December 10, 2018, by Lisa Chin
Christmas & 10th Year Anniversary Celebration
An early Christmas celebration with postgraduate students
So it’s that time of the year again where we are starting to feel festive with only weeks away from Christmas.
We recently hosted an early Christmas and Year End Celebration for our postgraduate students on 6 December 2018. It was also a joint celebration of the Graduate School’s 10th year anniversary at University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM). This joint celebration was very well attended where it brought postgraduate students from across a variety of disciplines and levels of study together and further fostered social interaction and solidarity among the postgraduate community on campus. Some alumni were also present in commemoration of the decade-long milestone.
Welcome & Special Occasion Speeches
“…this year marks the Graduate School 10th year anniversary at UNM.”
The celebration began with a welcoming remark by Ms Deepa Kumari Veerasingam, Head of Graduate School.
As part of the start-up team together with the then Vice Provost of Research and Knowledge Transfer, Professor Sayed Azam Ali, and the then Director of Graduate School, Dr Christopher Hill, Deepa reminisced the time when the Graduate School first established 10 years ago in 2008. From a handful of workshops and events to now more than 50 face-to-face workshops and events combined, it is a decade-long effort in supporting the continuous research development of the postgraduate community at UNM. Deepa thanked everyone who has been a part of the success of Graduate School and further extended her appreciation to the management of the University for their ceaseless encouragement and support of the Graduate School’s views and conviction towards enhancing the research experience of the postgraduate students and early career researchers at UNM.
“Remember to keep in touch with us even after you graduated. Your success stories are important to us and please do come and visit your Graduate School. This is your Graduate School,” said Deepa. She concluded her speech with a special video in commemoration of the 10 wonderful years.
Watch the video which is embedded below.
“…a 10th year anniversary is a good opportunity to reflect on the achievements made so far but it’s also an opportunity to think about what the next 10 years might look like for the Graduate School.”
Professor Deborah Hall
The celebration featured a special occasion speech by Professor Deborah Hall, Vice Provost of Research and Knowledge Exchange.
“The Graduate School plays a very big role in helping you through your postgraduate journey to develop you as an independent researcher,” said Professor Hall.
“You all play a really important part in the research productivity of the University. In term of creating a very lively and vibrant research community, postgraduate research (PGR) students are really the lifeblood of research,” added Professor Hall.
Professor Hall also shared her exposition of understanding in the University’s research strategy and what she has learnt in the last few months since she had first arrived at UNM. “Here in Malaysia, you’re not simply the University of Nottingham UK in a hot tropical climate. UNM is unique. The staff are unique, the research opportunities are unique, the challenges are quite unique. And so the research strategy that we have here needs to be specific to Malaysia to help the staff and students make the most of the opportunities here,” said Professor Hall.
Professor Hall subsequently congratulated the Graduate School for its 10th year anniversary milestone and further encouraged all postgraduate students to make the most of the opportunities that the University offers.
10th Year Anniversary
Your potential, our support – the possibilities are endless
This is our tagline to commemorate this milestone; which epitomises our commitment in enhancing the research experience of our postgraduates and early-career research staff as well as their personal career development by providing them the skills and confidence to maximise their potential at UNM and beyond.
Make a Wish
The Christmas celebration also featured a ‘Make a Wish’ corner where the postgraduate students wrote their wishes down on post-it notes and pasted them on the featured wall at the Postgraduate Hub, H1B12. The wishes were about improvements they wish to see at the Graduate School.
A not-your-conventional-Christmas-tree to create that seasonal ambience for the ‘Make a Wish’ corner.
2018 Images of Postgraduate Experience Photography Competition
Presentation of Certificates and Announcement of Winners
The celebration also included a presentation of certificates to the participants of this year’s Images of Postgraduate Experience Photography Competition. The winners of the competition were also announced. Overall, the participants were commended for their creativity and effort in showcasing the diversity and breadth of postgraduate experience at UNM.
In advance, we would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
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