Postgraduate Toolbox Contributors
Jon Tollervey - Cartoonist
Hello, my name’s Jon and as much as I enjoy my Ph.D., deep down there’s always been a part of me that has wanted to be a cartoonist.
In fact, I have a dream (I’m sure I’ve heard that line somewhere before) and that’s to find a job where I can combine the work that I’m doing and the drawings I love. Thankfully, Graduate Toolbox has given me the opportunity to take one step closer towards achieving this goal by allowing me to present the Grad School to you, as it’s my take on student life, which for better or for worse, I hope you recognise... ...and enjoy!
Dave F.C - Columnist
Hi, I’m Dave Filipović-Carter – more commonly known as Dave F-C for obvious reasons! I’m going to be contributing a regular column to this Newsletter over the coming months. Why me? The primary reason is probably because I run a company (Education-Training Ltd) that designs and delivers skills training for researchers – PhDs, Staff Researchers, Supervisors, as well as non-academic researchers, which I do in a whole range of Universities across the UK, and in the wider Europe. I also do some work with other organisations, like the British Council and the Social Research Association.
But there are perhaps a few other reasons I’m here... In my ‘spare’ time, I’m an Associate Lecturer with the Open University on their Law programme. And, I have a host of past misdemeanours that might be of relevance:
- Studied at five Universities in the UK, and taught at three (two UK, one in Bulgaria)
- Completed a PhD in public international law, taking a spectacular 4 years and 9 months! (It’s a long story...)
- Got distracted from studying and researching at various stages through: doing a students’ union sabbatical; being head warden of halls complex with over 1,800 resident students; running team-building courses for academics in the Balkans; and designing negotiation simulations for students in various parts of Eastern Europe
- Worked for a couple of NGOs in south-east Europe, Central Europe and the Caucasus; and,
- Believe that the only University league table of any value is my own one, which ranks institutions based on the quality(?) of catering they provide, especially the coffee and cake!
Is that enough about me? I suspect it is more than enough. So I look forward to writing more over the coming weeks and months that is not about me; but is about you and your research.
Cheers,
D.









