PGR Study and Social Spaces: PGCG Part 4

It’s that time again, we’ve hosted our fourth Postgraduate Consultation Group (PGCG) of this academic year! If you’re not familiar with the PGCG, it’s a regular meeting for postgraduate researchers (PGRs) to share their thoughts and feelings about the postgraduate experience at Queen Mary. We then use their feedback to work with the University to make changes that suit the needs of our PGRs! Read on to find out what was discussed this time. 

Working and study spaces 

Many PGRs have access to some form of study space in their home school – however, the quality, comfort, and practicality of these spaces can vary. Plus, different researchers have different requirements for their ideal study space. Some participants described open-plan study areas that are too loud or distracting to focus in, while others had dedicated desks but lacked elements like monitors. As a result, some participants shared the challengers of working exclusively from laptops – especially when working with multiple documents or datasets. 

The group discussed meeting rooms, and what it’s like to access these as postgraduates. In many cases, PGRs must rely on academic staff or administrators to book rooms for them, which is time-consuming and doesn’t necessarily reflect the independence expected from doctoral researchers. 

Participants shared that library spaces were inconsistent, in terms of lighting, popularity and computers – as a result, they prefer to work at Senate House Library or from home. In this PGCG, we discovered that the access to spaces, facilities and resources is not consistent across schools. While some PGRs are given their own desks and lockers, others wait months to be allocated a space. Desk-sharing and hot-desking systems vary with either online booking platforms or informal arrangements. 

Social spaces 

Attendees of this PGCG agreed that there is still a lack of PGR exclusive social spaces, suggesting that often they share break areas with academic staff. Others shared discomfort in the number of events held on the Mile End campus, as opposed to Whitechapel or Charterhouse Square. 

As a suggestion, participants expressed a dedicated PGR common room or lounge could offer the space to connect with peers informally and to decompress. Others highlighted the value of cross-school networks and suggested that communal spaces or thematic groups could help build a greater sense of belonging across faculties. 

Participants showed a preference to interact socially through casual, low-pressure environments (such as study retreats or co-working days) rather than formal events, as they are more inclusive and better suited to the demands of PGR work. 

Improvements for the future 

• Increasing PGR study spaces with monitors and/or docking stations. It may also be helpful to ensure specific inductions happen to spotlight spaces on various campuses that PGRs can use during their orientation process. 

• Host more PGR socials, and lobby for a shared PGR social space, to promote socialising amongst the postgraduate researcher community. 

• Lobby for clearer processes for PGRs to book rooms, including meeting rooms. 

Applications to participate in future Postgraduate Consultation Groups are currently closed, but for more information on this process, please click here!