Blog
News from the PGR Studio
Educating Ali
Educating Ali The following blog is by Dr Ali Haggett. Ali writes about her experiences of academia and her transition out of academic life and work. You can follow Ali's blog here. The 21st September 2018 was my last day working as an academic at one of the UK’s top...
A Day in the Life of a Research Professor by David Roberts
5.30am: Wake up. It’s an old habit from my days of (a) commuting from West Worcestershire to Birmingham and (b) knowing I had to get into the Dean’s Office at 7am to do emails, sign forms and say hi to Wuhan, where we have an institute. Waking up early is very...
Routes out from the PhD: plans and provocations
The following is a plan and provocation for thinking about 'routes out' from the PhD in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media. ‘Routes out’ from the PhD might be interpreted as an instrumental and reductive term. Its utterance could very well make one want to...
Top tips for writing your PhD research proposal by Prof John Mercer
We all know that feeling. You’ve finally made your mind up that you want to take the next big step – whether that’s a new job or going back to uni to do a postgrad degree. The only problem is that you need to go through the application process and you just don’t know...
The Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers
See here for a recent review of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers. The Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers (“the Concordat”) is an agreement between funders and employers of research staff to improve the employment...
Viva 60-second interview: Dr Regina Seiwald
Hi Regina, congratulations on passing your viva! How does it feel?! Absolutely thrilled! I have to admit that it took me some days to realise that I have passed my viva – despite the whole department celebrating with me! What was your PhD title? Towards a New Theory...
Media Insight Training by Dan Thurley
As someone who works on the ‘other side’ of the media in a purely technical capacity coordinating live shots for TV news, I found some of Simons ‘war stories’ really, interesting and it opened my eyes to a journalistic side I hadn’t considered before and so I found...
Happy new (academic) year!
A huge welcome to all our new and returning doctoral researchers! The PGR Studio team have been busy planning an exciting programme for the next year and are also excited to announce our PGR Studio booklet! The booklet includes our manifesto of researcher development,...
PGR Opera: Quilt Song by Susie Self
All PGRs are invited to the premiere of Susie Self's new opera, Quilt Song. The opera is part of Susie's PhD work at BCU and offers a challenge to traditional operatic forms and styles. The opera takes place at The Old Rep Theatre in Birmingham on Friday the 19th and...
Early Career Survival Guide
In view of the mounting challenges facing early career academics after the PhD, Dr Derek Dunne (Cardiff University) and Dr Toria Johnson (University of Birmingham) have compiled this online survival guide. The guide includes a range of resources, useful for those who...
Vivid Stream by Susie Self
Here's PhD Student, Susie Self's, new Installation Opera VIVID STREAM, which was performed at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire on the 27th June 2018 as part of The CODA Festival. https://vimeo.com/277801188 The installation is designed to run independently and...
About the experience (not the research) with Angela English
In this series, we sit down with a current (or recent) PhD researcher and actively try not to talk about their research. Instead, we chat about their experience of doing a PhD, how they cope with the pressures and workload, and hopefully, find out something...
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