Speed networking for doctoral candidates attending conference is a little like a modern dating exercise: there’s a little academic flirting, a bit of showmanship and polite, albeit very genuine, intrigue at another’s research. Eighteen students participated at this year’s annual Information Science Doctoral Colloquium (iDocQ) at Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University. That’s nine ‘dates’ a piece. The exercise successfully kicked off the day, breaking the ice - there was strangely a lack of it in the Granite City for a change - far quicker than any timid coffee session might achieve. Speed networking, while still a little novel, should not be mistaken for a corporate away day gimmick. It proved a quick way for delegates to be thrown into a space where invaluable contacts beyond the boundaries of their home institutions were secured.
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| Calum Liddle and Dr Annemaree Lloyd |
Following the series of dates, the morning guest speaker, namely, Dr Annemaree Lloyd of Charles Sturt University, Australia, took to the stage. She first gave an overview of her recent research, then provided a ‘real world’ account of doing a PhD with hints and tips based on her experience as both a doctoral candidate and PhD supervisor. Dr Lloyd’s presentation was more than well received by delegates, especially those just starting out who are, after all, still novice navigators of the PhD/supervisor relationship.
The majority of the delegates were from the information science pathway member universities, namely, Edinburgh Napier, Glasgow, Robert Gordon and Strathclyde. Other delegates travelled from UK institutions including Heriot-Watt, Northumbria and Sheffield universities, with another two delegates crossing the Atlantic from Canada (one from McGill University and the other from the University of Western Ontario). The full experience of doctoral work was represented on the day, from new student Lynn Killick of Edinburgh Napier University, who just started her PhD in May 2013 to ‘almost there’ Tessa Berg of Heriot Watt University, who had submitted her thesis just before iDocQ and was busy preparing for her viva.
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| Lynn Killick, Mathews Phiri & Robert Hunter |
Delegates introduced their research in the form of PechaKucha presentations. PechaKucha is a simple presentation format founded in Tokyo in 2003 where the presenter shows 20 images, each for 20 seconds. The images advance automatically and the presenter talks over the images resulting in a short presentation of 6 minutes and 40 seconds. It began as an event format for architects and designers and has since become a format adopted by a wide variety of organisations and groups as a dynamic and informal way of presenting work and ideas.
Such a format provided a great opportunity for delegates to present their research to a sympathetic but non-expert audience (in the sense that delegates came from a variety of disciplines) within a relaxed environment. At times presentations were more than amusing, laughs galore even, when presenters struggled with timings as slide after slide raced past. The environment was relaxed, fun and friendly. It too was a less explicit networking exercise as well as good practice in knowledge transfer and public engagement for delegates.
Delegates also took advantage of the expertise of the information science pathway academic staff, namely, Professor Hazel Hall of Edinburgh Napier University, Dr Ian Anderson of Glasgow University, Professor Peter Reid of Robert Gordon University and Professor Forbes Gibb of Strathclyde University. All four esteemed academics ran breakout sessions in the afternoon which appealed to any one stage of the PhD: writing (and rewriting) the literature review, defining and redefining research questions, preparing for fieldwork, and defending the thesis.
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| Matthew Pointon and Philip Oliver |
While the day can be described as a success following a full and proper appraisal of the delegate feedback, the organisation of the event was a ‘right of passage’ for a few PhD students eager to commit to the setup of such an event. Professor Hazel Hall provided guidance and training to a committee of programme members (the ‘reps’) who, in turn, prepared the day. The 2013 reps, besides myself, were, namely, Lynn Killick of Edinburgh Napier University; Mazni Md-Yusof of Robert Gordon University; and Mathews Phiri of the University of Glasgow. All reps learnt - whether the easy way or the hard way - fundamental skills in organising an academic gathering which might appeal and attract even the most pressed of scholars.
With speed networking showing just a few of the signs of a peacock’s mating ritual, a little academic flirtation seemed a fit and proper start to a colloquium which successfully brought together, among others, ILS PhD students who might otherwise feel ostracised in multifaceted departments or far flung from other scholars with similar research interests. For one, the colloquium has already secured a few pub encounters with fellow PhD students - professional of course. And contact between delegates continues on social media and email for others.
Professor Hall has indicated that next year’s iDocQ will most likely take place in Glasgow for another productive and, no doubt, fun day of presentations, break-outs and, yes indeed, networking.
If you would like to be a programme committee member, aka a rep, for your institution you should contact Dr Ian Anderson. Ian will be taking over as Convenor of the information science pathway for 2013/14 from September 2013.
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| Prof Forbes Gibbs & Dr Ian Anderson |
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