PGR INDUCTION

Welcome new PGRs!

The University offers a week-long programme of talks and events in October to welcome PGRs into the UofG community. The week includes in-person and online opportunities to meet key people and services who can help on the research journey.  Researchers who started their studies in the previous 12 months are very welcome to attend any or all of the induction week events. For PGRs who miss the October Induction there will be an additional induction event in February 2025.

Induction Week starts with Welcome Events from each of the College Graduate Schools. The details of these events are given below and will provide you with key information about Induction Week and the start of your PGR journey at UofG.

The timetable of other events which are optional to attend is below You can read about the sessions in the blurbs further down the page. Some sessions are online and some are in person. There are also self-paced resources and links to useful services that you can access as alternatives to live events.

Many of the sessions in Induction Week are also repeated in the academic year and you can book these using Inkpath.

If you can only make limited time on campus we recommend Monday when we have our Services Fair and Cake Party.  The rest of the week offers sessions online and in person and you can choose a combination that works for you. 

Welcome to Team UofG!

For more information on your College Graduate School:

PGR Induction Week Timetable

The next PGR Induction Week will be the 7th-11th October 2024.

Bookings for Induction Week Events can be made using the calendar below. Bookings are managed through Inkpath, this is how you can book onto Researcher Development events during your time as a PGR at UofG.

Slight adjustments to timings may be made in the run up to induction week.

How to book using Inkpath

Meet Your College and School

Welcome to Induction Week

At your Graduate School Welcome you will see a recorded presentation to welcome you to the Univeristy and explain some key information about the Induction Week programme.

This short, practical information session will tell you what is on offer during PGR Induction Week, and how to book and attend.

The session will highlight which of the live sessions are strongly recommended for all PGRs and which are offered in case they meet your needs and interests. If you can't make some of the sessions many are repeated by the PGR Researcher Development team in the academic year. Training opportunities throughout the academic year can be booked using Inkpath.

There are also self-paced induction materials that you can use as alternative, stand-alone resources. You can find details of these in the drop down sections of this webpage.

 

 

Graduate School Welcomes

The University of Glasgow has four colleges: College of Arts and Humanities (COAH), College of Medical, Veterinary, and Life Science (MVLS), College of Social Sciences (COSS), and College of Science and Engineering (COSE).

Each college has an overarching Graduate School which supports your School or Institute with all aspects of your postgraduate research. This session is a chance for your graduate school Dean, Manager, and wider team to welcome you to #TeamUofG.  

COAH, COSS and MVLS are hosting Welcome events on the morning of Monday 7th October. COSE are holding their welcome event on Friday 4th October. This is your first event of Induction Week and you are highly encouraged to attend. The times and locations vary by College, see your Graduate School for details.

 To find out more about your college Graduate School:

 

 

 

 

School Events

Your College (Arts, COSE, COSS, or MVLS) is made up of a number of schools. These are the disciplinary units of the University. They will run welcome events and other development opportunities both during induction week and across the year. These are the schools at the University of Glasgow:

College of Arts and Humanities:

  • School of Critical Studies
  • School of Culture and Creative Arts
  • School of Humanities/ Sgoil nan Daonnachdan
  • School of Modern Languages and Cultures

College of Science and Engineering:

  • School of Chemistry
  • School of Computing Science
  • James Watt School of Engineering
  • School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
  • School of Mathematics & Statistics
  • School of Physics & Astronomy

College of Social Sciences:

  • Adam Smith Business School
  • School of Education
  • School of Interdisciplinary Studies
  • School of Law
  • School of Social and Political Sciences

College of Medicine, Veterinary, and Life Sciences: 

  • School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
  • School of Cancer Studies
  • School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health
  • School of Health and Wellbeing
  • School of Infection and Immunity
  • School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing
  • School of Molecular Biosciences
  • School of Psychology and Neuroscience
 
Your school will be in touch with you about locally organised Induction events, many of these will take place on Thursday 10th October. If you have any questions please reach out to your School's PGR Director/ Convenor or PGR Administrator.

Practical Tools for Researchers

Introduction to Researcher Development

The PhD is not just the PhD! During your research you will have lots of opportunities to get additional training, do public engagement, undertake internships, teaching, and mentoring, and more. Researcher development is the collective term for this portfolio of things that you do alongside your PhD to enrich your transferable skills, foster your talents, and enrich your professional prospects.  Like many universities, Glasgow uses the Vitae Researcher Development Framework to help you frame your researcher development.

This session will introduce you to the Researcher Development team, get you thinking about what opportunities are available, and help you plan and log your own development and think about your future career. 

