Section 4 of the University of Sussex postgraduate prospectus 2009. Visit www.sussex.ac.uk to view online or order a printed copy of the 2010 prospectus.
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S ussex provides a supportive environment in which to undertake exciting, innovative and challenging taught and research degrees. Academic support Academic support and learning resources As a postgraduate student at Sussex, most of your day-to-day contact and support will be provided via your department or inter- disciplinary unit. Each postgraduate taught (PGT) student has a programme convenor, who may also be their personal tutor or advisor. The Director of Taught Programmes is responsible for PGT students. For postgraduate research students, your primary source of academic support will be your main research degree supervisor. In addition, each department or interdisciplinary unit will have a person with overall responsibility for research degree students within that unit. To supplement sources of academic support and advice, assistance is also available in relation to problems or queries of a more personal nature. The University has specially trained Student Advisors who are available for general support and guidance, and who can intervene on your behalf where problems or difficulties arise. There are also Directors of Student Support who can offer general advice, and if necessary, pursue action on your behalf. Wider academic support At Sussex we think it is vital that as a post- graduate student you are actively involved and engaged in the research life of the University. Our research groups and units undertake a very active programme of seminars and research activities, which are open to all members of the Sussex community. You can find out more about the activities in the arts, science and social sciences on pages 8-13, and in individual subject entries (pages 41-170). Skills development and training The skills PGT students need are built in to the structure of our taught postgraduate programmes. Many wider programmes and activities are also available for our PGT students. See also Career development and part-time work on page 37 for career development activities. We provide active skills development for our postgraduate research (PGR) students through programmes in the arts, science and the social sciences. See pages 8-13 and 37 for an outline of the activities that support early career development. Doctoral School The University is proud of the academic support it provides to its students. We are looking to strengthen this further in 2009, with the creation of a new Doctoral School to co-ordinate and further enhance the support provided to postgraduate research and postdoctoral researchers at Sussex. The role of the Doctoral School will include the organisation of skills training for PGR students, enhancing the arrangements already in place. It will also have a wider role in relation to strategy for developing our postgraduate research community. As well as overseeing the quality assurance of PGR activities and monitoring and evaluation of the University’s activities, the School will look at the bursaries and financial support provided to PGR. There is a rich and diverse academic life at Sussex in which our PGR students are fully engaged. The Doctoral School looks to enable PGR students and postdoctoral researchers to feel fully integrated as members of the University’s wider research community. In the short-term, the Doctoral School will provide a virtual home, looking over time to provide a new physical base, enhancing the local arrangements in departments. The Doctoral School is currently being put in place. You can keep up to date with the latest developments and news by visiting www.sussex.ac.uk/pgstudy Feedback from students We take feedback and comment from our students seriously, and have developed a range of student surveys and evaluation to improve the services we provide to our PGT and PGR communities. We provide active skills development for our postgraduate research students through programmes in the arts, science and the social sciences x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Amelia’s perspective ‘After finishing my undergraduate degree at Sussex, choosing to stay on here was an easy decision. The outstanding reputation of the researchers was a big factor for me. This gives postgraduate students the opportunity to be involved in cutting-edge research with state-of-the-art equipment and resources. ‘The University is extremely supportive of its postgraduate students and has always provided me with all the encouragement and assistance I need to be successful in my research. This ranges from social events with fellow students, to training courses on everything from computer programs to public speaking and presentation skills. In fact, if you want training or help with improving your skills and there isn’t currently a course on it, then just suggest it and the University will do its best to introduce it.’ Amelia Philpott DPhil in Biochemistry Academic support Academic support and learning resources 18
Transcript
Sussex provides a supportive environment in which to undertake exciting, innovative and challenging taught and
research degrees.
Academic supportAcademic support and learning resources
As a postgraduate student at Sussex, most of your day-to-day contact and support will be provided via your department or inter-disciplinary unit.
Each postgraduate taught (PGT) student has a programme convenor, who may also be their personal tutor or advisor. The Director of Taught Programmes is responsible for PGT students.
For postgraduate research students, your primary source of academic support will be your main research degree supervisor. In addition, each department or interdisciplinary unit will have a person with overall responsibility for research degree students within that unit.
To supplement sources of academic support and advice, assistance is also available in relation to problems or queries of a more personal nature. The University has specially trained Student Advisors who are available for general support and guidance, and who can intervene on your behalf where problems or difficulties arise.
