2nd Year Orientations - Natural Sciences - Imperial College London (2013)

hfh

Doctoral Orientation: Year 2 “What I wish I’d known…”

Dr Caroline Hargreaves, Senior Teaching Fellow Graduate School

Doctoral Orientation Year 2: “What I wish I’d known…”

The Graduate School in collaboration with

• Academics across college

• The Careers Service

• The Library

• Late stage doctoral students

• Alumni

Winner of the Times Higher Award 2006 & 2008

The Graduate School

Professional Skills Development Programme

Supporting Quality Assurance and representation

Assisting cohort building

Events

Mid-stage

Celebrate • Research Plan Confirmation (RPC) ~12 weeks • Early Stage Assessment (ESA) ~9 months

The second year framework of support may seem less clear • 18 – 24- month late stage assessment on the horizon

Mid-stage - where you are

Fulfilled the Graduate School attendance requirement for “underpinning”

courses, what now?

• Independence increasing, taking your research to another level and

thinking towards finishing

• Uncertainty

• Changing expectations

• Deciding what you want to do

• Start preparing for a career (inside or outside academia)

• Consolidating and Enriching courses

• College resources

• Research integrity – theses embargoes, plagiarism

• Opportunities to gain evidence & practice of necessary skills for CV

Doctoral students: a staged learning programme

• Funders, government and employers expect you to allocate time for development (RCUK, 2013)

• Consolidating and Enriching may be most relevant

• BUT – you can take the courses you need at any stage

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/graduateschool/currentstudents/professionalskillsresearch

Consolidating and Enriching

Advanced writing

Career Planning

Advanced Presenting

Progressing

Working with others, Business and Enterprise,

Public Engagement, Social enterprise,

Resilience, Specialist technical and online

courses

…new this year Leadership In Action (November)

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/graduateschool/currentstudents/professionalskillsresearch

10 minute talks

5 minute Q & A

Plus Q&A at the end

Ms Shahida Osman

Careers Service

Careers Consultant

Careers Support for doctoral

students – Faculty of Natural

Sciences & Non Faculty

Shahida Osman Career Consultant

Overview

• Destinations of PhDs

• “Moving-On after your PhD” - What should you

be doing at this stage”?

• Careers Service – What help is on offer?

Where do PhD graduates go?

74.3%

16.0%

5.6% 4.2%

2011 Imperial Research Graduates*

Entered Employment

Entered Further Study/Training

Seeking Employment

Not Available forEmployment/Study/Training

* Data collected 2012

Employment – Sector Entered

0.0%

1.9%

9.3%

0.9%

8.4%

0.9%

3.7%

0.9%

1.9%

0.0%

2.8%

53.3%

15.9%

0.0%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Agriculture

Oil/Mining

Manufacture

Utilities & Transport

Technical Consultancy / R&D

IT & Communications

Banking / Financial

Accountancy

Business & Management Consultancy

Other Business Activities

Public Administration/Defence

Education

Health/Social Work

Others

2011 Research Graduates Sector Entered *

* Data collected 2012

** www.vitae.ac.uk/policy-practice/107611/What-do-researchers-do-.html

Career Thinking

Key Message

• Your future choice of

career need not be dictated

by your subject but it can

be a good place to start

thinking about what really

interests you

Where do I start?

Starting Point: 2 Questions

1. What would be the most important factors

for you when choosing a career?

2. What are your skills and strengths that you

would like to use in your future job?

Options after your PhD

Linear progression

Continue in scientific research e.g. postdoc,

specialist scientist in the field or in industry

Build on experience and skills

Using technical background and knowledge in a non-

research role

Something new

Choosing a new career where knowledge from your PhD isn’t relevant, but your skills could be very relevant

Something new

Consulting

Business Analyst

Risk Analyst – insurance /

commerce

Finance /Audit /

Accountancy

Law

Social /Community Worker

Civil Service Fast Stream

Local government

Entrepreneur too many to

mention …

Private sector – industry /

commerce / Business

Public sector – central /

local government

Charities / NFP

Self-employment

Examples of specific job roles and sectors

Linear progression

Postdoc

Research Fellow

Scientific specialist e.g.

Marine Biologist, Tiger

Scientist

Technical specialist

Computer Modeller /

Statistician

Academia

Research Institutes

Government or quasi-

government bodies

NGOs, charities, trusts

Building on skills +

experience

Conservation Officer /

Manager

Ecological Consultant

Environmental Officer

Teacher - science

Patent Attorney (Nat. Sci.)

Science communication /

Media

Policy officer

Medical Physics

NGOs, charities, trusts,

related professional bodies

Private companies

Education sector

Public Sector

Self-employment

Spin-off companies

Action Points

• PhDs pursue a wide variety of careers in a range of

employment settings so there is a lot of choice

• Career Decisions - Complex Process

• You need to understand what will give you success, provide

job satisfaction and challenge you as well as find the work /

life balance that is right for you.

