MIRIAD Research In Practice Skills Training Programme 2012 2013 The MIRIAD skills training programme Research in Practice

ce is designed for postgraduate researchers, their supervisors, and MMU staff and is linked to PARCNorthWest, the region-wide postgraduate research consortium. The programme, delivered as a series of lectures, seminars and workshops every Wednesday between 1.30pm and 3.00pm, takes the form of planning, making and continuing a research journey. It addresses a series of processes and strategies central to successful research in the professions, practices, theories and histories of Art, Media, Design and Architecture. Focusing on the many forms of Research in Practice from traditional textbased research to practice-led research, the expert presenters represent a diverse spectrum of disciplines from within and outside MMU. These sessions are integral to your studies and attendance contributes to your Annual Monitoring and Evaluation (AME). A key element of this programme is to provide methods for effective research that increase employability and facilitate career progress. In addition to assisting your independent research that focuses on your subject of choice, a broad knowledge of wider research practices is an essential part of research success. For this reason, repeat attendance is highly recommended as you progress through the different stages of your research. In doing so, you will encounter the sessions from a new perspective. The only sessions where repeat attendance is not expected are those relating to stage-specific assessments (The RD1 and RD2). Staff and 2nd and 3rd year students are also encouraged to attend the 1st year presentations in weeks 14, 15 and 21. As you plan your independent research (and juggle jobs etc.), where possible, try to keep Wednesday afternoons free so you can participate with the rest of the student cohort this networking is a valuable part of your learning experience at MIRIAD. In undertaking this programme throughout your research degree, you will: i) ii) iii) iv) v) vi) Understand theoretical issues, the nature of evidence and argument, and the relationships between practice, theory and criticism Develop research methods, skills and practical Develop knowledge and understanding of the research context of the project and trends in the discipline Develop knowledge, understanding and skills in analysis, referencing and synthesis of research material Develop knowledge and understanding of related disciplines Be introduced to specialist knowledge, understanding and skills such as a methodology, technique or specific ICT expertise

A video recording of each session by MMU staff, together with support 1

material, will be available at: http://parcnorthwest.miriadonline.info/. Where possible sessions led by external speakers will also be recorded and made available. Programme Overview
3rd Oct 10th Oct 17th Oct 24th Oct 31st Oct 7th Nov 14th Nov (2 hour session) 21st Nov 28th Nov 5th Dec 12th Dec 19th Dec 26th Dec 2nd Jan 9th Jan 16th Jan 23rd Jan 30th Jan 6th Feb 13th Feb 20th Feb 27th Feb 6th Mar 13th Mar 20th Mar Mapping the Field of Knowledge / Show and tell Vitae, ArtsMethodsNorthWest, PARCNorthWest and the Annual Monitoring and Evaluation (AME) Research Online Towards the RD1: Meaningful Questions Structuring your Research Activities in the early stages of the Research Degree Reading and Referencing (including referencing using MS word) Part 1) Research Methods and Methodologies a general introduction Part 2) Research Methods in Practice The Critical Literature and Practice Review Student/Staff Forum Research Ethics in Art and Design Presenting your Work The RD2 Christmas Break Christmas Break Writing Funding Proposals and Post-Doc Funding Applications Disseminating Research through Academic Writing (including writing abstracts) Student Presentations (F/T) Student Presentations (F/T) Exhibition and Project Proposals Publishing your Research How conferences work Preparing for your Viva Post Doc Opportunities in the Creative Arts and Industries Student Presentations (P/T) PARCNorthWest event

Programme Details
3rd Oct Mapping the Field of Knowledge / Show and tell This session provides an overview of the skills training programme at MIRIAD and is an opportunity to get to know the other members of the postgraduate research student cohort at MIRIAD. This early networking helps ground your own study in the wider context of postgraduate research in MIRIAD. 10th Oct Jim Aulich and David Haley

Vitae, ArtsMethodsNorthWest, PARCNorthWest and Melanie the Annual Monitoring and Evaluation (AME) Horton This session offers a brief introduction to the range of research training on offer within MIRIAD and in its wider research networks with other institutions across the region and nationally. It will also explain how your annual progress is recorded and evaluated within the departmental Annual Monitoring and Evaluation (AME) exercise.

17th Oct

Research Online With the Internet and social media forming an increasingly central role in everyday life, this session will present some of the arguments why you should promote your research online. It will introduce how to negotiate the in-house network used by MIRIAD to promote its research interests and highlight the ways you can develop your own research website. Lewis Sykes is an organising member of the MIRIAD Online group - a forward looking, student-led initiative seeking to instigate an uptake of inventive Web technology within MIRIAD to disseminate student and staff research to the wider academic community. He is also a member of Practice, Process and Reflection (PPR) an alliance of MIRIAD research students exploring strategies, methods and opportunities for conducting, testing, presenting and disseminating their practice as research - http://ppr.miriadonline.info. For more information on Lewis interests in research online and how a website can form an active tool in promoting and documenting the research process, see: http://phd.lewissykes.info/about/.

