Postgraduate Newsletter
July 2014
Newcastle University
ISSUE 5
Postgraduate Support Group
Good News
Who we are: The postgraduate support group is run
by Jo Wildman and Steph Harrison. We are both
first year PhD students at the IHS and we also represent IHS students at meetings within the IHS and
the medical school, so please contact us about any
issues you would like raised at meetings.
Congratulations to the following students
who have recently been awarded their PhD:
Lynne Stobbart, PhD
Fiona Pearson, PhD
Katie Frew, PhD
Charuwan Manmee, PhD
Patricia Gillivan-Murphy , PhD
What we do: We run monthly group meetings on
Laura Irene Lindsey, PhD
topics which are important to postgraduate stuJulie Ann Englund, PhD
dents, we often have presentations from members of
Mark James Garside, MD
staff or students and question and answer sessions
Abdulkareem Al Quwaidhi, PhD
to provide an opportunity to seek advice and supAbedainaser Musa, PhD
port. Previous sessions have included how to write Anh Cam Tran, MPhil
a thesis, three minute thesis training and progress
Simon Stone, PhD
reviews advice. Sessions offer a chance to meet oth- Rachel Anne Green, PhD
er students from the IHS in an informal setting and Ajay Matthew Abraham, PhD
Balsam Ahmad, PhD
tea, coffee and biscuits are provided!
Lucy Paterson, MPhil
What’s next? Future sessions we are planning inMatthew Dewhurst, MD
clude preparing for viva presentations, welcoming
Felicity Dewhurst, MD
new students in September and we will end the
Shaikhah M H Alfajjam, PhD
year with a Christmas social. Presentations usually
Ewan Robert Hunter, PhD
run over lunchtimes and we will be sending e-mails Lynne Fiona Forrest, PhD
Mary Mayige, PhD
about future sessions soon!
Sara McCafferty, PhD
Who can join? Anyone! Whether you are full-time
Amy Jane O'Donnell, PhD
or part-time, masters or PhD, staff or student, we
Linda Penn, PhD
welcome anyone who is interested in attending our Anne Hurren, PhD
sessions. If you would like to be added to our mail- Rachel Tyrrell, PhD
ing list please e-mail Steph [email protected] or Angela Rodrigues, PhD
Jo [email protected]
Lucy Devepal, PhD
ISSUE 5
Page 2
IHS Postgraduate Student Research Away-Day—Jo Wildman
This year’s IHS postgraduate student conference – held on June 3rd in the shiny new Business
School building - took the form of a research skills away-day. The themes of the day were careers, communication and colleagues, represented by these events:
Careers: The day started on a real high-note with a great opening key-note speech from Cath
Exley. Cath gave us a very entertaining and informative overview of her career path and the
highs and lows she’d experienced on the way. She also provided some useful dos and don’ts for
early-career researchers. Kate Hackett’s imaginative workshop on networking helped to develop
the vital, but tricky, skill of identifying and making career-enhancing contacts. The afternoon’s
lively Q and A session was an away-day highlight and provided a brilliant opportunity for students to put their questions to a panel of researchers at different career stages. We’d like to thank
Nicki Hobbes, Mary Wilson, James Newham and Lindsay Pennington for being fantastic panellists. Thanks are due too to the students who asked some great questions.
Communication: Lindsay Pennington’s oral communication skills workshop provided very useful advice and tips on overcoming the presentation nerves that, to a greater or lesser extent, affect
us all. Tracy Finch gave a very well-received workshop on preparing for the most-dreaded communication event of all: the viva! This was very timely for the final-year students. The fear induced by public-speaking was amply demonstrated by the difficulties we encountered in persuading people to have a go at the Three-Minute Thesis competition. For this reason, special
thanks – and much respect – must go to the plucky students who gave 3MT presentations: Sam
Ginja, Karen Holt, Sebastian Potthoff, Nawaraj Bhattarai and Tara Al-Barazanchi. They made it
look such fun that next year’s event will also feature a 3MT competition – we’re sure more people will be willing to give it a go!
Colleagues: IHS postgrad students have diverse backgrounds and research areas. The Research
Day provided a welcome opportunity to meet with fellow students away from IHS. There was a
great atmosphere on the day and it was a chance to chat with people we’d never met before and
catch up with friends.
The day ended with wine and prizes: The 3MT competition was incredibly close and everyone
who took part did a fantastic job; Sebastian was voted the overall winner. Stephanie Harrison
and Tom Robinson were joint winners of the bake-off competition – well done Steph, Tom and
Seb!
Next year’s event – to be held in March - is already in the planning stages. Any ideas for themes,
workshops, speakers etc. would be very welcome. Volunteers for the planning committee will
also be needed. It’s a really fun and rewarding event to be involved in so please consider lending
your support. Please contact Laura Ternent ([email protected]), Lindsay Pennington
([email protected] ) or Marion Hancock ([email protected]) in you’d like to
help with next year’s event.
Feedback on the research day suggested that attendees found it useful and enjoyable.
ISSUE 5
Page 3
The Buddy System—Kat Jackson and Mary Webster
The Buddy System is an established peer support scheme for new starters (students and staff) to IHS.
Having been both buddied and acted as buddies we were happy to be asked to help iron out some inconsistencies in the role this year, so it will be as positive as possible for the new starters in 2014. As the institute grows, and with pressure on space in the PhD room we felt that it is more important than ever that
new students have at least one person they can go to (that isn’t their supervisor) in the first few months
while they are finding their feet.
We spoke to students at the postgraduate support group and used this feedback to revise the guidelines,
we recognise that buddies as well as new students will require guidance about what the role involves.
Can you remember: not knowing where the kitchens were? How to request a IT support? the anticipation
of the first supervision meeting? Lindsay, Laura and Marion will be contacting students over the next few
months for volunteers to the role, please consider getting involved.
Expectation of the Buddy Role – Draft guidance for buddies (July 2014)

