Your doctoral community
Learn more about the NTU Doctoral Community, what’s on offer, and how we communicate with you.
About the NTU doctoral community
Being part of the NTU doctoral community means being a part of a diverse, interdisciplinary research community, a peer support network and a social group. The community exists not only to support knowledge exchange, but to connect PGR to one another so you can share your experiences, offer advice and find ways to work together across disciplines.
Engaging with the broader community and participating in community events offers opportunities to develop your personal and professional profile, broaden your perspectives, and expand the skills at your disposal.
Learn more about our events programme, how to get involved, and how can support PGR-led events in this section.
Doctoral Community Forum
The Doctoral Community Forum takes place each term and provides a space for updates about doctoral study at NTU and for the community to raise items and offer thoughts about the doctoral experience.
The Doctoral Community Forum is hosted online, to ensure candidates at all campuses can get involved, and dates will be advertised ahead of time in the term schedule and on the PGR Calendar.
These sessions are open to all candidates and supervisors, and questions/items can be submitted by contacting your PGR Representative
PGR Communications
How we communicate
As a Doctoral School, we primarily communicate directly with our candidates via email. When contacting you, we will always use your NTU student email account.
Our regular communications with PGR include the Monday training and development email, with information about upcoming DETD sessions and helpful resources, the Friday Round Up and the monthly Doctoral Digest newsletter.
When there are major announcements, such as a policy or process changes, those will always be communicated to all candidates by email to ensure everyone is aware, so it’s important to stay up to date with your inbox!
Doctoral School Social Media
Our social media channels are we share information about our services, opportunities for our PGR at NTU and beyond and updates from other candidates. Our social media channels are not only a space to connect the doctoral community and keep everyone up to date, they're also where we share the achievements and successes of NTU doctoral candidates.
- You can join our LinkedIn group, where we repost news from other candidates, share research studies and calls for papers
- Follow us over on our Instagram account to find out what our team has been up to around campus, as well as photos from our community events
- Follow us on our Doctoral School X (Twitter) account where we retweet news from around NTU and helpful posts from others in the doctoral research community
If you have an event or a publication that you're sharing on any of these social media platforms, please tag us so that we can share it for you.
Contacting your community
If you would like something included in our communications - such as an event you're running, a study you need participants for, or a group you'd like people to join - then please email the Doctoral Communications Executive, Dr Lauren Nixon.
If you have something you'd like to share, but it's more suitable for the PGR in your academic School than the entire community, then you can contact your PGR Representative. They can offer advice and support, as well as help you share your item.
The PGR Community Board
The PGR Community Board, powered by Viva Engage (previously Yammer), is your space for sharing and staying up to date with community updates.
The Board is moderated by the Doctoral School, who will post updates and reminders about events or schemes on offer, but it is primarily for candidate use.
You can use the board for:
- Research sharing: a way to share your calls for participants for studies, to share your successes, updates and publications, to look for other candidates to collaborate with
- Peer support: sharing study tips, seeking peer guidance on how to do processes or how to use resources, asking for advice or constructive friendly feedback
- Community connections: a way to look for others to form study or social groups, to share the highs and lows of doctoral study, to advertise events you’re organising or to find other PGR who would be interested in creating a project or event.
The PG Society
Designed for MA and PGR, the PG Society offer numerous events throughout the year where postgraduate students can meet, socialise, and network in an informal, non-academic setting. They are a registered NTSU society and open to all postgraduates.
PGR spaces on Campus
There are a number of spaces across all NTU campuses designated for use by doctoral candidates. There are PGR study rooms in both Boots Library and Clifton Library, in addition to spaces managed by the academic Schools.
If you want to find out if your school has a PGR space or where it’s located, contact your PGR Rep or your Director of Doctoral Programmes (DDP).
The Postgraduate Centre
The Postgraduate Centre on City Campus is a dedicated space for postgraduate taught students and postgraduate researchers, including a café, several open communal meeting and working spaces, and silent working pods on the ground floor.
The PG centre is only accessible to colleagues and individuals on postgraduate courses, so it’s a great place to meet for a coffee break or to assemble for a group study session.
The dedicated PGR room at the Belgrave Centre is BEL104, which has 14 desks and a kitchen nearby for doctoral candidates to use. The room is accessible from both entrances to the building, but the Chaucer Street entrance is closer.