Support for Postgraduate Students

SLAS and the postgraduate community

Postgraduate students are highly capable learners. However, many postgraduate students find that their work, though intellectually rewarding and stimulating, can be challenging. A sense of vulnerability, and the need for guidance and help in developing confidence in academic study, may be common for many.
There may be some time between your first degree and your current programme; there may be issues about adjusting to study in the UK; the supervisory process may be unfamiliar and work-load and increasing autonomy may be hard to manage.

We recognise the excitement and the difficulties of postgraduate study, and want to help you in all aspects of your work! Through a mixture of resources, workshops and 1:1 appointments we can support the following topics:

For all postgraduates
  • Managing your time and academic organisation
  • Getting the best from the supervisory process
  • Extended academic writing
  • Effective literature reviews
  • Coping with the reading load
  • Effective reading and plagiarism-prevention strategies
For Masters students
  • Making the transition from undergraduate study
  • Dissertations and extended essays
For Doctoral students
  • Project management
  • Authoring a PhD
  • PhD proposals
  • The viva

What we offer

The Student Learning Advisory Service (SLAS) is a free, friendly advice service providing guidance and information on all aspects of effective learning and study skills to postgraduate students.

Individual and confidential appointments

On-campus

Any student or small group of students wishing to improve their learning can make an appointment with a learning advisor (depending on availability).

Off-campus

If you are unable to come to a University campus, we can arrange a telephone appointment for you or you can email us for Canterbury on learning@kent.ac.uk or for Medway on learningmedway@kent.ac.uk .

Maths & Stats Clinics

Do you struggle to understand some of the basics, or feel you need additional support in understanding more advanced principles? If so, come along to the Maths and Stats Clinics.

Workshops

Please see our workshop programmes:

Study Guides/Learning resources

At SLAS, we have a range of study guides and books on study skills and  techniques in our resource bank. Please call in!

Also, see our online resources which cover a wide range of issues.