UPDATES
For the latest general advice, please check the latest news on our dedicated coronavirus website( https://coronavirus.leeds.ac.uk/ ) and PGR FAQs( https://coronavirus.leeds.ac.uk/student-advice/postgraduate-researcher-faqs/ ). There is also an archive of the coronavirus updates sent to students( https://coronavirus.leeds.ac.uk/student-advice/student-communications/ ).
New Virtual Windows Desktop IT is launching a new Virtual Windows Desktop. This will initially give you access to M and N Drives and any websites that are normally only available on campus (eg Library resources). The service is being developed rapidly, and more applications will be added over the next few weeks. If you have a staff account, you will already have access to this; if you have a student account you will have access in the next few days. This will eventually be a replacement for Desktop Anywhere. Find out how to get started on the IT website
Please keep in touch with your supervisor/s and continue to maintain your GRAD record. We are asking PGRs whose work is affected by the current circumstances in any way (e.g. lack of access to facilities, inability to carry out fieldwork, caring duties, etc.) to document this in a ‘supervision meeting’ record on GRAD so that your supervisors are aware and so that we can take this into account should we need to in future. If your circumstances change in any way, or you have any concerns, please contact your Graduate School( http://www.leeds.ac.uk/info/130206/applying/124/graduate_school_contacts ) – all teams are working from home but still available on emails.
Please do get in touch with the Doctoral College( doctoralcollege@leeds.ac.uk ) if there is anything more that you need to know.
Your safety and wellbeing are our priority.
DOCTORAL COLLEGE GOOD NEWS
We want to celebrate your successes, big or small. Please send any good news to Doctoral College( doctoralcollege@leeds.ac.uk ).
Piers Sellers prize for exceptional PhD research Two PGRs have been named winners of the Piers Sellers prize for exceptional PhD research. The 2020 recipients are Oliver Grasham from the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Bioenergy and Harriet Thew from the School of Earth and Environment. Both prize winners will deliver presentations at the virtual award event( https://climate.leeds.ac.uk/events/piers-sellers-prize-2020/ ) on Wednesday 10 June.
Oliver Grasham researches novel ways to integrate carbon intensive waste processes with the production of sustainable energy and biofuels. He was nominated for the Piers Sellers PhD prize by his supervisor Dr Valerie Dupont, from the School of Chemical and Process Engineering, after conducting his research as part of the Bioenergy Centre for Doctoral Training.
Harriet Thew is part of the Sustainability Research Institute. Her research is focused on youth participation in and around the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. She was nominated for the Piers Sellers PhD prize by her supervisors Dr Lucie Middlemiss and Professor Jouni Paavola, who are both from the School of Earth and Environment. More about the prize and the winners’ research( https://climate.leeds.ac.uk/news/piers-sellers-prize-2020-winners-announced/ ).
Hackathon success Nazia Ahmed and Natalie Chaddock from the MRC DiMeN DTP won first prize at the annual Hackmed event, a national hackathon based around medicine and technology and held this year in Sheffield. Nazia said:
“I entered my first ever Hackathon (at Hackmed) last March at University of Sheffield and won first prize. So this year I returned to the Hackathon called Hackmed, which is a medical themed Hackathon and we created an app which rapidly analyses genomic data. I’m a first year bioinformatics and genomics student at the Faculty of Medicine and Health, funded by the MRC. We focused on the covid theme, using the latest genomic data which was released by the team at Sheffield. We went in as a team of two first year female bioinformatics students, we didn’t think we could do it but we won first prize!
I just want to say that, it can be quite scary to enter these Hackathon competitions as they are so competitive and full of brilliant people from all disciplines around the country. But I am so glad that we did enter, because it forces you to think outside the box and work under pressure to create something novel within the space of a weekend! It’s inspired me to start my own Hackathon society at the University of Leeds! I’ve already got the ball rolling by sending off a form to the student’s union, fingers crossed! And hopefully next year Leeds will be holding its own medical themed Hackathon!” More about the Hackathon themes( http://hackmed.uk/ ) and details of the winning work( https://www.dimen.org.uk/news/hackmed-win ).
LinkedIn Learning Competition Winner Congratulations to Harrison Johnson-Evans who has won £100 love2shop voucher for winning the LinkedIn Learning competition. Harrison managed to complete an impressive number of videos to win the competition. Harrison commented "My project is heavily lab-based so when working from home started, I decided to spend a couple of hours every day learning new skills on LinkedIn learning. I’ve learned a few new tricks with excel, word and PowerPoint, while also teaching myself to use MatLab and Python". LinkedIn Learning has become a popular resource over the recent weeks and usage has increased significantly. If you haven't had a look yet, find out more how you can access your free account at https://it.leeds.ac.uk/linkedin.
UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Research Nights Sadly we are not able to run our usual Research Nights, but we didn’t want it to stop. So in lieu of regular Research Nights taking place in Pyramid in LUU, we would like to invite you to join us for the monthly #ResearchNightsIn coming soon to Twitter, showcasing some of the fascinating research being conducted by you! If you would like to take part by creating a short video to explain your research or a fun fact from your area, just email doctoralcollege@leeds.ac.uk to express your interest. It’s a great opportunity to test the waters and develop skills in online engagement.
British Science Association Community Buddy scheme The BSA are looking for researchers to help us extend our community engagement programme by buddying up with community organisers in their local area, could you help? For the last five years, the Association has been building a solid community engagement programme( https://www.britishscienceassociation.org/community-engagement ) through a series of grants, workshops and leadership schemes. This includes supporting community organisers to develop and design science engagement that is relevant and responsive to their community’s needs; those communities range from new arrivals to the UK and children with disabilities to people living in rural areas and adults accessing drug recovery services. From speaking to community organisers, they rarely have access to researchers. The appetite to work collaboratively is there, and people are looking for science role models that live locally that they can build into their engagement activities. More info and how to get involved( https://www.britishscienceassociation.org/blog/could-you-be-a-community-buddy ).
UK-Canada research exchange scheme for Research Council PGRs A new and exciting opportunity for UKRI and Canadian doctoral students to participate in a UK-Canada research exchange scheme. Supported by UKRI and Mitacs, up to 200 UK doctoral candidates will have the opportunity to develop into global citizens, with international competencies, during 12-week research placements in Canadian universities; a similar number of Canadian students will visit UK universities. More info and how to apply( https://www.ukri.org/research/international/international-funding-opportunities/uk-canada-globalink-doctoral-exchange-scheme/ ).
ESRC Festival of Social Science, 7-15th November 2020 The festival is a national celebration of the social sciences. The ESRC Impact Acceleration Account is looking to support a number of Public Engagement events for the 2020 programme and wanted to let you know about the opportunity ahead of the official call which we expect soon.
Aims of the Festival: •encourage, support and create the opportunity for social science researchers to engage with non-academic audiences; •promote and increase awareness of the social sciences and ESRC's research; •promote and increase awareness of the contributions the social sciences make to the wellbeing and the economy of the UK society; •enable the public to engage with social science research; •engage with teachers and young people and to raise their awareness of the social sciences.
Events must: •be held during the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2020; •fit with the aims and objectives of the Festival (above); •feature social science (ideally with a social scientist involved in the event); •be free to attend; •not be aimed primarily at academic audiences.
Past event holders have included ESRC funded grant holders, postgraduate students and those working in ESRC funded investments as well as Non-ESRC funded social scientists.
In the previous year’s applicants could apply directly to the ESRC, now all University of Leeds applications must be coordinated via the recently awarded ESRC Impact Acceleration Account. The ESRC IAA will be supporting 10 – 12 events this year, the maximum event award will be £1k, however if justification is provided for a more ambitious event, funds over £1k can be awarded with justification. If you are interested in finding out more or discussing a possible event, please do get in touch with Camilla McCartney (Leeds Social Sciences Institute Engagement Officer) c.j.mccartney@leeds.ac.uk
Be Curious Virtual Pilot Be Curious( http://www.leeds.ac.uk/info/4000/around_campus/460/be_curious_festival-about_leeds_and_yorkshire ) may have been rescheduled for 10 October, but we still want to engage people in the world leading research that goes on at the University of Leeds. With this in mind, we’re going virtual! We’re gathering video content (<2mins each) for a demonstration week and question week that will run via Twitter. We’re also collecting arts and crafts resources for children to try/make/experience at home, which will be hosted on the Be Curious website. Want to get involved? We welcome contributions from all areas of research, whether you’re a Be Curious stall holder or not. Just email peteam@leeds.ac.uk to let us know you’re interested. Stay curious and keep an eye on Twitter( https://twitter.com/UniLeedsEngage ) for our virtual debut.
WELLBEING AND COMMUNITY
LUU Wellbeing update The Student Union building has closed, but the team are working hard to continue to provide support to all students. You can see updates and access their resources on the dedicated LUU Coronavirus site( https://www.luu.org.uk/student-help-support/coronavirus-covid-19-were-still-here-to-help-students/ ). The student exec have also set up the 'LUU Covid-19 Community'( https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedsstudentcommunitygroup ) group on Facebook - a group for the students of Leeds to come together during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s an excellent mix of supportive resources and pet photos. Your Student Reps( https://www.luu.org.uk/representation/find-your-school-rep/postgraduate-researchers/ ) are also here to help with any concerns.
