Postgraduate Affairs Committee

Postgraduate Affairs Committee

Meeting: Thursday 20th May, 1pm in B09

Minutes

Present: Rosanna Keefe, Rob Hopkins, Chris Hookway, Dominic Gregory, Graeme Forbes, Angela Pepper, Inga Vermeulen, Carraig Dillon, Jack Wadham

Apologies: Joanne Elliott,

1)PhD proposal as part of the Research MA

It was agreed that the PhD proposal would be treated as an optional, but recommended, component of the Research–track MA. Students who opt not to do the proposal but who stay onto the PhD here will be required to do one near the start of the PhD, as with new arrivals.

2)Doctoral Development Programme

RK circulated a document about the proposed new Doctoral Development Programme, which will replace the RTP for new research students, starting in Sept 2010. For Arts students, there are four components to the training. The first module is taken in the first year, and must be passed for upgrading from MPhil to PhD; its aim is to “ensure that students have the skills and knowledge to undertake doctoral research”. It takes account of previous research training and is “framed around the student’s Training Needs Analysis”. Passing PHI6700 will be part of the unit and we will have some flexibility in deciding what further the department should require. The second module, “Advanced Research and Career Skills” is to be taken in second and third years of the PhD and should involving training that our PhD students would usually undertake anyway. Third, there is a “Subject Specific Skills” module, which involves students taking some module from within the subject, or within another related discipline (including language training etc.); they will not be required to do the assessment for that module. CH suggested that attending a reading group could be regarded as one way to fulfil this requirement, and we should have the flexibility to treat this as an option. The final unit, “Broad Scholarship and Engagement” will usually be satisfied by our students through taking PHI6060 Philosophy Tutor Training.

3)Upgrading from MPhil to PhD

There was some discussion of what requirements we should impose for the upgrade from MPhil to PhD around the end of the first year of the PhD. We agreed on the following elements (which should fit well with the first unit of the DDP) :

a)PhD proposal. 6-8000 word proposal from those who haven’t previously done one as part of their MA. Those who have already done a proposal, should either have that proposal re-approved (i.e. agreed to be still appropriate to the project) or write a short proposal detailing the new form for the thesis.

b)Substantial piece of work (around 8000 words or more). This might be a draft of a chapter or some other paper close to the topic of the thesis.

c)Presenting at the graduate seminar. Students should have given a paper at the graduate seminar at some point in the first year of their PhD.

d)Interview with the primary and secondary supervisor and DGS.

4)Research Training Away Day and Research Training Skills Money

RK outlined the faculty’s plans for using its 100K of Research Skills money (from the AHRC). These include an open competition, where staff and grads can apply for funds, and PGR Away Days, on the model of our own events (up to £1000 per Away Day). The plans were agreed to be reasonable, and students should be encouraged to think about how they might use funds from the open competition (for example, in organising an event for pgs from Sheffield, Leeds and York). Since there may be no further such funds after July 2011, any ideas for setting up on-going research training would be particularly welcome.

There is a Research Training Away Day planned for 14th or 17th June and there was a very brief discussion of this event.

5)Tutor of the Year Award

Yonatan had suggested having a Tutor of the Year Award, which could give successful tutors something extra to put on their CV about their tutoring. After some discussion of the proposal, it was decided not to pursue the idea.

6)Format of Departmental Seminar

Angie proposed that we introduce a 3-4 minute break during the departmental seminar, after the talk and before the questions, a format that has worked well in the Senior Graduate Seminar. This would give potential questioners an opportunity to air their thoughts with their neighbour, which might encourage more postgrads to ask questions. The idea was discussed and it was agreed that the rest of the staff would be consulted with a view to trying out this new format.

7)Library matters

Steve Laurence had suggested that postgraduates might be better placed to spot gaps in our library provisions and so might take the role of library representative. This was thought not to be viable, though it was agreed that postgraduates should be encouraged to make more suggestions as to books that the library should buy.

8)Issues about Victoria Street

RH reported that plants for the patio should be arriving soon, but that it was out of our hands. No problems with the work rooms in Victoria Street were reported. RH consulted the meeting as to the possibility of using B07 or B09 as work rooms for undergraduates and B23 was raised as another room that might be used for that purpose. Some concerns were raised (such as over-crowding, and possible spillage into pg rooms) along with other thoughts about getting undergraduates more involved in the life of the department.

9)Any Other Business

RK suggested that the Summer Party might be held in the department (with a fixed end-time). Happily, Bob Stern has since offered to hold it at his house instead.