Danielle Schwertner was a member of the 2018-2019 PGR Blogger team and is the current Events Intern for the University of Glasgow Gifford Committee. In this post, she reflects on how her experience blogging is helping her current role and shares information on some of the events she is helping to plan.

It’s been over a month (how is that possible?) since I finished up my internship as a PGR blogger, but my former supervisor, Elizabeth Adams, has graciously allowed me to return in order to do a little PR for my new job as the Events Intern for the University of Glasgow Gifford Committee.

I was incredibly fortunate to get the internship right before my job with this blog ended. This was, in large part, due to the experiences I had as a PGR blogger. Coming up with ideas on how best to grab people’s attention for the nine months of my internship has definitely helped me in my new role.

And when I found out one of the events I was helping to plan would be geared toward University of Glasgow PhD students and Early-Career Researchers, I knew just the place to go for help in spreading the word. I’ll confess that I was more than a little eager to dip back into blogging (even if just for this one post!) and to re-connect with the people I’ve been missing.

I hope this next academic year brings good vibes (writing, researching and otherwise) to all of your lives. And don’t forget to take a break every now and then, maybe even at the events listed below!

Wired for Culture: origins of the human social mind, or why humans occupied the world

Interactive Seminar by Professor Mark Pagel (University of Reading, UK)

The University of Glasgow Gifford Lectures Committee is excited to announce a series of four lectures and a seminar given by Professor Mark Pagel (University of Reading, UK).

Mark Pagel is a Fellow of the Royal Society and Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Reading University in the UK. He is best known for his work on building statistical models to examine the evolutionary processes imprinted in animal and human behaviour, from genomics to the emergence of complex systems, including language and culture. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning Oxford Encyclopedia of Evolution and co-author of The Comparative Method in Evolutionary Biology, which is regarded as a classic in the field. He is widely published in Nature and Science. His book Wired for Culture: Origins of the Human Social Mind was one of the Guardian newspaper’s ‘best science books of 2012'.

The seminar event for PhD students and early-career researchers (ECRs) will take place on Friday 25 October from 2PM to 4PM in the Sir James Black Building, Room 313. This is a great opportunity for researchers to engage with a professional scholar in a small and relaxed setting and ask questions about his work, experience and/or the ideas in his lecture series relating to why and how humans are unique amongst animals and how they became so. Please note that the seminar is open only to University of Glasgow PhD students and Early-Career Researchers. Tickets are free, but registration is required at https://glasgowgifford-seminarphd_ecr-pagel.eventbrite.co.uk. If you have any questions, please contact us at gifford-lectures@glasgow.ac.uk

The lectures, which are open to everyone, will take place on 23, 24, 28 and 29 October from 6:15PM to 7:45PM in the Sir Charles Wilson Building. Tickets are free (you only need one for all four lectures), but registration is required at https://glasgowgifford-pagel.eventbrite.co.uk/. If you plan to attend both the seminar and the lectures, please note that you will need a separate ticket for each.

These events always provide wonderful chances for research to expand their horizons and meet new people. The seminar especially will be a nice atmosphere where you can ask questions, discuss thoughts and ideas and maybe even make a few connections. I hope to see some of you at the above seminar and/or lectures!

Curious about the Glasgow Gifford Lectures? Head over to the University Gifford webpage to find out more!

And remember, if you have an idea for a post to write or want us to cover a specific topic, don’t hesitate to get in touch or find us on Twitter and Instagram @UofG_PGRblog.