It’s back and it’s bigger and better than ever – drawing on student feedback from the January and September 2017 events, we’ve put together 3 events over your final year to provide extra support on careers, wellbeing, and the dissertation. Find out more and sign up below! 

Our Third Year Retreat started as a two day event in 2016-17, as a response to student requests for more support on dissertations, careers and a chance to (maybe) see faculty as human beings. The events and sessions aren’t planned or structured like regular teaching – but aim to stimulate your thinking and support your development. It’s proved popular with students who have taken years abroad or in industry, as well as with students on our regular BSc programme.

This year, we’ve taken the most popular and useful events from our previous sessions, and put them at just the right times of year for you. You can sign up for either or both of the full day events (in Induction and Inter-session week). You’ll find the Week 5 event timetabled into your SussexDirect timetable – that’s because we want everyone to join us, because the ethics session is so important for your dissertation.

You can sign up for the Induction week and Inter-session week events via the link below. The deadline for signing up for the Induction Week event is July 6^th 2018, so please do sign up!

All of the events are FREE to Psychology final year students, including the food and drink! All events are currently planned to be held on campus, to make sure they are as accessible for students (with the exception of dinner in town in February!).

Sign up here:

https://universityofsussex.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ba1hEroRDsYHvcp

If you have any questions, or aren’t sure about signing up, please email Dr. Megan Hurst (m.hurst@sussex.ac.uk) – our final year retreat co-ordinator.

Provisional Programme of Events

Friday 21^st September, Induction Week

Get your year off to a flying start, with an early dose of dissertation support, productivity tips, and guidance from Careers about how to make the most of your final year.

• Productivity tricks for your final year – a workshop delivered by someone who actually uses lots of them!
• Planning and Resourcing Your Dissertation – get some helpful hints on starting your dissertation, planning your time for the year, and learn about support in the School & beyond
• Managing Your Supervisor – how to have an effective and positive working relationship with your dissertation supervisor
• Transferable Skills from your Degree, with Careers – what are they, why are they important, and how can you show employers that you have them?

This day includes tea and coffee throughout the day, lunch, and a casual afternoon tea with faculty to end the day.

Wednesday 24^th October, Week 5

Deadlines are coming – for the ethics for the dissertation, and for lots of graduate schemes and post-grad applications. But don’t fear, we’ve put together an afternoon of sessions to support you with both, and help you stop procrastinating!

• Ethics for the Dissertation – clarity on the ethics process, from the people who review your applications. Learn to identify the key ethical issues in your research and how to do ethical problem solving
• Marketing Your Skills to Employers – building on the Transferrable Skills workshop, and supporting you in completing graduate scheme or post-graduate study applications
• Procrastination and Wellbeing – run by our in-house expert on self-regulation, Dr. Eleanor Miles! Learn tips and strategies for stopping procrastination and being more productive

This afternoon includes tea and coffee, and a drinks reception afterwards with faculty and fellow students.

Friday 1^st February, Inter-Session Week

Our third and final Retreat event. Start thinking about your write-up, and how the marker is going to read it with support from experts in the department, and polish up your self-presentation skills.

• Telling the Story of Your Research – one of our most useful sessions, as rated by previous students. A session on how to transform your dissertation into an epic tale of heroism… or at least a coherent one.
• Q&A with a Supermarker – learn from our supermarkers how the dissertations are marked and what they’re looking for in this session.
• Making a Plan of Attack: Dealing with your Dissertation Data –Jennifer Mankin will be providing guidance on how to plan your analysis for your dissertation.
• Presenting Yourself with Confidence – a session on how to wow prospective employers, with presentation and interviewing skills, run by Careers.

This day includes tea and coffee throughout the day, lunch, and a meal out in town with faculty.