The weather forecast is not great, so we have initiated our rain plan! The BBQ will go ahead, now at East Slope Bar, rather than Falmer Bar. East Slope bar will be closed to the public for the afternoon, and the premises entirely used for our BBQ! Plenty of inside space should it be required, and a covered outdoor cooking area – what’s not to like?

Drinks Vouchers exchange rate

Your drinks vouchers can be used at both bars tomorrow, and will also be accepted in Falmer Bar tomorrow evening should you wish to use them there for the Cocktail night.

Pool your vouchers for more! Get together with pals, and for 5 x drinks vouchers you can get either a bottle or Cava or two jugs of Pimm’s. Bargain.

 The project will provide individually-tailored training that addresses the challenges of sharing archival material with non-specialist audiences. Training will be delivered by public, private and third sector partners via a workshop event at UEA London on 1-2 November 2013 and an online mentorship network.

 After the Archive is funded by the AHRC and managed by an interdisciplinary committee of UEA and UoS PhD students on behalf of CHASE.

Application

We welcome applications from doctoral students and early career researchers who will have by the date of the workshop recently undertaken archival research and are able to commit to online involvement in the programme until May 2014.

Application deadline: 31st May 2013.

To apply and for further information visit: http://afterthearchive.tk/

Humanities in Human Rights is designed for postgraduate and early career researchers in the arts, humanities and social sciences who are committed to understanding the politics of humanity and human rights today.
Funded by the AHRC, led by Prof. Lyndsey Stonebridge (UEA) and Prof. Les Back (Goldsmiths) the programme opens in October 2013 with a residential weekend taught by CHASE faculty, followed by topic specific work-shops and a showcase of research in London.

Application
Applications are welcome from scholars in the humanities, arts and social sciences currently working on human rights and relat-ed fields who are able to participate in the programme across the year. Application deadline: 15 June 2013.
Successful applicants will receive a stipend to support travel and accommodation.

Apply online:

http://www.uea.ac.uk/hum/gradschool/training/chase/humanities-in-human-rights

SAGE Research Hive Scholarships 2013-14

Illustration by Jaime Huxtable, Brighton

The Library’s Research Hive is a space dedicated for use by the research community at Sussex, open exclusively to doctoral researchers and academic staff. The Library, in partnership with the Doctoral School, is offering three SAGE Research Hive Scholarships to support the Research Hive and the needs of the research community at Sussex. Each scholarship attracts a fixed bursary of £3,000 for a ten-month duration: from September 2013 to the end of June 2014.

The scholarship holders will be required to contribute on average 25 hours per month for the duration of the scholarship period to provide support for the Research Hive. These hours will be flexible and dependent on any planned events. Some of this time will be spent on-site in the Hive at times to be agreed, but the Scholars will also be expected to spend time in Schools and Departments finding out about the needs of the research community at Sussex and actively promoting the Hive. The Scholars will need to work together effectively and flexibly as a self-managing team, including regular contact by email/other social media and monthly face-to-face meetings. The role will include some evening and weekend working, with emphasis on raising awareness of the Research Hive and the benefits it has to offer; generating ideas and arranging events to support the research community; and evaluating the facility.

These scholarships will provide an ideal opportunity for doctoral researchers to develop professional skills in a number of areas including: organising events; marketing; communication; project management.  The scholarship holders will be able to improve and expand their professional research networks, and to gain valuable insight and knowledge of issues affecting researchers at all stages of their careers. There will also be an opportunity to find out more about academic publishing and develop links with SAGE.

How to apply

Read the Hive Scholar specification 2013-14.

The scholarships are open to Sussex doctoral researchers who are currently registered and intend to stay registered until June 2014. Applications should take the form of a statement clearly outlining how you meet the criteria listed in the person specification, together with a short CV, and be sent tolibrary.researchsupport@sussex.ac.uk.

The closing date for applications is Thursday 6^th June, and interviews will be held on Thursday 20^th and Friday 28^th June. Please specify if you are unable to make one of these dates in your application.  Although the scholarship will not begin until September, the successful candidates will ideally be able to meet informally during July. For an informal discussion about the scholarships, please contact Joanna Ball, Academic Services Manager (j.e.ball@sussex.ac.uk) or Helen Webb, Research Support Supervisor (h.webb@sussex.ac.uk).

A big thank you to all of those who completed the recent Postgraduate Research Experience Survey which closed last week. A total of 472 doctoral researchers completed the survey, around 34% of the overall population . The data will be analysed over the summer, and a report considered at the Doctoral School Committee meeting (which is chaired by the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research, and involves all School Directors of Doctoral Studies) in the early autumn term.

