Postgraduate (Research) Core Information 2015-2016

The University has a set of high-level principles which apply to all of its activities.  In addition, the University and Lancaster University Students’ Union have worked together on a Students’ Charter to set out the standards to which the University and its students aspire.

Full rules of the University.

The University’s Code of Practice for Research Students is an important document which contains a lot of useful information. This is a very important document which includes sections on the responsibilities of students and supervisors, student progress and development and other relevant issues, together with links to other web pages that may be useful to you.  Please read it.  You supervisor should also have read it.

While the University operates on a termly basis for its taught courses, please note that, if you are a full-time research student, you are expected to be in attendance on a full-time basis; terms are not relevant to research students.  If you want to arrange time away on holiday, or for other personal reasons, it is important that you discuss this with your supervisor well in advance if possible.

Another very helpful source of information is the Researcher Development Portal, with links to all sorts of information about the University’s Research Training Programmes and other helpful advice.

You have been allocated a Lancaster email account. Make sure that you activate your account, change your initial password and test your email account. Your email address will include your name then @lancaster.ac.uk.  Your Lancaster email address will be used for all official correspondence from the University. You should check it on a daily basis.

You are admitted to the University on your academic record. The University welcomes all students and has an array of support services to ensure no student feels disadvantaged. We recognise that you may have medical conditions or disabilities that may impact upon your studies and your life at the University, and we will do what we can to alleviate the impact of these.

Your department and the Graduate College will be able to offer you some support and advice, and the University also has a Disabilities Service which provides guidance and support to ensure your learning support needs are met. There may also be financial help available.  Please contact the Service for advice or with specific requests (for example, you may want to be assessed for dyslexia). 

Further details of the health services available at the University.

As a research student, most of your contact will be with your supervisor or supervisory team.  However, you are also part of a department, and it is important that your department supports you as well as it can.  For this reason, one or more of your fellow research students will act as a research student representative within the department, helping to put forward issues and queries on behalf of all the research students within the department.    You will have the opportunity to put yourself forward for election to this role if you wish.  Your department will give you more details of this.

Student representatives are members of various formal committees of the University, ensuring that student opinion is voiced and heard. Further information on these committees and their memberships.

Every other year, the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) takes place.  This is a national survey which enables us to compare the effectiveness of Lancaster University’s provision for research students with that of other universities across the UK.  Please do take part in this; we take your feedback very seriously and aim to act decisively in response to serious constructive feedback.

Sometimes because of medical, financial or personal difficulties students feel they have no alternative but to apply to suspend their studies for up to a year. Whilst this option can be of benefit to some students, there are drawbacks: for example, you will still not be able to claim benefits for which full-time students are ineligible while you are intercalating.

Do ensure that you seek help early if you are experiencing any problems that may adversely affect your academic work.  Speak first to your supervisor(s) or another appropriate person in your department (for example, the administrator in charge of PhD students) who will be able to advise you.  Don’t allow yourself to drift into a situation that ends with intercalation being the only option, because without some assured financial support – a guaranteed job or financial help from your family – you could be left with no source of income.

If you feel uncertain about carrying on at Lancaster, it is important that you talk it through with your department or another source of support such as your personal Graduate College Adviser or someone in Student Based Services. It may be, for example, that you need time to adjust to a new and unfamiliar lifestyle. This is perfectly normal. Further advice is available at http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/sbs/registry/postgrads/PGWithdrawal.htm.

Should you decide to leave, it is essential that you do not just walk out. You should contact the Student Registry within Student Based Services who will discuss your plans with you and formally approve your withdrawal. If you have any books on loan from the Library or are in possession of any university equipment or property, please make sure that you return these – it will save you and us a lot of unnecessary letters and telephone calls.

The University’s Careers Service exists to help you become as employable as possible and to be successful in obtaining a job when you finish your time as a student.  They have expertise specific to your department and subject.  We strongly advise you to visit Careers regularly so that you can use their expertise to ensure that you can put together a successful job application.

Your department will inform you of any extra careers support provided by your department or faculty.

At Lancaster we not only value your academic accomplishments, but also recognise the importance of those activities you engage with outside your programme of study. The student experience is enhanced by including extracurricular activities and, with more graduates than ever before and increasing competition for jobs upon leaving University, these are vital to your future prospects. We want to encourage you to make the very most of your University experience and to leave Lancaster as a well-rounded individual. We have a wealth of opportunities to get involved in with initiatives such as work placements, volunteering, extracurricular courses, societies and sports.

The Lancaster Award aims to encourage you to complete such activities, help you to pull them together in one place and then be recognised for your accomplishments. We want you to stand out from the crowd – the Lancaster Award will help you to do this.

We are committed to providing our students with a high quality learning experience. Where we fall short of this we want to be informed and to seek to rectify the failure. The vast majority of concerns raised by students are best answered or resolved quickly and informally by direct contact between the student and the relevant department/section, without the need for a formal complaint.

There may be occasions, however, where you feel the need to make an official complaint or to appeal against a decision affecting you.  This will be treated very seriously and you should follow the University Procedures.

The University is committed to providing an educational and working environment that is responsive to the varied needs of its members. All members of staff and students should be able to work, study and live in a safe environment founded on mutual respect without feeling threatened or demeaned. Our Harassment and Bullying Policy provides, guidance and information on what actions you need to take if you wish to report an incident, or you can use our Unisafe applet on iLancaster to report an incident either anonymously or with your details so we can offer support. Assistance and support can also be offered by our Counselling Service or the Students’ Union.