• Realism about what it takes to find the ideal job

• “Skill -up” – identify gaps & develop the skills. Develop other

skills in non-research activities –“extra-curricular” is important

• Learn how to present yourself effectively in a CV & in

person

Working with the Graduate School

• Support Professional Skills Development Programme

• Comprehensive programme of Career Management workshops e.g.

• Career Planning & Job Search etc.

• Career Action – CVs, Applications, Interviews etc.

• Tutor on Research Skills Development Course (RSD)

PhD Events for your Diary

PhD Careers Forum 23rd January 2014

PhD Careers Fair May 2014

PhD Skills Workshops May – June 2014

Careers Week July 2014

Research Careers Forum

Charity Insights - 2014

Level 5, Sherfield Building

Tel: 020 7594 8024

Opening hours:

• Mon – Fri - 10.00 – 17.15

• 20 minute Consultations:

– must book on-line on the day

10.00 - 12.30pm & 2.00 – 5.00pm

• 40 minute Consultations:

– book in person or telephone

to discuss any career related issues

Careers Service www.imperial.ac.uk/careers

THANK YOU

Questions?

Ms Katherine Thompson

Liaison Librarian

Chemistry, CEP and

Grantham Institute for

Climate Change

Getting the most from your Library

Katharine Thompson: Subject Librarian, chemistry & environment

Step 1: Meet your Librarian

Get in Touch or ASK the Library

Step 2: Locate useful resources

Use Library Search & Subject guides

Library Search

Find books and articles

Subject Pages

Find specialist resources

Step 3: Manage your references

Book a workshop

We can also help with….

…writing your thesis

Plagiarism & 3rd party copyright

…open access

How to publish OA & access funds

Want to know more?

Step 1: Meet your Librarian

Get in Touch or ASK the Library

Links

Your librarians: www.imperial.ac.uk/library/getintouch/yourlibrarian

Subject pages: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/library/subjectsandsupport

Reference management:

www.imperial.ac.uk/library/subjectsandsupport/referencemanagement

Information for researchers: www.imperial.ac.uk/library/researchers

Plagiarism awareness: www.imperial.ac.uk/library/subjectsandsupport/plagiarism/phdstudents

3rd party copyright: www.imperial.ac.uk/library/subjectsandsupport/spiral/etheses

Open access at Imperial: www.imperial.ac.uk/library/subjectsandsupport/openaccess

Open access resources for researchers: www.righttoresearch.org/, http://sparceurope.org/

Ross Webster

Late Stage Doctoral Student

Chemistry

You are already a third of the way there! • Movement towards self-sufficient work

• Change in focus of your project

But remember: • Everyone’s projects are different

• You might end up with 3 papers at the end of your PhD, or none!

• A PhD is about growth – not good results or bad results

• You’re still a student – expect to keep learning throughout

A different perspective

A different perspective

Common feelings of PhD students: • Imposter Syndrome

• “I don’t know what I’m doing”

• “Everyone’s doing better than me”

You’re not just a monkey at a typewriter: • Arrange time-off with your supervisor if you need it

• Join some societies

• Go to GSU events

Max Boleininger

AWO Physical Sciences

Graduate Student Union

[email protected]

• All postgraduates are members automatically

• The executive committee is run by student volunteers,

elected by students

• Constituent union under the Imperial College Union for

postgraduates

What is the GSU?

President

Dep. President (Operations)

Treasurer Events

Sports & Activities

Marketing & Publicity

RAG

Secretary

Dep. President (Representation)

Medicine AWO

Life Sciences AWO

Physical Sciences

AWO

Engineering AWO

Business School AWO

This is our structure

What are we doing?

The GSU has two roles:

1. Representation branch:

• Link between students, departments and key people • Voice of the students’ in various committees

• Do you know your course rep? • If you have issues or feedback, let your rep know!

https://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/your-union/your-representatives/a-to-z

What are we doing?

2. Operations branch:

• Organisation of events to the benefit of student welfare

• So far this year: • Hammersmith/GSU Boat party • London tours for new PGs • Wicked musical trip • Pub quiz

Get involved!

• Would you like to have a say in your department? Run for a PG rep position next year! • Would you like to organise welfare events? Become part of the events team!

• Do you have any other suggestions or ideas? Let us know at [email protected]!

Professor Lesley Cohen

Faculty of Natural Sciences

DPS Physics

Doctoral 2nd Year

Essential

Orientations

Some thoughts…

Lesley Cohen DPS Physics

The most useful things I know about

completing a PhD

• The learning agreement with your

supervisor

• Using the support network available to you

• Writing things down and up - regularly

• Making task lists

• Formulating the problem

• Keep asking questions….

