Organisation of PGR Provision

Dr Martina Daly

Chair

School Graduate Research Committee

The University of Sheffield

5 faculties: Medicine, Dentistry and Health Engineering Arts and Humanities Science Social Sciences

Departments

Cardiovascular ScienceHuman MetabolismInfection and ImmunityNeuroscienceOncology

Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health

+ Academic Unit of Medical Education

Medical School

School of DentistrySchool of Nursing and MidwiferyHuman Communication SciencesSheffield Centre for Health and Related Research

Dr Patrick EyersLead PGR Tutor

Dr Peter GrabowskiDeputy PGR TutorYour PGR Tutor Team

PGR AdministratorSara Watkinson

MPhil & MRes-PhD SecretaryJodie Burnham

MPhil-PhD/MD SecretaryCarol Fidler

MPhil-PhD/MD Admissions SecretaryPaula Blackwell

PGR Staff & Responsibilities

PGR Admin Support Team

Dr Martina DalyChair, SGRCPGR Lead Cardiovascular Science

Dr Peter MonkPGR Lead Infection and Immunity

Dr Colby EatonLead PGR TutorPGR Lead Human Metabolism

Dr Angie CoxPGR Lead Oncology

Departmental PGR Leads

Dr Andy GriersonPGR Lead Neuroscience

Dr Lynda WyldMD Contact

Primary Supervisor

Second Supervisor

Personal Tutor

PGR Tutors

Departmental PGR Lead

Chair of the School Graduate Research Committee

Your Supervisory Team

Primary SupervisorYour primary supervisor is responsible for the day to day supervision of your research. They will provide guidance on the nature of the research project and the standard expected, the planning and timing of the successive stages of the research project, literature and sources, research methods and techniques. They will also guide you as to appropriate courses to attend to meet your training needs and offer guidance and advice on the preparation of your thesis. In addition to the informal chats and lab or team meetings that you will have with your supervisor, you are required to have at least nine formal, documented meetings with your supervisor(s) per annum, solely focussing on your progress. You will receive reminders about these meetings but will be expected to arrange them yourself. The aim of these meetings will be to discuss your progress, the problems you have faced and the objectives to be reached before the next meeting. A record of the meeting should be made using the supervisory meeting form, which should be returned to the PGR Secretary after the meeting.

Second SupervisorAll students will have a second supervisor, and in some cases a third supervisor may also be appointed. The role of the second supervisor and their input into the day to day supervision will vary from one student to another. However, in all cases, the second supervisor will act as the monitor of the student’s training plan and will be responsible for commenting on their training progress and for formally approving their portfolio as part of the transfer process. The second supervisor will also comment on the student’s personal development plan during formal supervisory meetings and they will sign a transcript of their portfolio annually, and as part of the annual progress report. While the primary supervisor will be closely involved with the development of a student’s training plan, it is the second supervisor who will hold primary responsibility for monitoring its implementation. You are required to meet with both supervisors at least 6 times annually.

Personal TutorYour personal tutor is somebody who is not directly concerned with your research, but does have some understanding of the area. Their role is mainly to provide pastoral care and to be someone independent with whom you can discuss, in confidence, non-technical issues relating to your project or your supervision, or other personal problems that might impact upon your experience as a student. You may also wish to discuss your training needs with your personal tutor. You must meet twice annually with your personal tutor, once in each semester, and a record of the meetings should be made using the personal tutoring meeting form which should be returned to the PGR Secretary after the meeting. You are expected to contact your personal tutor to arrange these meetings. Some students may be assigned a personal tutoring team comprising an academic member of staff and a senior postdoctoral researcher. In such cases, students will be expected to meet twice annually with both members of their personal tutoring team. Students should feel free to meet with their personal tutors at other times if required.

PGR TutorsYou will be assigned to a team of two PGR Tutors who will be your first point of contact for any queries you may have relating to your doctoral development programme and who, usually, remain with you throughout the course of your research programme. Your PGR tutors will be responsible for delivering the two research training modules that all PGR students are expected to complete in their first year. These are the generic research training modules MED6950 – Literature Review and MED6960 – Techniques, Safety and Report. They will also organise the annual research presentation meetings, where you are expected to present a summary of your research over the previous year. Your PGR Tutors will also highlight any issues relating to progress with your research, particularly during your first year. You are also encouraged to approach your PGR Tutors for advice if you have any difficulties that you feel unable to raise with your supervisors or personal tutor.

Departmental PGR LeadEach of the five departments in the Medical School has a PGR Lead. The PGR Lead is responsible for assigning your personal tutor and approving all paperwork relating to your candidature. They are also responsible for approving the appointment of examiners at the stage when you are expected to transfer registration from MPhil to MD, or PhD and they will approve the selection of examiners for your finished MD or PhD thesis. The PGR Leads will also deal with any issues that arise relating to your progress at the time of transfer of registration or at other times during the course of your research programme. In some cases, your departmental PGR Lead may also act as a PGR Tutor. Each PGR Lead also represents their department on the Medical School and Faculty Graduate Research Committees.

The Chair of the School Graduate Research Committee (SGRC) is responsible for overseeing the procedures for monitoring the progress and supervision of all PGR students. They also work with the Departmental PGR Leads and with the Heads of Department to deal with issues relating to lack of progress that arise at the time of transfer, and other times during the course of the research degree programme and provide cover for the PGR Leads when they are not available. The Chair of the SGRC also deals with issues relating to fees, and staff candidate applications.

Your Supervisory Team

Graduate Research Committees

Issues relating to development, monitoring and assessment of PGR students

School GRC – attended by PGR Tutors and LeadsFaculty GRC – attended by PGR LeadsPGR Student Committee Staff Student Liaison Committee

Opportunities for PGR students to be involved at all levels

Student

Head of Department

School Graduate Research Committee

Faculty Graduate Research Committee

Supervisory team

Faculty Director of Research and

Innovation

Organisation of PGR Provision

Personal tutor

Supervisors

PGR TutorsDepartmental

PGR Lead

PGR Student Representative

Staff Student Liaison Committee

PGR Student Committee

4 Year MRes- PhD Programme

First year differs to MPhil/PhD students

3 x 10 week interdisciplinary lab rotations

Attend relevant DDP modules

Choose which project to continue for PhD degree at end of year

Years 2-4 similar to 3 year MPhil/PhD students

Register as MPhil-PhD student in the department of first supervisor

Progress and Attendance Monitoring

Identify problems that may arise in sufficient time to offer support

We are required to monitor attendance of all students

Report Date

Supervisor meetings (x9) 15th Oct15th Nov15th Dec15th Jan1st Mar15th Apr30th May15th Jul31st Aug

Personal tutor meetings (x2) 30th Oct30th Apr

PGR Student Attendance and Progress Monitoring in the Medical School

R SS SS SS SSS TT

Oct MayAprMarFebJanDecNov SeptAugJulJun

APR

Email from PGR Secretary 7-10 days before deadline for submission of report

Arrange meeting with Supervisor or Personal Tutor

Complete form during meeting

If the meeting is with the supervisor, complete your part of the form before the meeting

Ensure that form is returned to the PGR Secretary via email, in person or by post before the deadline for submission.

Keep record in your portfolio.

If there is a reason why the meeting cannot take place before the deadline, notify PGR secretary immediately

Procedure for monitoring meetings

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/medicine/current/postgraduates

Important webpages