Supporting Philosophy, Theology,
Please note that as of the 1st of August 2011 the Subject Centre for PRS entered a 5 month transition phase prior to its closure on the 31st of December 2011. Most pages on this website are no longer being updated, apart from resources from the last academic year's activities.
Aspiring Academics Programme
In 2004, the Subject Centre obtained an AHRC grant to develop subject-specific doctoral research training in PRS disciplines (see http://prs.heacademy.ac.uk/projects/doctoral_research_training/index.html). This led to a rolling programme of activity, which we have now called 'Aspiring Academics' to recognise the fact that it is useful to early career academics as well as post-graduate students:
Workshops
We run at least one Aspiring Academics workshop each year, and information about previous and upcoming events is below. We will be running our 2011 event in Leeds:
Workshop: University of Leeds, 11th May 2011
The annual Aspiring Academics Workshop for postgraduate students considering their futures.
Workshop for Aspiring Academics 2009 
Workshop: Woburn House, London, 19th May 2009
A one day workshop for post-graduate students and early career academics in PRS disciplines.
Aspiring Academics Workshop 2010
Workshop: The Strand Campus, King's College, London, 20th May 2010
A one day workshop for post-graduate students and early career academics in PRS disciplines.
Aspiring Academics Workshop in Scotland 2010
Workshop: Edinburgh, 27th October 2010
By popular demand, the Subject Centre for PRS has organised an event for post-graduate students and early career academics in our disciplines, to take place in Scotland.
Funded projects
In order to take this work forward and expand the scope of the programme, the Subject Centre has funded the development of similar professional development initiatives to support PRS doctoral students in various parts of the UK. Details of these projects are below. You can also view the original call for bids for this tranche of funding.
Midlands Philosophy Research Training Network
Dr Mark Addis and Prof. Helen Beebee
Faculty of Law, Humanities, Development and Society, Birmingham City University
British Postgraduate Philosophy Association (BPPA) Masterclass Series: Training and Continuation
Bob Clark and Rachael Wiseman
Department of Philosophy, University of York
Theological Texts Reading Group
Dr Dave Clough
Department of Theology & Religious Studies, University of Chester
Abstracta in Concreta: Engaging Museum Collections in PRS Research
Dr Victoria Harrison and Dr Philip Tonner
Department of Philosophy, University of Glasgow
Prof. Gordon Lynch
Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society, Birkbeck, University of London
Resources
The resources below are used at the workshops.
How to Give an Academic Talk: Changing the Culture of Public Speaking in the Humanities
Paul N. Edwards
This advice on how to give an academic talk was written by an academic in the School of Information, University of Michigan, USA.
Academic Capital, Postgraduate Research and British Universities
Matthew Eddy
Discourse Volume 6 Number 1
Sources of Further Information for Career Development
Julie Gallimore
Resources for postgraduate PRS students on making the transition from PG study to employment.
Sources of support for ‘Aspiring Academics’
The websites below all offer support for those starting out on an academic career.
Centre for Excellence in Preparing for Academic Practice
http://www.learning.ox.ac.uk/oli.php?page=54
The Centre is based at the Oxford Learning Institute, and is funded by HEFCE to support postgraduate research students and postdoctoral researchers who wish to develop academic careers. It undertakes research on the changing nature of ‘academic practice’ and also provides a range of practical activities and tools to support aspiring and early career academics in all aspects of their career development – research, teaching, and other dimensions of academic life (such as administration and management).
Intute: Arts and Humanities
http://www.intute.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/
Intute is jointly funded by the AHRC and JISC. It is a free online service providing you with access to the best Web resources for education and research, selected and evaluated by a network of subject specialists. It also provides tools and events to enable students and academics to make the most of these academic resources; and personalised functions such as an ‘alerts’ service for new resources.
Beyond the PhD
http://www.beyondthephd.co.uk/
An online career resource tailored specifically for arts and humanities PhD researchers, which has been developed by the Centre for Career Management Skills at the University of Reading. Beyond the PhD brings together audio interviews, video discussions and articles aimed at making visible what happens to postgraduate researchers after they graduate.
Vitae (formerly UK GRAD)
Vitae is funded by Research Councils UK to support the personal, professional and career development of doctoral researchers and research staff in higher education institutions and research institutes. Their activities include a range of events, publications and resources designed to support research students and early career academics.
Other forms of support
Most HE institutions provide dedicated support to research students and early career academics. Individual HEIs structure this support differently – at least some such support is likely to be provided by central departments such as the research support office or academic / staff / educational development unit; additional support may also be available at school or faculty level.
Many subject associations and learned societies also provide support to new and aspiring academics.
Created on: March 18th 2009
Updated on: April 7th 2011