Graduate Studies Officer

Job Description

Role OutlineThe Graduate Studies Officer will play a key role in managing and administering various PhD studentship programmes throughout the academic year. The post holder will work closely with the Head of Strategic Research Development and Graduate Studies, HR, fundingbodies and external training providers and stake holders to manage the end to end Graduate Programme and to ensure that each student receives abroad range of training through a variety of facilities. Furthermore, they will proactively seek ways to furtherenhance the student experience within the organisation. This role reports to the Head of Strategic Research and Development and Graduate Studies but initially will report to the HR Manager.Key Duties

• Co-ordinate the monthly Graduate Committee meetings, preparing agendas and gathering associated documentation.The post-holder will also play an active role as a member of the Graduate Committee
• Prepare and manage the annual budget for the Graduate Programme, liaising with Finance and Knowledge, Exchange and Commercialisation (KEC) departments, as appropriate
• Engage with Group Leaders to solicit new PhD projects for annual studentship advertisement
• Organising the annual in take of students and the recruitment open day, including advertising the studentships and arranging the interview panels for the students, Group Leaders and Industry Supervisors
• Tabulating the results of the Student Open Day interviews for presentation to the Graduate Committee at the studentship allocation meeting
• Preparation of student offer letters for the Head of Graduate Studies to sign, ensuring eligibility and all funding aspects are clear and confirmed
• Dealing with any ad-hoc queries from the students, Group Leaders, funders, industrial partners, BRC and the University, providing solutions to any problems that may arise,where possible and escalating any issues, as necessary, to the Head of Graduate Studies
• Organising the on-boarding process for students including, liaising with student reps to instigate the buddy system, setting up personal committees, coordinating the induction programme and associated training
• Adding and managing student data on various systems
• Organise the annual renewal of Supervisor and Graduate Studies Officer and receive appropriate notifications from the University, and arrange the registration of new Graduate Supervisors with the University to enable termly reports for their PhD students.
• Managing the end to end Graduate Programme, including the coordination and dissemination of student assessment reports, questionnaires and liaising with the University in relation to any changes in status
• Providing support to new student representatives, liaising regularly as and when required
• Updating and managing the PhD student pages and the Graduate Committee pages on the Hub (intranet)
• Supporting the wellbeing of the students by providing pastoral support in conjunction with the Head of Graduate Studies, HR and the Pastoral Mentors
• Working with HR in relation to reviewing the need for any additional or new training requirements and supporting any staff engagement survey focus groups
• Working with HR on the organisation of student Transferable Skills Training courses
• Collating and reporting of student survey data
• Liaising with Group Leaders in preparation for any visiting students to ensure that all the appropriate documentation is in place, including the preparatory work required to support a visit or visa if required
• Manage the leaving process for students including carrying out exit interviews and analysis of the data to ensure continuous improvement.
• Providing support to the Public Engagement team in relation to the recruitment and onboarding process for the Summer Research Access Programme (RAP)
• Working with key stakeholders to continue to develop the various post-graduate programmes to further improve the student experience
• Maintain regular interaction with University of Cambridge, including attending appropriate meetings
• Prepare and present the Graduate Studies report to the Executive Committee on a biannual basis
• Maintain the Graduate Committee Risk Register and Terms of Reference
• Carrying out any other duties commensurate with the role as required

Person Specification:

• Ideally educated to degree or PHD level
• Experience of working with scientific or Higher education would be advantageous
• Excellent administration skills
• Experience of working in committees, including servicing a committee, preparing agendas
• Experience of liaising with funding bodies would be highly desirable
• Able to prepare and manage budgets
• Fluent English speaker
• Good organisation and time management skills
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Computer literacy and competence in all applications of MS Office
• Attention to detail, accurate and can work confidentially with discretion
• Be able to solve routine problems and be able to make independent decisions
• Self-motivated and adaptable to change
• Empathy of the life sciences work of the organisation

Additional requirements

• Awareness and understanding of the benefits of working in an equal and diverse workplace

• Willingness to undertake training in mental health awareness and mental health first aid training

Keyskills :
AdministrativeCommitteeCommunication SkillsOrganisational SkillsGroup Meetings