Types of events

At the Graduate School, we believe the world needs people who challenge orthodox thinking; debate accepted ideas and confront the status quo; people who see the world differently.

We recognise the extraordinary possibilities of thinking that is disruptive, divergent, challenging and unbounded.

Our events run the gamut from employability, enterprise and innovation workshops to professional and research skills training, as well as though-provoking talks from local and global leaders.

Some of the inspiring names to give talks at the Graduate School include Peter Worth, from Stanford University whose work is dedicated to helping school leaders hack their school cultures toward deeper learning; Mark Dowds a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur, who has founded companies in the USA and Canada, and legal eagle and TED speaker Dorcas Crawford.

Many of our events are left-field, designed to fire your imagination, stimulate your intellect and boost your confidence among your peers.

Human Bingo, for example, is designed to make it easy for you to meet your fellow postgraduate students, while Scholar Workshops allow you to engage with the work of major scholars from around the world.

Oman National Day is celebrated on the 18 November. The purpose of the Omani national Day event was to share the Omani heritage with different cultures, and to tell them what Oman is about. As a small Omani community in Belfast, this event provided an opportunity to celebrate with colleagues, friends, and staff at Queen's.

Organising such an event required proper planning, structuring, determination and initiative to lead. 

The event hosted around 250 attendees from various schools around the campus. Activities held during the day included talks, a photo exhibition and henna tattoos application. Guests were able to view catalogue and brochures collections. Attendees were also able to experience Omani costumes and music first hand.

This postgaduate-led initiative provided the opportunity for female students to listen to female guest speakers who have established positions in their fields of work. The aim was for students to hear from a range of speakers across different disciplines and be inspired by their stories.

Among the speakers were Marie-Louise Muir, presenter off The Arts Show and expert on females in the arts in Northern Ireland. Also speaking was Grainia Long (Belfast City Council's Commissioner for Resilience) and Medbh McGuckian (Award Winning Poet). The event also served the purpose of launching Herstory's QUB Women in the Arts Lean In Circle.

This activity trained 51 undergraduates, post-graduates and staff to organise and run STEM events for school children, developing all 5 postgraduate pillars. Julia Carson, Programme Manager for the UK STEM Ambassador Hub along with her colleague, Conor McKenna ran the STEM Ambassador training course enabling both students and staff to receive free Enhanced Disclosure Checks and be fully trained in a very short space of time.

Mindful Meditation integrates mindful movement, relaxation and seated meditation.

The classes enabled students the opportunity to de-stress from everyday life and helped them to remain calm and focused. They also provided a foundation for increasing reflectiveness, resiliency and self-awareness. This initiative was open to all postgraduate students and was a drop-in, so there was no need to register.

Reading groups are a great way for intellectual stimulation, expanding personal knowledge, but most importantly they are a social experience.

The aim of PG Book Club is to share in the passion of reading, to take some time out from academic work and meet new people. The club provides a safe and warm channel to exchange and challenge ideas, encouraging self-expression while enhancing your critical thinking.