Meet the Team
This handbook has been prepared by the School of Engineering to help PhD Researchers and their Supervisors find their way through the various School level administrative stages of the PhD Research Degree. This includes information on where to get help, staff responsibilities, procurement and travel arrangements, services, office safety, demonstration / teaching opportunities and local guidance on initial, confirmation and final assessments.
The handbook supplements the information provided by the Doctoral College in relation to policies and procedures.
Your PhD Researcher Representative is Conor McCrickard. Conor will represent your School on University level committees to ensure that your voice is heard, and any concerns raised.
Your, Postgraduate Tutor, Research Director and research area administrator(s) are also available for you, should you require any additional support.
School of Engineering
The School of Engineering at Ulster University boasts a strong research portfolio covering areas that include biomaterials, healthcare technologies, materials characterization, nanomaterials, photocatalysis, plasma physics, control electronics and advanced composite manufacturing. A healthy balance of theoretical and applied multidisciplinary activities facilitate successful research impacting highly important global challenge areas and in turn promoting healthy and sustainable futures for all citizens.
Engineering Research at Ulster is administered primarily within the School of Engineering which is based at the University’s Belfast Campus. A further spoke of engineering research activity has been established in the North West of the province at the Magee campus (Derry/Londonderry) - activity at that campus is primarily affiliated with the School of Computing, Engineering and Intelligent Systems.
- Engineering at Ulster brings together a +120 strong multi-disciplinary group of researchers (academic, contract researchers and PhD Researchers) from a range of disciplines to undertake various forms of advanced engineering research in a number of key challenge areas. This work is undertaken in the School of Engineering using our world class facilities.
PhD Researchers form an integral part of the research environment within the School, currently there are over 60 PhD Researchers working alongside academics and Post-Doctoral Researchers.
Engineering
Focusing on the development of nanotechnology, clean technology, tissue engineering, composites, metal forming and connected health technologies....
Introduction to PhD Study in the School of Engineering
PhD Manager is the primary tool used by the Doctoral College, the School and both you and your Supervisors to manage all aspects of your PhD journey. There are guides available on PhD Manager to help you learn to navigate the system with detailed videos showing you how to conduct most of the tasks and processes required during your PhD study.
PhD Researchers will be assigned to a lead Supervisor (Chair of the Supervisory Team) and at least one joint Supervisor prior to registration. Supervisors will be experts in the field of the PhD. For interdisciplinary projects the Supervisory team may include Supervisors from other Faculties/Schools within the University.
External Supervisors can also be assigned from other universities, companies or specialist partners (e.g. clinical or industrial collaborators) where appropriate. Supervisors will meet with PhD Researchers within the first week of study to discuss the research topic and develop a Research Plan for the 3 years (6 years part-time) of the PhD programme. PhD Researchers and Supervisors must meet regularly (at least once per month) to discuss progress throughout the study.
PhD Manager should be used to schedule and record meeting notes from Supervision Meetings – with the PhD Researcher being responsible for scheduling meetings and preparing draft meeting notes for assessment and confirmation by the Supervisor.
PhD Researchers within the School are expected to work full-time (35 to 40 hours a week) and will be based at one of the School’s dedicated facilities (e.g. in NIBEC, NIACE, or other labs on either the Belfast or Derry~Londonderry campus). PhD Researchers are entitled to 26 days of annual leave per year plus University closure days. Working arrangements for Part-time PhD Researchers will be discussed and agreed prior to registration. Requests for, approval of and details relating to your annual leave allowance should be processed via PhD Manager.
There are four major assessment milestones throughout the duration of study (3 years for full time, 6 years for part-time), described on the Doctoral College website. The first is the initial assessment which occurs around 3 months into the PhD (10 months for part-time). The second, the confirmation assessment, occurs 8-10 months into PhD study (16-20 months for part-time), with a third checkpoint (the final assessment) scheduled for month 30. PhD Researchers are expected to submit their PhD thesis at month 36 and begin preparation for the final element of assessment, the viva. Further details on the structure and content for each assessment can be found within the Assessments section of this guide. Other important dates relate to:
- Re-enrolment, annually mid-September – online via the Ulster portal.
