Being a PGR student can be a lonely and difficult time in your academic career. Thankfully, the Library and University more broadly provides a wide range of support for you to help you with your research and publications.
Read on for a quick look through some of the support available to you!
Focus: PGR Support
March 13 – 17 2023 is our Focus: PGR Support Week! Join us for support dedicated to helping PGRs with your research and publication.
Whether you’re looking for advice on publishing and increasing your research visibility, or want an introduction to key research themes like open access, copyright, and online research profiles, check out the support that the University has for you! See everything on offer here.
The Newcomers Network
Our Newcomers Network provides support to researchers in the early stages of their careers. It brings likeminded people together to support each other and as a forum for discussion and training.
We run exclusive training sessions for members of the network to help you progress in your academic careers, covering topics like academic publishing, online research profiles, and research visibility. Every January, we run “Newcomers Research Week” – an entire week of training from across the University to help you get your year off to a great start.
You can join the Newcomers mailing list here to find out about training and other opportunities as they come up and read more about the network here.
Peer Review for the Essex Student Journal
The Essex Student Journal is an academic journal run by students, for students, here at the University.
All of the peer reviewers are current PGR students, giving you the opportunity to gain essential peer review experience before entering the wider academic world. Peer reviewing is something that you will be expected to do regularly in your academic career, so gaining this experience and training early can help you build your confidence and get ahead in your career.
You can find out more about the journal and becoming a peer reviewer on the ESJ website.
PGR Writing Retreats
Each term, Organisational Development in collaboration with the Library and PGRE Team run multiple day writing retreats on Colchester Campus.
These provide you dedicated time to write your thesis in a quiet and supportive environment. The days are structured to give you intensive writing periods with regular breaks. Tea, coffee and biscuits are included, as are activities such as chair yoga, campus tours, and active breaks. You will be with fellow PGRs so you can learn from and support each other as a community.
The next PGR Writing Retreat is running 15-17 March 2023. Book your place here!
Support for Researchers
The Research Services Team at the Library offers a wide range of online support for PGRs, covering topics like:
- copyright
- research visibility & citations
- online researcher profiles
- academic publishing
- open research
- and more!
If you can’t find what you need or would like more info, you can always drop us an email on ressup@essex.ac.uk with any questions and we’d be happy to help.
Other teams across the University also offer a variety of support including workshops on thesis writing, preparing for your viva and presentations, and a range of other professional and academic skills. You can browse and book the training on offer through Proficio.
Other Support
The Library also offers a wide range of support for academic skills, such as literature searching, evaluating resources, reading strategies, and more. You can find all of our live workshops and online guides through our Skills at Library page.
In particular, we run regular Focus Weeks to provide additional support on particular topics, so have a look through our past weeks and keep an eye out for future ones!
If you have any questions or would like any support, please feel free to contact the Research Services Team at the Library by email: ressup@essex.ac.uk
University of Essex Library Blog 