New research students: welcome!
After settling in at your College and collecting your blue University Card, and Raven passwords, and have completed your student registration at Getting started with IT at Cambridge University, we will also need you to register with the department as instructed below.
The vast majority of students will be working remotely from College rooms or private accommodation during the coronavirus pandemic. You may also be quarantining and you should follow your College’s advice. However, if you have met all your offer’s conditions and if your offer has been confirmed, and there is every likelihood that you will be able to arrive before the division of University term, we will expect to register you in the department. The purpose of ‘registration’ is to validate you on the department’s databases, give you your departmental account details, and introduce you to the cohort of new research students.
You should also email your supervisor to arrange your first meeting.
There is a great deal to digest in the first few weeks of term but we hope that many of your questions will be answered on the department’s and College’s websites. We recommend bookmarking the PhD Resources page for future reference. Much of the material is duplicated in the Research Students Handbook though the handbook has some handy maps of the building's floorplans. Please think about the planet before printing this (again).
From time to time you may have questions the web pages don't answer. Just ask the Postgraduate Education Team. If we are working from home, we have virtual Open Office hours from 3 until 4 p.m. daily via MS Teams. If we don't know the answer, we will know who to ask. If we're back in the WGB, pop in to see us on the first floor, south corridor, rooms FS03 and FS05.
The following information is especially relevant for the first week.
Preparation
We have created individual Moodle pages for all research students; see Registration requirements checks. You will be asked to confirm that you have completed a RDP course and have read a number of important documents:
- All new research students who did not complete the M.Phil in Advanced Computer Science between 2018 and 2022 will need to complete the Researcher Development Programme’s Core Unit CU0. Please login to Moodle using your Raven password https://www.vle.cam.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=96192
- Read the Code of Practice for Research Students 2022-23
- Read the ISC Rules, Guidelines and Procedures documents
- Read the department’s protocol safe working in the department
- Acknowledge your understanding of the department's and the University's recording policies for taught courses (including Researcher Development Programme units) and agree that you will not share recorded material.
Once you have confirmed that you have completed these activities, we will issue a Department login and passwords for machines used in the department. Please also read An Introduction to the Computing Facilities at the Department of Computer Science and Technology.
October 2023 Health and Safety Course
All new CPGS students (including former Cambridge Part III undergraduates) will need to complete the Safety Office’s online course Safety office webpage. You should receive an email from the Safety Office when final arrangements have been made.
Other very helpful information:
We really look forward to meeting you in the new term and hope that you will enjoy your time in Cambridge.
The Postgraduate Education Team
April 2023