MIRIAD Online group: Lewis Sykes, Hannah Allen and David Jackson

24th Oct

Towards the RD1: Meaningful Questions The RD1 form is the first compulsory element of your research degree. This session will outline what is required and the questions you need to consider to finalise your proposal and RD1 form for submission in January (Year 1 F/T) or March (Year 1 P/T).

Jim Aulich

Returning students who have already submitted their RD1 are not expected to attend this session.

31st Oct

Structuring your Research Activities in the early stages of the Research Degree This session offers a reflective discussion led by 2nd and 3rd year postgraduate researchers to share their strategies, advice and guidance on settling into research and making the most out of training. It will offer practical advice in dealing with the advantages and sometimes difficulties in managing independent research. All returning PGRs from MIRIAD are asked to attend this session to join the discussion and share their experiences to offer new students the broadest possible perspective of the various ways research activities can be structured. Networking among PGRs at different stages in their research is a valuable tool to ground your own activities at all stages of your study.

Student-led session: Sam Colling and Emily Strange

7th Nov

Reading and Referencing (including referencing using MS word) The volume of reading that comes with PG study can seem daunting. In this session Helen Bowman, who works for Student Support in Art and Design at MMU, will discuss effective strategies to manage your reading while assisting comprehension. This is an important part in beginning your research and a valuable session for returning students to reassess the way they consume the literature in their subject area. Helen will also outline the acceptable forms of referencing an essential part of your academic writing. In the final part of the session, Cristina Rodrigues will introduce how MS Word can be used as timesaving tool to manage referencing within your written work.

Helen Bowman and Cristina Rodrigues

14th Nov Part 1) Research Methods and Methodologies a (2 hour general introduction session) Part 2) Research Methods in Practice In the first part of this session, you will learn a range of ways to collect and analyse date. It will cover how to chose a method appropriate to your research questions, how to carry out different data collection procedures and how to analyse the information you collect. The session

Barbara Rawlings and Steve Dixon/ new Digital Arts Fellow (TBC)

will consider when to use qualitative and quantitative techniques, and how to ensure the evidence you present is as valid, reliable and robust as possible. The second part of the session will focus an the specific methods and methodologies associated with Practice-led Research, which requires no less rigor to ensure the best possible evidence is presented. The session as a whole (which will last for two hours rather than the usual hour and a half) will draw on a wide range of examples from across different art and design practices and will enable you to consider which methods will fit best with your research aims, and how to tailor these methods to suit your research needs.

21st Nov

The Critical Literature and Practice Review The literature review is an essential part of the RD1 and RD2 assessments and allows a researcher to ground their study in the wider context of existing research in their field. This session encourages critical engagement with existing literature and practice that underpins your current study. In addition to considering traditional literature review, it will also look at how a critical review of the practices of others can form part of the research, documentation and assimilation of practice-led findings for the RD1 and RD2.

Philip Sykas and Alison Slater

28th Nov Student/Staff Forum Students and staff meeting open to all postgraduate students and staff in MIRIAD to discuss the programme. Please contact Matt Scarbrough (m.scarbrough@mmu.ac.uk) with any Matters Arising so they can be added to the agenda. 5th Dec Research Ethics in Art and Design As researchers, the ethics of our activities must be considered at all times. In this session, John Spencer will discuss a wide range of ethical issues that might be encountered when researching within art, design and media. The session will also consider strategies for responding to these potential ethical issues. All students are encouraged to attend even if you do not foresee ethical issues in your current research; an awareness of potential ethical issues or areas where caution is required is an essential part of working in this field. 12th Dec Presenting your Work This will be an introductory session that will prepare 1st year students for making their own presentations in the following term (presentations are now a compulsory David Shirley John Spencer

element of 1st year training, see weeks 14, 15 and 21). Presentation should be informed by, and considered part of, their RD1 submissions.
While returning students are not required to present their work in the second term, this is an important skill for all PGRs and the advice in the session will be transferable beyond this specific RD1 assessment.

19th Dec The RD2 The final session before the Christmas break will focus on the RD2 form, the completion of which allows students to transfer their registration from MPhil to PhD. Jim Aulich will explain what is required and how the literature review can become part of the Transfer Report, required as part of the RD2 submission.
Returning students who have already submitted their RD2 are not expected to attend this session.

Jim Aulich

26th Dec 2nd Jan 9th Jan

Christmas Break Christmas Break Writing Funding Proposals and Post-Doc Funding Applications This session will provide practical advice on writing funding applications, focusing on both academic and nonacademic funding sources. It aims to assist PGRs from all years of study to consider sources of funding for elements of their current research and future research plans. As a result, this session may also be of particular interest to staff at MMU. Alnoor Mitha and Amanda Ravetz

16th Jan

Disseminating Research through Academic Writing (including writing abstracts) Academic writing can be daunting for many, particularly those from a more practice-based background, but it is an essential part of disseminating your research findings, through abstracts for proposals, exhibition catalogues, journal publications, book chapters and books (to name but a few). Discussions will cover the various forms of academic writing, the conventions that should be followed and will offer practical advice to assist researchers at all stages of study.

