Wanted: Humanities Postgraduate Research Editors

Wanted:  Humanities Postgraduate Research Editors for University STEPS Newsletter (closes 9 March 2012)

Do you have an interest in the professional development of postgraduate researchers? Are you keen to raise your own profile within and beyond the University? Are you looking to enhance your writing and editing skills? Then become a STEPS editor!

STEPS is all about researcher development essentials for postgraduate researchers.  Written by postgraduate researchers for postgraduate researchers, this high profile university-wide newsletter contains up-to-date news on funding opportunities, conferences, events and training opportunities to enhance the careers of early career researchers.

The STEPS newsletter is published quarterly by a cross faculty Editorial Team, who also manage the STEPS social media presence:

• STEPS blog - http://manchestersteps.wordpress.com/
• Twitter feed - http://twitter.com/#!/manchestersteps
• Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/ManchesterSTEPS

Why become an Editor?

• Shape and report on postgraduate training and development opportunities
• Familiarise yourself with the deeper context of researcher development at the institutional and national level
• Raise your own profile
• Build a community voice for postgraduate researchers at Manchester
• Get excellent hands-on experience to develop your team work, negotiation and communication skills
• Add ‘Editorial experience’ to your CV

What does an Editor do?

• Work closely with other members of the Editorial Team (up to two postgraduate researchers from each Faculty plus one Faculty Researcher Developer and the central Coordinator) that undertakes all aspects of publication including: Generating ideas for content; Writing/commissioning articles; Editorial appraisal of submitted contributions; Proof reading; Laying out the first proof and liaising with the University’s Design Studio on matters of design and format
• Attend Editorial Team meetings (up to 6 per year of 2 hours duration)
• Positively promote the Newsletter in their Schools and Faculties
• Help to identify and attend promotional opportunities

Other considerations:

• Contribute to the STEPS blog, Twitter feed and Facebook Page
• It is estimated that each editor will need to contribute approx. 2 hours per month over and above the time need to attend editorial meetings
• It is expected that an editor will make a commitment of at least one year to the post, in this instance mid March 2012 – end of Feb 2013

If you are interested in applying for the role please submit an application, including a statement of why you are interested in becoming a STEPS editor, any relevant experience and the skills you would bring to the post, by 5pm Friday 9 March to Dr Mark Leech (mark.j.leech@manchester.ac.uk) to whom informal enquiries of interest can also be made.

Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed in the week commencing Monday 12 March 2012.

Publishing Workshops @ the JRUL

Publishing your PhD

Some tips to help you succeed

Many postgraduates want to publish their PhD or the findings from it. They often find this far more difficult than they ever expected. In this presentation, you will find out the different options you have to publish your work.

Publishing books and papers in academic journals is becoming increasingly important for all academics, especially those starting their careers. The process of submitting a book proposal, sending a paper to journal, understanding the review process and getting your work published is a mysterious one. Hopefully, this talk will unravel some of those mysteries and help you get your research out into the academic world.

Publishing in academic journals

In the academic world, publishing papers in academic journals is becoming increasingly important for all academics, especially those starting their careers. The process of submitting a paper to journal, understanding the peer review process and getting your paper accepted is a mysterious world. In this presentation, you will find out how to choose the best journal for your paper, how to prepare the perfect manuscript and find out the top ten reasons why your paper could be rejected.

To Book

These workshops can be booked via the Manchester Portal or on the Training Webpage of the John Rylands University Library website.

Using Diaries in Research – New Realities Toolkit

Using diaries in research with people with dementia

Ruth Bartlett, University of Southampton

This toolkit describes the use of written, photo and audio diary methods in mixed method research with people with dementia and considers how this approach affected the research process and findings. Using written and oral diaries allowed people more flexibility and control over their participation, as well as supporting recall. The toolkit discusses some of the practical aspects of using this approach, including how the method was implemented, and offers some useful advice for avoiding potential pitfalls.

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/morgancentre/realities/toolkits/diary/

The 12th Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference (SPARC)

The 12th SPARC (Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference) is taking place on the 30 and 31st May. We are inviting abstracts for 15 minute presentations, 5 minute ‘speed presentations’, and posters. We are also open to other forms of presentation relevant to creative, practice-led or applied research –  for example, exhibitions or screenings of visual or film work, readings of creative writing, performances, or demonstrations.