If you still need to collect your voucher please come and find us in room 208 sorry, that’s room 238! of Essex House (top floor). We have also received over £100 in donations for the Alumni Hardship and Opportunity Fund.

Naturejobs

The event is focused on providing career opportunities for young, science based researchers.

• FREE exhibition

• 50+ employers expected

• Networking opportunities

• Insightful conference sessions • In-depth company workshops • One on one CV reviews

Please refer to the event website for more details: http://www.nature.com/natureconferences/njce2013/index.html

Wed 22 May, 10:00 – 15:15
Lewes Subud Centre, Station Street, Lewes BN7 2DB

In brief, it promises to be a really worthwhile and enjoyable day for anyone interested in the psychological, emotional and behavioural aspects of eating – and food education, research and activism.  The focus of the workshop will be on directly experiencing mindful eating practices and exploring them together.

Explore how mindfulness meditation and cognitive therapy can inform food research, education and activism

Programme

• 10.00 Arrival and refreshments
• 10.30 Welcome and warm up
• 10.50 Introduction to mindfulness
• 11.30 Chocolate meditation
• 12.00 Body scan and mindful movement
• 12.30 Silent lunch gathering
• 1.15 Exploring foods we dislike
• 1.50 Mindful eating in pairs
• 2.20-2.50 Exploring applications to our own work
• 2.50-3.15 Check out and evaluation

Download the Tasting Mindfulness 22-05-13 poster, or take a look at out facebook page.

Tickets are £6 and available from our page on eventbrite

Many thanks,
Rachael

Rachael Durrant, MA Cantab, MA SDA
Doctoral Researcher (Sustainable Lifestyles)
SPRU (Science and Technology Policy Research)
University of Sussex Freeman Centre,

Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES): Have your say and receive a £5 food voucher  (or donate £5 to the Alumni Hardship and Opportunity Fund)

The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey gives you a chance to share your views on what it’s like to do a research degree at Sussex. The survey asks you about things like supervision, resources, research culture, progress and assessment, responsibilities, research skills, professional development, opportunities and overall experience.

PRES is the only national survey of postgraduate research students and so the only way for us to compare how we are doing against the national average, and to make changes that will improve your experience in the future.

How do I take part?

You can complete the survey anonymously at: www.sussex.ac.uk/doctoralschool/internal/pres

What happens to the results?

Survey results will be disseminated to the Doctoral School Committee (whose remit is to oversee the delivery of provision for postgraduate research students and postdoctoral research staff, including their educational and career development) and Directors of Doctoral Studies within each School. Collective responses about the need for improvement will help the university to work to make things better.

Who should I contact for further information?

Helen Hampson, Researcher Development Officer (TLDU) is coordinating the survey. Please contact her for further information at H.Hampson@sussex.ac.uk.

The conference programme is now live, and includes games designer Tassos Stevens (Papa Sangre), Steve Benford from the Mixed Reality Lab, Judith Good and Hugo Critchley from University of Sussex, Alessandro Vinciarelli in Social Signal Processing, Tony Churnside from BBC Research & Development, funding consultants from AHRC and EPSRC, and many more. We are looking forward to a very exciting forum for interaction and engagement research, and hope you have already registered – it is a snip at £25 for students, £40 for faculty/professionals.

The full list of modules is as follows:

Technical Programs and Software

• Building a website with WordPress
• Building your academic web presence
• Document preparation with LaTeX
• Introduction to UNIX
• Managing your research with Evernote
• Qualitative data analysis with NVivo
• Using Mendeley to manage your references
• Using Scrivener to write your thesis
• Using Zotero at Sussex

Writing Skills and Support

• Getting your book published
• Writing an article
• Writing tips for researchers (COMING SOON)
• Writing your thesis (COMING SOON)

Research Skills

• Writing a literature review
• Preparing for your Viva

Communication and Presentation Skills

• Better presentations
• Effective communication

Personal Development

• Preparing for a conference
• Time and project management

The Researcher Development Programme also offers a number of Resources and Videos on a wide variety of topics to help you with your doctoral research. These include short films on giving good presentations, preparing for the viva, improving your writing and tips for becoming a successful research student.

Visit the Researcher Development E-Learning site on Study Direct to see all the E-Learning modules and videos that are on offer. Further modules are being developed, so if you would like to suggest a topic or provide any feedback please contact us at researcher-development@sussex.ac.uk.