Research Student - your first week

Living in Birmingham

The University has provided some general advice about becoming a student at Birmingham, and one most important piece of advice there is to make sure you are registered with a doctor. The University has its own medical practice or you can find a full list of local surgeries on the NHS website.

The University's International Student Advisory Service (ISAS) has also provided special advice for international students including guidance on healthcare. Even for international students, medical care in the UK is free (though dental treatment is not). You should consult ISAS if you have any questions about your visa.

The School too has an Overseas Students' Page. The International Students Tutor, Dr Hamid Dehghani, is available for consultation.

Studying at the School of Computer Science

Your first day in the School of Computer Science

If you arrive on the very first day of the Autumn term, there will be a meeting in which the Research Students Tutor collect your address, give you your office accommodation, computer registration etc. If you arrive on any other day, you should go to the School's reception area.

Recording your address

You must give the School Office your addresses (at home and in Birmingham) and phone numbers. If you change your address or phone number, you must tell the School immediately and also notify the University's Student Records Office.

Keys

Your University identity card will give you entry to the School's building.

You will receive:

  1. a key to your office;
  2. a key to your desk pedestal.

Office accommodation

As a research student on any of the schools research courses (PhD, MRes etc) you'll be allocated a computer and a desk in an office shared with other research students. Each office is slightly different but they vary between about six and twelve people in size. Your desk is for your use so feel free to use the drawers etc. and make the space your own. A good way to get settled in is to introduce yourself to your new officemates and find out a little about their research topics and interests.

Make a habit of keeping your valuable personal belongings locked away when you are away from your desk and locking your office if you are leaving it empty. Many people use the School's building each day and sometimes thieves come in - especially at the start of each academic year when there are so many new faces.

If you have problems with your desk, chair or filing cabinet or you need special furniture (eg an orthopaedic chair), you should discuss your problem with the Head of School's PA.

Don't behave in a way that disturbs your office mates unduly - we have drawn up some guidelines for sharing offices.

Phones, faxes, post

Each research student office has a phone.

Research students have access to the fax machine in room 105.

To send faxes, insert paper (face down), key in the fax number (prefixed with the number with 9 to get an outside line). Eg if the full fax number you want to send the fax to is:

  • +44 (0) 1234 750852 (which is in Bath), dial:
  • 9 0 1234 750852

For international numbers, prefix the country code with the international dialing code 00, eg:

  • 9 00 1 xxx xxx-xxxx for a number in the US
  • 9 00 216 x xxx-xxx for a number in Tunisia,

There are pigeonholes in Reception for incoming post for staff and research students. You share a pigeonhole with the others in your office.

There is a tray there for outgoing post including internal post to the rest of the university. If you leave private mail there to be posted, then obviously you are expected to put a stamp on it.

Coffee room, kitchens, toilets

The coffee room is on the first floor (room 123) and is for use by all staff and research students.

There are toilets on every floor of the Computer Science building (towards the rear stair-wells) and kitchens on the first and second floors. Kitchens are for use by staff and research students, so feel free to make yourself a drink or warm up food in the microwaves. The school provides tea bags and milk. Although there are some mugs and cutlery in each kitchen, it's a really good idea to bring in your own. This means that there will always be enough mugs for visitors and you'll always know where yours is when you want it.

Whenever you use one of the kitchens, please clear up immediately and leave it the way you would like to find it. For more details on how things are done, please read our guidelines for using the kitchens.

Computer registration

You will be given an account on the School's computer network. This includes access to email and the web.

If you have a problem with computer hardware or software, you should contact the IT service desk. You will need your University login for this, but make sure your request states that you need Computer Science support.

Other important things

Research Skills

You must attend the Research Skills module, which is taught two lectures a week every autumn term, at the first opportunity. The only exception is if you have already passed a comparable module somewhere - in that case ask the Research Students Tutor for an excusal.

Libraries

The School Library in on the ground floor of the School's building. You should introduce yourself to the library assistant when using the library for the first time. This library contains ready reference material, text books for the taught modules, periodicals and some specialised research material. Periodicals in the School Library are listed in the University Library's online catalogue.

The University Library has several locations. Most research students will need to use the Main Library which is in the centre of campus. The Barnes Medical Library is sometimes of use, particulary for work in vision. This is located in the Medical School. All holdings are listed in the University Library's online catalogue. There is no need to register with the University Library as your University identity card is also your library card.

The University Library offers an interlibrary loan service. This enables you to request documents that are not held by the University. Items have to be requested on a special form which can be obtained from the School Library. This is quite an expensive service as there is a charge for each item ordered. So, you must ensure the information you give about the document is complete and correct. There may also be a limit on the number of items you can order at any one time.

Photocopying

The School has a number of photocopiers for staff and research student use. To use these, you need to obtain a photocopier code from the School's library assistant. There is no upper limit set on the number of copies you can make but a record of the number of copies is kept. If you make far more copies than most research students, the Research Students Tutor will have a word with you!

The photocopiers in room 205 and in the School Library are attached to the School network and can be used to print multiple copies of documents in various formats.

The University Library also has a number of photocopiers which can be used by purchasing a voucher card. The School library assistant can issue research students with a free photocopier card so that reference material can be photocopied. Again, a record of the number of cards issued to individuals is kept and if the number requested is excessive, the Research Students Tutor will have a word with you!

