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October 01, 2006
First postgraduate steps at LSE
Postgraduate life at LSE, on first impression, is more streamlined than what I have seen in Finnish universities. At the Sociology department's induction we were given a 45-page postgraduate handbook with a chapter on, among general practical information, "Code of practice for research students and supervisors " and "Progress requirements." Practical guidelines on what you are supposed to do and when, and what kind of help you are entitled to doing it. Money talks, I guess. With money involved, all parties are more careful about their rights and responsibilities, and of course, with money involved, there are resources to arrange systematic, well thought-out postgraduate education. Then again, while money may be at the origin of these chapters, I wonder how much it would in fact cost to think about, note down, and apply these guidelines in Finnish doctoral studies institutions.
Where money truly talks is in the amazing variety of general researcher skills courses to choose from. You should have seen me excitedly flicking through the brochures they handed out at the induction, underlining all the interesting courses. I have now signed up for "developing as an academic writer", "thesis endgame: achieving a final draft and submitting speedily," and "thesis writing." I'm still to sign up for _individual_ career advice and job interview rehearsal, and the library's EndNote course. And this was keeping cool and determining to use the few months I'm here concentrating on my own thesis. You can check everything that is on offer at www.lse.ac.uk/collections/TLC
Speaking of the library, in the picture, the library which Heidi (see link on the left) also praised in her LSE report - it's open 24/7 throughout the year.
Posted by hrantavu at 11:46 AM