Welcome to the Winter 2016 edition of our Graduate School Bulletin. Since the last edition of this Bulletin, the Graduate School has passed its fifth anniversary, having formally been established on 1 September 2011.

Throughout the academic year we will

be marking this anniversary in a number

of ways including: offering 10 additional

studentships, producing a special Summer

edition of this Bulletin, and celebrating it at

our annual Doctoral Research Conference

in June.

Another change that has happened since

the last edition of the Bulletin, is that the

Graduate School has taken over responsibility

for PGR administration functions previously

carried out in Schools / Departments and in

the Examinations Office. You can read about

this in the ‘Spotlight On’ article in the pages

that follow. You can also read all about our

fourth annual Doctoral Research Conference

held at the end of last term, and the winners

of the various competitions. A film showing

highlights from the event is also available

on the Graduate School website http://

www.reading.ac.uk/graduateschool/events/

gs-phdconference.aspx

Looking forward, the Graduate School will

be hosting its Seasonal Celebration on 6

December, featuring our Christmas jumper

competition and our very popular quiz. Helen

Apted is already thinking up some tricky

questions and finding obscure national flags

to test our teams’ general knowledge. There

will also be the usual mulled wine and mince

pies. Students will be notified when booking

for the event opens – my advice is book early

as it is very popular.

Looking even further ahead, our annual

Fairbrother Public lecture will be taking place

on 14 March. In addition to the selected

speaker, we will again be showcasing the work

of several other doctoral researchers who

are engaging in highly relevant and impactful

research.

Before signing off, I’d like to wish a very warm

welcome to any new students who have

joined us since our October induction, and

to wish you all a successful, enjoyable and

productive year ahead.

Professor Dianne Berry,

Dean of Postgraduate Research Studies

IN THIS ISSUENEWS

Spotlight on PGR Support Team 2

ORCHID iD 2

Congratulations to our summer graduates 2

FEATURES

Organising Conferences - Top Tips 3

Doctoral Research Conference 2016 4

A PhD … but what comes next? 6

Reading’s Success – Doctoral Training Awards 7

COMING UP

Fairbrother Lecture 8

Leadership Programme 8

GRADUATE SCHOOL BULLETINIssue 9 | Winter 2016

2

Graduate School BulletinNEWS

SPOTLIGHT ON PGR SCHOOL SUPPORT TEAMFrom August 1, the Graduate School has taken over responsibility for PGR administration functions previously carried out in Schools / Departments.

A new PGR School Support Team has

been put in place, which is based on the

first floor of the Graduate School, Old

Whiteknights House. The team is

normally the first point of contact for

doctoral researchers and School staff who

have administrative queries relating to the

PhD journey, although some matters may

need to be referred on to the Doctoral

Research Office (DRO). In addition, the

DRO should be contacted directly for

queries relating to immigration and

Tier 4 requirements.

The PGR School Support Team comprises

two senior administrators (Katie Saxelby-

Smith and Cat Hale) and 11 administrators.

Staff are available between 9am and 5pm

Mondays to Fridays, although individual

members may work on a part-time

basis. Each School has an individual

named contact, but the team work

closely together and provide cover for

each other when a member is absent for

any reason. Students can drop in at any

time but it may be more efficient to make

an appointment if you want to speak with

your School’s dedicated administrator.

• Katie Saxelby-Smith, Built Environment

• Cat Hale, Pharmacy

• Karen Garrod, Agriculture, Policy & Development

• Elaine Van Der Kamp, Biological Sciences

• Elizabeth Marten, Biological Sciences

• Isaac Wilks, Food & Nutritional Sciences, and Arts & Communication Design

• Catherine O’Hare, Chemistry and Humanities

• Melina Aston, Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences, and Literature & Languages

• Elizabeth Wyeth, Human & Environmental Sciences, and Law

• Christine Macfarlane, Mathematical, Physical & Computational Sciences

• Kristine Aldridge, Mathematical, Physical & Computational Sciences

• Wai-Ling Wong, Politics, Economics & International Relations

• Trica Burgess, Institute of Education

PGR administration for Henley Business

School is provided by HBS staff.