 

Live online session: Tuesday 8th October 14:00-15:00

Live in person session: Wednesday 9th October 10:00-11:00

Useful things you need to know

The PhD journey is a marathon, not a sprint, and there will be a lot of information to take in over the first weeks of your research. This session summarises some of the systems, processes, and milestones to keep in mind. It will signpost useful people and resources, as well as touching on tools and techniques that help you build sustainable working practices during your PhD.

Live online session: This session will run online on Tuesday 8th October 10:00-11:00.

 

Getting Started with Literature Reviews

The literature review is one of the first sections of a thesis and often the first ‘task’ you will be set by your supervisory team. It might be a separate chapter within your thesis, or part of a general background section.  But what is required of a literature review and how do you effectively collate and synthesise all the information you need? We will talk about your experience of writing literature reviews in the past and do some thinking about different types of literature review structure, library resources, reference management, and what it means to critically appraise information at doctoral level. You will get the most out of this session if you review the self-paced materials before you come. 

Live online sessions: Tuesday 8th October 13:00-14:00 and Friday 11th October 11:00-12:00.

Self-paced: Work through the self-paced materials below. They will probably take you around 1 hour.   

College of MVLS/COSE/COSS:

https://rise.articulate.com/share/hyePwuv4MxY0gKb78X1TdKMMZsnVuNef. 

College of ARTS:

https://rise.articulate.com/share/iT65Y39pJ-BjI1BcDvNFiAMUDWJYqy5r   

 

Format with Style: Writing your Thesis in Word

Formatting your thesis so it looks like a professional document that follows the conventions of an academic dissertation is not something to leave to the end of the process. You can save yourself a lot of editorial time by setting up and using templates and conventions as you go along. This is often one of our most popular induction events, as the IT training team take you through the process, with a wealth of tips and tricks to speed up your typing as you go along.

Live online sessions: Tuesday 8th October 13:00-14:30 and Friday 11th October 10:00-11:30.

Self-paced: Work through these materials. They will probably take around 45 mins https://rise.articulate.com/share/0ozgmFbEGN9_1_luDtFH6gNnhKDcijap    

There are also regular training courses on formatting Word throughout the academic year, which can be booked on Inkpath.

Working with your Supervisor

The relationship between you and your supervisor is critically important to successful progression through your research degree; it is therefore important to give some careful thought to how to establish and maintain a positive working relationship with your supervisory team. This session, will look at how you can successfully navigate this relationship, allowing you to thrive in your doctoral work.

Live online session: Wednesday 9th October 15:00-16:00

University Services

University Services Fair

This longer, drop-in session is an opportunity for you to meet some UofG teams that you will find useful as a PGR. It is a chance for you to have a conversation with our Researcher Development Team, College Librarians, the Data Management Team, the Research Integrity Team, SRC, Student Unions, PGR Society, Wellbeing Services, Security, and lots more.

Drop into the ARC Researcher Development Suite to wander round the ‘stalls’ and get personalised answers to your questions. The fair will take place Monday 7th October 14:00-16:00.

Self-paced: Please see these videos from previous inductions.

 

UofG Sports

There are two sports facilities at UofG: the Stevenson Building (fondly known as “The Stevie”) at the heart of the Gilmorehill campus, and the Garscube Sports Complex, about 4 miles west of the main campus. These facilities are home to an extensive range of state-of-the-art gyms, exercise classes, sports halls, all-weather pitches, Revolve cycling studio, a 25 meter swimming pool, sauna and steam room. Additionally they offer wellbeing and coaching support, as well as being the basecamp for the huge range of sports clubs and societies at the University. All this for £175 per year. Find out more at: www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/sport/.

Details of available fitness classes can be found on the UofG Sports webpage

Library Tour

12 stories high, with millions of digital and physical resources, including a superb special collections department, UofG's world-leading library is one of the oldest and largest in Europe. Take a tour around this iconic building and get familiar with its collections and layout. The library runs daily tours, which can be booked here. 

Self-paced: Watch this video introducing the library services, and take a look at the floor plans and VR tours of the library. 

Our College librarians will be at the University Services Fair where you can say hello!

International Student Support

If you are an international student joining #TeamUofG for the first time, this is an opportunity to find out more about what support the university offers, and to ask questions of the International Student Support team. 

Live online session: Tuesday 8th October 11:00-11:30.

Self-paced: Take a look at the International Student Support team’s webpage: https://www.gla.ac.uk/international/support/ 

Researcher Representation

The Student Representative Council (SRC) ensures that your voice and needs are represented and heard at the University. This short session introduces some of the peer-to-peer support and the governance structures at UofG, as well as opportunities for you to get involved. 

The SRC Advice Centre offers free and confidential advice on a wide range of subjects to all students on a range of subjects such as academic issues, housing, money and health and wellbeing.

Live online session: Tuesday 8th October 15:00-15:30.