Room bookings

The Computer Science building has several meeting rooms which can be booked for meetings (including thesis group meetings), seminars, presentations or group study. You can book them using an online form. Empty meeting rooms can also be used at any time, but be ready to leave should someone with a booking arrive! Your office key will also open the meeting room doors, please remember to lock them again once you leave.

Supervisor

You will want to contact your supervisor very soon after you have arrived (if you haven't already done so). The best method is probably to go to their office. Your supervisor may not be able to talk to your immediately because of other commitments, but they will be able to arrange a time to see you. If your supervisor is not in their office, try sending an email telling them that you have arrived.

In the first meeting, you will probably want to discuss at least the following:

  • How frequently you will meet your supervisor. (The University code of practice says at least once a month for full-time students, but in Computer Science a supervision every week or two is more normal.)
  • What you will be doing in the first few days of your research.
  • Your thesis group.
  • What seminars you should be going to, and whether you need to go on any training courses. (See skills development.)
  • Any demonstrating you can undertake.

It is a good idea to take a list of things you want to discuss to your meetings with your supervisor.

Formal supervision records

At least once a month you must make a formal record of your supervision. You can do this on paper or in an electronic file, and it should show for instance what work you have done since the previous formal supervision and any comments by the supervisor; it should also have space for both you and your supervisors to show your agreement with what the record says. A suitable form is the Graduate School's form GRS2.

After the supervision both you and your supervisor must keep copies of the record. You must also attach the records to your progress report for your next thesis group meeting.

Your Web Page

You have a web page of your own, and you are encouraged to use it to show the world what research you are doing. If you look at the people lists on the School's web site, you can see how people, both staff and research students, use them. From time to time we hold a competition for the research student with the most effective web page.

Your web pages are taken from files that you put in your public_html directory. The minimum that you need is an index file, with a name such as "index.html" or "index.php".

Here is a very basic way to start yourself off.

  • Copy this template file into your public_html directory.
  • Rename it as "index.php".
  • View it in a web browser by entering the URL of your home page, normally http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/ followed by ~ and your login name. At this stage it will show nothing relevant to you.
  • Edit your index.php file, changing "A.N.Other" to your own name and so on. The main parts to edit are the "Editable content" areas. You can also change the page title and page maintainer.
  • Even if you have never used html before you should be able to guess the very first changes to make. For anything else you will need to learn some basic html.

For more hints, see -

RSMG1 and GRS1A forms

These forms are where you engage with the Thesis Group system. Please return them to the Research Students Secretary within six weeks of your starting date.

The first form RSMG1 is your chance to set down the fairly general field in which you are working and to nominate your thesis group (which consists of you, your supervisor and two members of staff, one of whom must be a member of the Research Students Monitoring Group). Obviously you should chat to your supervisor about filling in this form and come to some agreement.

Nominating the thesis group is worth taking some care over. This group will stay with you until you get your degree. They are there to advise you and your supervisor and offer as much support to you both as they can. You are unlikely to be able to get two other thesis group members that thoroughly understand your topic, and we recognized this when we set up the system. But you should be able to find someone who understands your area reasonably well and one other person (on RSMG) who can offer his or her experience in research and supervision.

There is an on-line list of RSMG members available to join thesis groups this year, together with sutudents they currently represent - so you can see how busy they are.

Please consider whom you want, talk to your supervisor, and ask the people concerned if they are willing to do it. It is friendliest to ask them in person.

Other parts to fill in

The RSMG1 form also has a question on Ethical review: this is required some time in your first year, but it's best to do it now.

In addition you must fill in a GRS1A form on skills development.

Staff/Research Students Consultative Committee (SRSCC)

The SRSCC is composed of several staff members and research students from within the School, and is chaired and run by its student members. It does provide a forum for research students to consult with staff on a variety of issues, but it also organizes events and so is a vital part of the research students community.

The staff handbook contains the list of current members of the Committee. The Chair is normally the second year rep.

The committee meets once a term to discuss issues affecting research students and to provide feedback and suggestions to the school, and meetings are open to all research students. If you feel things could be improved upon, or would like to let the school know that a current system works well, then please contact your SRSCC representative!

Representatives are elected each year, so if you would like to be involved then look out for emails about elections in the autumn term.

Social events

As well as representing the research students, the SRSCC also arrange various social events within the school. Typically we have two main socials a year: one to welcome new students in the autumn (in the past we've been bowling, to restaurants and on a boat trip around Birmingham's canals) and an end of term party just before Christmas (which usually features lots of food, party games, quizzes and fancy dress). Keep an eye out for emails about social events and contact your SRSCC representative if you have any suggestions or would like to organise a new social event.

Cookie breaks

Every Tuesday at 1.10pm there is a cookie break in the coffee room (123). Cookie breaks are designed to encourage research students to talk to one another, sharing ideas, recent news and biscuits. Attending cookie breaks is a great way to get to know other people within the school as well as a good place to ask for ideas or advice from other research students - or to simply take a break. If you would like more information, or would like to host a cookie break, visit the cookie break webpage.

Codes of Practice etc.

University regulations, codes of practice etc. can be found through the Research Student Administration web page.

Here are some of the most important.