Doctoral Examinations OfficerAnother change from August 1 is that

Sean Semple, the Doctoral Examinations

Officer, has moved from the Examinations

Office to the Graduate School. Sean is also

based on the first floor of Old Whiteknights

House and is available from 9am to 5pm on

Mondays to Fridays.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR SUMMER GRADUATESThe Graduate School would like to

congratulate all doctoral researchers

who graduated in July during a series of

ceremonies held in the Great Hall at the

London Road campus. Over 100 doctoral

researchers from across the University

attended the Graduation ceremonies.

Family and friends who were unable to

attend were able to watch the event via

a live video feed.

We wish our graduates every success

in their future careers.

GROW YOUR ORCID IDWhen it comes to tracking the outputs of your research, make sure that you get the credit for your hard work. Employers and funders may well check your

publication history before they offer you a

job or award a grant. What if your research

outputs are being confused with someone

else’s with the same name? Name confusion

is more common than you’d think, particularly

if your family name is a common one like

Smith, Williams, Kim or Lee.

In an attempt to correctly identify researchers

and their research outputs, the ORCID®

identifier has been developed. An ORCID

identifier, or ORCID iD, is a 16-character

number that clearly identifies you, and not

another researcher with a similar name, as

the author of an academic output or activity.

Many publishers and funding organisations

(e.g. RCUK) are now insisting that researchers

provide their ORCID iD when they submit an

article, apply for a grant or peer review

an article.

Your ORCID iD belongs to you and you keep

the same iD throughout your career. If you

move institutions, your ORCID iD moves

with you. It is up to you how much additional

information you add about your education and

whether you add biographical details. Getting

an ORCID iD is very simple and takes only a

few minutes, sign up at orcid.org/register

If you need help signing up for an ORCID iD

or populating your ORCID profile once you

have an iD, contact Karen Rowlett,

Research Publications Adviser, ORCID iD

orcid.org/0000-0002-2084-3967.

If you need more information, there’s a

new library guide available to explain why

every researcher needs an ORCID iD libguides.reading.ac.uk/orcid

3

NEWS

Many of you during the course of your doctoral studies will organise or help organise a research conference / workshop within your School / Department or research area. Anyone who has ever organised a conference knows that planning is essential to the event’s success. We asked Philip Coventry, a second year doctoral researcher who organised the conference ‘Climate Change: Society, Governance and Economics’ in the summer, to give his top conference planning tips:1 Get someone to help, even if they just

send some emails and help arrange the

chairs on the day, having someone to

assist is a big thing. More so, it can be

a bit lonely organising on your own, so

just having someone who knows what’s

going on and can help with planning and

decisions will prevent you feeling quite

so much like the pressure is all on you.

Someone else’s ideas are always useful,

too!

2 Make sure you find an administrator

in your School / Department who

is willing to assist you with booking

catering and rooms, and processing

expenses. Remember they are busy

too, so respect that you are not going

to be their highest priority, but it’s

essential you have access to University

administrative systems.

3 Booking rooms at the University

is expensive! Ask in your School /

Department or the Graduate School if

they have rooms available that you can

use for free.

4 Lots of people won’t come, even if

you’re in contact with them right before

the event. Don’t take it personally, it

really is just going to happen whatever

you do. So accept more attendees

than you actually want and, in my

experience, also more speakers than

you need.

FEATURES

ORGANISING CONFERENCES - TOP TIPS

5 Related to the last point, if you have

selected your speakers and have to

reject some, I would recommend

politely asking if one or two would

be willing to be reserves, i.e. come

prepared to speak. It’s potentially a big

request, but some people have talks

ready that they are giving to more than

one conference, so they may not mind,

and it will really help if / when speakers

pull out at the last minute. You will

probably have to juggle the programme

running order just before the event.

6 Be aware that the speakers and the

attendees’ who are coming from

overseas, however enthusiastic they

are, may encounter problems with

their travel arrangements. The cost of

international travel and visa issues can

prevent people arriving at any point

leading up to the event.

