View prior email communications sent from Graduate Studies to supervisors & staff at UCD.
To: Academic and Administrative contacts for graduate research in the Colleges of Science and Social Sciences & Law
Dear Colleagues,
I would like to highlight a couple of items regarding research student module registration
1) Module Registration for graduate research students opens at 10am on Thursday 6th May 2021 and will close at 5pm on Friday 21st May 2021. This round of registration is for Summer modules only. Modules delivered in Autumn 2021 (& beyond) can be requested from the August/September registration period onwards. An email will be sent to all research students to this effect on 6th May and you will receive a copy. This information is also on the Graduate Studies website
2) As you are aware there are two methods for September-start PhD students to register for modules i.e. through their SISWeb (instant registration) or if a module(s) not available there, via a Google Form managed by Registry (1-3 days to registration). To enhance the module registration process it is best to maximize use of the SISweb method i.e. build the School PhD programme structure so that as many modules that could potentially be selected by a student are available. With this in mind, I invite you to review the modules specified for your School here the see whether it would there is potential to add more to your School PhD Programme. The Curriculum Management System is now open for edits to Major Structures & Programme Information for the forthcoming academic year 2021-2022 and will be open until Friday the 14th May 2021. If you need help in making edits, please visit the curriculum management webpage for information. In addition, he Curriculum Team are holding regular Drop-in sessions over zoom for support on queries. Contact your College Liaison or curriculum@ucd.ie
If you do make changes, please let me know directly (emer.cunningham@ucd.ie) and we will update the Graduate Studies website so that it is in sync with the curriculum management system.
Best wishes
Emer
Dr Emer Cunningham
UCD Graduate Studies
I hope you have had a restful break over the Easter holiday!
I am writing to you as a research degree supervisor, to share some updates and information about events and opportunities that you may find interesting for yourselves or your research students.
Firstly, I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your support for the StudentSurvey.ie. This is the second time that graduate research students have been invited to have their say after the pilot that took place in 2018 and the first survey in 2019. We managed to secure a 35% participation rate which is a positive result, given that previously the percentages were 39% and 31.2% respectively. There are many people who contributed in different ways to support the StudentSurvey.ie this year and I know many of you are among those. It has been and continues to be, a very challenging year as the engagement with students is only virtual. I am planning to review the feedback myself once received, and I encourage you to do so for your area as you can get valuable insights from the survey data. Thank you once again for your support!
Sharing some updates and events for this month:
Roadmap Pilot Project
I would like to make you aware of our Roadmap Project for the graduate research students who joined UCD last January. This is available via UCD Brightspace and students need to enrol to the Graduate Orientation module to gain access. We have created a roadmap to help the students take their first steps of the research degree programme with monthly announcements in Brightspace, which support them in staying on track with their studies. I believe this will also be useful for students who started in September or May last year. I am enclosing a document with guidelines on how to enrol to Brightspace for your reference.
Thesis Boot Camp
The Thesis Boot Camp is a great opportunity for late Stage 2 PhD students. The Thesis Boot Camp is an intensive writing programme for late-stage doctoral researchers and will be delivered virtually by Dr Peta Freestone. The programme will take place from Monday 10th May to Wednesday 12th May 2021. It is a free event provided by UCD Graduate Studies. The goal is for participants to write up to 20,000 words of first draft material. Places on the Thesis Boot Camp are limited, so please encourage your interested students to apply as soon as possible as the deadline is Monday, 12th April 2021. Please find further details on eligibility and how to apply on the UCD Graduate Studies website. Previous virtual Thesis Boot Camps were very successful.
ThesisIn3 Competition
Graduate Studies announce the fourth annual UCD ThesisIn3 Competition. The UCD ThesisIn3 Competition supports graduate research students in their development as confident research communicators. We invite all UCD Stage 2 PhD Students to submit an entry and share their research with the UCD community.
The competition will take place virtually on Thursday 10 June at 11:30am. The winner will go on to represent UCD in the Universitas 21 Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT®), where they will compete with researchers from all over the globe. The winner will also receive a €250 One-For-All voucher and the two Runners-Up will each receive a €100 One-For-All voucher. WInners will serve as ambassadors for research at UCD, with recordings of their presentations on the Graduate Studies website. In addition, UCD Students' Union will sponsor 5 x €75 travel funds to participants as separate prizes. The categories for these SU prizes will be decided and voted upon by a panel of peer judges.
Please encourage your stage 2 PhD students to participate as this is a great opportunity for them to sharpen their communication and presentation skills.