- PhD annual Report, to be completed by the first week in May each year – online via PhD Manager. This is your opportunity to report progress and provide feedback on your supervision and the research environment.
- Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES), annually end of May – online via a unique link emailed from Doctoral College staff. PRES is the only UK higher education sector-wide survey to gain insight from postgraduate researchers about their learning and supervision experience. In the 2023 PRES the School of Engineering showed an overall satisfaction score of 86% (with a participation rate of 71%).
During Welcome Week in mid-September, a local induction will be organized to introduce PhD Researchers to the School facilities, key staff and Supervisors. An overview of relevant University and School Policies will be provided. This Local Induction is complemented by a Doctoral College Induction and details of these arrangements are sent directly by the Doctoral College.
During your PhD you will generate new knowledge - it is important that you share this with the research community via conference presentations, publications and through public and school engagement events. Planning how you disseminate your research requires close collaboration with your Supervision Team. Learning how to develop research questions, design experiments, conduct data analysis and discuss findings is hugely important – your supervisors will be able to provide guidance and help with this aspect of your PhD. Publishing your work permits the opportunity for peer-review and is an excellent way to demonstrate your research potential to future employers.
If you have questions related to the content of this handbook or any other aspect of the PhD process, please ask your Supervisors or those contacts listed above – we are all happy to help. A detailed FAQ guide is also available on the Doctoral College website.
Central University Support is provided via Student Wellbeing. This includes Health and Wellbeing (physical and mental health, academic support, accessibility) and Money advice (dealing with debt and crisis funds available to all PhD Researchers who can evidence hardship). Feedback from PhD researchers who have accessed this support has been extremely positive.
PhD Forums take place regularly and are a great way to interact with your fellow researchers, to share news, ideas, techniques and support cross disciplinary projects. The Post-Graduate Tutor (PGT), Research Director (RD), and Academic Excellence Executive Assistant (AEEA) are often present and will relay any key information or good news stories. PhD Forums take place physically on campus or virtually on MS Teams, with invites shared to all PhD Researchers via email.
Facilities, Training and Development
NIBEC, ECRE and NIACE contain a broad range of specialist facilities to support research. Please refer to the Specialist Equipment section for a breakdown of the key pieces of equipment available within each centre. PhD Researchers and Supervisors will agree throughout the PhD on the most appropriate equipment for use during your project.
Please note that for a few specialist systems, an introduction to the system may be provided, and you will be assisted in running samples. Following completion of the Training Needs Assessment (TNA) on PhD Manager, a training development plan should be agreed with Supervisors early in the PhD – including both generic and specific training needs. You will be asked to confirm that the TNA has been completed at your Initial Assessment.
PhD Researchers should arrange to be fully trained on necessary equipment and complete appropriate health and safety training – this compulsory before any experimental work is done –, including Risk and COSHH assessments before any equipment is used and any experiment is run. The online equipment booking system can be used to reserve time on the major items of equipment.
Fair and sensible use of the booking system is expected, e.g. block booking is not recommended. Certificates will be issued once every six months for training in the main pieces of equipment in NIBEC (those on the central booking system). If the equipment hasn’t been used during the last 6 months refresher training will be required.
Some equipment needs Radiation Awareness Training and user training before use. In Belfast campus, for specific training queries please submit a request using the School of Engineering Online Ticket System. For equipment booking, please use the online booking system or local training procedures in place in Magee through the technical staff. Specific training complements the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme.
The Doctoral College provides excellent training for your PhD through the Researcher Development Programme (RDP). Sessions should be booked in advance via PhD Manager (Events/Workshops section), please ensure you attend or cancel in good time. If you have questions relating to the RDP please contact the RDP Team in the Doctoral College.
There are several mandatory courses, such as Research Integrity Training, which must be completed before submission of reports for the initial assessment – this is an online course on Blackboard. It’s advised to complete this training as soon as possible after you start your PhD – the assessment panel will ask you to confirm completion of this mandatory training at your assessments. A wide range of generic training opportunities can be used to support your training development plan – soft-skills are highly regarded by employers; developing scientific writing and presentation skills will help you prepare for preparation of reports, conference presentations etc.
