PGR: PhD Chat - Let's Catch Up!

PhD Chat: (Re)Connection Series

Being a PhD researcher is a hugely rewarding journey in many ways, but can also involve some challenges, especially when faced with a pandemic.

Join your Westmere Scholars (fellow PGRs working with the University Graduate School to support the community) for a series of four online ‘PhD Chat’ sessions themed around (Re)Connection.

• PhD Chat: Let’s Catch Up! – Friday 11th June @ noon
• PhD Chat: Mental Health – Friday 18th June @ noon
• PhD Chat: Finding Your Tribe – Friday 25th June @ noon
• PhD Chat: Creative Visualisation – Friday 2nd July @ noon

PhD Chat is an informal and supportive environment where we’ll have a chat about our individual experiences and concerns, share wisdom, advice, and tips with each other. Sessions are open to all PhD students at the University of Birmingham (if the topic is relevant to you, other PGRs, such as MRes students, are also welcome to join the chat!).

Discussion topic: Catching Up

The Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly brought many challenges to our lives over the last 18 months: some of us may have had to shield, some of us may have lost our jobs, and some of us may have had to care for vulnerable friends or family members. The pandemic has likewise had an impact on us as researchers: our funding may have been compromised, research trips may have been cancelled or postponed, and we may have been cut off from the PGR community.

As such, your new Westmere Scholars felt it was appropriate to organise an event in which we could all have a catch-up, which will officially kick-off the beginning of our PhD Chat series! New and returning PGRs alike are welcome to come for an informal session in which we will discuss the difficulties we have faced over the last year and a half, our hopes and anxieties for the coming months, and the strategies and solutions that we have found helpful as we have adapted to changing circumstances.

The event will include:

• Introductions
• A short introduction to the topic
• Informal chat and sharing of experiences
• Opportunity to meet other postgraduate researchers

Some questions to get you started:

• Where were you this time last year, and where are you now?
• What challenges have you overcome in the last year?
• What questions or concerns would you like to share?
• How do you intend to reconnect with the PGR community?
• With restrictions lifting, what are you looking forward to?