RISE May-June 2009 - University of Salford

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RISE! Research Innovation and Internationalisation News POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH NEWS PHD STUDENT BECOMES CHAIR OF UACES Kamil Zwolski, a second-year PhD student in ESRI (European Studies Research Institute) researching on European Union Security, has been granted a £2,500 scholarship for a research field trip to Brussels. This academic year he will go to Brussels to conduct elite interviews for his project. This prestigious and highly competitive scholarship is awarded annually by the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES). UACES is an academic organisation bringing together scholars from all over the UK and abroad. Last November Kamil was elected to the position of chair of the UACES Student Forum, which is the postgraduate ‘branch’ of the organisation. As Chair he coordinates the preparation of various academic events, such as the UACES Student Forum Annual Conference in April this year. The UACES conferences provide an important opportunity for young researchers in European Studies to present their findings. This year for the first time, the conference will be hosted by the University of Salford. If you would like to find out more about Kamil’s work please contact him at: K.M.Zwolski@pgr.salford.ac.uk ONE YEAR PLACEMENT FOR MASTERS STUDENTS Salford Business School is building on its expertise in managing student placements and partnerships with local and national organisations by launching a scheme allowing Masters students to undertake a one year placement. Students enrolling on the MSc Project Management, MSc Managing Information Technology, MSc Events Management, and MSc International Tourism Management can choose to undertake a placement year following successful completion of the taught part of their programme. The MSc therefore taking two years in total. The MSc placement replaces the traditional research dissertation and it’s assessment includes a major report relating experience to theory. This is a unique scheme within the University which will give graduates a significant advantage and we are keen to talk to organisations interested in offering relevant placement opportunities as well as potential applicants. For further information please contact Chris Procter, placement co-ordinator: c.t.procter@salford.ac.uk CAREERS BLOG FOR PHD RESEARCH STUDENTS Reaching our dispersed and diverse PhD community is a challenge. Fiona Christie, Careers Advisor/Careers Coordinator for Postgraduate Researchers, has found a solution. Fiona has risen to the challenge by creating a careers blog specifically for research students. Websites, being fairly static tools, don’t always allow you to talk directly to a specific group or give a glimpse of your own personality, a blog allows Fiona to be accessible to our research community and to put in one place all the relevant careers news and views for PhD students. It allows for comments and interaction from users. You can access Fiona’s blog via www.careers.salford.ac.uk/students/phd/blog Fiona aims to send posts to the blog about twice a week. Information on events and opportunities of interest will be included but the blog will also give the opportunity to debate topical issues, such as the current economic downturn and how this affects the doctoral and research community. So far the feedback from PhD students who use it has been positive, it has also attracted attention from outside of the University and Fiona has presented at a regional Vitae conference about the blog as an example of innovative good practice. Fiona doesn’t only have a virtual identity! Face to face communications are critical and she is available to see research students and research staff for one-to-one appointments and workshops. Fiona is planning non-virtual one-day University-wide careers event on June 23rd called “PhD Futures” which will bring together research students, staff supporting researchers, academics and alumni. To contact Fiona please email: f.christie@salford.ac.uk or call her on: 0161 295 5668 LEADING RESEARCH ON INFORMATION NEED Dr Paula Ormandy, a research fellow in the School of Nursing, has recently completed a PhD making a valuable research contribution to understanding and measuring the information needs of chronic kidney disease patients. As the PhD developed the importance of the research was evident winning, in 2007, best poster at the British Renal Society and best abstract at the European Dialysis & Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association. Since completion of the work the findings have directly informed and influenced the 2008 NICE guideline on Chronic Kidney Disease Management identifying the importance of key information topics to consider when meeting the information needs of patients. Paula is to extend this work further within her post-doctorate research developing international networks, particularly building on Sense-Making Methodology, the focus of a workshop she is involved in, taking place in Chicago in May 2009 at the International Communication Association Conference. If you would like to know more about Paula’s work or the workshop in Chicago please contact her at: p.ormandy@salford.ac.uk 34
