Premia - making research education accessible grew from a HEFCE-funded project based at Newcastle University from 2003 to 2005.
The project's aims were to:
- improve provision for disabled postgraduate researchers
- increase the number of disabled researchers at UK institutions
- improve the quality of their experience.
The project was led by the Premia advisory group and relied on many contributors. Val Farrar is acknowledged in particular for her valuable contributions.
The collection of downloadable resources was designed to address the issues that were identified by disabled postgraduate researchers in the research phase of the project.
Premia was designed for the benefit of:
- research managers
- administrators
- supervisors
- skills trainers
- staff developers
- careers advisers
- postgraduate researchers.
Aims of the Premia resources:
- to give insight into the issues facing disabled postgraduate researchers
- to provide resources and ideas for making research degree programmes more accessible
- to help both research staff and disabled researchers tackle potential barriers
- to highlight best practice in work with disabled postgraduate researchers
- to encourage the development of a more inclusive research community.
Integrating Premia into the Vitae website
A growing number of PGRs are registered disabled ( ~6% in 2004/05). In order to widen our support for researchers and those suppting researchers, Vitae has integrated Premia content and extracts into the researcher section of the Vitae website. Integrating support and advice into the Vitae website will enhance HE provision for disabled researchers. Incorporating the Premia content into the Vitae site also enables the legacy of the Premia project to live on, evolving along with Vitae's other resources for supporting researchers and those who support them.
In addition, there is also a substantial section on supervising disabled PGRs in the supervisor section, along with Premia resources for staff supporting researchers, disability advisers and employers. This helps staff developing researchers by providing:
- an insight into the issues facing disabled PGRs
- resources and ideas for making research degree programmes more accessible
- best practice examples of working with disabled PGRs.
All downloadable resources have been made accessible for those requiring a screen reader.