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Update from Daiki Tagami, MPLS Division PGR student rep: Michaelmas 2024

We are part of the MPLS Graduate Joint Consultative Forum (GJCF), and we meet once every term to discuss the issues that were raised in each department.

Last year, we primarily talked about conference funding issues, and we decided to conduct a survey to find out the funding situation of all graduate students in the MPLS division. We received 100 responses, and I would like to thank everyone for completing the survey for us. The survey results indicated that provision for conference attending varied widely between departments and colleges.

As the MPLS Postgraduate Research representative, I worked with Professor Dimitra Rigopoulou (Associate Head, Research Degrees) to create a paper to the MPLS Divisional Board meeting to raise the issue. It was agreed that, in principle, all DPhil students in the MPLS division should be able to attend one international and two domestic conferences over the course of their DPhil to present their work as part of their research training and to support their future careers.

At the same time, I thoroughly read through the Graduate Handbook of all departments in the MPLS division to learn about the DPhil course structure, and I realized that not all students are aware of the funding that is available in the department. I would like to raise the importance of reading the Graduate Handbook offered in your department, as it includes all information regarding DPhil studies, including the available funds and details of the key milestones for DPhil students.

I am fortunately serving as the MPLS PGR Rep this year as well, and we are currently focusing on disparities in teaching load on students and increasing living costs in Oxford. I hope that we can make some progress in the future. 

Departmental Representatives:

Raman Van Wee

Raman Van Wee (DTC)

Hi! I’m Raman, a third year PhD student on the Chemistry in Cells programme in the Doctoral Training Centre working in the Departments of Chemistry and DPAG. My PhD revolves around the study of protein assembly using light-based microscopy, but outside the lab you can find me on the judo tatami, squash courts or one of Oxford’s many fantastic museums. During my time as representative I hope to leverage my past experience in similar roles at my former institution in my home country, the Netherlands to make the MPLS division even better than it already is!
Katherine Faulkner

Katherine Faulkner (Earth Sciences)

I am a second-year student pursuing my DPhil at the Department of Earth Sciences. My research focuses on palaeoecology and coral diversity through time. Earth Sciences is a friendly community, and I look forward to representing them this year! 
Leo Gitin

Leo Gitin (Mathematics)

I am a third-year DPhil student in Mathematics specializing in Logic and Number Theory. As a representative for both my Department and the MPLS Division, I work to link committee work between Maths and the Division as a whole. In the past, I have advised the Committee on teaching arrangements and requirements, travel funding, and training at the Mathematical Institute, advocating for fair and consistent policies across Departments and Colleges.
Stephanie Walton

Stephanie Walton (Engineering Science)

Stephanie is a 3rd year engineering DPhil candidate and the current GJCC chair. She is working on expanding GJCC and increasing the number of events for the department! 
Siyi Sun

Siyi Sun (Computer Science)

Siyi Sun is the President of the Computer Science Graduate Society (CoGS) and a second-year DPhil student in the Computer Science department. Her research focuses on applying machine learning and deep learning to time series prediction, particularly in finance and global health.
Daiki Tagami

Daiki Tagami (Statistics)

I am a third year DPhil student in Statistics, and my research focuses on developing new statistical techniques to efficiently analyze the human genome dataset. The statistics department is a friendly community with various events, and we are always talking about improving the student’s academic life in our departmental meetings. There was an increase in conference funding offered from the department starting from this year, and I look forward to representing the department this year.
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