Graduate Prospects 67

www.prospects.ac.uk Issue 67 · 14 May 2008 · Fortnightly PROSPECTS GRADUATE 17 POSTGRAD BLOGGER ‘I feel I actually deserve a place in the research office for the first time.’ GRAHAM FOSTER HAS A SMALL AMOUNT OF SUCCESS MAKING WAVES ROSS POMEROY HAS COME A LONG WAY WITH HIS SURF BOARD Technology degree coordinator. His TECHNOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF motivating, although tongue in cheek PLYMOUTH, ROSS POMEROY (PICTURED) WENT comment, was to go away and get a PhD and then I could have his job. Little did I know ON TO PHD RESEARCH INTO MATERIALS FOR then that this was actually going to happen. MAKING BOARDS AND, FINALLY, A Under the umbrella of ‘surfing’, the degree LECTURESHIP IN MARINE SPORTS. has a broad focus on related subject areas, Having worked for over nine years for HM and it was through one of these and my third Customs and Excise, and achieved only the year honours project into the novel dizzying heights of long-term temporary compression testing of carbon fibre polymer promotion as an administrative officer, I was composite materials, that the opportunity fairly disillusioned by my lot and hungry for a arose for me to apply for an advertised PhD change. I read an article in The Surfer’s Path within the Advanced Composites regarding the University of Plymouth’s BSc Manufacturing Centre (ACMC) here at Surf Science and Technology degree. I made Plymouth. the phone call, attended an open day and, on My PhD research was funded by the the proviso that I first completed a science Engineering Physical Sciences Research foundation course in place of my non-existent Council and also CASE sponsored by a local A-levels, I was offered a conditional place. company, Plastech Thermoset Tectonics Ltd. It involved the investigation of the permeability STUDENT DAYS I achieved high scores in my of specific types of glass fibre mats, as used to foundation course and went on to get a First reinforce polymer composite materials. for my degree. From the early days of my study I had wanted to find a way of becoming POSTGRAD LIFE Everything changed for me a lecturer. I had a conversation with Dr when I started my postgrad research. My Malcolm Findlay, the (then) Surf Science and friends had all graduated, and postgraduate FOLLOWING A DEGREE IN SURF SCIENCE AND research is a one-person game. In addition, I got married immediately after my undergraduate degree and we had a daughter a year later. Therefore, the partying had stopped and the sleepless nights and sense of serious responsibility had begun. As a result I suddenly found myself surprisingly lonely in my work. The workload at PhD level is totally different to being an undergraduate. If anything, I found the most difficult factor to be the longevity of a PhD - throughout I found I didn’t really know how far in I was or how far I needed to go. It is therefore so easy to push too hard for many months at a time where the benefit may not actually be seen for several years; it is a skill worth developing in itself to be able to recognise when breaks are needed from your research. DREAM JOB It is important to always remember that, although the PhD is important it is only a threshold achievement prior to whatever you are going to make of the rest of your life. There is no first-class award here, and it is the other skills, experiences and networking that can often make the difference in creating your ‘fit’ to whatever career you want to have. I had my eyes on a lecturing career, even though at that point I felt the likelihood of success was fairly thin; so during the early days of my PhD I took up the role of secretary for the Student Union Postgraduate Society, chased every bit of teaching, demonstrating and lecturing I could get my hands on and got involved in widening participation and open days. For me it has worked out, I have my dream job as a lecturer for the very degree I started on. It is quite easy for me to become complacent of my position now and I often have to remind myself of the years of uncertainty since leaving HM C&E roughly eight years ago. It truly wasn’t until I received the call that offered me this post that I really believed that this was the career that I was going to be able to follow. INFORMATION AND ADVICE www.prospects.ac.uk/findcourses POSTGRAD FUNDING FACTS www.prospects.ac.uk/links/fundstudy LATEST POSTGRAD COURSE OPPORTUNITIES www.prospects.ac.uk/links/latestcourses SEARCH THE POSTGRAD DATABASE SEND YOUR VIEWS, SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS editorial@prospects.ac.uk http://www.prospects.ac.uk http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Feature_Articles/Feature_articles_2008/PhD_blog__13/p!edLcFei http://www.prospects.ac.uk/findcourses http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/fundstudy http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/latestcourses

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Graduate Prospects 67

Fair Do’s Bloggers at Work Royal Mail Ask the Employers MOD Accountant Development Scheme Propeller Training Singapore Airlines Derivatives Consulting Group Discovery Recruitment and Training University of Brighton TAC UK Ltd Meltwater News UK Norfolk County Council Russell Finex Ltd Finning Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd Enterprise Rent-A-Car Matson Driscoll & Damico UK British Airways Plc JD Williams Group FSA South Bedfordshire District Council Making Waves European School of Management Loughborough University National Graduate Recruitment Exhibitions University of Glasgow Summer Graduate Fair Summer Fairs 2008

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