• Formulating the problem (and repeat)

• Taking a break

Page 49

A learning agreement...

A mutually negotiated & agreed set of expectations

What you can expect from each other as supervisor &

research student

Covers the rules & regulations

Also cover the details of how you (both) like to work ...

or a compromise version of what you want

Set things off to a good start

Can be renegotiated to reflect change & solve issues

early

Borrowed from Martyn Kingsbury Educational development unit

Research management matrix

Research

question:

First main research question ........

Student

will ...

Supervis

or will ... What do I need?

Information / literature /

equipment / data etc..

Where can I get

it?

(possible sources / who

to talk to / methods /

approaches etc.)

Time

frame

Sub Question 1

Sub question 2

Borrowed from Martyn Kingsbury Educational development unit

Finding the way through….

Page 52

3M initial

research plan

9M progress

review

Thesis

Submission

By Month 14..

• The main research problem will have started

to take some shape

• Break the problem into components

• Getting something complete on one

component of the thesis by the 18M should be

a goal.

• - Learning to run equipment

• - Making your own samples

• - Developing your own code or analysis

• Something that you can have ownership over Page 53

The typical support network

Supervisor 1

In Research group in Physics

Supervisor 2

In another research group

In another department

In another institution

Or

Research might not dictate the

need for one (most cases)

Independent academic within

the group (progress reviews)

External examiner

(progress reviews, thesis viva)

Departmental

PG Welfare Advisor

Group

PG Academic Mentors

Group Administrators

PG office administrator

Director of

Post graduate studies

Group

PG Cohort Mentors

Talk your research ideas

through with others – as

frequently as you can.

Talking through your goals can

help you identify/formulate the

research problem

Break the problem down into manageable

chunks … but keep returning to and

reformulating the big picture

Page 55

Manageable chunks

The big picture

The thesis is not about

recreating the Grand Canyon. It

is about demonstrating that you

have used the scientific method

Write things down

• A summary of literature

• Tasks for the next week, month

• Review your time plan

Page 56

Write things up

• Regular small reports

• Small milestones achieved might be

sufficient for a conference presentation

• Take the appropriate graduate school

courses

• Practice giving talks to your peer group

Take regular breaks

Page 57

And breaks from your usual routine

Submission Statistics

• 95% of students submit with 48M

• Almost all remaining students submit

within 60M

• The process itself is a big

part of the learning experience

• Everyone is in the same boat.

• Good luck!!

Page 58

Representation

The Graduate School assists with representation

• Quality Assurance committee meetings

• Surveys and regular liaison

Get involved as a student rep.

• Contact your Postgraduate Administrator or the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) direct [email protected]

As a representative you will

• Not only represent your peers

• But also, boost your CV

Who is there for you in the PG world?

Sources include:

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/helpme

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/registry/researchdegrees/support

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/registry/currentstudents/researchstudents/contacts

• Supervisor

• Postgraduate tutor

• Director of Postgraduate Studies

• Head of Department

• Student representative

• Academic mentor

• Faculty student representative

• College Tutors

• Graduate Student Association

• Graduate School

• Health centre

• Counselling

• Library

• Disability Advisory Service

• Careers Service

• English Language Support

Volunteering, Placements, Student Societies, Outreach?

e.g.:

Volunteering Opportunities

Imperial Hub (not the student Hub)

Outreach

Interships/shadowing (Careers

Service)

Fame Lab

Three Minute Thesis

Student Union GSU

Student Union Clubs

Professional Societies

Poster Symposium

Cohort Events

Conferences

Networking

Events

……etc

Events: promoting intellectual & interdisciplinary discussion

Guest Lectures & Receptions

Previous Speakers have included:

Jorge Cham

Professor Jared Diamond

Professor Richard Dawkins

Annual Postgraduate Social Event - Chemistry demonstration

Annual Research Symposium Ig Nobel Awards Show

Look out for these events:

The Life of... Lecture Series –bibliographical talks on the lives & work of

prominent Imperial alumni

March 2014 Ig NobelTM Awards Tour Show

2nd May 2014 Annual Postgraduate Event - Chemistry show and reception

3 Minute Thesis Competition (info coming soon)!

July 20 14 Summer Symposium – posters competition, lecture and reception

Look out for our Newsletters, see: www.imperial.ac.uk/graduateschool/events

wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/blog/postgraduatenoticeboard/

For a list of research seminars taking place across College:

www.imperial.ac.uk/graduateschool/events/researchseminars

,

Take opportunities and support now to influence your trajectory

CE Hargreaves, MEd 2013

Take advantage of

The Graduate School

Advice from academics around college

The Careers Service

Your fellow doctoral students

The support services

For further information:

www.imperial.ac.uk/graduateschool

[email protected]

[email protected]

Improving the Postgraduate Experience