The year has turned once more, and the new term awakens. It is different now. Where rooms were once filled with new and expectant faces, lights and screens now glow as each of us switches on to attend our University in the sky.
Somehow, things have managed to keep going – not quite as normal as that would be impossible – but students and lecturers alike have taken huge and innovative steps to keep the learning going – safely. At times, this New Way has been challenging, but I have found the resilience and peer support to be incredible. Finding motivation at a low, I began to meet online with a couple of consistently writing friends who held my virtual hand through the darkness until the words began to flow, and the word count increased. I am grateful to them – you know who you are – thank you!
As we welcome a new intake of colleagues, we may not meet for a while to shake hands, but we will all exist on a portion of the screen right in front of you. We won’t sit in university rooms as we discuss our research, and as we introduce ourselves to one another, but you won’t be alone. We will all upload work to the cloud, and log onto Teams to greet and discuss. Sometimes I now find this quite liberating. It certainly isn’t the same as being able to hug my friends…but it is nice to be able to see them, and know that they are keeping well.
In some ways, I have enjoyed the digital New Way. Presentations that were once given apprehensively to a room of peers or subject experts, have been able to take place within my own home environment. Not only have I not had to travel and wait anxiously before the onslaught of a PRP, but I have also been able to switch my screen off directly after them to concentrate on other tasks. I have been able to attend conferences and webinars that might have previously remained inaccessible. I guess even this digital cloud has its silver lining.
It has been fun having the opportunity to learn about the research of colleagues – even without the coffee and amazing cakes usually laid on by the Doctoral College! Networking has continued to happen through workshops and online seminars. There are a few of these coming up which might comfortably ease you into University life in 2021.
My favourite, the Hootenanny was on last week. I usually try to make it to the 3 minute thesis heats as it is a great way to learn about the amazing research that is going on around me. It is fun watching the presenters as they strive to tell all before the buzzer sounds. In addition, there were sessions on funding, Wikipedia, and we got to hear from the researchers who are vying for the title of PGR Researcher of the year. There was also a special Dr Who? Wellbeing chat session about Imposter Syndrome which attended! Research Hootenanny Online 2021
The Doctoral College have also started to run productivity days which are certainly going to be useful as the end of my Write Up time draws near…Book on: Productivity Days with RECAP
As we remain reliant on our technological introductions, I look forward to my screen meeting yours as we meet at the Uni in the sky.