The conference is open to researchers in all disciplines and universities and is free to attend. SPARC is a great way of developing presentation skills, sharing ideas with other researchers, publicising research to new audiences, and getting feedback.

The closing date for abstracts is Friday 16 March 2012.

More details about the conference and how to submit are available on the website here: http://www.salford.ac.uk/research/sparc

Any queries, please contact the conference team on sparc@salford.ac.uk

Editorial Opportunities for the University’s STEPS Newsletter for PGR Students

Editorial Opportunities for the University’s STEPS Newsletter for PGR Students

STEPS is a high profile University-wide Newsletter focussing on researcher development essentials for postgraduate researchers.  It is written by postgraduate researchers for postgraduate researchers and contains up-to-date news on topics such as funding opportunities, conferences, events and opportunities to enhance research careers.

You can view the current edition of the STEPS Newsletter at: http://manchestersteps.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/steps_issue_21_final_singles_lr.pdf

The Newsletter is distributed to all postgraduate researchers and to all central training and service providers (such as Careers, Library and UMIP) and the University’s senior management.   An Editorial Team made up of postgraduate researchers recruited from each Faculty publishes it quarterly.   There is also an active STEPS blog and Twitter that complements the Newsletter.

The benefits of becoming an Editor:
 Shape and report on research staff training and development opportunities;
 Familiarise yourself with the deeper context of researcher development at the institutional and national level;
 Raise your own profile;
 Build a community voice for postgraduate researchers at Manchester;
 Get excellent hands-on experience to develop your team work, negotiation and communication skills;
 Add ‘Editorial experience’ to your CV

The expectations of an Editorial Team member are to:
 Work closely with other members of the Editorial Team (up to two postgraduate researchers from each Faculty plus one Faculty Researcher Developer and the central Coordinator) that undertakes all aspects of publication including:
o Generating ideas for content;
o Writing/commissioning articles;
o Editorial appraisal of submitted contributions;
o Proof reading;
o Laying out the first proof and liaising with the University’s Design Studio on matters of design and format;
 Attend Editorial Team meetings (up to 6 per year of 2 hours duration)
 Positively promote the Newsletter in their Schools & Faculties;
 Help to identify and attend promotional opportunities
 Contribute to the STEPS blog (http://manchestersteps.wordpress.com/) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/manchestersteps)
Other considerations:
 It is estimated that each editor will need to contribute approx. 2 hours per month over and above the time need to attend editorial meetings;
 It is expected that an editor will make a commitment of at least one year to the post, in this instance mid March 2012 – end of Feb 2013;
Interested?
Please submit an application, including a statement of why you are interested in becoming a STEPS editor, any relevant experience and the skills you would bring to the post, by midnight Monday 20th February to Dr Mark Leech, mark.j.leech@manchester.ac.uk, to whom informal enquires of interest can be made.
Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed in the week commencing Monday 27th February

Special Lecture – Professor Steve Jones

Professor Steve Jones ‘Incest & Folk-Dancing, two things to avoid’

Special Lecture: 13th March 2012, 5-6pm Lecture Theatre B, University Place.

Stephen Jones is a Welsh geneticist and was Head of the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London. His studies are conducted in the Galton Laboratory. He is also a television presenter and a prize-winning author on the subject of biology, especially evolution. He is one of the contemporary popular writers on evolution. In 1996 his writing won him the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize “for his numerous, wide ranging contributions to the public understanding of science in areas such as human evolution and variation, race, sex, inherited disease and genetic manipulation through his many broadcasts on radio and television, his lectures, popular science books, and his regular science column in The Daily Telegraph and contributions to other newspaper media”.

Limited places available, book online at: www.ls.manchester.ac.uk/pgrslecture

Academic Writing Tutorial Service

English language academic support programmes 

Academic writing tutorial service

The University Language Centre offers international students a one-to-one tutorial service to support them in their written academic work.  This service is available during term-time throughout the academic session and is free of charge to students.

How does the academic writing tutorial service operate?

1. Submit a sample piece of your writing by email (see below).  This can be a recent piece of coursework or any other piece of your academic work in any stage of its preparation.  It must be no more than 1,500 words in length but if it is, please indicate clearly which portion you wish to have considered.