There are also Directors of Student Support who can offer general advice, and if necessary, pursue action on your behalf.
Wider academic supportAt Sussex we think it is vital that as a post- graduate student you are actively involved and engaged in the research life of the University. Our research groups and units undertake a very active programme of seminars and research activities, which are open to all members of the Sussex community.
You can find out more about the activities in the arts, science and social sciences on pages 8-13, and in individual subject entries (pages 41-170).
Skills development and trainingThe skills PGT students need are built in to the structure of our taught postgraduate programmes. Many wider programmes and activities are also available for our PGT students. See also Career development and part-time work on page 37 for career development activities.
We provide active skills development for our postgraduate research (PGR) students through programmes in the arts, science and the social sciences. See pages 8-13 and 37 for an outline of the activities that support early career development.
Doctoral SchoolThe University is proud of the academic support it provides to its students. We are looking to strengthen this further in 2009, with the creation of a new Doctoral School to co-ordinate and further enhance the support provided to postgraduate research and postdoctoral researchers at Sussex.
The role of the Doctoral School will include the organisation of skills training for PGR students, enhancing the arrangements already in place. It will also have a wider role in relation to strategy for developing our postgraduate research community.
As well as overseeing the quality assurance of PGR activities and monitoring and evaluation of the University’s activities, the School will look at the bursaries and financial support provided to PGR.
There is a rich and diverse academic life at Sussex in which our PGR students are fully engaged. The Doctoral School looks to enable PGR students and postdoctoral researchers to feel fully integrated as members of the University’s wider research community.
In the short-term, the Doctoral School will provide a virtual home, looking over time to provide a new physical base, enhancing the local arrangements in departments.
The Doctoral School is currently being put in place. You can keep up to date with the latest developments and news by visiting www.sussex.ac.uk/pgstudy
Feedback from studentsWe take feedback and comment from our students seriously, and have developed a range of student surveys and evaluation to improve the services we provide to our PGT and PGR communities.
We provide active skills development for our postgraduate research students through programmes in the arts, science and the social sciences
xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx
Amelia’s perspective
‘After finishing my undergraduate degree at Sussex, choosing to stay on here was an easy decision. The outstanding reputation of the researchers was a big factor for me. This gives postgraduate students the opportunity to be involved in cutting-edge research with state-of-the-art equipment and resources. ‘The University is extremely supportive of its postgraduate students and has always provided me with all the encouragement and assistance I need to be successful in my research. This ranges from social events with fellow students, to training courses on everything from computer programs to public speaking and presentation skills. In fact, if you want training or help with improving your skills and there isn’t currently a course on it, then just suggest it and the University will do its best to introduce it.’
Amelia PhilpottDPhil in Biochemistry
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Learning resourcesWe have a variety of specialist resources, both on and off campus, to help you make the most of your research opportunities at Sussex.
For information on library services and information and technology services, see pages 21-22.
Sussex Language InstituteEnglish as a foreign languageIf English is not your first language, you may need to improve your language skills to meet University entrance requirements. The Sussex Language Institute (SLI) is accredited by the British Council and provides English language support on preparation courses before you begin your studies, as well as language and study skills support during your degree programme (see International student services on pages 34-35).
SLI also offers year-round full-time pre-Masters courses in English language and academic study skills, as well as part-time courses in English for Academic Purposes. SLI is an official examination centre for the following Cambridge Examinations: First Certificate in English (FCE), Cambridge Advanced English (CAE) and Cambridge Proficiency in English (CPE) – and offers part-time courses throughout the year to prepare for these examinations.
Modern language open coursesThese courses offer the opportunity to study a language on a weekly basis with other students, postgraduates, members of the University staff and the community. Each meeting lasts for one and a half hours, either in the middle of the day or in the evening. Courses are offered at a variety of levels, from beginners to advanced, in French, German, Italian and Spanish. Each year it is usually possible to run a number of classes in other languages such as Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Czech, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Classical Latin and Greek.
The Language Learning CentreThe Sussex Language Institute runs a self-access Language Learning Centre, which provides self-study materials – course books, audio and video tapes and computer software – for students interested in practising a language independently. The Learning Centre’s facilities include a digital computerised language laboratory, as well as self-access multimedia workstations with access to the internet and satellite television in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Teacher trainingWe offer four-week courses leading to the Trinity College London Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), in addition to one-week introductory courses in English Language Teaching.