Amanda Ravetz

23rd Jan

Student Presentations (F/T) The first of two sessions where full time 1 year students will present their research findings to date as part of the RD1. The presentations should be informed by, and considered part of, the students RD1 submissions. This presentation is a compulsory element for progression to the next stage of your research degree following your RD1 submission in early January.
st

All Research Degrees team

All PGRs, supervisors and staff at MIRIAD are encouraged to attend this session as audience members to assist to research dissemination across the department.

30th Jan

Student Presentations (F/T) The second of two sessions where full time 1st year students will present their research findings to date as part of the RD1. The presentations should be informed by, and considered part of, the students RD1 submissions. This presentation is a compulsory element for progression to the next stage of your research degree following your RD1 submission in early January.
All PGRs, supervisors and staff at MIRIAD are encouraged to attend this session as audience members to assist to research dissemination across the department.

All Research Degrees team

6th Feb

Exhibition and Project Proposals This will be a summary version of the Talent Incubation Seminars in Term One as part of the Designing our Futures skills training programme. The session will be a how-to workshop/discussion, led by representatives from a range of different art organisations who have partnered with MIRIAD and will offer a broad perspective of the different types of exhibition and project proposals that can assist the wider dissemination of your research findings and in developing your work beyond traditional academic settings.

Talent Incubation Network partners

13th Feb

Publishing your Research This session will offer key insights from Emma Brennan, a commissioning editor at Manchester University Press, into how to publish your research findings with an academic publisher. It will consider the range of academic publishing formats, such as the monograph and edited book, and what publishers are looking for in publication proposals.

Emma Brennan (MUP)

20th Feb

Preparing for your Viva This session considers the different ways to prepare for your viva (the oral assessment of your thesis at the end of your research), as well as a more general workshop/discussion drawing on a wider range of advice available and noting different experiences and outcomes. As the viva can vary dramatically from student to student and is often a somewhat mysterious element of the assessment of research degrees, Gary McMahon and Alison Slater, who completed their PhDs at MIRIAD in 2010 and 2011 respectively, will offer reflections on their personal experiences.

Gary McMahon and Alison Slater

27th Feb

How conferences work This session offers an introductory guide to conferences: what they are for, how they can assist your research and

Clive Parkinson and Gavin

networking, how you find out about them, timescales for submitting proposals, funding and possible resulting publications. It will cover both academic and nonacademic conferences. 6th Mar Post Doc Opportunities in the Creative Arts and Industries What are the options when you finish your PhD, MPhil or MRes? Three former MIRIAD students who have each gone on to find success in different fields will lead this workshop/discussion. The speakers will discuss their own experiences and other general opportunities, advice or guidance they have encountered in the process. 13th Mar Student Presentations (P/T) In this session part time 1st year students will present their research findings to date as part of the RD1 assessment. The presentations should be informed by, and considered part of, the students RD1 submissions. This presentation is a compulsory element for progression to the next stage of your research degree following your RD1 submission in early March.
All PGRs, supervisors and staff at MIRIAD are encouraged to attend this session as audience members to assist to research dissemination across the department.

MacDonald

Robert Knifton, Naomi Kendrick and Robyn Woolston (chaired by Alison Slater)

All Research Degrees team

20th Mar

PARCNorthWest event Details to be confirmed, but all PGRs are asked to keep this day free to participate in this event, which will bring together PGRs, ECRs and staff from the various institutions that form PARCNorthWest. For more details about the Practice As Research Consortium, see: http://parcnorthwest.miriadonline.info/parcnw-miriad/

StudentLed

Further Support In addition to the programme, MIRIAD offers individual sessions with Dr Barbara Rawlings on Wednesday mornings that support the development of Research Methods and offer general advice on developing ideas and presenting them more effectively (see the Research Degrees Notice Board for details). An additional series of seminars focused on Research in Practice will also be delivered. For anyone wishing to expand their knowledge of theories and theorists relevant to academic studies in Art, Media, Design and Architecture, specific cultural theory lectures, Strategies of Thought, are held between 11am12noon on Thursdays led by Dr Steve Gartside as part of the taught MA by practice programme. Research students and staff are welcome to attend these sessions. Additional generic research workshops are provided by MMUs Research, Enterprise and Corporate Development (RED) unit. For further details and to sign up to sessions, see their website: http://www.red.mmu.ac.uk/. This is also useful for downloading the forms you will need as you progress through the different stages of your course. For international students at MMU, English classes, one-to-one tutorials, and writing consultations are provided by English Language Services for International Students (ELSIS). For further information, see: http://www2.hlss.mmu.ac.uk/languages/english/english-language-servicesfor-international-students-elsis/.