As 2017 draws to a close, we thought it would be fun to look back over a fast-paced twelve months and select (in no particular order, honest) nine highlights that reflect the sheer range of activity within the Bristol Doctoral College (BDC) team.
Of course, as our work is all about Bristol’s postgraduate researcher (PGR) community, we also want to know what your highlights have been.
Feel free to share them in the comments — or, better still, pop over to our Facebook page and add them to our competition post for a chance to win 10 Bristol pounds. (The competition will end at 5pm on Saturday 30 December 2017.)
1. Bringing research into the heart of Bristol
May’s Research without Borders wasn’t the first festival of postgraduate research coordinated by the BDC — but it was the biggest and best yet, showcasing the work of almost 100 postgraduate researchers through an evening discussion series, an afternoon showcase exhibition at Colston Hall and the finals of the prestigious Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition.
Afterwards, PGR Katiuska M Ferrer told us how event had helped her to make connections: “On a personal level, I had the opportunity to make friends with engineers, vets, and biologists — a crowd that, as a sociolinguist, I do not normally mingle with.”
Interested in taking part in the 2018 festival? Keep an eye on our Facebook page during January.
2. A warm welcome at the Wills Memorial
Wave your scarves in the air like you… have just begun a research degree at @BristolUni. More fun from our #WelcomePGRs event. pic.twitter.com/wZdxOlELOG
— UoB Doctoral College (@bristoldc) November 9, 2017
Welcoming new PGRs? We’ve got it all wrapped up.
OK, so November’s researcher inauguration event wasn’t just about the free scarves; it was also an opportunity to get over 300 new PGRs together, encourage them to explore connections between their chosen topics and give them a warm welcome them to Bristol’s vibrant researcher community.
But yes — the scarf-waving moment, prompted by BDC Director Dr Terry McMaster, is a 2017 highlight in itself. Thankfully, as you can see from the video above, we were in the right place to capture it for posterity.
3. Sharing your stories
Bristol has an amazingly vibrant researcher community — and, throughout the year, we’ve had the privilege of being able share some of your stories on Facebook, Twitter and the BDC blog.
The video above — Astronauts star Tim Gregory reflecting on his final frontier — was just one of the PGR profiles that we posted during 2017. You can watch our other interviews, including Alfie Wearn on his well-earned place in the UK Three Minute Thesis final and bio-archaeologist Cat Jarman on her BBC Four appearance, on our Facebook page.
Also, on this very blog, you can read 8 things we learned from our PGR panel at November’s PG Open Day.
4. A dual-doctoral deal
September saw the UoB make a landmark agreement with Macquarie University — one of Australia’s top universities — to create 25 fully-funded dual doctorates over the next five years.
What’s so significant about this new Bristol-Macquarie Cotutelle programme? For one thing, it’ll offer PGRs access to state-of-the-art facilities at two universities renowned for their research excellence — and enable them to receive a PhD from both. It’ll also act as a model for future collaborations with institutions around the world.
The BDC conceived and co-managed the project with Macquarie University, so we’ll be sharing much more about it during 2018. Look out for details!
5. A zinger of a session with Inger
In December, we were lucky enough to welcome the renowned Thesis Whisperer herself, as Inger Mewburn visited Bristol to hold a special ‘What Examiners Really Want’ seminar with PGRs.
For Sabrina Fairchild, the BDC’s PG Researcher Development Adviser, helping to coordinate the seminar was her professional highlight of the year. As she noted afterwards: ‘de-mystifying the viva is crucial to decreasing the anxiety of research students and Inger did that with Star Wars-themed flair.’
Interested in reading Inger’s slides? May the course be with you.
6. A block-busting Boot Camp
All of the courses and resources in the BDC-curated Personal and Professional Development programme are designed to be useful to Bristol’s PGRs — so what was it that made this session a particular highlight?
For one thing, it was the first time we had actually run a Thesis Boot Camp. For the BDC’s Paul Spencer and Anja Dalton, this meant creating an environment where PGRs could spend an entire weekend writing — without even having to think about making their own meals — and encouraging them to put aside perfectionism so they could push ahead with that all-important first draft.
Did it help the PGRs, though? Well, the tweets about ‘#bdctbc’ were certainly encouraging.
Still basking in the glow of a productive weekend at #thesisbootcamp – 9131 words! Many thanks to @bristoldc, Paul and Anja for arranging it, keeping us so well fed and motivated, highly recommend to all #BristolPGRs! #bdctbc #SoCloseToTheBlueBlock
— Maria Orchard (@MariaOrchard) December 12, 2017
@BristolUni Bristol Doctoral College thesis bootcamp helped me to write 20,000 words towards my thesis in one weekend! Tremendous value and support @bristoldc #thesisbootcamp https://t.co/N75eBq2Dv3
— Sarah Green (@sarahlynngreen) December 11, 2017
And it was great to share difficulties during our PhDs with fellow students rather than 'suffering' in silence. @bristoldc https://t.co/hD2MJ1kaj4
— Doreen Pastor (@DoreenPastor1) December 12, 2017
Interested in taking part in our next Thesis Boot Camp on 23–25 February? Visit the BDC website to submit your application.
7. Meeting and mingling over mince pies
The special celebration that we held for the current group of China Scholarship Council PhD scholarship holders was very recent — literally in the last week — but it was such a fine, festive occasion that it easily makes our list of 2017 highlights.
Although the mince pies and mulled wine were fantastic, the real treat was the positive feedback that we got about UoB, the city and the scheme itself. As one PGR put it: “I hope more students will come to Bristol and enjoy their life as a researcher as much as me.”
Interested in finding out more about the China Scholarship Council-University of Bristol Joint PhD Scholarship Scheme? Pop over to the CSC-UoB page.
8. A pilot programme for industrial-strength skills
Did you know that we launched a pilot Industrial PhD Professional Development Programme in 2017?
If you’re a doctoral researcher who’s funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Doctoral Training Partnership, you’ll be able to build your skills and expand your future career options by signing up for entrepreneurial training, industry placements, a summer school — and, as we announced a few weeks ago, a skills development workshop on 23 January.
The pilot programme came about after the EPSRC awarded the UoB funding to support new and current PhD studentships in science and engineering (as part of the National Productivity Investment Fund).
Much more news will follow in 2018, so keep an eye on our Skills for industry page if you want to know more.
9. And finally… building a bigger and better BDC
It’s perhaps more of a theme than a specific highlight — but, for the BDC, 2017 was all about expansion.
A huge part of our work centres on enhancing the environment for our PGRs, and on that front we welcomed Paul Spencer (PGR Environment Development Manager), Anja Dalton (PGR Development Officer, covering for Loriel Anderson), Sabrina Fairchild (PGR Development Adviser), Patrick Ashby (BDC Administrator) and Robert Doherty (Communications & Engagement Assistant).
The work that we do to support the growth of our PGR community is equally important, and new team members Kevin Higgins and Aby Sankaran joined the team during 2017 to lead on, respectively, the Global Bristol PhD Programme and the Industrial PhD Programme.
Of course, it would be remiss of us not to mention the esteemed colleagues who moved on this year — and who played a huge part in making the BDC what it is today. So thanks and best wishes to Bea Martinez Gonzalez and Charlotte Spires. (The much-missed Loriel Anderson will be back with us in summer 2018.)