Your Doctoral College training and development activity is recorded on PhD Manager and produces a Training Log, including downloadable certificates. This Training Log can also be updated with external activities, so that you have a comprehensive record of all your researcher development activity over the course of your PhD.
Many PhD Researchers help teach tutorials, act as lab demonstrators and occasionally undertake coursework assessment within the School. If you are interested in demonstrating, please discuss with your Supervisor in the first instance. Charly Mifsud will circulate forms to all PhD Researchers before the start of each semester asking for your availability for teaching and demonstrating, as agreed with your Supervisors, and you will be subsequently assigned hours as available. We cannot guarantee teaching opportunities for all PhD Researchers but will try to accommodate as many requests as possible.
Whilst most Scholarships prevent paid part-time working, PhD Researchers are permitted to conduct up to 6 hours per week of University demonstration. School Office staff will provide details of the payment process - the demonstrating rate, paperwork and claim deadlines etc. For queries regarding the payment and claim process please contact the School Office staff.
You will need to undertake the one-day Introduction to Teaching and Learning for PG Teaching Assistants prior to being eligible for teaching – this course is available multiple times in the academic year and can be accessed via the Researcher Development Programme.
The School is reinvigorating the Research Seminar Series to provide PhD researchers with an opportunity to practice oral presentation skills, share research findings with your peers, hear from leading experts visiting the School and from School staff. Contact Dr Jana Saikat.
Assessments
Purpose
After approximately 3-4 months (100 days) of full-time postgraduate study, or after 10 months in the case of part-time mode of attendance, it is expected that PhD Researchers will have developed a reasonable understanding of the area of research in which they are working and will have some initial ideas on the likely contribution to knowledge that it will make to the subject(s) concerned. The initial assessment seeks to ensure that this level of progress has been achieved.
The dates of the initial assessment will be notified to Postgraduate Researchers by Charly Mifsud, Academic Excellence Executive Assistant, School of Engineering.
Content
The assessment process comprises both a written and an oral element and addressing these requirements should be organized in close co-operation with the project Supervisors.
PhD Researchers are expected to give an oral presentation, using appropriate materials, e.g. PowerPoint, to an Assessment Panel including one or more of their Supervisors, a reviewer and a chairperson appointed by the Research Director.
The presentation will normally last 10 minutes and will then be followed by 10 minutes of questions. It should provide information on:
- Project background.
- Overall aim of the research.
- Objectives to be achieved within the first 10 months (full-time) or 20 months (part-time) and the activities that will be undertaken to achieve these objectives.
- Type of training and equipment required to advance the project.
- Gantt chart indicating plans over the next 9 months.
The associated written element should be presented as a concise Research Plan, in font Arial 12 with 1.5 line spacing not exceeding four A4 pages in length, excluding appendices and a Gantt chart (as presented in the oral element). Please note that the reviewers are not required to read beyond the four-page limit.
Assessment Criteria
The Panel will be seeking to answer the following core questions:
- Is the project clearly defined?
- Are the objectives realistic and achievable in the time period available?
- Will the project provide adequate research training for the student to at least MPhil level?
- Is the program of work likely to provide a sufficient foundation for PhD study?
- Does the student show evidence of at least a basic understanding of the research topic, the nature of the approach being taken to investigate it and the relationship of the work to other research in the field?
- Are the Supervisory arrangements, including meeting schedules, satisfactory?
- Is the student content with the research environment?
Note: Supervisors are required to complete a short report on PhD Manager prior to the assessment meeting. Assessors are asked to email the Chair of the assessment panel with a short paragraph of their comments two days prior to the initial assessment.
Procedure
- An Assessment Panel, comprising a reviewer (suggestions are requested from the Supervisors) and a Chairperson, will be appointed by the RD/PGT. The other individuals present at the assessment will be the PhD Researcher, at least one Supervisor and, possibly, an adviser, if one has been appointed.
