a point of support, an outlet for expression and a learning resource for the community. Read the Inside Academia articles here. 

If you are interested in writing a piece for them about your experience of academia then you can contact Inside Academia with your idea or to find out more. Articles can be written in a personal, 3rd person or anonymised manner.  The pieces can be about any topic, event and scenario with as much or as little detail as you would like. 

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Please get in touch if you would like to highlight or request any specific events, opportunities, or development sessions that might appeal to cross-disciplinary PGR students or supervisors. We’re always keen to hear about any PGR good news stories that can be shared: doctoralschool@shu.ac.uk  A reminder of upcoming events is available in the doctoral school calendar: https://blogs.shu.ac.uk/doctoralschool/events/ 

As the lockdown situation continues, it’s as important as ever to try to stay motivated, look after our physical and mental health, and each other.  You can find help and information about supporting your wellbeing via the University website on https://www.shu.ac.uk/wellbeing  

Let’s stay connected.  Don’t forget about our regular PGR community events, including the weekly PGR Virtual Café – Link to join Virtual Café in Friday email and the PGR Student Society’s Focus Thursday –Link to join Focus Thursday Session in Friday email  pgresearchsociety@gmail.com  See: hallamstudentsunion.com/soc/prss/ for the PGR Student’s Society Social Calendar including Pod-Club, Focus Thursdays, monthly Coffee Catch Ups and the Virtual Pub Quiz which is next week (26 March). 

Best wishes, 

Nicola, Elizabeth and Liz