On the 16 and 17 of February, the project team participated to Quadrivium VII. This is “an annual training event, run by postgraduates and academic staff and designed to offer UK and Eire postgraduates doctoral research training in the area of medieval textual studies, both in generic graduate attributes and in specialised research skills”.
http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/research/seminarsandevents/quadriviumvii/quadrivium%20vii/
It was an excellent event which covered practical advice and skills for postgraduate students. The team put together an enticing programme which covered a wide range of issues of interest to the students’ community and beyond.
The event started on Thursday with the Academic Careers panel. The panel focused on the opportunities for careers within academia following a PG degree. Facilitated by Dr. Alison Wiggins and Dr. Ryan Perry, the discussion covered the routes available to early career researchers and offer practical help and advice on the subject of post-doc applications. An evening lecture by Linne Mooney on London medieval scribes and they work on literary manuscripts concluded the day.
Friday morning, we had an early start with a session on Publishing and the REF. This session was run by Prof. Jeremy Smith (UoG), Dr. Debra Strickland (UoG), Prof. Wendy Scase (Birmingham), Prof. John Thompson (QUB) and Dr. Ian Johnson (St.Andrew’s) who reflected on the current debate on the much acclaimed Research Excellence Framework, and, in particular, offered advice on how to go about getting published. The alternative career panel was the cherry on the cake, or perhaps should I say the Icing on the cake? The discussion was lead by Prof. Andrew Prescott who talked about the opportunities for post-graduate researchers outside academia. This was a most excellent talk which opened up new ideas and suggestions on future career opportunities which many not have been created yet. <http://www.slideshare.net/burgess1822/alternative-postgraduate-careers?from=new_upload_email>
The CV Session was led by Prof. Carole Hough. Students were asked to bring their own CVs to the workshop where they will receive advice and feedback. The session was stimulating and the discussion showed how important it was for the student to think about how to present themselves for different types of job applications. The day ended with a spectacular visit at the University of Glasgow’s Special Collections where Glasgow University Library staff Sarah Hepworth (Assistant Librarian) and Robert MacLean (Principal Library Assistant) showcased some of the treasures held in the library.
The two day event also hosted the Manuscripts Online first focus group in which participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire about their perceptions and opinions towards the design of the Manuscript Online web site. These questionnaire informed the the preliminary visual designs for our second focus group in Birmingham.
Thank you to the participants for their enthusiastic response!
And thank you too to Prof. Jeremy Smith, Joanna Green and the team for putting together such an interesting event. Looking forward to Quadrivium VIII in Sheffield in November 2012.
Manuscripts Online 
