This blog post is part of a series of monthly posts detailing the activities of the DR President’s Team (President: Leah Henrickson; Vice-President: Hugh Tawell).

Note: This post refers to PhD/EngD Students as Doctoral Researchers (DR) and Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs). This is because the University uses the former language, and the Union uses the latter.

Happy March, doctoral researchers!

This month has gone by quickly, as we’ve been keeping ourselves busy with administration and planning. We hosted fewer social events than usual this month, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t still doing our best to represent you and provide you with a stellar student experience. Here’s what we got up to.

Loughborough London Feedback Forum

On 6^th March, we travelled down to Loughborough’s London campus with Kamal, the LSU Postgrad EO, to solicit feedback from London students about their experiences. With the support of Student Voice staff, we were able to collect and analyse dozens of feedback cards received on the day. Plus, we got to chat with the amazing Loughborough students in London. We’re now working on applying students’ feedback in meaningful and productive ways.

The photo accompanying this post is of Hugh, Leah, and Kamal on their day in London.

Postgraduate Family Meetup

On 24^th March, we supported Kamal as he led the first-ever Postgraduate Family Meetup. This day served as an opportunity for postgraduates and staff with children to meet one another and socialise. LSU Action volunteers were on hand to help keep the kids entertained, Zumba got everybody moving, and the event way – in Hugh’s words – ‘lit’.

We’re hoping this event becomes an annual tradition so that every year the many postgraduates with children will be able to get to know one another and swap ‘you’ll never believe what my child did’ stories over tea and biscuits.

Other Administrative Stuff

Our last PGR Rep meeting was on 20^th February, and there were lots of action points for us to follow up on. We’ve been working to ensure that information gets fed forward to the relevant departments/people, and that we’re all doing what we said we were going to do.

We’ve also been planning the Postgraduate Awards, figuring out which awards we are going to offer and soliciting funding from various bodies. More information should be available about this in our next post – keep your eyes peeled for details!

As it’s Easter Break for the undergraduates in April, the University may seem a bit quieter than usual. However, that doesn’t mean that great events aren’t happening! Our friends at the PhD Social & Support Network have recently recruited a new committee that has dived into planning a bunch of exciting socials that we’re happy to support by advertising here. The events are as follows, with links to their respective Facebook events included if you’d like up-to-date details:

• Wednesday, 3^rd April, 12PM – 3PM: Keep Calm and Go Dog-Walking (https://www.facebook.com/events/2117219845014246)
• Thursday, 4^th April, 6PM – 9PM: PGR Movie Night (https://www.facebook.com/events/412053039353672)
• Friday, 12^th April, 7PM – 12AM: Pub Crawl/Pub Golf (https://www.facebook.com/events/2339546259648566)
• Thursday, 18^th April, 2PM – 5PM: (https://www.facebook.com/events/2322882071282021)

Also, get excited for Loughborough’s first-ever Pint of Science event, scheduled for 21^st May at the Needle and Pin. Ticket sales will begin 8^th April. This event is organised by Loughborough doctoral researchers, and will feature some of our doctoral researchers as speakers.

Well, that’s a wrap, folks! Hopefully we’ll see you at some of the Social & Support Network’s events in April. If you’re travelling in April, have a safe and enjoyable journey and we’ll see you when you get back.

If you want to keep up-to-date with our activity, join the ‘Doctoral Researchers of Loughborough University’ Facebook group and follow us on Twitter. If you’re a London student, join the ‘Loughborough Students’ Union London 2018-2019’ Facebook group.

Leah and Hugh.