Introduction to the Informatics Graduate School ARCmedia Presentation for FPF 2005 17/01/2019 Introduction to the Informatics Graduate School Nigel Topham Director of Graduate School Nigel Topham

What is the IGS? Large cohort of postgraduate research students Degrees: MScR, Mres, Mphil, PhD Academic and administrative staff (ISS) Information sources for postgraduate students http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/student-services

ARCmedia Presentation for FPF 2005 17/01/2019 People and their roles Director (Nigel Topham) Recruitment, selection and funding, with Institute PGR Selectors Graduate School policy College and University representation Deputy Director (Bob Fisher) Approve interruptions, suspensions, extensions Networking events Transkills courses Annual review cycle Personal Tutor, PGR (Stuart Anderson) Mentoring and pastoral advice ISS staff with IGS responsibilities, see: http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/student-services/graduate-school/people Nigel Topham

The Community of Research Students 289 research students now studying in Informatics From 48 countries: 30% UK, 45% EU, 20% OS Spread among 6 Institutes (20-70 in each) 72 new this year, selected from 516 applicants New students arriving from 29 different countries New PhD students (33) 18 here now, 15 starting later this semester Students in Centres for Doctoral Training (39): Data Science Robotics & Autonomous Systems Pervasive Parallelism

ARCmedia Presentation for FPF 2005 17/01/2019 Starting your PhD... Be bold – choose an exciting, challenging topic Develop your skills in parallel with your research Seek outside interests - work/life balance Supervisors are only human – learn to work with them Think about where you are going, and plan for your career Nigel Topham

Be an effective PhD student ... ARCmedia Presentation for FPF 2005 17/01/2019 Be an effective PhD student ... PhD time is precious – manage it carefully Read extensively, widely and continuously Write early and often Plan your research around paper submissions Define small, measurable goals Tell supervisors and colleagues about your plans Be rigorous in your work Learn from the best role models in research Take control of your own destiny… Nigel Topham

Have fun with your research!