Induction Programme for Postgraduate Research Students 2011

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Induction Programme for Postgraduate Research Students26 September 30 September 2011

RESEARCH STUDENT INDUCTION 2011Monday 26 September Friday 30th September

Monday, 26 September

10.00am-11.10amRoom NAB LG02New AcademicBuilding

Welcome and introduction to postgraduate research

Professor Les Back, Ms Lesley Hewings,

An overview of postgraduate research programmes; of trainingopportunities; and the College regulations and procedures that you

will need to know.

Followed by:

Vanessa Freeman, Careers Adviser for PhD studentsA brief introduction to the help we provide and information about thenew PhD careers workshops.

James HaywoodPresident, Goldsmiths Student Union

An introduction to the Student Union.

11.10am-11.30 BREAK

11.30am-1.00pmRoom NAB LG02New Academic

Building

Dancing and Wrestling with Scholarship

Professor Les Back

This session explores the major organisational and planning aspects ofa research degree including organising your time, approachingreading, generic approaches to research, structuring a thesis andcommon pitfalls.

The session will introduce you to the main stages of doctoral research,and the kinds of activities, objectives and difficulties that areencountered at each stage. After an overview of the main phases of theresearch, from the definition of the research question to the writing,submission and viva examination, the session will focus on the firstphase of the research. We will look at research strategies, the role ofliterature, the need for project planning and the establishing of afeasible timescale and milestones, and the kinds of difficulties likely to

arise and ways of addressing them. We will also discuss how toorganise your reading and note taking now that you will be working

with a much greater range and quantity of literature than at earlierstages in your academic career. By the end of the session you shouldhave a clear grasp of the overall structure and timescale of thedevelopment of a doctoral thesis and the main phases, and be able tomake plans for the management of your research for the first year inthe light of this overall structure.


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1.00pm-3.00pm LUNCH

3.00pm-5.00pm Departmental Activities/BREAK


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Tuesday, 27 September

10.00am-12.00pmRoom RHB 342Richard HoggartBuilding

Becoming part of the Goldsmiths research community

Mary Claire Halvorson

12.00pm-1.30pm LUNCH

1.30pm-3.00pmSmall Hall, CinemaRichard HoggartBuilding

The ethical and political dimensions of research

Professor Catherine Alexander

3.00pm-3.30pm BREAK

3.30pm-

5.00pm

Small Hall, Cinema

Richard Hoggart

Building

Enhanced Library Services and Resources for ResearchStudents

Dr Jacqueline Cooke, Ms Sally Houston and Ms Elizabeth Williams


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Wednesday, 28 September

10.00am-12.30pmRoom NAB LG01New Academic

Building

The quality and nature of PhD supervision

Professor Les Back

This session will introduce you to various issues around supervision h0w it is organised, what support to expect, how to get the feedback.It also explores what qualities make for a good supervisor but equally

what qualities make for a good doctoral student.

12.30pm-2.00pmLUNCH

2.00pm-5.00pmRoom NAB LG01

New AcademicBuilding

Software for research

MrDuncan Branley, IT Services

This session will be an extended demonstration of most of the ITcomponents of the programme to whet your appetite. The session willinclude finding information and bibliographic references on the web,using the College email system and discussion lists, analysing the datausing NVivo, organising the references using EndNote, writing a paperusing Wordand preparing a presentation using PowerPoint.

It will enable you to make informed decisions about which IT coursesyou enrol on during your first year. The course-booking system will beshown too.


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Thursday, 29 September

10.00am-12.00pm

Room RHB 137Richard HoggartBuilding

Room NAB LG01New AcademicBuilding


Research Design: Introduction

Arts and Humanities

Dr Michael Simpson

This session is devoted to central issues in the construction andplanning of a research project in subjects commonly understood as the

Arts and Humanities. We shall consider the essential components of aresearch dissertation, including its thesis (proposition), its scope, itscorpus, its approach or method, and its structure, along with thechallenges posed by the need for coherent evidence-based exposition.

Social Sciences

Professor Les Back

The research questions what you are trying to find out isfundamental to research design. Before you can work out how to goabout your research, you need to be clear about what (broadly) you aretrying to find out. In this session we will focus on how to develop a setof research questions out of the broad area of interest with which moststudents initially come to doctoral research. We will consider howresearch questions are constructed, how they change over time andhow to adapt to and reformulate you project as it evolves. In the

session we will do a series of writing exercise to help you think aboutthe focus of your project, defining aims and objectives and theimportance of cultivating the skill of making leaps of imagination.

Practice-Based

Professor Janis Jefferies, Dr Gavin Butt and Dr Andrea Phillips

One of the fastest growth areas in the arts and humanities is practiceresearch. In practice research, creative practice, for example, in themaking of visual, sonic, performative, conceptual or installation works

constitutes the principal method and outcome of the research. Are theoutcomes any different for artists specialising in net art, multimedia,and electronic sounds?


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Thursday, 29 SeptemberCont/.

Questions to be explored include:

What do we mean by research when we mean practice research (and whenwe do not)?

What impact has computer-mediated culture had on practice research and

within a higher education environment?

Can the traditional expectations and expectations of academic research beapplied to practice, and, if not, how they are evaluated?

What is the role of discourse in practice research (must the results of practicealways be made explicit)?

Can practice research be expected to renew or erode traditional academicresearch?

What changes might practice research require in the understanding of ideaslike originality, discovery, innovation and invention?

Might research end up formalising and therefore restraining artistic practice?

Afternoon Departmental Induction

5.30pm-8.00pmStaff Dining RoomRichard HoggartBuilding

Induction Week Reception

New research students will have the opportunity to meet the Pro-Wardens, Heads of Department and Departmental PostgraduateOfficers as well as supervisors.


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Friday, 30 September

10.00am-12.00pm


Introduction to learning and teaching in higher education

Mary Claire Halvorson

12.00pm-1.30pm LUNCH

1.30pm-

2.30pm

Room RHB 309

Richard Hoggart

Building

Information session for Research Council funded students

Lesley Hewings

This session is for students who have been awarded AHRC or ESRCstudentships. The session will include an overview of ResearchCouncil requirements and will provide Research Council students withan opportunity to raise any queries they may have.

Documents

Induction Programme for Postgraduate Research Students 2011