- Your initial assessment report should be submitted to and assessed via PhD Manager. Once you receive the date of your assessment, please log into PhD Manager and click on PhD Research Project followed by Initial Assessment to initiate the process.
A training video is available at the following link to guide you through this process.
- Your report needs to be uploaded no later than 10 calendar days before your initial assessment. The report you upload should be approved by your Supervisor as the final version - changes to the submitted document cannot be made.
- PhD Researchers also need tosubmit the report document to Turnitin for a plagiarism check. The process to obtain your Turnitin report is straightforward – simply access the relevant area within Blackboard, enter your usual password and select ‘Courses’. From here, you should see ‘PhD Researchers Turnitin’. You then just need to click on the icon for your Faculty and follow the upload instructions. Within Blackboard, there are various guides on submitting an assignment, which you may follow if you have any difficulties. Additional support can be provided by the admin staff within the School.
- Once you have uploaded your assignment through the link you just need to login again after a period of time (usually 30 minutes or so) and click on the link again. You will then see your Turnitin report instead of an option to upload. It is important that you do not use this system to ‘test’ your submissions or work at any stage as this will affect the final Turnitin report, which will show a higher similarity index than expected.
- Note that you should upload the FULL Turnitin report not just the submission receipt.
Purpose
Within the first year of study, at approximately month 10 for full-time PhD Researchers and month 20 for part-time Researchers (assuming there are no exceptional circumstances), PhD researchers shall apply to Senate for confirmation of their registration status. As a result of this assessment the student will either have his/her PhD registration status confirmed, will be invited to transfer registration and continue studying for the degree of MPhil or will be withdrawn from study – the process is again conducted via PhD Manager.
Content
The assessment comprises written and oral elements and should be organised in close co-operation with the project Supervisors.
1) The written element comprises two components:
a) A Literature Review, in font Arial 12 with 1.5 line spacing and margins 2.5 cm, not exceeding 30 A4 pages, including any relevant additional information contained in appendices. Please note that the reviewer is not required to read beyond the 30 pages limit. References are not included within the 30-page limit.
The Literature Review should:
- Identify the area in which the student's research is being undertaken.
- Describe the problem being addressed.
- Summarise relevant work in that area.
- Conclude with a summary evaluation of previous work (possibly in tabular form) showing strengths and weaknesses. This should reveal the knowledge gap(s) that the student's research is attempting to fill.
b) A progress update, a written summary of the work completed to date, not exceeding 10 A4 pages.
The progress update should:
- Identify the primary aim of the research project.
- Summarize the work completed to date, and identify any conferences, publications or presentations to date or planned for the near future.
- Outline the plan of activity for the remaining period of study (including a Gantt chart).
- Summarize the thesis outline emphasizing the structure and how it meets the research aims.
The progress report and literature review should be merged and uploaded to PhD manager as one document.
2) Oral Presentation
PhD Researchers are expected to give an oral presentation to the Assessment Panel, using appropriate materials, e.g. PowerPoint, summarising the information contained in the written components. The following points are suggested as guidelines for the presentation content:
- Title slide.
- Background to the problem.
- Aims of the research and planned contribution to knowledge.
- Progress to date, with a plan of activity for the remaining period.
- Thesis outline, emphasising its logical structure and how it meets the aims of the research.
- Conferences/journal publications/presentations to date or proposed.
- Summary slide.
Assessment
A maximum of one hour is set aside for each Confirmation Assessment. The presentation will normally last between 10-15 minutes, followed by up to 30 minutes for the Panel to question the student and Supervisors(s). The final 10-15 minutes will be a private discussion between the Panel and the Supervisor(s). The Researcher will then be invited back into the room to hear the outcome of the assessment.
The Assessment Panel will consider the following questions:
- Have the objectives of the first 10 (20) months period of work been achieved?
- Is the proposed programme of work a logical extension of the completed studies?
- Are the defined objectives likely to be achieved with the available resources?
- Is the work likely to provide adequate research training to doctorate level for the student?
- Is the work sufficiently well defined to (potentially) provide publishable work within a 12-18 (24-30) month period?
- Can the practical studies be completed within the next 18-20 (30) month period?
