The Graduate Junction
The Graduate Junction Explained
The Graduate Junction is a brand new website designed to help young researchers make contact with others who share similar research interests, regardless of which department, institution or country they work in. The Graduate Junction has been developed by two doctoral students at the
University of Durham, UK. Since its launch in May 2008, The Graduate Junction has proved very popular with research students and academics alike. Within the first two weeks 2000 students registered in the U.K. and the news spread to over 40 countries.
Why was The Graduate Junction created?
Currently researchers have two main sources of information, published literature and academic conferences. Whilst essential, literature reviews can only ever reveal completed work. Relevant academic conferences provide a forum for students with similar research interest to interact but occur infrequently. It is very easy to become isolated, overly focused on the specifics of your own work and lose a sense of what other related work is being done.
The Graduate Junction hopes to prevent that isolation and allow research students to start forming the networks which can stay with them throughout their careers. The Graduate Junction aims to provide an atmosphere similar to that at academic events and through the use of the internet aims to establish a worldwide graduate research community. Often very separate research literatures exist within different subject areas.
The Graduate Junction is unique because it links students based on research keywords, therefore promoting interdisciplinary relationships. By simply registering a few basic details, students can search for fellow researchers by keyword, institution, department, supervisor or name. Alternatively, by searching The Graduate Junctions on-line research groups, students can find and communicate with a number of others sharing their research interest.
The Graduate Junction is useful for all Masters and PhD researchers and post doctoral fellows at any stage of the research process, allowing researchers to stay informed about current developments in their field. With the addition of conference and postgraduate job listings imminent,
The Graduate Junction aims to be one of the most useful resources available for all research students.