The buddy should be matched with the new student ideally based on disciplinary group (e.g. health
psychology) or research theme (e.g applied epidemiology).

The buddy should be available when the new student starts.

The buddy should get in touch with the new student in their first week and take them for coffee and
chat, and show them key features of the working environment e.g. PhD room, reception area, toilets, kitchens, library etc. They should also introduce them to students/ staff that they know.

The buddy should introduce new student to key contacts, where possible, including: Marion Hancock , Lindsay Pennington and Laura Ternent , members of the IT support team (Mark, Fraser and
Juliet) and reception staff (Denise, Parveen, Clare, Maggie).

The buddy should introduce new students to the IHS Student Reps (currently Jo Wildman and
Steph Harrison). The buddy should encourage the new student to attend the IHS Postgraduate
Support Group meetings and let them know that they will receive emails about the dates and venues.

The buddy should let the student know about assignment of space in the PhD room, and also about
expectations regarding working hours

If the student is going to be located outside of the Baddiley-Clark Building the buddy should show
them where this is and the key features of the building.

The buddy should let the new student know that they are always available to answer any queries,
or point them in the direction of where they could go to find answers.

During the first few months the buddy should contact their new student regularly e.g. once a fortnight, to check they are getting on ok.
Abstracts accepted to EuHEA conference
PhD students in Health Economics (Matthew Little, Tomos Robinson, Dave Mott) have had abstracts accepted at the first European Health Economics Association (EuHEA) PhD Studentsupervisor and Early Career Researcher (ECR) conference which is to be held in Manchester
from 1st-3rd September 2014.
Congratulations to Matt, Dave and Tom.
Would you like to present your work at the Research Discussion Forum?
The IHS organises the Research Discussion Forum (RDF) which is held on the first Tuesday of
every month. This is a forum in which both staff and students can present work in progress and
receive feedback from other members of staff. All students are encouraged to present at the
RDF. Please see Laura Ternent for more information and available presentation slots.
Postgraduate website
We have been updating the IHS postgraduate website (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ihs/study/
postgraduate/). The website now contains information on the PgR team (Lindsay, Laura and
Marion), induction, progress review, useful links, information on the postgraduate support
group and more. We are constantly looking at ways to improve this website. Please send any
suggestions to Laura Ternent .
Your Postgraduate Team
The PgR team includes Lindsay Pennington (Post Graduate Student Coordinator), Laura Ternent
(Deputy Post Graduate Student Coordinator) and Marion Hancock (postgraduate student administrator).
If you have any queries about your studies please contact one of the PGR team.
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
PG Drop In: The first Tuesday afternoon of every month Dr Pennington holds a drop in session
when students can come and discuss PGR issues in confidence. Location: Dr Pennington’s office,
Level 3 Sir James Spence Institute, RVI
Do you want to help with the next newsletter ? Get in touch with Laura Ternent