Dare we mention it so early in the year? It may only be November, but we’ve got to start looking ahead to…
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The SWDTP Christmas party will be held on December 5th in Bristol and all SWDTP researchers and fellows are invited!
We’ll have the usual mix of Christmas cheer, festive jumpers and a quiz, but this year we’ve got something a bit different!
Our Christmas tree is looking a little bare and we’d like your help to decorate it in our…
Using whatever medium you like, we’re asking you to depict your research on a Christmas decoration. You can download, print and decorate our bauble template , or get a little more creative and design something for yourself. Either way, we’d love you to come and decorate our tree with examples of all the fantastic research being carried out by SWDTP researchers! And don’t forget to bring it along to the Christmas party so we can proudly display it!
There’s fun to be had and prizes to be won!
The State of Youth Conference will be held at the University of Bristol on November 15th and the call for abstracts is now open! Spaces to present are limited and priority will be given to research students wishing to present their work.
Doctoral students are warmly invited to present their work in the (post)doctoral paper session. To do so, please submit an abstract (of up to 500 words) in MS Word format to the event organiser, Dr Alba Lanau, by 5pm, Wednesday 10th October. In addition to your abstract, please provide your title, name, supervisor’ name(s), institution, and working thesis title.
Limited funds are available to help with travel costs for SWDTP students and PhD students travelling from outside Bristol who have no other source of financial support (e.g. research council funds etc). If you wish to be considered please indicate this in your email.
If you’d like to read more about the conference, visit the event page on our website! And don’t forget to check out our Training and Events Calendar to see what events are happening in the coming months!
Such brilliant news this afternoon that Exeter based SWDTP alumnus Dr Abi Dymond won the Outstanding Early Career Impact Prize at the ESRC Celebrating Impact Awards 2018.
We of course are very proud of Abi and all that she has achieved and you can watch a short film and read all about her work with police forces across England and Wales that has led to a new national reporting system on the use of force – improving transparency, accountability and police practices.
Congratulations Abi from all in the SWDTP!
The academic year is starting to wrap-up and award season has begun! Lecturers and Researchers are being recognised for their efforts over the past year and we are pleased to report that we’ve had news about four of our students’ success in the last week alone!
Hope Christie
Bath Psychology researcher and Student Rep, Hope Christie has won the prestigious Ede and Ravenscroft Best Research Student Prize! Hope and the other finalists had to present their research at an open event. The win will be reported to the University of Bath Senate! Hope was also part of a research team that submitted an Image of Research to the University of Bath’s Engage Festival. You can see the image here! If you’d like to read more about Hope’s research, visit her student profile page.
Tamsyn Hawken
Tamsyn Hawken– also a Bath Psychologist- has won a Psychology Postgraduate Affairs Group ‘Rising Researcher’ Award. In order to be considered, Tamsyn had to demonstrate the unique approach she is taking towards her research; show the long-term impact of her research and highlight a personal characteristic that contributed towards her success. Tamsyn- who uses biomarkers of stress, chose her resilience. Tamsyn keeps a blog “Promoting a balanced and holistic approach to postgraduate study, and beyond”. Finally, Tamsyn’s supervisor- Professor Julie Turner-Cobb- wrote a fantastic supporting statement. Tamsyn has been invited to talk about her research at the PsyPAG conference in July, where she will talk more in depth about how her resilience has supported her research. Tamsyn also entered an image to the Images of Research competition with her own team, which you can view here.
You can read about Hope and Tamsyn’s prizes on our SWDTP Student Showcase page!
Maike Klein and Rosie McGuire
Rosie McGuire- another Psychology researcher at Bath- and Maike Klein– Social Work, Bath and another Student Rep- have both been nominated by their faculty to be showcased on the University of Bath’s Faculty for Humanities and Social Sciences webpage as “most successful and interesting students”! They have been invited to a photo-shoot and interview, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled for updates when it becomes available on the University of Bath Website!
Congratulations everyone! Keep up the good work!
Don’t forget, if you’ve got a good news story, a recent publication or you’re involved in a really interesting event, get in touch with Helen!
Are you interested in becoming a Student Rep?! Remember- all you have to do is ask!
There’s only two weeks left to make your voice heard in our 2018 SWDTP Student Survey!
This 20-minute survey is a really important part of building an SWDTP cohort. It is an opportunity for you to reflect on your own experiences and feedback to us about what is working well, what needs improving and any ideas you might have for the future direction of our community. Everyone’s view matters and the more responses we have, the more robust, detailed and valuable the feedback will be.
In the past, the survey has affected change in SWDTP procedures and initiatives. This year, we are keen to hold focus groups to give respondents more opportunity to delve deeper into the subjects about which they are passionate.
SWDTP students who complete the form will be entered into a prize draw to win one of three £25 Amazon Gift Vouchers! On top of that, the SWDTP will also donate £1 to Student Minds for every SWDTP student who completes the survey. The charity works with universities and individuals to promote mental well-being in the Higher Education sector. Next year, we will select a different student-focused charity. Of course, students who complete the survey can remain anonymous if they wish by skipping the About You section of the form.
If you wish to complete the survey, please use the link which was emailed to all students on April 27th. If you need the link to be re-sent then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Jackson. The survey will close at midday on Thursday May 31st, so don’t miss your chance to make a difference.
University of Bath Education researcher, Sam Whewall and his supervisor- Dr Michael Donnelly– have developed a new method of mapping individuals’ geographical imaginaries. They use this participatory research method to study the role that geography and geographical perception play in Higher-Education decision-making.
The researchers gave participants blank maps of the UK and asked them to colour them in to reflect where they would like to live when attending university in accordance with a colour-coding system. Then, the participants were interviewed and asked why they had coloured in the map the way they had. Some participants focused on towns and cities, whilst others identified areas and regions. The image that each person had built-up was the product of their own personal experience, stories they had heard and beliefs and feelings about specific places and spaces.
One thing in particular which interested Sam was when participants falsely located cities and regions on the map- because this method studies individual’s perceptions of place, inaccuracies are an important part of the research findings.
An article was published on page four of the NCRM‘s publication- Methods News. You can read the article in full here!
Look out for Sam in the April edition of our newsletter which will be released later this week. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss an update!
Sam has also just started a new blog where he plans to record his research, his day-to-day work and a little bit of travelling too! Visit Sam’s blog, or head over to our Student Blogs page to browse the wide selection of blogs that SWDTP students keep.
