Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Graduate Junction has only just been launched online and is growing fast but we need your help to spread the news; please help us spread the news byinviting other researchers.

If you have a question or suggestions for the site email us now.

If you want to know more about adding a listing to the website our listing frequently asked questions

Below are some answers to a few of the questions we have received so far.

General:

Activation:

1) Is this site useful for me?

Graduate Junction is designed for Masters, PhD and Postdoctoral researchers in any field, in any part of the world and whatever stage of the research process they are at. If you are working towards a Masters and just starting your research career, you have an idea of what area you want to focus on but will also want to know who else is doing that kind of research. If you are a doctoral candidate or a post doctoral fellow it is essential to stay informed about current work. If you are writing a research proposal you will want to know what kind of work is being done right now. We feel Graduate Junction will have something to offer all researchers. Keeping in touch with people whose work is interesting to you is advantageous for any researcher.

2) How does it work?

Upon registering, which is completely free, you have the option to enter as much or as little basic information about yourself and your research, however most importantly is your research keywords. These can be a mixture of general and specific keywords which describing your research interests. You will then be able to search for other users by research keywords or by insitution, department, supervisor or name. Once you find someone whose shares your research interests, you have the option email each them and/or and create a 'research link. A research link allows you to bookmark the research profiles you are interested in and keep a record of the network you are building. In addition to basic information, profiles can be further customised by including a research summary, publication list, educational background and a picture.

3) Why do I have to register?

We ask people to register before they can use the search function and view other researchers' profiles. This is partly to encourage active participation in the community, but primarily as a security measure to validate e-mail addresses and prevent other researchers against spamming. Although we encourage researchers to fill in details about themselves and their research interests in order to meet the aims of our site, any information you add to your profile is entirely optional and can be removed at any time.

4) How can I unregister?

There is an automatic unregister button on every members homepage.

5) What if I finish my research?

If you have completed your research degree but are staying on in related research area, you can still keep your profile and just update your status over time. Even if you are leaving research for good but you want to leave a record of your research behind, then you can archive your profile by clicking the link on your homepage. You will not receive any more contact from Graduate Junction. This will allow others to see what you did and find out about any publications resulting from your research etc. If you come back to research you can reactivate the profile.

7) What is a 'Research Link'?

Graduate Junction allows you to make 'ResearchLinks' with others. ResearchLinks are simply a way of bookmarking the research profiles which you are interested in and keep track of your research network. If two people feel that they share similar research interests, a virtual ResearchLink can be made. These links do not imply that two people are in collaboration or even work in identical fields. They simply allow a user to quickly find those people whose research they are interested in and they have made contact with in the past. Since these links are shown on a user's research profile, they also help other people who visit a particular profile to find even more people within a given network.

8) How do I form Research Links?

ResearchLink requests can be made when viewing the profile of another user. Once the request is made that person will receive an email and be given the option to accept or decline the request. If you change your mind it is possible to cancel the request or delete the ResearchLink from your own profile page.

9) Why don't you restrict keywords?

Graduate Junction recognises that research is incredibly diverse. Some users have asked us why we don't restrict keywords or subject areas by offering a selection from a dropdown menu. Graduate Junction wants to celebrate the diversity in research. We feel that finding a small number of people who are interested in almost exactly what you are is better than finding a large number of people who work in the same general area. This might mean users have to be a little more inventive when performing searches but we think the outcome is more productive. To help you search we have added predictive text to the keyword fields of the advanced search forms.

10) I registered but can't log in

There are two possibilities. Either you are entering incorrect details and you should use the 'forgot password' link on the login page to set a new one. Or you might have forgotten to activate your account. You should have received an activation email when you registered. If you never clicked the link in that email, then do so now to start enjoying Graduate Junction.

11) I never received an activation email

Chances are that your institution spam filter blocked the email. Have you checked your junk email box. If you can't find the email anywhere you will have to submit a support request and the account will be activated by our web developer as soon as possible.

12) I got the activation email but can't see the link.

All mail client software reads email slightly differently. If you don't see any content in the email, check to see if there is a download option that should give you access to the text in the email you were sent. If the email link is not active (i.e. you can't click on it) try cutting and pasting it in to the browser bar and pressing return. If this doesn't work, get in touch and our technical developer will activate your account manually.