7 If you are offering support with travel

costs, work out before you send out the

call for papers / attendees how much

funding you have and how you propose

to use it. Some people will only come

if they can get financial support, so it’s

helpful to know what you can offer as

soon as requests start coming in.

8 Design a form (or online survey) to

collect information on attendees

dietary preferences, access

requirements, etc.

9 Keep an Excel spreadsheet with names,

email addresses, dietary preferences,

access requirements, etc. of all

speakers and attendees. Include the

dates of when forms were sent out and

responses received. This will help you

keep track of booking numbers; which

you will repeatedly check throughout

your organising period!

10 Try to keep your emails to a minimum,

everyone is busy, and make sure your

requests are clear, e.g. filling in forms.

In all my group emails I included a short

version of the conference title at the

start of the subject line so people would

be able to identify the emails (and

hopefully read them!)

11 You will have to chase people up! You

might select a speaker then not hear

from them for weeks. Be polite, but

don’t be afraid to follow up and ask if

you need something confirmed – just

remember to allow some time before

you do so, not everyone looks at work

emails every day.

12 You will need to provide travel

information for people coming to

Reading – the ‘Visiting the University’

webpage contains all relevant travel

information: www.reading.ac.uk/about/visit-usIf anyone needs a parking permit you should liaise with your School / Department administrator.

Graduate School Bulletin

FEATURES

The Graduate School hosted its fourth annual Doctoral Research Conference on the afternoon of 23 June 2016 in Palmer Lecture Theatre. A 250 strong audience, comprising of doctoral researchers, supervisors, Deans, the Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor enjoyed presentations from the five PhD Researcher of the Year finalists, 12 Three Minute Thesis talks, viewed 36 research posters and nine research images and were entertained by a Science SLAM.The five PhD Researcher of the Year (ROY)

finalists, selected to represent each of

the five University Research Themes,

each delivered a 10 minute talk on their

research and experience at Reading. Faith

Orchard (Psychology and Clinical Language

Sciences) was awarded the PhD ROY Award

for 2016. Faith’s PhD research investigated

adolescent depression. Her thesis aimed to

describe and understand the characteristics

of depressed adolescents that could be

addressed in psychological treatment.

Faith is now employed as a postdoctoral

researcher in the Charlie Waller Institute at

the University of Reading.

‘I got lots of inspiration and ideas for my research project’

The Research Image Competition featured

nine shortlisted images from a variety of

disciplines and reflected the diversity of

doctoral research at Reading. First prize

went to Anna Freeman (Archaeology,

Geography and Environmental Science)

whose entry ‘Big world in a small water

drop‘ showed a tiny (smaller than tenth

of a millimetre) animal, Keratella rotifer,

emerging from beneath Farmoor Reservoir

waters. Gagan Flora (Biological Sciences)

was awarded the People’s Choice Award

voted for by the conference audience for

his research image ‘Platelets – caught,

coloured, canvassed!’.

The Research Poster Competition was

particularly popular with 36 entries. First

prize was awarded to Rebecca Emerton

(Archaeology, Geography and Environmental

Science). Rebecca’s poster was entitled ‘El

Nino as a predictor of flood hazard’. The

People’s Choice Award was won by Saleh

Omairi (Biological Sciences) for his poster

‘Muscle-specific expression on Errγ in the

myostatin null background leads to the

development of hypertrophied oxidative

muscle’.

‘It is a great opportunity to see a diverse range of research in different mediums’

The highly popular and entertaining Three

Minute Thesis Competition was won by

Ioannis Zoulias (Biological Sciences) with

a thought provoking talk on ‘Owning a

virtual you: How do you know this is your

body?’ Ioannis represented the University

of Reading in the national VITAE Three

Minute Thesis Competition. Ruth Barnes

(Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy) won the

People’s Choice Award for her talk ‘‘The Acid

Test’ targeted methods for disinfection’.

