Find out about key dates, your essential tasks, and plan your Welcome experience.

Time: 15.00-16.30

Venue: Arts G38a (PGR Common Room)

A drop-in session to meet your buddy, as part of the CAL PGR Buddy Scheme.

Time: 10.00-18.00 (lunch included)

Venue: Alan Walters and Arts Buildings (use the Campus Map to find the buildings and their accessibility).

The College of Arts and Law welcomes you all to the new academic year. This day is devised to orientate new postgraduate researchers and welcome back all returning researchers, including a pizza lunch and drinks reception in the evening.

Check out the full schedule and RSVP via Jotform.

Time: 13.00-15.00

Venue: Arts G38a (PGR Common Room)

Drop in at any time to meet other PGRs and your PG SEO, Cai! Beverages and nibbles provided.

Time: 16.30-17.30

Location: Online via Zoom.

All Call PGRs welcome. Sign up via Jotform for Zoom Link.

You can also find a full list of financial support resources here.

Each post will have a title and text summary, but you can click on the post to view attachments in full-screen or download, or to follow a link to sign-up for an event. 

See the full list of your community newsletters.

Postgraduate taught students will receive a monthly email on the first Friday of the month.

Check out our Instagram @CAL_PG for more information and fortnightly round-ups!

All times given in British Summer Time (BST).

Time: 15:00 - 16:30

Venue: Lecture Theatre 3, Birmingham Law School

More information/registration

The Law Commission has published its provisional proposals for the reform of the law on kinship care and is now interested in receiving responses to those proposals. The Commission will be holding a series of consultations over the next month or so and we will be hosting one at the University of Birmingham Law School.

The Law Commission is interested in hearing from people either with academic expertise in, or personal experience of, kinship care. Should this be applicable to you, we hope that you will be able to attend. It is a free event, though places are limited.

Time: 15:00 - 17:00

Venue: Law 220, Birmingham Law School (or online via Zoom)

More information/registration

All are welcome at the Multispecies Collective Reading Group where we discuss some of the most topical issues concerning multispecies flourishing.

We will be discussing our theme, chosen by our network, through engagement with two texts and in conversation with special guest Fiona Korwin-Pawlowski who joins us from Project CETI. Together, the readings and conversation will explore important questions about what it means to communicate across species boundaries, how humans recognise and interpret nonhuman meaning, and the possibilities and limitations of different approaches to understanding other animals.

Ready to explore where your research skills can take you? Sign up for our Careers Network Mentoring Scheme. Whether you're considering a career in academia or beyond, the scheme offers a chance to be matched with an experienced professional working in a sector of your interest. Your mentor can act as a critical friend offering tailored advice, sector-specific insights, and guidance on how to translate your PGR experience into real-world impact.

Find out more about Mentoring on our webpages, or contact our supportive mentoring team via mentoring@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Fill in this Jotform to participate!

Sign up to be assigned a Buddy (mentee).

Sign up to become a Buddy (mentor).

The Midland History Essay Prize of £400 is offered in 2026 for the best essay submitted on an historical subject relating to midland England.

For queries, style guides and to enter, please send to Administrative Editor, Dr Justine Pick, at j.pick@bham.ac.uk (please mark subject ‘MH Essay Prize 2026).

The Department of Modern Languages is running ‘Reading for Researchers’ modules in Arabic for 26/27. This is a non-credit-bearing module, free to undertake and delivered online for PGR and PGT students (including Distance students).     

The course is delivered online via Zoom, Monday, 5-7pm, Semesters 1 and 2.  The first class is 28^th September 2026.

If you are interested in taking this course, please apply for a place via the MS Form here: LM Reading for Researchers module request form 2026-27 – Fill in form. You will receive confirmation of your place in late August/September.

If you have questions, please contact Stella Hart at modernlanguagespgt@contacts.bham.ac.uk 

Ever wanted to learn Japanese? Brush up on your French? Or try something completely new alongside your degree? Applications for Languages for All free language courses open on Monday 8 June for the 2026/27 academic year.

The application form will be available on the Languages for All homepage from 8 June. You will need your UoB email address to apply.

The University Doctoral School is here to support and enhance the postgraduate research experience at Birmingham, working with Colleges and teams across the University like Careers Network, Library Services, and Registry, to guide PGRs from induction to graduation.

PGR Careers In Academia has top tips designed to help you on your journey towards a career in academia.

PGR Careers Beyond Academia has information on how to move your career beyond academia.

The Common Room now has 12 lockers, installed on a trial basis. The lockers will be available on a good faith basis during this trial, with keys left in the lockers. Completing the above form means you are agreeing to the terms of the locker policy.

Times: 9:30-11:00

Venue: Arts Building Lecture Theatre 8 (301) 

More information and booking

This is a coffee morning for Disabled and Neurodivergent students who are based in the College of Arts & Law. It will be a friendly and supportive space to meet and get to know staff and students in the College of Arts & Law over refreshments.

Times: 9:30-11:00

Venue: Arts Building Lecture Theatre 8 (301) 

More information and booking

This is a coffee morning for students who live locally and will be commuting to University. It will be a friendly and supportive space to meet other commuting students and get to know staff in the College of Arts & Law over refreshments.

Time: 09:30-16:30

Venue: Law Board Room (room 220) second floor, Birmingham Law School (R1, Campus map)

Agenda and Registration details

All PGR students are warmly welcome to the first Academic Scholarship workshop of 2026. The discussions will centre on new conceptualisations of scholarship, and the linkages and collisions between the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL), pedagogical research and subject specific research.

Hosted by Dr Maureen Mapp.

This is a free event that is funded by Birmingham Law School.