Category: Research impact and public engagement

Call for volunteers

A steering group has identified themes for the sessions but we are asking for additional help in organising the second day of the conference. We are looking for volunteers to help identify suitable contributors (academic staff, current Birkbeck doctoral researchers or alumni) and to organise for them to take part in each theme. 

Please use this survey to look at the session themes and let us know if you would be willing to help organise any of them.

By taking part in this way you will have the chance to meet other PhD students and contribute to this exciting event. If you are willing to take part we will put you in contact with members of the steering group or others who would like to volunteer and you would be asked to work together on the theme you are interested in.

We invite you to let us know by the end of Tuesday 4 February if you are willing to help in this way.

BGRS Postgraduate Research Conference: 22-23 April 2020

2020 will mark the 100^th anniversary of Birkbeck joining the University of London, and also the 100^th anniversary of our first PhD. To celebrate these milestones as we approach the College’s 200th year, the BGRS is organising a centenary conference, led by current PhD students and doctoral alumni.

Provisionally entitled #BBKConversations, it will be a great opportunity for the whole Birkbeck postgraduate research community to engage with the big issues of the day. The steering committee are in the early stages of planning the conference, but we need your help to shape it.  

Over the course of two days, we hope to arrange lectures, workshops and maybe an exhibition, using our current research as well as the work of alumni to frame some big #BBKConversations. 

Below are some themes the committee has come up with, but we would really like your input. What do you want to discuss and focus on? We are looking for exciting and innovative ways to bring together researchers in business, humanities, social sciences, STEM, and everything in between. 

What can I do to make the conference a success?

Whether or not you want to take an active role in the conference, please put the 22^nd and 23^rd of April in your diary. If you would like to join the committee, propose a theme or participate in one of the #BBKConversations, please contact the BGRS Manager Tim Hoe (t.hoe@bbk.ac.uk). Get in touch with any and every idea no matter how big or small, and let’s make this a great conference. Please let Tim have your ideas by the 2nd of December so we can discuss them at our planning workshop.

Planning workshop: 4 December

The conference committee will hold a workshop on the 4^th of December from 15:00 to 17:00 in Clore 101 – this will be open to anyone who would like to contribute to planning and organisation of the conference.

Suggested themes

• If Birkbeck did not exist would we need to invent it?
  What is the relevance of Birkbeck’s mission and its particular character in relation to society today?
• What have Birkbeck’s contributions to society and to research been?
  The conference could showcase this in relation to alumni. What should Birkbeck’s future research focus be?
• What are the historic and current roles for Birkbeck in terms of activism and research?
  Birkbeck has a radical history but should a university be radical?
• Is London a global city-state? If so, is that good or bad for the UK?
  It was agreed that the relationship between education, social mobility and migration could be explored in the context of London and the rest of the UK.
• Access and engagement. What is the future of the university in relation to race and migration, borders and decolonisation of the curriculum? 
  What does a modern doctoral graduate look like and what journeys have led to our research students coming to Birkbeck? It would be interesting to explore some of the different stories and the role of a PhD in different cultures, with opportunities to interact and to explore these issues further at the conference.
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative research?
  This could work as a debate – with representatives from both sides.
• What role does objectivity play in research?
  How does storytelling and narrative relate to research? What is reality – and what are the consequences of choices made when framing research?
• What relevance do issues of privacy and digital data have in research?
  This could include discussion of artificial intelligence, deep learning, big data and ethics.

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