More details and the application form can be found on the UCD Graduate Studies website.
e-Thesis Support
UCD Assessment, Registry is hosting live drop-in clinics for thesis submission on the below dates for all eThesis related queries.
Thursday 29th April
10.30am-12pm - Supervisors & Staff
2.30 -4pm - Students
Friday 30th April
10.30am-12pm - Students
2.30 - 4pm - Supervisors & Staff
Thursday 6th May
10.30am-12pm - Students
2.30 -4pm - Supervisors & Staff
Friday 7th May
10.30am-12pm - Supervisors, Staff & Students
2.30-4pm - Supervisors, Staff & Students
To drop into one of these sessions and meet with a member of the Assessment team please log into the below link;
Join Zoom Meeting
https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/j/68179129289?pwd=OXF5ZENOd0k0V3NqdnJHZmh6QjR3dz09
Meeting ID: 681 7912 9289
Passcode: 249427
Further support documentation can be found on the UCD Assessment website which is frequently updated.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Doctoral Supervision
In recognition of some of the exemplary practice in research supervision that is taking place across UCD, Graduate Studies launched the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Doctoral Supervision last year. This award is an opportunity for Stage 2 PhD students to recognise those supervisors who go above and beyond what is expected of them, in supporting, teaching and mentoring their doctoral students. Further information can be found on the UCD Graduate Studies website. The submission deadline for this year’s applications is Friday June 4th, 2021. If you have any further questions about the award, please contact my colleague Dr Janet Carton at janet.carton@ucd.ie.
Research Supervisor Support and Development Programme (RSSDp): remaining workshops.
There are a number of interesting workshops on this programme which are due to take place in April and May, led by UCD, TCD and RCSI (details below). All supervisors are invited to attend these workshops and can register for each of the sessions on the UCD Booking Centre.
Fri April 16th at 14:00-16:30: Supervising Doctoral Students in off-site locations (RCSI led)
Thu April 22nd at 14:00-15:30: Beyond the PhD - Preparing Students across the Research Cycle (TCD led)
Fri April 29th at 16:00-17:00: Supporting Students with Disabilities through the Supervision Process (TCD led)
Fri April 30th at 14:00-16:30: Building Resilience and Supporting Wellbeing (UCD led)
Fri May 7th at 14:00-15.30: Visiting Expert – Prof Bob Harris (Karolinska Institute, Sweden) Leadership in Research Supervision (UCD led)
Fri May 28th at 14:00-16:30: Monitoring, Assessment, Examiners, Viva voce (MAEV) (UCD led)
More information about the Programme can be found on the UCD Graduate Studies website.
Graduate Research Board - Useful information on Transfer Assessments
The requirement for a Stage Transfer Assessment, including details of the composition on the Transfer Assessment Panel and timings for these assessments,is outlined in sections 7.35 and 8.26 of the Academic Regulations. Details of the requirements for assessments for Transfer to Masters to PhD programmes can be found in sections 7.38 to 7.41 of the same regulations. Additional policy information on progression within a PhD programme can be found on the Progression in Doctoral Programmes Policy in the Graduate Studies document repository. The Frequently Asked Questions section of the Graduate Research Board intranet has been updated with some information on Transfer Assessments that may be useful to supervisors.
If you have queries related to the Graduate Research Board then please feel free to speak to the support contact for your School (listed under Board Support).
Information session on Erasmus+
The European Commission has officially launched the new Erasmus+ Programme which covers the period 2021-2027. With a budget of €26.2 billion (compared to €14.7 billion for 2014-2020), complemented with about €2.2 billion from EU’s external instruments, the new and revamped programme will fund learning mobility and cross-border cooperation projects for 10 million Europeans of all ages and all backgrounds. The 2021-2027 programme places a strong focus on social inclusion, sustainability, the digital transformation and promoting young people’s participation in democratic life. This Programme supports priorities and activities set out in the European Education Area, Digital Education Action Plan and the European Skills Agenda. Erasmus+ will also support the resilience of education and training systems in the face of the pandemic.
UCD Global will be hosting an Erasmus+ information session on Wednesday, 14 April at 11:00. During this online event, we will give an overview of the new Erasmus+ Programme, explain the application process and answer questions from participants. Please register for the event by completing this form.
Student Support
I am also enclosing a quick guide to help and support services available to students, as I am aware that students are reaching out to us or their Schools requesting for information about university support. Please also be aware that we keep a Covid-19 guidelines related to the Graduate Research Students section on our website that we ensure is up to date with the latest information. There is also the UCD Covid-19 website and UCD Student Health Services Covid-19 FAQs that I include for your information.