- Does the student show evidence of ability to critically evaluate the work and place it within the context of related studies?
- Are the Supervisors satisfied with the student’s progress to date?
- Is the student satisfied with the current Supervisory arrangements?
- Should the student be permitted to confirm registration status of PhD?
Note: Supervisors are required to complete a short report on PhD Manager prior to the assessment meeting. Assessors are asked to email the Chair of the assessment panel with a short paragraph of their comments 2 days prior to the initial assessment.
Procedure
- An Assessment Panel, comprising a reviewer (usually the same reviewer as the initial assessment) and a chairperson, will be appointed by the RD / PGT. The other individuals present at the viva will be the PhD Researcher, at least one Supervisor and, possibly, an adviser, if one has been appointed.
- Upon receipt of the date for your confirmation assessment, please log in to PhD Manager and click on the PhD Research Project followed by Confirmation Assessment to initiate the process. A training video is available at the following link to guide you through this process.
- All paperwork needs to be uploaded no later than calendar 10 days before your confirmation assessment. The reports you upload are final and cannot be changed so please ensure they the reports have been discussed with your Supervisor and are correct at the time of upload.
- PhD Researchers need to submit the document to Turnitin for a plagiarism check. The process to obtain your Turnitin report is as described in the initial assessment guide. It is important that you do not use this system to ‘test’ your submissions or work at any stage as this will affect the final Turnitin report, which will show a higher similarity index than expected.
Purpose
To help prepare for the final submission of your thesis and the viva examination, the Final Assessment will take place at 30 months (full-time) and 60 months (part-time) of initial registration.
The Final Assessment will take the form of a structured meeting to discuss progress towards completion of your Thesis. The meeting will be undertaken in collaboration with your Supervisors. In advance of the meeting PhD Researchers should complete the Final Assessment Template (available on SharePoint or via Charly Mifsud), which will help prompt the discussion at the meeting with Supervisor.
Content and Procedure
- PhD Researchers should first talk to your Supervisors to set up a meeting for the Final Assessment. The School administrator will also prompt Researchers and Supervisors to plan the final assessment.
- Once the meeting date has been identified, you should begin the Final Assessment process through PhD Manager. This will allow for the formal assessment to be made by your Supervisors.
- The Final Assessment Template should be used to record details of the assessment:
- A review of the research plan submitted during the Confirmation Assessment should be undertaken (the aims and objectives of the thesis and thesis structure should be updated and agreed). Key findings and contributions to knowledge could be identified within each section/chapter of the proposed thesis plan.
- A submission timeline – plan the work required to complete your PhD and submit in a timely fashion, identify when you will begin writing your thesis, when/how your Supervisors will receive a first draft/chapters and when/how you will receive feedback on the submissions. A realistic submission date for the final thesis should be agreed.
- A discussion of potential External Examiners for your viva (thesis defence) may be undertaken.
- You should aim to submit the required Template 10 days in advance of your meeting to allow your Supervisors to prepare for the Final Assessment meeting. Submissions of the Final Assessment Template should be made using PhD Manager.
- Following the assessment, your Supervisor will provide comments/feedback (through PhD Manager). This should include:
- A short description of progress to date.
- Comment on how far the PhD Researcher is from completion and if the current plan/timetable is feasible. Proposed key dates associated with preparation of the final thesis should be included, likely within the Assessment Template. The expected submission date should be stated.
- If required, a statement of difficulties/issues encountered or significant events preventing timely submission should be included.
- If required, a statement detailing additional support required to ensure thesis submission.
- Any other comments.
Feedback should be shared with the PhD Researcher and discussed at the next Supervisory meeting.
The submission of your thesis and Final Viva process is carried out on PhD Manager.
Please speak with your Supervisor and refer to the Doctoral College website for guidance on preparing your thesis. Doctoral College organise regular training events to help you prepare for your final viva and your Supervisory team will usually conduct a mock viva close to the date of your final viva.
A range of Guides on PhD Manager give you step-by-step instructions on submission of your thesis - pay particular attention to sections 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3.
