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Election

Have you read the role description for Faculty Reps yet?

In order to vote for this position you must be a Postgraduate Research student from the Faculty of Social & Historical Sciences. 

If you have any questions about the position, please contact [email protected].

Looking for a different rep role? Course Rep, Research Student Rep and Lead Department Rep are also available. For Lead Department Rep or Research Student Rep, please get in touch with your departmental tutor; for Course Rep, please get in touch with your course instructor.

Category

Candidates

Eleanor Luxton (she/her)
What will you bring to this role (e.g. experience, skills or qualities)?

I've been a Lead Department Representative for 2 years, supporting Geography PGTs and PGRs. I have advocated for postgraduate students on a wide range of issues, and have escalated our concerns too. This Summer, I met with Elizabeth Halton and Geraint Thomas at the Doctoral School to raise concerns about professional development, pay, and opportunities for PGTAs, after liaising with our Faculty Graduate Tutor, the UCU, and the Students’ Union. This led to changes to my department's approach to PGTA training, and secured me a place on the shortlist for Academic Rep of the Year 2025/26.

Experienced. Approachable. Ready to make PGR voices heard.
What do you hope to achieve in the role if you are elected?

I hope to… 

  • Understand our experiences of PGTA-ing across SHS, working closely with the Faculty and Doc School to improve consistency and resist precarity.
  • Be an approachable, visible (I’m on campus a lot!) and friendly sounding board for PGRs.
  • Collect data on how the EASE process is affecting PGRs. 
  • Advocate for issues like desking, international students' experiences, and careers. 
  • Start a regular newsletter for all SHS PGRs, to improve communication and make collecting and following up on feedback easier. 
  • Organise cross-department SHS PGR socials to foster a sense of community.
Please summarise why students should vote for you.

Students should vote for me because I've effectively been doing the role of Faculty Rep for the past year! I found the first year of my PhD quite isolating, so I really care about bringing students together to share the problems we’re encountering and celebrating our successes. I’m a calm and confident communicator, a familiar face in the Geography department, and passionate about the need for PhDs to be good training and networking opportunities. I think that PGRs aren’t provided with enough support at UCL, and I’m determined to change that. Please get in touch – I’d love to hear from you.

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