I will continue to be in touch providing as much relevant information to you as possible. Please do not hesitate to contact me or the Graduate Studies team at graduatestudies@ucd.ie, if you have questions, or other suggestions that you would find helpful at this time.
Take care and stay safe.
Very best wishes,
Barbara
Professor Barbara Dooley, UCD Dean of Graduate Studies & Deputy Registrar
Dear Colleagues
The ThesisIn3 Competition will take place on Thursday 10 June 2021 from 11.30 am via Zoom.
Stage 2 PhD students are challenged to present their research in three minutes, using only one slide, to a non-specialist audience. Entrants must distil their niche subjects and intensive research into bite-sized presentations that will inform and entertain the general public.
The winner of ThesisIn3 will go on to represent UCD in the Universitas21 Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT®), where they will compete with researchers from all over the globe. The winner will also receive a €250 One-For-All voucher and the two Runners-Up will each receive a €100 One-For-All voucher and serve as ambassadors for UCD research, with recordings of their presentations on the Graduate Studies website.
For further details please see link below:
https://www.ucd.ie/
Please circulate to students, staff and faculty within your School as appropriate.
An invitation to all stage 2 PhD students was sent on Tuesday 23 March 2021.
With kind regards
Elizabeth
Dear Colleagues,
We would like to let you know that the Graduate Research Board (GRB) Support Team is undertaking a short project on Credit for External Learning in order to support Schools when making submissions to the GRB to have this credit recognised on the student's record. This project will use Lean methodologies.
We have received feedback from certain Schools indicating that they would welcome guidance on topics, such as:
We are incorporating this feedback from Schools into the project and if you have further feedback or have any questions about this project, you are welcome to contact me (jennifer.sullivan@ucd.ie).
Note: The focus of this project is to support colleagues when making submissions to the Graduate Research Board and not to make changes to existing policy.
--
Kind regards,
Jennifer Sullivan
Graduate Research Board Support Team
Dear Graduate Research colleagues,
The Studentsurvey.ie will be open for student responses for first year and final year undergraduate students, postgraduate taught students and postgraduate research students (PGR) from Monday 15th February until Sunday 7th March 2021.PGR students were first surveyed in 2019 and since they are to be surveyed every two years, this will be the second time research students have been invited to have their say.
This has been a particularly difficult year for both staff and students but capturing the student voice is more important than ever, and we would be very grateful for your support in promoting and engaging with students, faculty and staff in your School/Institute.
For your information iGraduate, the company that run the survey, will contact students by email on Monday inviting them to take the survey and follow up with a reminder the following two Mondays. The students will also get an email each Wednesday’s directly from UCD.
We will be encouraging participation with a host of prizes including Airpods, Fitbits and a selection of Vouchers.
You can help the campaign by putting a PGR student Survey Logo below in your email signature, retweeting, Graduate Studies and UCD tweets. Mentioning the survey to students when you are engaging with them on other things.
Thank you very much in advance for your support of Studentsurvey.ie. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact me at emer.cunningham@ucd,ie
Best wishes
Emer
Dr Emer Cunningham
UCD Graduate Studies
The UCD CSC Scholarship Scheme opens each year for Chinese students to apply to UCD for a PhD position or 6-24month research visit. The deadline for 2021 applications was the 31st of January 2021. We have received over 50 applications for September 2021 entry. Graduate Studies will assign these applications to the relevant School for consideration by the School PhD Committee.
Process for 2021:
1. Graduate Studies will review applications and assign them to the relevant School on the Online applications system by Friday 5th February 2021.
2. Schools contact the potential supervisor indicated on the application to verify their support for the applicant.
3. Schools submit verified applications to the relevant School Committee for their consideration for admission.
(Note: CSC Applications should be assessed in the same way as all PhD applications i.e. the applicant must meet the normal academic and English language proficiency requirements and be processed through the Research Student Management System (RSM).
School PhD Committee Outcomes:
Approved: If the applicant is approved by the School, we ask that the student is set up on the RSM and marked “Provisionally Approved”.
(The reason for this is that all UCD approvals are subject to the applicant receiving the CSC Scholarship as sanctioned by the CSC. When UCD get the results from CSC in May/June the application can be changed to ‘approved’ or ‘rejected’)
Rejected: If the applicant is rejected Graduate Studies will alert the applicant of this outcome.
Non-Standard: If the application is deemed non-standard, then the applicant should be set up on the RSM and forwarded to the Graduate Research Board (Governing Board) for their consideration.