Please read the information carefully and ensure you and your Supervisory Team are aware of what is expected when completing this process on PhD Manager. Contact Charly Mifsud if you need support.
It is the responsibility of the Supervisors to select and liaise with Examiners in advance of the Viva. A guide for Supervisors is available in Section 9.3 of the PhD Manager website.
Office and Social Spaces
Office Accommodation
PhD Researchers will be invited to attend a local induction during registration week, where you will have to opportunity to meet key staff within your research area. You will be assigned a desk in you first week of study. PhD Researchers will discuss needs for a computer etc. with their Supervisors and any arrangements will be made as soon as possible after registration.
There are kitchen facilities including tea/coffee making facilities and fridges/microwaves in BC-05-309/309A. PhD Researchers will be given a facilities tour during the local induction.
Campus Social Spaces
The Docs@Ulster have been established on each Campus to facilitate interdisciplinary interactions and to help you engage with other researchers. Many of the Doctoral College RDP events are based in the DOC and the space is available in level 6 in Block BC for researchers to use for work and social activities.
There are also a large number of Student Societies organised by the UU Students Union, in particular the Ulster Society of Student Engineers (USSE) and the Doctoral Society.
Travel and Procurement
PhD Researchers in receipt of Scholarship funding will receive an annual or monthly budget for the purchasing of materials/equipment or for attendance at conferences or training etc. Specific scholarships have different funding structures. PhD Budgets will be discussed at local induction and Supervisors will agree with PhD Researchers how this budget will be spent throughout the course of the PhD. An account of your budget will be held by the Admin Contact for your area.
Before travelling to a conference, workshop or meeting, PhD researchers must discuss and agree with your supervisor the details of the travel and the cost centre that will be used for this.
All travel must be booked through the University’s Travel Management Company, for insurance purposes, Selective Travel.
PhD researchers must process Prior Approvals and Reimbursed Expense Claims online. PhD researchers should navigate to the Finance Visitors Page and follow the link to the ‘Digital Claims Portal’. The Portal homepage provides a link to Registration instructions for first time visitors.
Once Registration is complete, PhD researchers can maintain their profile and submit digital requests. Training Guides for each claim type are available on the Portal Homepage.
When completing the ‘Claim Details’ section, PhD researchers are encouraged to consult with School Office staff to ensure the correct ‘Directorate’ & ‘Department’ values are selected from the dropdown lists presented on the digital forms. This will ensure your request is processed in a timely manner.
If any technical problems are encountered, users should raise a ticket via the ServiceDesk with any issues or queries.
To make any purchase or requisition, you need to complete a requisition template excel sheet (available on our Sharepoint site) and send it with a quotation from the company by email to the School of Engineering Procurement Team. Please ask your line manager for help to fill this form and provide the nominal code and the cost centre code.
- All requisitions are to be sent to the School of Engineering Procurement Team.
- Assure completion of initial checklist before sending on the requisition form (equipment form etc, overspend, grant expiry.) The Procurement Process can be viewed on our Sharepoint site.
- The requisition should be authorised by the supervisor/line manager before being sent for processing. Sending requisitions without approvals would cause unnecessary delays.
- For all requisitions note in the email that it has been approved and copy in the approver.
- Please use the updated requisition form and carefully look at the guidance (number of quotes, nominals. etc) on the last slide.
- You can find the requisition process, and staff responsible for it on the slides. Remember, the normal processing times are 4 working days, and 2 more for budget checks and approvals.
- Requisitions/payments of all nature should be requested at least a week before the conference/visits/workshops/research experiments, etc. to avoid last minute undue stress.
Specialist Equipment
A list of the major pieces of equipment and capabilities within NIBEC and at NIACE are available to view. A new booking system is currently being developed and the link to this system will be updated once it is made live. In the meantime, booking of equipment should be done through your School Office contacts.
Following training on equipment, please use the booking system links to book time on the equipment in the school. Supervisors will discuss equipment needs with PhD Researchers and will arrange for training.
Note: Risk and COSHH assessments must be completed reviewed and authorised by your supervisor then uploaded to the relevant folder on the School of Engineering SharePoint site (link will be provided by your administrator upon registration).
