The PSA Graduate Network held their second event of the academic year at the University of Birmingham on the 28 February. The Professional Development Conference brought together PhD students from across the country to participate in a day long event about opportunities within and beyond academia.

Dr Alistair Clark and Dr Valentina Feklyunina from the BJPIR and Politics editorial teams gave valuable insights into academic journal publishing, and helped to demystify the process of taking that first publishing step. Dr Feklyunina also led a publishing workshop, providing feedback on potential publication items. Matt Korris from the Hansard Society and Tanya Abraham from YouGov provided a sense of what career options might lie beyond the world of academic teaching. A panel on the importance and role of impact, chaired by Dr Katherine Dommett, provoked interesting discussion and encouraged PhD students to critically engage with the concept at this early stage in their careers. Finally, a keynote speech from Dr. Richard Connolly provided a sense of the varied and many forms that academic engagement can take beyond university walls.

The PSA Graduate Network are grateful to all who attended this event, and for the University of Birminghams aid (espeically Dr Peter Kerr and Dr Emma Foster) in organising it. Please see our Facebook page for further details of upcoming events at the PSA conference in Manchester in April.