General advice and details of courses are available from the Sussex Language Institute, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QN, UK T +44 (0)1273 678006 F +44 (0)1273 678476 E [email protected] www.sussex.ac.uk/languages
The University Bookshop The University Bookshop stocks a wide selection of academic and general interest books. Experienced staff work closely with tutors to ensure that reading lists are kept up to date and that required books are available in good time.
Multimedia The University’s facilities include equipment for digitising visual and audio material.
ITS/Media ServicesMedia Services has a wide range of audiovisual and digital video equipment, digital post-production facilities and a comprehensive photography service, which are available to students to enhance their work.
Disability supportSussex Regional Access Centre (SRAC)SRAC provides assessments, advice and training for disabled students in relation to technological support. The Centre is easily accessible by wheelchair users and those with visual impairments.
For more information, contact the SRAC Coordinator on T+44 (0)1273 678497, or E [email protected]
Alternatively, consult the website at www.sussex.ac.uk/srac
Specialist IT facilitiesMany computer rooms, including IT Services Enquiries in Engineering 1, are easily accessible to those with reduced mobility. A number of adapted PCs are available at various locations around the campus, providing an extended range of options for students with disabilities and specific learning needs. For further information, contact IT Services Enquiries on T+44 (0)1273 678090 or E [email protected]
Facilities for visually impaired studentsThe Library has a room for use by students with impairments and special needs. It contains a colour CCTV print enlarger, which incorporates a 21-inch display unit/television, and a Kurzweil Reading Edge Scanner.
The SRAC has a static CCTV for use in the Centre, a brailler, and special keyboards, mice and screens.
For further information, telephone the Student Support Unit on T+44 (0)1273 877466, or E [email protected]
Facilities for hearing-impaired students A number of lecture theatres and seminar rooms are fitted with induction loops.
SRAC has a portable loop system and a radio microphone system.
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Emma’s perspective
‘After studying at Sussex for my undergraduate degree, there was nothing I wanted to do more than stay here for my Masters and subsequent DPhil. ‘One of the main reasons I wanted to stay at Sussex was because the learning resources here are so vast. The Library on campus has a huge range of books for all subject areas, and as a postgraduate student you can borrow a large number of books at once, making researching easier. ‘The computer facilities at Sussex – in both the Library and all around campus – are also great, and I often prefer to come on to campus to work rather than stay at home.’
Emma Wright MA in Art History
Academic support Academ
ic support and learning resources
‘ The Library’s excellent – with its resources I can produce quality research.’
Lopaka Purdy, MA in Globalisation, Ethnicity and Culture
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Special CollectionsThe University holds over 60 outstanding manuscript and archival collections, chiefly in the fields of 20th- and 21st-century literary, political and social history, and the history of science. These can be consulted in the Library’s Special Collections.
Notable among the literary archives are manuscripts and correspondence of Virginia Woolf and Rudyard Kipling. Among archives of interest to political and social historians are the papers of the New Statesman, Kingsley Martin, Leonard Woolf and Geoffrey Gorer (anthropologist and colleague of Margaret Mead). Of major relevance to social historians is the Mass Observation Archive, founded in 1937 and still active today in collecting autobiographical material.
As well as manuscript archives, the Library owns unique collections of printed material, ranging from rare early books in the Travers and Baker Books Collections to an unsurpassed collection of books and contemporary pamphlets and posters relating to the Paris Commune of 1871. See www.sussex.ac.uk/library/speccoll for more information and catalogues.
We also hold the Barlow Collection of Chinese ceramics. See www.sussex.ac.uk/barlow
For more general information about the Library, please visit www.sussex.ac.uk/library
Specialist libraries on campusThe Keith Pavitt LibraryThe joint library of SPRU (Science and Technology Policy Research) and CENTRIM (the University of Brighton Centre for Research in Innovation Management) specialises in resources for policy research in science, technology and innovation. The collection includes material on the economics of technical change, technology and innovation management, science and technology indicators, research evaluation, science and technology policies, environmental and social implications of technical change, policies for growth, employment and technology, chemical, biological and nuclear arms control, and complex product systems.
