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Dear Postgraduate Researchers,

Also for the attention of Supervisors and Research-degree-related staff

As the summer begins, we thought it would be a good time to brief you ahead of the new academic year: some new things and some reminders. We will update you again in September.

First, I’d like to celebrate the success of another PGR student conference and thank the organisers and contributors for making it a motivating and engaging event. Some images of the speakers on the mailerlite version of this briefing.

The rest of the briefing covers Regulations changes, changes to the Academic Engagement and Attendance Policy, Community News, Peer support group and News in brief. I have noted for each item whether it relates to directly registered PGRs (DR) or ARC PGRs (ARC).

Regulation changes 24/25 (DR/ARC)

The regulations have gone through their annual revisions and the 24/25 regulations are uploaded here: Research Degree Regulations | Student Policies and Regulations | The Open University.

You can see a full list of changes in ‘Appendix 8 – August 2024’ of the new regulations but we would particularly like to draw your attention to a few of the changes:

• Supervisory meeting notes should be stored on a shared system, ideally PGR Manager; you can use the PGR Manager: Supervision meeting notes guide to help you do this.

• The study break clauses related to disruption due to the pandemic have been removed.

• Students can only change mode of study once.

• Upgrade vivas and viva voce examinations can be done in person, hybrid or totally online. The final decision lies with the student.

If you have any further questions about the regulations, please contact your Faculty or Research Degree Team leads: Contact us | Graduate School Network (open.ac.uk).

Attendance and engagement policy (DR)

We have updated our Academic Engagement and Attendance Policy. The main changes, live on 1 August 2024, are:

• Section 2.1 amended to state ‘Activities that require attendance in-person, normally on campus, include…Supervisory meetings (for full time students)’.
• Section 2.2 amended to ‘recommend’ rather than ‘require’ that full-time students attend campus 2 days a week.

The amended policy recognises changes in working arrangements and research cultures. However, the campus remains important for full-time PGRs, particularly international students who move to the UK to study with us.

To note, full-time PGRs currently studying with us on a residency waiver will be able to continue the arrangements that were agreed when they started their studies. .

Professor Clare Warren appointed Graduate School Director

As my term as Graduate School Director comes to end in December, I’m delighted to say that Professor Clare Warren has been appointed Director as of 5 August. We will work on handover over the autumn.

Clare brings a wealth of relevant experience, most recently leading the implementation of the Researcher Concordat and key aspects of the Research Plan’s Next Generation priority to support the development of early career researchers, including PG research students. This is on top of Clare’s extensive experience of PGR supervision and Doctoral Training Partnerships with other universities. Clare is an active researcher and led the OU’s submission to the last REF for Earth Systems and Environmental Science. Clare will be introducing herself in our next briefing and you will meet her as part of the Welcome Back sessions (see ‘Dates for the diary’ below).

Agnibha Banerjee and Issam Fawaz are new student organisers

We are pleased to announce two PGRs who have accepted key roles supporting the student experience:

• Agnibha Banerjee (STEM) will be taking over as Community Organiser for the academic year 24/25. His role involves holding social events for the community which he is well prepared for as a previous President of RocSoc (a society of OU Physics and EEES PGRs). We eagerly look forward to seeing the social calendar for next year and will send you details of events via the Graduate School Digest. Many thanks to Lauren and Sahil for their work in this area – creating the roles and a series of great social opportunities.
• Issam Fawaz (FBL) has accepted the new role of International PGR support adviser. This will involve helping prepare International PGRs for coming to the UK and supporting them in the first months after their arrival. We are really excited about the impact this role should have on the International PGR experience.

Peer support group (DR)

The PGR Wellbeing support group represents a proactive step towards enhancing your overall wellbeing and making the most of your academic experience. There are a few places left on the cohort starting in the Autumn and it is currently open for expressions of interest! Please submit this expression of interest by 10:00 on 1 September 2024. Once all expressions of interest have been received one of the advisors (Dionne or Emma) will be in contact with you regarding next steps.

The groups include eight to ten PGRs meeting for an eight-week period. The online weekly sessions are facilitated by a Mental Health Advisor and Academic, and covered topics such as self-care, imposter syndrome, time management, communication and criticism, isolation and future planning.

News in brief (DR/ARC)

• Following feedback from PGRs and other website users, the section ‘Services’ on the GSN has been renamed Support. It contains information on University support, including Training, Careers and Wellbeing.
• Graduate School advisor (and rock!) Jeanette Chandler has recently gained a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Arts and Humanities (Philosophy and Religious Studies), First-class Honours, and we couldn’t be prouder of her!

Dates for the Diary (DR/ARC)

Please add these to your calendar – they will be up on PGR Manager: Calendar shortly where you can confirm rooms nearer the time.

• Next All-PGR Town Hall, 11:00–12:30, 11 September (Library Seminar Room 3 and online); followed on the same day by Crafternoon and coffee/tea, 12:30–14:00 (likely to be in Library Lecture Space at the end of the Atrium).
• Welcome back sessions in October
  • General briefing for all PGRs, 9:00–12:00, 8 October: 9:00–10:25 (online) and 10:30–12:00 (face to face; likely to be Library Seminar Room 6). The two sessions will contain the same material but delivered in different modes.
  • Resources for all PGRs, 11:30–13:00, 9 October (online only).

Have a lovely holiday.

Best regards,

Lindsay

Professor Lindsay O’Dell