Self-paced:

Watch this short video about what the SRC does, and read more about them on the SRC webpage  You can find out more about the university structure and policies from the Academic Policy and Governance page.

Find out more about the advice centre here

 

Personal and Campus Safety

Glasgow is a very safe city, and you should not be worried about living, researching and travelling here. Nevertheless, it is always better to be safe than sorry. The UofG Campus Security team is responsible for creating and maintaining an environment for you to study, work, and live in safely.

Come and meet the Campus Security Team at our Services Fair (Monday 7th October) to hear about the SafeZone App, a must-have for everyone to enable the team to keep you safe 24 hours a day, whether on campus or away from it. The team also leads on other security provision such as the ‘Get Home Safe’ taxi scheme and lost property. They are good people to know! 

Self-paced:

PGR Community and Wellbeing

PGR Cake Party

Who doesn’t love free cake? This social gathering is simply an opportunity for you to meet fellow researchers from disciplines across UofG, make some friends, and eat some cake. Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options will be available, and soft drinks will be provided. 

This event is in person on Monday 7th October 16:00-18:00.

See Inkpath for booking details

Staying Well during your PhD

This session  will take a look at the proactive steps we can take to help ensure we maintain our health and wellbeing through the marathon that is a PhD! There’s so much we can do to help ensure we stay feeling good and functioning well, and we’ll explore what that might look like for you in this session. We’ll also take a look at the variety of services and resources available to you to support your wellbeing during your journey with us at UofG.

 

Live online session: Wednesday 9th October 09:30-11:00

Board Game Afternoon: 'How to Fail Your Research Degree' Game

Build a fake research project. Watch in horror as events destroy it and learn how to avoid these risks in real life!

This tabletop board game, played in small teams, is a light-hearted way to reflect on how you will plan your research, some of the risks and pitfalls that can affect it, and the academic skills and activities you will need for success. You could watch a 3-minute run-through first to see if this is for you: http://howtofailyourresearchdegree.com/. 

Join us to play this game in person on Friday 11th October 14:00-16:00. Meet other new PGRs over a game and some tea, coffee and biscuits.

Grill a PGR

So you have been to all the sessions about different services at the University of Glasgow, but honestly, what is it REALLY like to do postgraduate research? We round off Induction Week with a staff-free zone. Join a panel of willing PGRs from across the Graduate Schools to ask them all the hard questions!  

Join your fellow PGRs live online on Wednesday 9th October 13:00-14:30.

Self-paced: Watch this video from a fellow PGR about their experience.   

You could also watch PGR talks from previous This PhD Life conferences  

SNAP! A photo-sharing project for new PGRs

 

Led by Head of Research Culture & Researcher Development, Kay Guccione, SNAP is a 6-month long photo-sharing project designed to support you to transition smoothly into postgraduate study. 'SNAP', stands for Student Narrative Approaches through Photography.

 

This means that as a community, we share photos we have taken, and we use these to prompt us to think our way through our expectations and hopes for the doctorate, and to document how it's going in the early days.

 

It's a very simple concept. All photos are generated by PGRs, in response to fortnightly themes supplied by the project team. They are uploaded to a shared padlet gallery, and all new PGRs in the SNAP community can enjoy them, learn about how others are getting on, and use the photos to consider their own experiences.

 

You don't need to be a photographer, or need any specialist equipment other than to have a way of taking and uploading a photo to our gallery.

Find out more about the project

 

If you'd like to get involved with the SNAP project then the first step is to attend the information session, book your place on Inkpath.

 

Walk Talk Run

Walk/Talk/Run is a project that brings together opportunities for our PGR, Research Staff and Research Professional Communities to meet up, get outdoors and connect with each other in nature. 

Walk/Talk/Run is a collective of three initiatives: 

  • Walk Talk Connect is a 1h, slow paced, lunchtime walk for all, hosted by the Research Culture & Researcher Development Team, in Research Services Directorate 
  • Welcome Living Hearts (Creative Practice Walks) is a project to bring a mindful and thoughtful approach to how we build a sense of belonging to our university community, hosted by Rachel Lyon, Research Development Administrator 
  • Please note that our running group is currently on pause. More details coming soon
 

Viewfield Lane Gardening

Tucked down Viewfield Lane is something of a Gilmorehill campus secret. The Viewfield Gardens are community spaces for growing vegetables, flowers, and for taking time out of study and research. 

Regular weekly gardening sessions take place on Wednesdays and Sundays 12:30-14:00 and are run by GUEST.

To find out more you can also join the PGR Gardening MS Teams group and the overarching Viewfield Lane Gardens Group. 

Be prepared to be outdoors and to get a little muddy. Please be aware that, unfortunately, Viewfield Lane gardens are not yet wheelchair accessible. 

