PhD Research Retreat (a Waterfront showcase!)

The Faculty hosted a residential Research Retreat for PhD students from 25 to 27 November, at the Waterfront Campus, convened by the Assoicate Dean (Research) Dr Josh Newton.  We started on Sunday afternoon with a guided tour of Geelong and notes on local history (where the ‘locals’ also learned some new points on Geelong). Some of our students then enjoyed the impressive array of vintage and modern cars as part of the Geelong Revival Motoring Festival, which extended from the campus to Eastern Beach.  

The academic program kicked off on Monday, with a two-handed presentation by Dr Jeff Rotman (Marketing) and Dr Shiri Krebs (Law), on preparing for – and performing in – job interviews.  Jeff and Shiri shared a broad range of experience and advice, concluding with small groups to practise ‘the interview’. 

Students then broke into disciplinary clusters with presentations by Faculty research leaders, ranging from “A framework for answers in Economics”, to “Responding to critical feedback” and “Writing and publishing in Law”.

The afternoon session was led by visiting Professor Leyland Pitt, the Dennis F. Culver EMBA Alumni Chair of Business and Professor of Marketing at the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada.  Leyland has published over 300 peer reviewed journal articles, has won numerous awards for teaching excellence and is a Distinguished Fellow of the Academy of Marketing Science. This session focused on the transition from PhD to academia/industry.

The Retreat Dinner provided a perfect opportunity to showcase the Geelong waterfront – the sun shone on the floating Christmas Tree and the yachts moored around the bay, while the students enjoyed pre-dinner drinks on the terrace.  During dinner, Geelong’s own “Dazzling Dan” had everyone’s attention with a fun display of magic which had us all amazed.  As we left, the now illuminated Christmas Tree put on a great show.  Some of the more energetic students kicked on with a table tennis tournament at the brand new student residences – which have some of the best views in Geelong.

On day two Professor Leyland Pitt shared his enormous experience and expertise in research and academia, with a very engaged audience.  Our PhD students learned about comparative PhD programs, approaches to the thesis and examination, the ‘pie defence’ (involving real pies in the face at one point in history), the ways and mysteries of academic publishing, assessment of research quality, academic probation/tenure, and much more.  This generated great discussion throughout the day.

Huge thanks are due to Gloria Stevenson, Julie Asquith and Penny Love, for making the extensive administrative arrangements for the retreat, which facilitated such a successful event. Thanks also to Effie Lagos, Gloria and Julie, for providing these photos.