‘It is good to feel part of a community’

Roshan Limbu (Chemistry, Food and

Pharmacy) closed the conference with a

Science SLAM performance entitled ‘Go Fish

Go! Using a fish prop and five willing members

of the audience, Roshan was able to explain

the benefits of fish oil in a fun and entertaining

way.

DOCTORALRESEARCHCONFERENCE2016

4

Issue 3 | November 2013

5

FEATURES

Find out more about this year’s

Doctoral Research Confer-

ence, including interviews of the

Researcher of the Year finalists at

http://www.reading.ac.uk/graduateschool/events/gs-phdconference.aspx

Save the Date! Next year’s fifth

anniversary Doctoral Research

Conference will take place on

Tuesday20June2017. Details of a

new ‘Research Life in Pictures’

Competition will be announced in

January.

Top, left to right:

PhD Researcher of the Year finalists (from left to right) Vaibhav Singh, Joanna Baker, Luke Bell, Faith Orchard, Lisa Schopohl

Conference delegates

Doctoral Research Conference competition winners with Professor Dianne Berry and Professor Steve Mithen, Deputy Vice-Chancellor

PhD Researcher of the Year winner Faith Orchard

Conference delegates

Roshan Limbu, Science SLAM presenter

6

Graduate School Bulletin

A PhD… BUT WHAT COMES NEXT?

Damian Gonzalez-Salzberg was awarded his doctorate from the School of Law in December 2015. His PhD, which was funded by a University of Reading Social Sciences International Research Studentship, studied the notions of gender and sexuality within human rights law, working within the field of queer legal theory.

What did you enjoy about studying at Reading?

The University of Reading offered

outstanding supervision on my research

area and also great economic support for

the whole length of my PhD. The University

as a whole is incredibly supportive of its

PhD students, from the Graduate School to

academics within the Law School; who have

a great predisposition to help students and

seem to be always willing to have a chat or

share a coffee.

DidyoufindtheGraduateSchoolhelpful during your studies?

Certainly. Even though I always worked

better at home, I used to go to the Graduate

School on the days I taught in order to make

photocopies, use the computers in the

hot desk room, and meet my friends who

worked there. It was always great to pop in

to say hello and you had the certainty to run

into big smiles and kind words.

What have you been doing since you were awarded your PhD?

Since the final year of my PhD I have been

employed by the University of Sheffield as a

Lecturer in Law. The research skills I developed

throughout my PhD and the teaching

opportunities I had at Reading definitely

helped me secure my current position.

What were your biggest challenges during you PhD and how did you overcome them?

I think it was re-focusing and narrowing the

scope of my research during my first year.

I had to trust my supervisors to help me

shape (and re-shape) my own interest into a

feasible PhD project; my research ended up

being great, thanks to the amazing help and

support of my supervisors.

Where do you want to be infiveyears?

I hope I continue to progress in my academic

career, still working within my area of interest

in a research-led university.

FEATURES

Issue 3 | November 2013

7

READING’S SUCCESS DOCTORAL TRAINING AWARDSReading has been successful with its four latest bids for Doctoral Training awards funded by the UK Research Councils. Earlier this summer, it was announced that

our bid to the Economic and Social Research

Council (ESRC) for a five year Doctoral Train-

ing Partnership award, led by Essex and

involving six other universities, had been

successful. This will provide funding for

studentships across a broad range of social

science disciplines.

Since then, we have heard of three other

successful outcomes. A joint bid to the

Natural Environment Research Council

(NERC), with Imperial College, for a Centre

for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Modelling and

Quantitative Skills in Ecology and Evolution

was awarded in September. The CDT will

recruit 12 students per year, for each of the

three years. Within Reading, the project is

led by Dr Richard Walters, School of Biologi-

cal Sciences.

Two bids to the Biotechnology and Biologi-

cal Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) for

Collaborative Training Partnerships have

also been funded. The first of these, led by

Waitrose Ltd, focuses on crop production,

sustainable soil and ecosystem services

and involves the universities of Warwick

and Lancaster, and Rothamsted Research.

