1. Welcome to the Faculty of Social Sciences
Welcome to the Faculty of Social Sciences! Postgraduate Taught Master’s Induction 2016 Dr Tim Hopthrow Associate Dean (Graduate Studies)
The Graduate School

2. The Faculty of Social Sciences and You
Community and Diversity in the Faculty of Social Sciences
Broadening your horizons
Your contribution
Life beyond the Masters degree

3. Community and diversity
Faculty of Social Sciences is the largest in the University, with more postgraduate students than the other two faculties combined
Comprises 9 Schools/Centres: Anthropology & Conservation; Economics; KBS; KLS; Politics & IR; Psychology; SSPSSR; Centre for Journalism; Centre for Professional Practice
Incredibly diverse; at first sight you might wonder what these divergent Schools could possibly have in common
But what unites this community is the shared interest of its members in social relations

4. Community and diversity
That could be social relations in the animal kingdom, e.g. Anthropology project on male-female aggression & sexual coercion in chimpanzees
Or human relations in all their complexity:
violence & war
collective bargaining & social networking
child development
management of drug offenders
corruption in financial institutions
community based micro-finance arrangements
the psychology of the highest performing athletes
the impacts of obesity on the local and global economy
Often research on these themes is conducted collectively by colleagues from different Schools in the Faculty

5. Community and diversity
Projects currently underway in the Faculty include:
Gender management strategies adopted by female entrepreneurs
The impact of cannabis use on career, relationships & health
Water pollution protection regimes in Ethiopia
The economic psychology of giving, public goods & leadership
Polygraph testing for sex offenders
The social psychology of conspiracy theories
Equipping athletes with the correct mindset to recover from injury
The impact of gender imbalances on peace & democratisation in China and India

6. Community and Diversity
Projects are diverse, so are the methods
Develop theories of the social world
Consider
Metaphysical and philosophical questions
Applied studies
Experiments or mass data collection
Philosophy – ethics
Commitment to better understanding social relations

7. Broadening your horizons
Broad range of research & and diversity of methods
Competing perspectives on methods
But we would encourage you to seek out more
Why?
Employers
Wider appreciation
Contribution

8. Broadening your horizons
Acquired many skills
Cutting edge research
Engage with a rich research community right on your doorstep
Research seminars and guest lectures
Inaugural and open lectures
Conferences, workshops & reading groups

9. Broadening your horizons
Unique opportunity
Sports clubs or Societies
Travel
Meeting people
Careers service

10. Life beyond the Masters degree
Advanced research & analytical skills
Transferable skills
Non-academic career
Academic career

11. Funding for PhD Research
Economic and Social Research Council
University Scholarships and School Scholarships
Deadlines for applications is late January
Highly competitive
Begin work on a proposal and application in the Autumn term
Identify prospective original research question and prospective PhD supervisor, and work closely with them as soon as you can.

12. Finally Inclusive research community Independent study Feedback
REF 2014
THE Kent ranked 17th for research intensity
85% of research staff submitted
Independent study
Feedback
Make the most of your time here
Good luck!