Resources and Support for Students
Cambridge University Libraries
At Cambridge, you have access to one of the world’s leading University library systems, with a rich collection of printed and online materials, a wide range of services and knowledgeable staff to assist you.
There are more than 100 libraries across the University. Information about each library can be found here:
https://www.libraries.cam.ac.uk/libraries-directory/libraries-a-z
Your University card gives you membership of nearly all the libraries in the University (the main exception being College libraries). University libraries also provide an extensive range of e-journals, databases and e-books across all subject areas.
The Casimir Lewy Library is a specialist Faculty library supporting the research and learning of philosophy and related subjects. Please see the Library website for information and links to resources for philosophy: It also provides public workstations, printing, scanning and photocopying facilities.
Faculty Office
This is situated near the entrance to the Philosophy Faculty suite on the third floor of the Raised Faculty Building. Although the Faculty Office focuses on the care of undergraduate matters, any of our friendly administrative staff will do their best to assist with a wide range of needs and queries. Do ask if you have a problem.
Students with a disability or specific learning difficulties
Students with a disability, or specific learning difficulties, should inform the Postgraduate Secretary of their requirements on arrival so that the best available support can be provided.
The Accessibility and Resource centre (ADRC) supports students and staff and promotes disability equality in the University of Cambridge by providing services, information and training. Students can engage with the ADRC at any point throughout their studies. Its website is:
http://www.disability.admin.cam.ac.uk/
Any student who requires adjustments when attending lectures/seminars is asked to contact the lecturer concerned to arrange for, where relevant, handouts to be printed separately in a specified format, or for the handouts to be sent electronically for the student to adjust the documents themselves.
As previously noted, students with a disability, or SpLD can request adjustments for their MPhil or PhD viva. This should be done by completing the following form:
https://www.cambridgestudents.cam.ac.uk/files/voluntary_disclosure_form.pdf
You will be issued with a Cambridge e-mail address shortly after your arrival. Most correspondence is conducted electronically and you will need to log-on regularly to keep abreast of Faculty life. The Faculty has an e-mail list for the use of its postgraduate students and research fellows, whereby students may inform each other of events in the philosophy world.
Some notices and much Faculty business is posted on the noticeboards outside the Faculty Office, whilst in the Postgraduate Study Centre there is a noticeboard where information of particular interest to postgraduate students is displayed.
The Philosophy Postgraduate Study Centre provides a dedicated working space within the Faculty for the use of our postgraduate students to promote contact among students and their teachers and to facilitate the exchange of ideas. It includes an open-plan working area with full computing facilities, a common room and seminar room. The Study Centre also provides accommodation for visiting scholars, who come to Cambridge from all over the world.
Training
The Faculty has developed a comprehensive training programme for its postgraduates, which runs alongside courses and advice offered by the School of Arts and Humanities, the Centre for Personal and Professional Development and the Careers Service. An Induction Meeting introduces new postgraduate students to each other, to the administration of the Faculty and to the philosophical opportunities in Cambridge. Please consult the Faculty's Postgraduate Training brochure for details of the various small group sessions that are organised to introduce the Library and computing facilities. Incoming postgraduate students should make a point of attending the 'Research tools in Philosophy' presentation at the beginning of Michaelmas Term*.
PhD students contribute significantly to our teaching programme, both through supervision of undergraduates, organised through individual Colleges, and through short lecture courses, which they are invited to offer to undergraduates, usually in their last year of research. A series of tailor-made workshops is devoted to teaching and transferable skills. Topics discussed include effective small group teaching and supervising, presentation skills, dealing with different kinds of learning strategies, evaluating one’s practice as a teacher and supporting students with special needs. The University’s Centre Teaching and Learning also runs courses on supervising and lecturing.
Teaching and research are not independent activities. Effective teaching requires clear and illuminating presentation of complex ideas, which is also important for excellent research, and for publication. Students aiming for an academic career will need to publish their research, if not before they finish their PhD then very soon after. General advice on publishing is available from the Director of Postgraduate Studies. A section in the Faculty Library is dedicated to all these aspects of a postgraduate’s training. To complement this the School of Arts and Humanities runs a series of workshops on writing and publishing skills, plus annual workshops enabling PhD students to take stock at the beginning of each year.
The University Careers Service is on hand to give advice and information about careers throughout a postgraduate student’s time at Cambridge and afterwards. Notes on the construction of CVs, application forms and letters are available for consultation in the Postgraduate Office, along with sample CVs from recent and current Research Fellows. The Faculty can also provide advice on career prospects and can organise practice presentations and interviews at the relevant times.
Language Learning
The University Language Centre offers weekly lessons, specifically geared to philosophers, in German and French as well as general instruction in other languages. The Classics Faculty provides courses in Greek. Please see the following webpage for further information:
https://www.langcen.cam.ac.uk/culp/culp-specialist-courses.html
IT Facilities
Naturally the first stop for computing facilities will be the Postgraduate Study Centre. See desktop computers for more information about IT resources in the Postgraduate Centre. Printer credit for the computers in the Centre is allocated to students by the Faculty at the start of term, but should you run out of credit additional credit can be purchased online. Most Colleges provide word processing facilities for their students; and all postgraduate students may use the facilities of the University Computing Service.
Wireless networking is available in all areas of the Faculty, including the Library (2nd floor) and the Old Library (3rd floor). The Eduroam wireless network provides Wi-Fi access to the Cambridge University Data Network (CUDN) for University members. Students can access and stay connected to the wireless network around Cambridge by carrying out a one time setup of Eduroam. More details about Eduroam are given on the following web page: https://help.uis.cam.ac.uk/service/wi-fi