The Reading lead is Professor Simon Potts,

School of Agriculture, Policy and Develop-

ment (APD). The second partnership will

focus on fruit crop research and is led by

Berry Gardens and involves the universi-

ties of Nottingham and Cambridge. The

Reading leads are Professors Paul Hadley

and Donal O’Sullivan, APD. Both awards will

start to fund students from September 2017

and will run for three years.

Well done to all those involved in winning

these prestigious awards which are crucial

to the ongoing success of postgraduate

research at Reading.

FEATURES

GRADUATE SCHOOL SUMMER PARTY On 24 May 2016, the Graduate School

hosted its annual Summer Party. Doctoral

researchers from across the University

joined us in the now legendary team quiz

and highly competitive Baking Competition.

This year, bakers were asked to submit an

entry on the theme of biscuits, as Reading

was once famous for being the home of

the Huntley & Palmers Biscuit Factory.

Stephanie Bull, School of Chemistry,

Food and Pharmacy, won first prize

with a highly imaginative ‘Tea and biscuit’

cake. We look forward to seeing you at

the Seasonal Celebration on Tuesday 6

December, 17.00-19.00. Please note taking

part in the Christmas jumper competition

is completely optional! All students will be

emailed directly with further details.

READING LISTSReading is one of the best ways to relax.

Reading a book for a few minutes can help

you to forget your doctoral worries; that

tricky thesis chapter, looming deadlines,

poor laboratory results, etc.

The Graduate School would love to hear

what books doctoral researchers are reading

in their spare time. Some of us in the

Graduate School have enjoyed reading The

Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and are

looking forward to seeing it at the movies.

Please send us a short book review so we

can feature you in the next edition of the

Bulletin or, if time is short, tweet your guilty

pleasure non-doctoral reading with the

hashtag #PhDdistraction and mention @

UniRdg_PhD.

GRADUATE SCHOOL BULLETIN For more information, please contact:

Graduate School

Old Whiteknights House University of Reading PO Box 217 Whiteknights Reading, RG6 6AH

gradschool@reading.ac.uk

www.reading.ac.uk/graduateschool

B17359 11.16

COMING UP

The Graduate School is

pleased to announce that next

year’s Fairbrother Lecture

will take place on Tuesday 14

March 2017, 7pm, in the Henley

Business School. This annual

public lecture is delivered by a

current, or recently graduated,

Reading doctoral researcher.

The 2017 lecture will be

delivered by Ruth Barnes, a

third year doctoral researcher

in the Department of Food and

Nutritional Sciences. Ruth’s

talk draws on her research into

keeping food fresh and how

we can make sure that healthy

food is safe food.

Ruth’s doctoral research

is jointly funded by the

Biotechnology and Biological

Sciences Research Council

(BBSRC) and AgriCoat

Nature Seal Ltd. Ruth was the

People’s Choice winner of

Reading’s Three Minute Thesis

competition 2016.

The Fairbrother Lecture is

named after Jack Fairbrother,

who in 1929 became the first

student to be awarded a PhD

from the University.

Further details of the event will be available on the Graduate School website and in the

University’s Events Diary.

Applications are now open for the Graduate School & Henley

Business School Leadership Programme. This takes place at

Henley’s Greenlands campus on 6, 7 and 27 February 2017.

Whether you are considering a career in, or outside of academia, this

programme will enable you to develop a deeper understanding of

your own leadership style and to be able to apply that in a number of

different situations.

GRADUATE SCHOOL & HENLEY BUSINESS SCHOOL LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME 2017

Many previous participants have also found the programme benefits

their current doctoral studies, providing them with new skills to deal

with the challenges that arise during the course of their research.

The programme is free to attend and is open to all current 2nd and

3rd year full-time (3rd, 4th and 5th year part-time) Reading doctoral

researchers across all Schools and Departments.

For more information about the programme and to download an

application form, go to:

http://www.reading.ac.uk/graduateschool/Developmentopportunities/Leadership_programme.aspx

FAIRBROTHER LECTURE 14 MARCH 2017