4. Schools send a list of the outcomes of the PhD Committee to Graduate Studies by Friday 26th February 2021 including any additional conditions associated with the offer.
5. Graduate Studies send an offer letter signed by the Dean of Graduate Studies (as a pdf) to each successful applicant by Friday 5th March 2021 cc-ing the Supervisor and School Administrator.
6. Graduate Studies will send list of approved UCD Students to CSC by 5th March 2021.
7. The Successful applicant uses the Offer Letter in their application to the CSC between the 10th and the 31st March 2021.
8. CSC will contact Graduate Studies with the list of successful applicants in CSC process in May /June and Graduate Studies will communicate results to Supervisors and School Administrator. (Students will be notified directly by CSC)
9. Schools should then change successful students from ‘Provisionally Approved’ to ‘Approved’ and a UCD offer email will automatically go to the student. Those unsuccessful with the CSC should be removed, by the School, from the RSM or if the student is e.g. self-funded or funded elsewhere they can be processed on a case by case basis.
If you have any queries do not hesitate to contact me at: elizabeth.crean@ucd.ie
Best wishes
Elizabeth
UCD Graduate Studies
******************Please share with any person you think will find this helpful*********************
UCD Research have launched the the Third round of the HEA Support for researchers including research students impacted by the COVID Pandemic. This call is relevant to research students who are in their final year and will be seeking an extension from their original planned thesis submission date of May 2021 to bring it to September 2021. An email has been sent to students this morning
We request that Supervisors bring this call to the attention of potential applicants. Applying for a COVID-related thesis extension, for full-time eligible students, has moved to an Infohub system which has the Supervisor and Head of School approval built into the process. The application for a thesis extension will incorporate the application for HEA funding. The deadline for application from student ( endorsed by Supervisors) is Friday 12th February 2021.
Further information on extensions on the Graduate Studies website here.
For your information, the Dean of Graduate Studies is hosting a Q&A session for Research Students on Monday the 8th February 2021 11.00-12.00.The link to register for the session is here. This is not specifically about this call but is a forum where students can raise questions. Students can submit question in advance.
| Date |
Title |
|
Fri 29th January 2021 14:00-15:30 |
Visiting Expert – Hugh Kearns (Flinders University, iThinkwell, Adelaide) Fundamentals of Research Supervision (UCD) |
|
Fri 12th February 2021 14:00-16:30 |
Attracting the ‘Right’ Candidate (UCD) |
|
Fri 5th March 2021 14:00-16:30 |
Navigating Supervisory Styles, Roles and Responsibilities (UCD) |
|
Fri 26th March 2021 14:00-16:30 |
Enhancing the Research Student’s Skills Base (UCD) |
|
Fri 30th April 2021 14:00-16:30 |
Building Resilience and Supporting Wellbeing (UCD) |
|
Fri 7th May 2021 14:00-15:30 |
Visiting Expert – Prof Bob Harris (Karolinska Institute, Sweden) Leadership in Research Supervision (UCD) |
|
Fri 28th May 2021 14:00-16:30 |
Monitoring, Assessment, Examiners, Viva voce (MAEV) (UCD) |
Dear colleagues,
Due to COVID-19, Graduate Studies postponed a number of the face to face workshops on the Research Supervisor Support and Development Programme (RSSDp) 2020.
We are now running the remaining revised workshops by Zoom in October and November as follows:
You can find more information on the Graduate Studies website.
NB: If you have attended the face to face workshops earlier in the year, it is advisable that you attend all three of the remaining virtual workshops also, for those seeking a certificate of participation.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at janet.carton@ucd.ie
Best Wishes,
Janet
Dr Janet Carton |Graduate Education Development Manager
UCD Graduate Studies
UCD Graduate Studies would like to invite you to the UCD ThesisIn3 competition 2020, taking place this Friday 19th June (via Zoom).
ThesisIn3
The competition will take place live on Friday 19th June 11:30-12:30 via Zoom, with prizes presented by the Dean of Graduate Studies and Deputy Registrar, Professor Barbara Dooley.
All in the UCD community are welcome to spectate. Come along with a coffee to enjoy the presentations and support the participating students.
Judging Panel
2020 Finalists
Zoom details
Join Zoom Meeting at 11.30am on Friday 19th June
https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/j/97861877649?pwd=a2Z5N0Jma0JlU3p4YWhydXJ3UXZlUT09
Meeting ID: 978 6187 7649
Password: 821683
More info on our website.
We hope to see many of you on Friday morning.
Kind regards,
UCD Graduate Studies