RISE! Research Innovation and Internationalisation News AHRC GRANT ESRI PhD Student Kimberley Taylor has won a £2,000 grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council in conjunction with Manchester University to organise a PGR conference in the region. The conference is a one-day interdisciplinary conference on European Minorities in Cross-Disciplinary Perspective to be held on 26th June 2009 at the University of Manchester under the aegis of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (Manchester). Although supported by the JMCE and its stakeholders (the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and ESRI - University of Salford), and undertaken as part of their ongoing plan of Training for Young Researchers, the bid was drawn up and submitted by Kimberley and Filippo Nereo (JMCE Administrator and PhD Researcher in Sociolinguistics at the University of Manchester). The conference is for advanced PhD students and early career researchers in any aspect of ethnic and linguistic minorities in Europe (in its broadest sense). Three highly-regarded plenary speakers are to present individually and participate in a roundtable discussion on the position of minorities in Europe. The speakers are: Patrick Stevenson (University of Southampton) who will be looking at Central European sociolinguistics, more particularly language myths in a spatio-temporal dimension; Dieter Halwachs (University of Graz) will consider ethnic and linguistic minorities within the nation-state from a more policy-oriented dynamic and Stefan Wolff (University of Nottingham) will look at ethic conflict and the EU's conflict management vis-a-vis 'frozen conflicts' in the Soviet Union. Part of the conference funding from the JMCE will offer travel grants to PhD students from universities across Europe who wish to attend and there will also be a wine reception and dinner following the event to make it a friendly social occasion for the young researchers involved. If you would like more information on the event contact Kimberley at: k.j.taylor@pgr.salford.ac.uk POSTGRAD CONFERENCE Salford’s highly successful Postgraduate Annual Research Conference – SPARC, as it is famously known – is taking place this year on 7th and 8th May in Faraday House and the Old Fire Station. For the third year running, it will be opening its doors to a wide variety of researchers from across the North-West. Last year’s SPARC, the proceedings from which will be published shortly, was even busier than usual, with 63 paper-givers and 30 poster-presenters. In addition to the student-led panels, Professor Ghassan Aouad gave a talk on “How to Succeed in Doing a PhD: A Personal Perspective”. Professor Aouad will be developing the theme of this presentation in one of this year’s keynote speeches; the other will be given by a senior figure from publishing. The conference will also see the return of the poster competition, which is judged by a panel from business and industry, and assesses not just the quality of the poster, but also at the capacity of the researcher to explain their work to a lay audience. Last year’s first prize (£200) went to Simon Keens (University of Salford) for his poster on “Hydrogen Storage in 'Ti-Decorated' Graphite”, and the second prize (£100) to Glenda Melling (University of Central Lancashire) for her poster on “Gene Expression in Human Post Mortem Dermal Tissue.” The conference dinner on Thursday night, free to all paper-givers, will be held in University House, with an organised tour and social gathering in Urbis on Friday afternoon. Paper abstracts for the conference need to be provided by Friday 10 April – full details are available at: http://www.pg.salford.ac.uk/page/SPARC. PHYSIO AWARDED DOCTORATE A SALE physiotherapist has been awarded a doctorate (PhD) by Staffordshire University following five years of part-time study. Christopher Norris conducted research into rehabilitation of backpain in collaboration with both Salford University and Manchester Metropolitan University. He said: “There is a steady move towards evidence-based medicine, but also much criticism of studies carried out only by researchers based in laboratories. “As a clinician involved in the day-to-day treatment of patients, I thought it was important to be at the cutting edge of backpain research, and contribute to the future of my profession.” Christopher is the former physiotherapist to Sale Harriers and has a clinic on Eastway in Sale. His scientific work has been published in several medical journals and is available at: norrisassociates.co.uk/library.html IOLANTHE MIDWIFERY TRUST RESEARCH FELLOW Senior lecturer Julie Wray recently visited the the House of Lords to celebrate 25 years of the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust and pick up her Research Fellowship award. The event was hosted by Baroness Cumberlege, patron of the Trust. This prestigious award is designed to assist in the final stages of completing a doctorate degree and is unique in targeting the writing-up phase rather than the research phase of the doctorate. Julie’s PhD explores the culture of postnatal care in the UK and women’s views and experiences of birth recovery. This work is of national and international significance and the results will inform the shape of future maternity services. Julie was congratulated for her excellent application and hard work by both the Iolanthe judges and trustees. She said: “I'm very excited and honoured to have this wonderful opportunity to complete my doctorate studies with the support of the Iolanthe Trust and the School of Nursing.” The awards ceremony was hosted by the patron of the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust, Baroness Cumberlege and she welcomed many noted midwives – including 18 professors! - as well as MPs, guests from the Royal College of Midwives, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, MIDIRS, National Childbirth Trust, King’s Fund, White Ribbon Alliance and others. The Iolanthe Midwifery Trust exists to promote and improve the care of mothers and their families through awarding grants and fellowships in support of education, practice and research. For more information on Julie’s work please contact her at: j.wray@salford.ac.uk To follow the events at the award day please go to: http://www.iolanthe.org/Award_winners_2008.html 35
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RISE May-June 2009 - University of Salford

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