British Library days for new PhD students

The National Postgraduate Open Days are specially tailored days of talks, workshops and networking opportunities at the British Library, focusing on your research subject. Each day includes a general introduction to relevant research sources, curator talks and workshops, and details on how to get a Reader Pass. To ensure the days are accessible to research postgraduates from across the UK, students from outside London may apply for a limited number of £30 travel bursaries.

The days are extremely popular, so early booking is advised. The days are free to attend and lunch is provided.

Open Days are currently offered in History, English Literature and Social Sciences.

For more information and to book a place visit the website.

The Digital Researcher

On 14th Feb 2011, The British Library and Vitae are running a free one-day course for postgraduate research students and research staff to help them make the most of new technologies in their research.

On the day participants will have the opportunity to gain an understanding of:

* the role that online networks can play in supporting research and researchers' careers
* how to manage your online profile (positively)
* how to build networks to support your research and career
* the range of different tools that are available to support you and your research

The event will be held at the British Library, and more information, including how to book, is available here.

Events coming up at the British Library

I have posted before about the Postgraduate Training Days that the British Library run, but I just wanted to draw your attention to two that are coming up at the beginning of February.

1st Feb: English (19th Century - Present Day)

9th Feb: History (Medieval - 18th Century)

If your research is in either of these areas you can attend these days for free. The aims of them are:


* To introduce you to the range of research materials available in the British Library
*To offer special curator sessions and workshops in a range of topics
*To show you how to access the catalogues, and carry out bibliographic research on your topic
*To introduce you to specialist curators at the Library
*To give you an opportunity to network with postgraduate students from other universities across the UK
*The day will contribute to national subject-specific and generic research skills training

More details and booking can be found here.

Training days at the British Library

The British Library is putting on some subject-specific training days for postgraduate researchers. These are days of talks, workshops and networking opportunities as well as a chance to find out what the library has to offer and how you can access it.

The programme looks like this:

13 October English (Medieval—18th Century)
3 November Social Sciences
1 December Art and Design
8 December History (19th-21st Century)
1 February 2010 History (Medieval—18th Century)
29 March 2010 Modern foreign languages

All days are free of charge, and more information can be found here.

Researchers needed!

The British Library have commissioned a study to look at the research behaviour of doctoral students born between 1982 and 1994.

At the moment they are looking for late-stage PhD students in all disciplines to form focus groups that will inform how the study proceeds. These focus groups will meet on 27th or 28th April at the British Library.

More information and details of who to contact of you are interested are available here.