Reading Time: < 1 minute The Library has a new subscription to Scite – an online platform to help students discover and evaluate research papers. Scite is a Brooklyn based start-up, funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.  Scite’s Smart Citations feature helps you know more about the papers or sources you are working with and gives you some context to the number of citations a publication you’re using has received. It use a deep learning model that ..read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute Could you define your research in a single image? Are you up for the challenge of trying? Once again, master’s students are invited to enter the Image competition in the University’s Research Summer Showcase so  you can give it a go! The showcase is an annual event that allows students to present their research in different ways and  offers a really supportive environment to take your first steps into presenting your work. This years event is being held on Thursday 15th June 2023. So whether you’re thinking of pursuing your research to PhD level or you’d j ..read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes Could you reduce your 80,000 word thesis to 180 seconds to try and win £500 Once again the University of Manchester will be taking part in the national Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition in 2023. Postgraduate Researchers from across the University are invited to present a compelling spoken presentation on their research topic and its significance in just three minutes only using one static PowerPoint slide. In the UK, the 3MT national competition final is hosted by Vitae. Individual UK universities run their own competitions and put forward one winner per p ..read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute Our researcher development training programme continues with a new programme of workshops to support researchers at all stages of their research career. Workshops this semester include Writing Retreats, Understanding Open Access, Research Data Management, Publishing your Research (with guest hosts from Manchester University Press) and Raising your Research Profile.  Postgraduate Researchers can also draw on our online resources covering Mindfulness for PG Research, Research Data Explained, How to Get Published in Journals and maximizing the profile of your next ..read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes Conferences and other events throughout your time as a PhD student can be very exciting and bring lots of new opportunities. You might get to visit another region or country, make lifelong colleagues and friends, get some expert feedback on your work, or maybe even score your dream job opportunity. You are hopefully also going to get some great advice and insight from your supervisors. There really is a lot to get out of research related events, even if you are not presenting. It is also important to acknowledge, however, just how tiring and draining events can be on yo ..read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes Attending events as part of your research is a great way to start getting feedback on your work, but equally opens you up to critique and perhaps some painful comments. Naturally this will happen, and this does not always mean you are doing something the ‘wrong’ way, but it can make your body feel like it is under attack. After having been through what I consider to be a brutal but very valuable feedback session at a doctoral seminar, I wanted to share a few tips and things that I have learnt to keep in mind for the future. Receiving criticism  Receiving criticism ..read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute We recently updated you on the new Researcher Development team. This week, we’re highlighting just some of the upcoming researcher development workshops available during February and March to help you plan your development schedule and see just what is out there to help you. 07 Feb 2022 11:00-12:00 7 Steps to Raising your Research Profile Book 10 Feb 2022 12:00-13:00 Career Conversations Lunch Hour Book 11 Feb 2022 10:00-12:00 Resilience for PGRs: Managing the Challenges of Research Book 17 Feb 2022 14:00-15:30 An Introduction to Publishing your Research (h ..read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes Your postgraduate research journey is about more than your thesis; developing personal and professional skills, to complement your project specific training, is an important part of being a postgraduate researcher. As outlined in the PGR Professional and Career Training and Development – Statement of Expectations the University recommends that you spend at least 10 days a year on your development. A new Researcher Development team has been put in place to assist you in identifying immediate, and future, aims and objectives using the national Vitae Researcher D ..read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute No matter what your first language is, academic English can be difficult to get your head around, especially as you advance further in academia.  So, if you do think you could use a bit of support, don’t worry – the University Language Centre’s Academic Success programme is here to help! There are Faculty-specific workshops in academic writing and grammar as well as a host of online resources to help you, whatever your starting point. For PhD students, there is also a one to one tutorial service where an experienced academic writing tutor will give you specific ..read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes Writing up can be a long and stressful process, but how do you stay productive day after day? We know it can be frustrating keeping up your writing momentum, so here are a few tips to help: 1.   Pomodoro anyone? No, not the pasta – but the time management technique. The Pomodoro technique is designed to help you focus on a single task and take regular breaks. Although not for everyone, it’s worth looking into as a way of increasing your productivity when it comes to writing. Developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s, the process is simple. You work for 25 mi ..read more