6 Things to get you started...
GETTING STARTED AT MANCHESTER AS A POSTRGRADUATE RESEARCHER
Welcome to The University of Manchester. We want you to get the very best out of your time here and hope that the following suggestions will help you to get settled in to your new role.
1 Check out the Crucial Guide for Postgraduates
Other things you may need to know:
→ Graduate Development Programme
Top tips from researchers:
"Plan your time carefully - if you work steadily for the duration of your degree you (hopefully) won't have to work ridiculously long hours in your final year. Make a file and note all the papers you read in it. This will make referencing them easier when you write your thesis."
"Be flexible enough to change the topic if you feel from your initial literature review that there’s not much room for contribution in the field, or that you don’t find it interesting for whatever reason. The 'start' is the best time to do that, later on would be too late and costly. Establish good relationship with postdocs and older PhD students, they will often be your first point of call."
Essential advice, information and guidance. The Crucial Guide provides information on the wide range of support services available to you as postgraduate student at The University of Manchester. Includes information on registration, student cards, setting up your IT account, academic life, well being, and finances.
2 Find out who's who in your School
Meet your School Postgraduate Administrator, collect a copy of your programme handbook, attend your School's induction programme, and find out about any health and safety training requirements.
3 Get to know your Supervisor
Help to develop a successful professional relationship from the start by discussing responsibilities and expectations. Discuss the frequency and nature of your meetings and look at the reporting and recording mechanisms you would like to put into place to ensure that you maintain good communication during your degree.
4 Find out who's who in the Faculty and across the University
Come along to the Faculty Welcome Event, meet the Associate Dean for Graduate Education, hear about life as a postgraduate researcher, gain some top tips from the careers service, find out about graduate development opportunities, grab your copy of the Graduate Resource Book, and wander around our Information Fair.
5 Register for the Introduction to Research workshop
Attended by all postgraduate researchers across the Faculty, this workshop essential is all about giving you a greater understanding of what to expect when studying a research degree, the stages of a PhD, planning your research, academic integrity and more. It is also a great chance for meeting and working with postgraduates from other disciplines and to establish peer and support networks. More details and registration via eProg
6 Explore this website
Find out more about development opportunities and support available to you. We've selected a few highlights below:
- Career development, communication research enterprise and personal effectiveness – we got a great range of workshops on offer.
- The annual Pathways careers event and Manchester GRADschool
- External Training & Development Fund
- Keep up to date with the latest researcher development news and events
- Follow us on Twitter @epsgrads