Mini-Kindrogan 2010

Friday 14th May
University of Dundee and University of St Andrews

What is Mini-Kindrogan?

The Kindrogan events were set up as a means to get all Human Geography PhD students studying at Scottish Universities together allowing the development of networks between the different geography departments as well as the development of skills and of knowledge. The benefits of Kindrogan include gaining advanced training in research methods and theoretical approaches alongside being encouraged to think in new ways about techniques and methods in geographical research. Attendees are also given the opportunity to reflect upon and refine their own research methods and approaches. Students are given the opportunity to present and discuss their research in a critical but supportive environment, whilst also learning the research of others.

The benefits of the main Kindrogan event were seen to so great by those who attended that the Mini-Kindrogan event has been organised for the past two years. Mini-Kindrogan essentially is a condensed version of the full Kindrogan event and is organised by PhD students. Previously the event has been organised and hosted by students of the Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences at the University of Glasgow (2008) and of Geography and Geosciences at the University of Aberdeen (2009). This year the event is being organised jointly between Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Dundee and the School of Geography and Geosciences at the University of St Andrews.

Programme of the day

• Arrival and 'Show and Tell' - On arrival to University of Dundee there will be tea and coffee followed by all attendees participating in a 'show and tell' to talk about the objects they have brought in. This is meant to be a fun exercise so bring in anything that you are willing to talk about for a couple of minutes (maximum).
• Panel Discussion 1: 'Life after the PhD - Choosing a career path' - This panel session aims to provide the different avenues available after completion of the PhD. Panelists are from a variety of different organizations and institutions including, University of Dundee, The Scottish Government and Forest Research Scotland. Panelists will provide a brief background of why they chose their particular career path after which attendees can ask questions.
• Panel discussion 2: Working in academic and non-academic partnerships and managing the supervisor/student relationship - This panel session aims to provide honest accounts of working and managing the different aspirations and negotiations between academic and non-academic partnerships. Similarly to the previous panel session the panellists will firstly provide a brief introduction to themselves and their experiences of working within this kind of relationship followed by a question and answer session.
• Keynote address: 'Landscapes of Care' by Professor Christine Milligan, Division of Health Research, University of Lancaster
• 'Engaging methodologies' - This will be an interactive session led by two Dundee lecturers engaged with innovative and potentially challenging methodologies. Issues will be raised concerned with working in different cultures and with ethnographic methodologies.
• 'Getting published and getting cited' - Professor Allan Findlay (University of Dundee) will be discussing the issues of getting published.
• Discussant and closing remarks - The day will end with Dr. Mike Kesby summarising the day and all the discussions. This will be followed by a wine reception at the university and an optional dinner for attendees.

Mini-Kindrogan 2010 Day's programme in PDF format

Why attend Mini-Kindrogan?

Mini-Kindrogan provides the opportunity to create closer links between the different departments and talk about any issues we may be having or of course what is going really well! It's a really informal event which allows everyone to discuss issues of shared interest or concern in a supportive and constructive atmosphere. The day has been organised to include a wide range of contributors and believe it will be a thought provoking and highly engaging day.

Due to the amount of interest we have had from Masters students this year's event will be opened up to allow a number of Masters students to attend. However, priority will be given to PhD students and due to a limited number of places (maximum of 40 attendees) Masters students wanting to attend will be on a first-come-first-served basis. Therefore if you would like to attend please get in contact as soon as possible to register your interest in the day (latest 23rd April 2010).

This year's Mini-Kindrogan event will be taking place on the 14th May. For more information about the day and registering your attendance please contact Amy at a.e.holden@dundee.ac.uk.

Getting to Dundee and the University

Getting to the university campus
A detailed map of the campus - all the day's events will be occurring in the Tower Building, College Hall and the Dalhousie Building - Signs will be put up to direct you to College Hall for Tea and Coffee after which you will be guided to the Baxter Suite for the first Session. There will be people at hand to help people get to the different venues.

This event has been supported by Generic Skills (University of Dundee) Geography, School of Social and Environmental Science, University of Dundee and GRADSkills (University of St. Andrews)