 

This PhD Life

Conferences are a big part of academic community and knowledge sharing. Go to your very first one straight away with the one-day, online This PhD Life symposium. This by-researchers-for-researchers event is a chance to hear talks from your UofG peers about what the PhD journey is really like: from managing your time, to handling your supervisory team, to planning your writing and more. Do some networking, make some new friends, and learn what it is like to go to an online conference all in one event! 

This PhD Life will run online on Wednesday 30th October.

Self-paced: Watch recordings of previous This PhD Life conference papers here.

 

 

The Gilchrist Postgraduate Club

The Gilchrist provides a comfortable and friendly environment in which postgraduates can engage with one another on both social and academic levels. The club features a seminar room, which can be booked out to host numerous events such as meetings, small lectures, research workshops, presentations or events. 

The club has its own café/bar with food and drink provisions, including Barista tea and coffee making facilities, a wide selection of hot and cold foods and snacks and a selection of alcoholic beverages, including bottled beers, wines and spirits. Clubs and societies often use this space as well for events.

The club is open during term time:

  • Monday – Friday: 8am – 6pm

 

The Gilchrist also hosts events for the Postgraduate community. Find out more here.

PGR Parent Meet Up

Join us at the end of PGR Induction Week 2024 for an informal morning meet-and-greet designed to connect PGR parents and parents-to-be, along with their partners and children. Primarily aimed at first-year PGR students, this relaxed event is also open to PGR parents from any year of study. Enjoy the chance to socialise with your peers over coffee, tea, and kid-friendly snacks.

The event has a flexible drop-in format, so feel free to come by anytime during the two-hour session. Children of all ages are welcome, and we expect a variety of ages, from babies to teenagers.

As the Researcher Development team, we do not offer child-minding services, all parents are responsible for the supervision and safety of their own children.

 

Friday 11th October 10:00-12:00 (please see Inkpath for booking)

 

student on campus

Asynchronous Training Resources

Taking Stock: Plan your space and time

Taking Stock is a self-paced resource that explores tools and processes that could help you build sustainable working practices during your PhD. There are suggestions to help you to identify your work patterns; get the best out of your study spaces; ideas on how to use online project planning apps; tips on how to use communication tools to keep in touch with your supervisor, and our thoughts on why a thesis journal could be your best friend on the PGR journey. 

Self-paced: Work through these materials. They will take around 45 mins. 

Colleges of MVLS/COSE/COSS:

https://rise.articulate.com/share/009qrh9NipXt6XzA0VewND-WZPSO4CZ4 

College of Arts and Humanities:

 https://rise.articulate.com/share/LqPNj7U2tTgPeVHTcyWg5YMabGJt9Kl- 

Managing Your Data

Research data takes many forms, ranging from measurements, numbers and images to documents and publications.  The University’s Data Management Team are here to make the process smooth and easy for you. These self-paced resources are full of practical ideas for writing your Data Management Plan and organising your research findings to make sure you can access them quickly, easily and securely in the future.  This is also excellent preparation if you will need to write an ethics application for your research. 

Self-paced: Work through these materials. They will take around 45 mins.

There is also mandatory self paced training on Data Management for all Year 1 PGRs, which can be accessed here. Additionally there are regular synchronous training workshops throughout the academic year which can be booked here.

 

The Final Stretch

After years of passion and hard work, eventually you will reach the final mile towards submitting your thesis. The final few months of a PhD are daunting for anyone.  Even more so if you are also trying to job-hunt at the same time. These materials give you an early glimpse into the final stages of a PhD, so that you know what's coming! 

Self-paced: Work through these materials. They will take around 45 mins.  

Sharing Your Research

As you find out new things in your research, you are going to want to share these with others. One way to do this is to build a professional online presence as a researcher. Another is by giving presentations, both within your school or institute, and at conferences. These self-paced materials suggest that you cultivate a digital footprint which is visible, credible, consistent and something you are comfortable with. They introduce academic conferences, in particular the shift to online conferences, and give practical ways that you can engage in the networking aspects of such events. There is also advice on planning and evaluating conference talks and posters, and on how to present research engagingly and for maximum impact. It’s time to get creative! 

Self-paced: First watch this video on why it is worth having an elevator pitch for your research.

Now work through these materials. They will take around an hour.  

Colleges of MVLS/COSE/COSS:

https://rise.articulate.com/share/KLD53FRT-buw6OQ7iqvvT8-bx9eR4lFn 

College of Arts and Humanities:

https://rise.articulate.com/share/6sJWPrbAN-hQ88EJdo5Au1AUfNucuQXN  

What is Researcher Development for PGRs?

Find out what Researcher Development for PGRs is and why it is an important part of your time at UofG