2. Please bear in mind that we require at least one week’s notice of each tutorial appointment so allow yourself plenty of time if you are working to a submission deadline.

3. You will receive an email offering you a choice of appointment times.  At this point, you will be asked for information about your academic career.  Your choice of appointment time will not be confirmed until we have received this information.

4. When an appointment time is agreed, you will receive confirmation by email.

5. If you find that you have to cancel your appointment, please let us know immediately so that the appointment slot can be allocated to another student.  Any failure to attend an appointment without informing us may result in your being denied a tutorial opportunity in the future.

Please note that this is not a proof-reading or correction service and that the University Language Centre does not provide such a service.

Where will I have my tutorial?

You have the option of being seen in Sackville Street Building or Samuel Alexander Building, whichever is most convenient for you.  You will be told where your tutor will meet you when your appointment is confirmed.

How do I book an appointment?

Submit your writing sample with your student ID number to Rachel Sinnott by email (Rachel.sinnott@manchester.ac.uk).  PLEASE QUOTE YOUR STUDENT ID NUMBER IN ALL CORRESPONDENCE.  Ring 0161 275 3426 if you need further information.

Academic Phrasebank   If you are looking for online help with your academic writing, go to www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk.  The Academic Phrasebank exists to help academic writers like you so please feel free to make use of it in your work.

Training Courses in Computational Research

IT Services is running a series of courses aimed at staff and postgraduates undertaking or interested in computational research. The courses are staged to lead you from understanding basic principles such as accessing high performance computing facilities to programming using parallel languages/extensions. Understanding the masses of data we collect is also covered via a selection of visualization courses.

Introductory Courses

These require no prior knowledge other than how to use a modern PC.

• Introduction to UNIX Tue 7 Feb
• Introduction to Research Computing Thu 9 Feb (half day)
• Introduction to FORTRAN Wed 15 Feb
• Programming Techniques for Research Computing Thu 23 Feb
• Introduction to Scientific Visualization Thu 1 Mar

Intermediate Courses

These generally require some knowledge of FORTRAN or C, and UNIX or Linux.

• Parallel Computing using the Message Passing Interface MPI Wed 29 Feb
• High Throughput Computing using Condor Thu 8 Mar
• Shared Memory & Multicore Programming with OpenMP Tue 13 Mar
• Introduction to OpenCL Tue 27 Mar
• Introduction to Avizo Tue 3 Apr

For more information on course contents and how to apply, please visit the course web site:

http://www.rcs.manchester.ac.uk/courses

Communicating Your Research: Younger Audiences, Outreach & Public Engagement

“Communicating your research: younger audiences, outreach and public engagement” January 26^th 2012, 1-4pm.

This workshop will explore and share experiences of communicating Arts and Humanities research to different audiences, including outreach and community projects, and to younger participants.  With tips on how to communicate complex ideas and research, as well as practical ways of making research topics more engaging, the workshop includes speakers from an arts and humanities background at a variety of university career-stages (from professorial to current PhD researchers).  All are welcome, whether you are new to communicating your research or have experiences to share. The workshop is free of charge, however booking is essential as places are limited. To reserve a place, please email Karina.croucher@manchester.ac.uk with your name and contact details, subject area, level of study and any needs and requirements.

Realities Research Methods Toolkits

Realities toolkit 17: Using participatory visual methods (Naomi Richards)

This toolkit shares insights from the ESRC ‘Representing Self – Representing Ageing’ project which used a variety of visual participatory methods: art therapy; photo therapy and community arts to research women’s experiences of ageing. Realities toolkits are no-nonsense documents about the practical side of doing social research.

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/morgancentre/realities/toolkits/participatory-visual/

Realities toolkit 16: Using self-interviews (Nicola Allett, Emily Keightley and Michael Pickering)

This toolkit describes the use of self-interviewing as one of the research methods used in the “Media of Remembering” project. The method involved participants using a small digital audio recorder to talk in their own time about their lives. The research team developed this method to give participants more opportunity to pause and reflect on the research topic, which in turn produced rich, useful data.

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/morgancentre/realities/toolkits/self-interviews/