Author: Precious Chiwara // Editors: Cherene de Bruyn & Sarah Charlin Klingberg My journey to pursue a PhD in palaeosciences, specifically archaeology, started in 2021 when I received the Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI) #Advancing Woman Award for black female students at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. This #Advancing Woman program was … Continue reading Thriving against all odds: Navigating a PhD as a black woman in palaeosciences
Category: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Between Two Worlds: Understanding if discrimination and social identity causes psychosis among ethnic minorities in the UK
Author: Rashmi Danwaththa Liyanage // Editor: Erin Pallott A Mother's Journey I woke up in the gloom and I could see some black and white pigeons huddled together on a neighbour’s roof embracing the warmth and serenity, a sheer contrast to my inner disarray. Just days after the Southport tragedy, and riots occurred a few … Continue reading Between Two Worlds: Understanding if discrimination and social identity causes psychosis among ethnic minorities in the UK
Financial Barriers to Education: My Journey to my PhD!
Author: Bethany Warwick // Editor: Vicky McIntyre I recently attended a Webinar for exploring career options after completing a PhD. It was a very informative session; however, it left me with one question; ‘is my experience that different from other people’s coming into/getting into academia?’. This particular session was centred around ‘Careers in Policy’, and during the … Continue reading Financial Barriers to Education: My Journey to my PhD!
Starting a postgraduate degree as an Autistic person
Author: Nina Wycech // Editor: Poppy Dunn Notes: In the light of the Neurodivergency movement, many try to retire the medical view and call it Autism Spectrum Condition instead of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Many people prefer using person-first language (person with autism) when it comes to ASD. I consider Autism to be an undetachable … Continue reading Starting a postgraduate degree as an Autistic person
“I Don’t Want to Cause Trouble”: Acceptance of Bullying in Academia
Author: Erin Pallott // Editors: Luke Marshall, Sophie Alshukri When I joined my PhD programme, I needed to figure out which lab I wanted to join. I got given lots of advice on what to ask other PhD and postdoc members, and a prominent suggestion was to find out what the lab environment is like. … Continue reading “I Don’t Want to Cause Trouble”: Acceptance of Bullying in Academia
Pain School: A Snapshot of Pain
Author: Emily Cocker // Editor: Erin Pallott What is Pain? Pain is an individual experience, yet something that unites the masses in its non-discriminatory targeting of the young and old alike. Unless you were born with congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP), chances are you know what pain is and how it feels for you. Acute … Continue reading Pain School: A Snapshot of Pain
Reflections on Student Protest in Light of the Encampment
Author: Jafar Cain // Editor: Erin PallottPhoto credit: Qais Attaallah Anyone who has been on campus within the past month will have inevitably seen the student encampment in the formerly named Brunswick Park area. Whilst similar student-led movements have been met with violent armed opposition by state forces in the USA, the movements across UK … Continue reading Reflections on Student Protest in Light of the Encampment
Shout Your Success #3 – December 2023
Editor: Erin Pallott Things might be slowing down in preparation for Christmas closures, but many are still passionately working on their side projects. In this edition, we have some great examples of projects focusing on the inclusivity of underrepresented backgrounds in education and research. Matthew SintonIn 2019, we started The STEM Village as a way … Continue reading Shout Your Success #3 – December 2023
Building Your Researcher Profile and Utilising Social Media – Annet Nakkazi and Rural Great Minds
Author: Annet Nakkazi // Editor: Erin Pallott Teaming up with the Doctoral Academy and the Researcher Development team, I organised a podcast episode about how postgraduate researchers can start building their online presence and researcher profiles. I talked about our blog, Research Hive, and how blogging is a great way to start getting your name … Continue reading Building Your Researcher Profile and Utilising Social Media – Annet Nakkazi and Rural Great Minds
Surviving a PhD Induction with Invisible Disabilities
Author: Emily Cocker // Editors: Ayobami Esther Olanrewaju and Erin Pallott Reading Time: 5 minutes // Feature Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash I started my Epidemiology PhD in October 2022. I missed the Disabled PGR Induction by a few weeks, so I felt lost not knowing where to start from Day One. The generic … Continue reading Surviving a PhD Induction with Invisible Disabilities