The Library is a gateway to specialist research resources, and its catalogue provides a unique bibliographic database on science, technology and innovation policy studies. Library membership is available to SPRU students and is extended to other users in the University at the Librarian’s discretion. For more information, visit www.sussex.ac.uk/spru/library
IDS library and information servicesThrough its library (BLDS – British Library for Development Studies) and other online information services, the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) is one of the world’s leading sources of specialist information on the subject of development. BLDS hosts Europe’s largest research collection on all aspects of economic and social change in developing countries, providing access to print materials from a huge variety of sources, as well as a range of electronic resources. Specialist staff can help with enquiries about finding development information, and BLDS also offers a number of online services, including BLDS updates. Membership is freely available to Sussex postgraduate students. For more information, visit www.blds.ids.ac.uk
Go to www.ids.ac.uk/go/ids-knowledge-services for information about other IDS Knowledge Services, including both broad-based services, such as the development gateway ELDIS, and specialist services such as BRIDGE (gender) and Livelihoods Connect.
The University Library is an essential resource for graduate study. It is your gateway to over 18,000
online and print journals, academic databases for research and over 800,000 volumes, and houses many special collections.
Library servicesAcademic support and learning resources
The magnificent Library building stands in the centre of campus and has impressive IT facilities and over 1,000 reader spaces. Around 15,000 new books are added each year and the Library provides access to over 20,000 journals in print or online. In addition to the extensive range of online resources and research books, the Library holds a range of Official Publications as well as materials relating to the European Community.
The Library participates in a number of reciprocal schemes so that if the book or journal you need is not available either in the Library or online, you can visit other university and specialist research libraries to use items and, in some cases, borrow publications from those libraries. An interlibrary request service is also available.
Electronic libraryMuch of the information researchers may need is now available online and the electronic library provides an increasingly wide range of online resources accessible to all members of the University, on or off campus.
The journal collections include online access to a wide range of quality titles comprising almost all the output from major academic publishers. The Library also provides access to many of the major databases available for academic research, including Web of Science, Scopus and many more.
Using the LibraryA web-based tutorial, InfoSuss, has been designed to demonstrate use of the Library catalogue and to help you find and evaluate information online. It also includes advice on referencing systems. A series of subject pages on the Library’s website also guides you to information resources in your research area.
The Library also offers bespoke teaching sessions on using its resources effectively, including access to, and evaluation of, online resources, and also provides the e-learning course Information Skills, accessible via Study Direct.
Teaching sessions on using the Library’s Special Collections are also available.
Barlow Collection: white porcelain figure of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, Guanyin, Qing dynasty, 18th century AD, Dehua kilns, Fujian province
Library services Academic support and learning resources
Computers at SussexAll students have access to PCs in computer rooms located across the campus. They all have the same customised desktop with a full Microsoft Office suite plus email and internet access. You can print and use your personal file storage from all of these PCs.
In addition we provide specialist software and a small number of iMac computers. There are a number of adapted PCs for students with disabilities and special learning needs.
We encourage you to bring your own computer, ideally a laptop, so that you can make use of our extensive wireless network. By taking advantage of the big investment Sussex is making in online learning and online information and support, you will be able to prepare your work where and when you choose. If you live on campus, you can use your own computer to access the residential network, which provides internet access to student bedrooms.
Online resourcesThe ITS infrastructure provides quick, reliable access to resources such as the Library catalogue and online journals. In addition, the University offers a fast, powerful link to the internet to facilitate your research.
Sussex Direct provides secure access to personal information. Postgraduates on taught degree programmes can view course information such as timetables and reading lists.
Before starting your programme you are encouraged to use Sussex Direct to complete online registration.
Many of our tutors use Study Direct to disseminate learning materials over the web and engage you in online activities, enabling you to participate interactively in your studies even when you are away from campus.
The University email service offers secure storage for important email communications. We provide a range of software for email access and virus protection, which is available on all ITS computers, and for installation on your own computer. There is a web mail facility so that you can easily access your Sussex email when you are off campus.
Help and adviceOur staff offer help and support via the web, by email, over the telephone and in person. There is also an extensive range of IT skills training courses including the opportunity to attend an induction to explain all the IT facilities that are specific to the University.
You will also be given a Welcome CD, which includes vital ITS support information, a Welcome booklet and a variety of software for you to install on your own computer.
For more details about ITS, see our webpage at www.sussex.ac.uk/its
Information technology will be an important part of your postgraduate studies at Sussex,
and IT Services (ITS) is on hand to provide the facilities you will need to help make your time at Sussex a success.
Information and Technology ServicesAcademic support and learning resources
Further informationFor more information on the computing facilities available at Sussex go to www.sussex.ac.uk/its
