Spotlight On…the Postgraduate Research and International Support Services team
Our colleagues from the Postgraduate Research and International Support Services team talk about their roles, key projects, and who inspires them.
Please can you tell us a little about your role?
Jo Kaiserman: Heading up a team of ten, my role involves the delivery of postgraduate research (PGR) and internationalisation strategy across the Faculty. In practice, this means working with Schools and central teams to develop PGR policy and oversee strategic projects across the spectrum of PGR education, from marketing and recruitment, progression and assessment, to researcher development and employability. A current focus for the team is around how the PGR programme in Humanities could be branded as a distinct offering, internationally. The focus of the Faculty’s Internationalisation strategy is around developing international partnerships with world-leading institutions that will lead to research, PGR and teaching, and learning collaborations.
Stuart Jones: As Associate Dean for PGR, I lead the development and implementation of the Faculty’s strategy for postgraduate research, and I’m supported in that by the PGR team in Faculty. My role involves working with a range of other teams – with the School PGR Directors, especially around recruitment, funding, and the improvement of completion rates; with my counterparts in the other Faculties in Manchester Doctoral College, around the development of PGR policies and the sharing of best practice; and with my counterparts in other universities in the region in the two Doctoral Training Partnerships in which we take part. PGR students are central to what makes a great research university, and I see my role as being to ensure that our PGR programmes are as effective as possible in contributing to the University’s and Faculty’s ambitious research strategies.
How do our Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTP) support the development of our postgraduate research students?
Niqui Ellis: Our DTPs are regional consortia of north west-based higher education institutions, funded by the research councils. This allows economy of scale in providing and sharing research training, seminars, conferences and personal development opportunities for our postgraduate researchers – including overseas institutional visits, fieldwork abroad and placements as well as the opportunity for students to coordinate conferences and seminars whilst managing a budget. These opportunities enable our postgraduate researchers to engage with external networks, employers and industries to broaden their experience, supporting impact of their research as well as enhancing and widening their employment prospects. Humanities is actively involved in two large DTPs, as well as one Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and two CDTs funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), helping to make Manchester one of the most successful universities in the country in terms of engagement and opportunities for our early career researchers.
Carole Arrowsmith: The North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP funded by the AHRC) is managed by the University and provides a fantastic opportunity to liaise and work with six other institutions, and external organisations such as the BBC, the National Trust and the British Library – just to name a few – providing valuable collaboration and increased impact for the research questions our postgraduate researchers are engaged with.
What’s the most rewarding part of your role in PGR placements?
Louise Davies: Knowing that the students have had a really positive experience from taking the placement and that the skills and contacts that they have developed will help them in their future careers. Recent positives include the five PGR students who were accepted onto the Cabinet Office’s Open Innovation PhD Placement Scheme and students who have taken placements with external organisations such as Chetham’s Library, the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology at Liverpool and the British Library.
The team plays a major role in developing and implementing the Faculty’s Internationalisation Strategy. What’s the biggest project on the horizon for this area of your work?
Rosie Haynes & Alex Gaskill: We are currently focused on building a number of partnerships with key institutions. For us, this is about building a suite of activities that supports the key goals around research, teaching and learning, and social responsibility. In the next year, in anticipation of the launch of new collaborative research funds, we will also be working hard to ensure that potential opportunities from these funds are maximised across the Faculty. We will be doing this by formalising partnerships, and supporting colleagues across the Faculty in gaining access to these funds.
We will also be working with the PGR team to explore international opportunities for PGR students, particularly around joint programmes with other institutions. This is a new area for us, and where we feel that we can really add value to the student experience of PGR students, and the research environment.
Who most inspires you and why?
Nicola Sheehan: Jeanette Winterson, her ‘Don’t protect me - respect me’ lecture was powerful, funny and direct.
Anusarin Lowe: I’ll have to seize the moment and say that Gareth Southgate has inspired the nation over the past few weeks with his calm and measured approach to football coaching. He has led the team as far as the semi-final while carrying the weight of the nation’s expectation and has done so in style too.
Ian Fairweather: I have been asked this question a few times and my usual answer is Monty Don. He is someone who really knows his stuff, but it's a knowledge gained for its own sake out of love for his subject material (plants and gardening). He shares his expertise with an honesty and humility you don't normally get from people who are looked to as leaders.
Kelly Pickard-Smith: My Co-Directors at Women in Academia Support Network @officialwiasn. They give up huge amounts of their free time to provide an international, intersectional space curated by and for female academics to celebrate their achievements and support personal development and growth and changes in the academe.
The team
- Jo Kaiserman, Head of PGR and Internationalisation Support Services
- Stuart Jones, Associate Dean for PGR
- Niqui Ellis, Senior PGR Administrator
- Carole Arrowsmith, PGR Officer
- Louise Davies, PGR Placements and Partnerships Officer
- Rosie Haynes, International Project Officer
- Alex Gaskill, International Project Officer
- Nicola Sheehan, Researcher Development Officer
- Anusarin Lowe, PGR Officer
- Ian Fairweather, Researcher Development Manager
- Kelly Pickard-Smith, Researcher Development Officer