We need your help to extend a warm welcome to all our new postgraduate researchers starting in the autumn. Can you volunteer to be a buddy?
The PGR Buddy Scheme provides peer to peer support for new PGR students. It can make a huge difference to receive advice from someone who’s been there before. The PGR Buddy Scheme forms part of the award-winning YGRS Wellbeing Suite and feedback from previous volunteers and new PGRs has been overwhelmingly positive.
Here’s what some of our previous Buddies had to say about the scheme:
“I wholeheartedly recommend volunteering as a PGR buddy. It is a great experience and a great way of improving the induction experience of a new PGR student. You get to meet not only people from your own department, but also people from other departments who bring new perspectives to the table and who will challenge you to provide the best support you can possibly give. Meeting my buddees has been nothing but enjoyable, and it has been invigorating to witness their passion and determination for their research. Being a PGR buddy is also a great way of participating in academic citizenship and repaying the support you have received from the university to a new student”
“I think its a nice way to help someone feel settled and do a good thing. Also good for networking and making friends!”
In being a buddy, you will be making a really valuable contribution towards welcoming new students to the University and their department. In addition to positively impacting your wellbeing, involvement in such peer-support activity will help you demonstrate a range of extremely desirable transferable skills, including leadership, citizenship and collaboration.
Deadline: Friday 25 August 2023
If, additionally, you would like to contribute to the YGRS induction event on Wednesday 4 October 2023, please contact bric@york.ac.uk with the headline ‘PGR welcome volunteer’
If you participated in the PGR Buddy Scheme last year and would be interested in writing a short piece for the YGRS blog about your experience, please also get in touch!