LUU Postgraduate Book Club LUU is pleased to launch a new fortnightly book club event. The group will meet virtually, every two weeks on a Wednesday at 6pm. Book selections are: 6 May: ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ - Bernardine Evaristo (personal recommendation: you can buy this from a new local bookshop, the Bookish Type( https://thebookishtype.co.uk/collections/fiction/products/girl-woman-other-by-bernardine-evaristo ) – they’re great and are delivering across Leeds) 20 May: ‘Lanny’ - Max Porter 3 June: ‘The Beekeeper of Aleppo’ - Christy Lefteri 17 June: ‘Norwegian Wood’- Haruki Murakami Email s.arboshe@leeds.ac.uk to get involved
LUU Health & Wellbeing Project - 'Dose of Happy' Newsletter To keep everyone's spirits up, the Health & Wellbeing team will be sending out a weekly newsletter. As well as blogs, mini podcasts and other online resources, we'll be converting some of our workshops to online content. Check out the latest edition( https://mailchi.mp/07640585dc7c/pets-of-luu-4778844 ) and subscribe( http://eepurl.com/gXgedD ).
RESEARCH SKILLS AND CAREERS
Library Research Support Team The Library Research Support Team are still here to support PGRs and the best way to contact them is to email research@library.leeds.ac.uk. More information about how the team can support you( https://library.leeds.ac.uk/info/1600/about/149/meet_the_teams/2 ).The team are now running all their workshops as online webinars. More information or Book online workshop( https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/university-library-10641701089 ).
‘Working with Your Supervisor’ This new online course in the Leeds Doctoral College organisation in Minerva( https://minerva.leeds.ac.uk/webapps/login/?new_loc=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2FcourseMain%3Fcourse_id%3D_474527_1 ) aims to help you to continuously develop an effective working relationship with you supervisor.
The resource covers:
•The responsibilities of a PGR supervisor and a PGR;
•Reflection on your professional relationship with your supervisor;
•Formulating approaches to developing and maintain an effective professional working relationship with your supervisors and others.
And we hope to help you:
•Make the most of your supervisor meetings through planning and preparation
•Develop strategies for dealing with current challenges or anticipating future ones.
We would also very much appreciate your feedback on this new resource, so please do fill in the feedback form if you can!
AstraZeneca Recruiting 50 Postdocs Webinar 4 & 5 May AstraZenecca are holding webinars on Monday and Tuesday next week to discuss the AstraZeneca Postdoc Programme. They are still recruiting; interviews will be held remotely with flexible start times so these positions are suitable for someone who is completing their PhD at some point this year, or who has been a postdoc in academia and is looking for a second postdoc in industry. The webinar will introduce you to their Postdoc followed by a Q&A session. More details of the vacancies( https://careers.astrazeneca.com/postdocs-astrazeneca ). Register in advance for webinar or sign in on the day - 4 May Webinar (1pm)( https://astrazeneca.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RaWPcXMRTFSz5-0R57tQQg ) or 5 May Webinar (2pm)( https://astrazeneca.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6feDKXu1TN2HjL0C0bbXfA ).
HELP WANTED
Vitae survey: the impact of COVID-19 on the working lives of doctoral researchers SMaRteN, in partnership with Vitae( http://www.vitae.ac.uk/ ), is conducting research into the impact of COVID-19 on the working lives of doctoral researchers and research staff. Vitae is a non-profit programme supporting the professional and career development of researchers.
Covid-19 and the associated lock down has caused substantive disruption to the study and work of doctoral students and researchers in universities. The response to the pandemic has varied across universities and research funders. SMaRteN and Vitae aim to develop a national picture for how doctoral researchers and research staff have been affected by the pandemic. Survey closes on 3 May Complete the survey( https://www.smarten.org.uk/covid-19-study.html ).
Doing Good Leeds Voluntary Action Leeds are co-ordinating the city-wide volunteering effort to respond to the Coronavirus situation, and all of the activity and resources are listed on the Doing Good Leeds site. If you are healthy and low-risk, you can register as a Community Care Volunteer( https://doinggoodleeds.org.uk/covid-19-care-volunteering.html ) and help in your community; they are particularly seeking volunteers with DBS checks in place. If you need assistance they also have a directory of organisations( https://data.val.org.uk/organisation-directory ) offering support.
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter( https://twitter.com/LeedsDocCollege ) and Facebook( https://www.facebook.com/LeedsDoctoralCollege/ ) and watch out for announcements on Minerva( https://minerva.leeds.ac.uk/ ) to keep up with future developments and events!
Best wishes,
Professor Claire Honess Dean of the Doctoral College doctoralcollege@leeds.ac.uk http://www.leeds.ac.uk/doctoralcollege