Technical Support Ticket System
To make a work request to our technical team, you need to complete a ticket at the School of Engineering Online Ticket System. When you first login, you will need (once only) to tell the system your email address. Please ask your supervisor for help to fill this form and provide the nominal code and the cost centre code.
Online Ticket System Guide
Please login in using your staff or student number and password as usual.
n.b. When you first login, you will need (once only) to tell the system your email address.
- Hover on “Logged in as e or b…” at the top;
- Hover on “Settings” that will appear;
- Click on “About Me”;
- Fill in the details on identity in the top left;
- Click “Save Preferences” at the bottom
Submitting a New Ticket
Once the system knows how to contact you, you will see a “New Ticket” option in the top right, along with a Queue name. Please select the correct Queue before clicking on “New Ticket”.
Teaching is the appropriate queue if your request concerns support for Teaching and Learning Activities;
Research is likewise self-explanatory;
Industrial should be used for Academic Enterprise activities where all the monies available come to the School
Consultancy is appropriate if the supported activity brings income directly to a staff salary additional to normal pay
Faculty is the appropriate queue if your request support for Faculty Teaching and Learning and Research Activities
After clicking on “New Ticket” please give a short description in the subject, and please ensure you provide all necessary details in the box to describe the issue. Failure to do so is likely to at least delay your request being fulfilled. You will note that you can attach files if appropriate, and include other colleagues to be cc’d if necessary.
Please give the job request a relevant owner (do not leave Owner as Nobody), see list below:
Technical Staff (Owners)
- Pat McShane - Technical Services Co-ordinator (Workshop)
- Damien McDonald - Technical Services Engineer (Electronics & Computing, Level 3)
- Simon Reford - Technical Services Co-ordinator (Mechanical)
- Roy Brelsford - Technical Services Co-ordinator (ECRE/NIACE)
- Brian Kirch - Technical Services Engineer (Electronics & Computing, Level 4)
- Chris Anderson - Technical Services Engineer (Design & Research Materials & Testing)
In some cases you may want/need to have a discussion with the relevant Technical Services Co-ordinator/Technical Services Engineer about the job, however this should only be done following the request going on the ticket system.
If you have any issues, please contact Dr Patrick Porter.
Health and Safety
- Lab and Office Safety
- Fire Safety
- First Aid Defibrillator location
- Safezone App
- Health and Safety Courses
It is everyone’s duty to ensure a safe working environment. Your first point of contact if you have a health and safety query should be your supervisor.
Risk assessments are carried out and updated annually. First Aid/ Defibrillator available from Security – on internal phones dial 22222 (DDI 02870123456).
In event of an emergency requiring Police, Fire or Ambulance dial (9)999 directly then contact security immediately on extension 22222 (DDI 02870123456). If working late you should make security aware and let them know when you leave.
If you discover a fire, activate the alarm immediately using nearest break glass point.
On hearing alarm:
- You must leave the building using the nearest available route by following the emergency exit signs
- You must go directly to the assembly point
- You must not re-enter the building until told it is safe
Fire marshals sweep each floor in the event of an evacuation. The alarm is tested on all campuses at 1:10pm and 5:55pm every Wednesday. During the test the alarm will sound for a short period of around 10-15 seconds. Any continuous sounding of the alarm is not a test and should be treated as a genuine alarm.
First Aid/Defibrillator is available on each campus by contacting Security – on internal phones dial 22222 (Direct Dial (DDI) 02870123456). In event of an emergency requiring Police, Fire or Ambulance dial (9)999 directly then contact security immediately on extension 22222 (DDI 02870123456).
You should also download the Safezone app on your mobile phone. This is free app for students and staff that connects you to the University security team if you ever need urgent help, first aid or if you have an emergency while on campus.
Ensure all mandatory H&S courses highlighted on your PORTAL Dashboard / Blackboard / PhD Manager are up-to-date, e.g., risk assessment (Labs), Digital Screen Equipment (DSE), FIRE Safety Awareness, Cyber Safety, Data Protection, GDPR, etc.