Category: Blog

It’s the 20th of January and, after coming back to work after the holidays on the 2nd, I finally feel like I’m back in the swing of things. My name is Matthew, and I’m a PhD student in that progressively dense, foggy space between the third and fourth years of my studies at Newcastle University, trying…

Our Master’s rep Beth has driven this fascinating conversation, with contributions from the PGF committee and Twitterworld. It’s turned about to be a pretty major piece, and while it probably won’t answer all of your questions, hopefully it will give you a good flavour of what’s it like to be a PhD student. How do you manage…

On 5th December Dr Charlotte Mathieson spoke to PGRs in Surrey’s School of English and Languages about getting the first job post-PhD. She talked through her career path, from the messy immediacy of the post-PhD stage through to the permanent job started 4 months ago, and drew out some (potentially) useful things she learned along the way. Charlotte published her notes…

Thought of academia as one career? Think again. One minute I’m a researcher, trying to have new breakthroughs. The next a student, always learning from peers. Then I’m a teacher, inspiring the next generation. One day I’ll be a business salesman, selling my project to people for them to ‘buy’ in. I’ll also work as…

Hi I‘m Beth and I’ve just begun my MA in Human Geography (research) at Newcastle University. I am also the Masters representative in the RGS-IBG Postgraduate Forum, a new position, and thought you’d be interested in my experience of becoming a Masters student! Beginning a Masters is a rather daunting experience, which for many involves…

One of our newest committee members, Kieran Phelan shares some reflections about his first weeks as a PhD student at the University of Nottingham. As I am writing this post, I have just returned from a fantastic school seminar by the esteemed Professor John T Andrews. Not only is Professor Andrews a pre-eminent geoscientist, being…

The RGS-IBG Postgraduate Forum Annual Conference Training Symposium (PGF-ACTS) was developed to provide training and support for postgraduates at all stages of their research, and to encourage peer-networking before the formal start of the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference. The event was jointly organised by the Postgraduate Forum (PGF) and the RGS-IBG to provide training and…

Here we have a special collection of blogs reflecting on the RGS-IBG Postgraduate Forum Midterm Conference 2016 from a variety of perspectives. A) Matthew Scott (Newcastle University) – Conference Organiser; B) Matthew Whittle (University of Leeds) – Conference Delegate; C) Greg Thomas (Aberystwyth University) – Postgraduate Forum Chair; D) Gemma Pearson (Royal Holloway, University of…

Having never written a blog post before I’m not sure how this will turn out, but here goes…. Hi, I’m Emily Hill and I’m a first year Physical Geography PhD Student at Newcastle University. My project is looking into outlet glacier retreat in northern Greenland, relating this to changes in external environmental forcing (atmospheric/oceanic and…

Hi my name is Victoria and I am a first year PhD researcher in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham. For want of a better description I am an urban ecologist, with a love for citizen science, conservation and environmental education. These are all areas of science I…