Inspiring 'UGS Talks' Series Launches
The 25th of January and UoBe Festival Week saw the first ever UGS Talks event launched in the Bramall Music Building and Rotunda, bringing 142 postgraduate attendees online and in-person for an afternoon of thought-provoking talks from leading University of Birmingham Postgraduate Alumni, networking over coffee and cake, and an introduction to the relaunched University Graduate School.
Introduced by the University Provost and Vice-Principal, Professor Tim Jones, Professor Duncan Shepherd kicked off the talks with an introduction to the University Graduate School as a postgraduate hub, its future plans, and exciting opportunities for postgraduate development such as the Westmere Scholars and PGT Ambassadors, regular workshops and socials, Images of Research and Three Minute Thesis.
Our first alumni speaker, Harvinder Atwal (MSc in Operational Research), emphasised the importance of being interdisciplinary, and having both broad knowledge and multiple specialisms in order to find your niche in any industry, reflecting on the challenges of data science and people management.
From STEM to Arts and Humanities, our second speaker, Henrietta Brealey (MSc in Public Management) echoed Harvinder’s words on the importance of networking, tracing the journey of her career through the support of her mentors. Henrietta’s podcast, CEO Stories, explores the often unexpected, unconventional, and non-linear journeys of local CEOs from a range of industries and backgrounds – and expressed a common pattern of not needing to have a career figured out from the start. You can listen to Henrietta’s podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, and others.
Before and after both events, postgraduates from all Colleges met in the Bramall Rotunda for casual networking and the chance to browse a range of University services for postgraduates, including the University Graduate School, the Guild, Student Wellbeing, Research Skills, the Academic Skills Centre, the Careers Network, and the Birmingham International Academy.
Attendees rated UGS Talks as a “5-star”, “inspiring” event that gave insight into life after postgraduate study and the University Graduate School’s “exciting” strategies to bring UoB’s postgraduate community together.
You can hear our alumni talks, conversations and audience Q&A on Zoom Webinar (with password ZS&A4#m3), and learn more about UGS Talks and future UGS Talks events here.