We are happy to announce that we are seeking nominations for the ‘Postgraduate Student Representative’ position on the QMRG committee. This is to replace the current PGR reps – Ruth Neville, Yue Li, and Laura Sheppard – who have recently completed their terms.
PGR Representative Role Description
PGR reps are responsible for attending monthly meetings, organising RGS-IBG annual conference sessions focussed on PGR students, and representing the interests of PGRs and Early Career researchers within Quantitative Geography.
Current Experience – Ruth Neville
As an outgoing PGR representative for the QMRG committee, I would highly recommend this role to any mid stage PhD students who are looking to expand on their academic experience and learn from senior researchers in the field. The role is very flexible, and other members of the committee are very supportive in helping you to develop the role in whatever way you see fit.
A particular highlight of the committee position is the opportunity to organise your own conference session aimed at PGRs and Early Career quantitative geographers at the Royal Geographical Society annual conference – which runs in August each year. Organising a session at a conference is a great experience, and a lovely way to connect with the wider PhD community as well as develop your skills around reviewing abstracts, organisation, and chairing at conferences. In addition, we have been working to build an early career network for quantitative geographers and similar fields and have been working to showcase the research of PGRs and postdocs from a range of institutions via the ECR newsletter. Previous PGR reps have also had the opportunity to collaborate on reflective articles and contribute to research on the history of the QMRG. It really is up to you!
I personally feel I have learned a lot from my time on the committee, and it has afforded me the opportunity to develop my academic networks and my skills (particularly re/ conference session organisation) in ways that I would not have otherwise been able to. If you would like to discuss this role further, please get in touch by email ruth.neville@liverpool.ac.uk or Twitter/X.
How to Apply
Nominations for the available positions may include self-nominations and should be sent along with the name of a seconder (a current member of the committee) and a brief statement of suitability. Please send any nominations to QMRG secretary Dr Qunshan Zhao (email: Qunshan.Zhao@glasgow.ac.uk) by 31st October 2024.
A full list of current committee positions and members can be viewed here.