Hear from fellow PGRs about their experience with the Brilliant Club!
Hear from previous participants how the Brilliant Club Scholar’s Programme helped them develop essential skills whilst getting paid.
The Brilliant Club is an award-winning university access charity. They recruit and train PGRs to support disadvantaged school pupils access the most competitive universities and succeed when they get there. At Queen Mary, we have had a number of PGRs take part in The Brilliant Club’s Scholar’s Programme and develop key skills in order to teach professionally, as well as revisit their subject areas through a different lens.
The Brilliant Club provides PGRs training in widening participation, research communication, and teaching. Researchers are then paid to deliver academically rigorous programmes to small groups of pupils in state schools across the UK.
We asked a few students who have previously delivered the Scholars Programme to share their experiences of the Brilliant Club.
Fareeha Aktar, from the School of Business Management shared the most rewarding aspect of tutoring with the Brilliant Club:
“This is my first experience of teaching school children and I always believed I would not be able to do it but the experience has been wonderful. The most rewarding aspect is that the students feel like they are actually at university and as someone who has been at university for nearly ten years now, I think the childlike wonder that the students exhibit is heartwarming to witness. The sheer joy they exhibit at the prospect of going to university, at the idea of independent study and at the ability to express themselves independently is wondrous.”
Mariana Fernandez Caggiano, Postdoctoral Researcher in William Harvey Research Institute told us about the skills developed working as a tutor:
“I had the opportunity to work with A-level students preparing to start university (K+ summer program at King's College). This experience helped me understand the academic level and needs of first-year undergraduates. As a result, I’ve learned how to adapt content appropriately for first- and second-year undergraduate students.
Additionally, I had the chance to teach 9–10-year-olds about the cardiovascular system. This was a fantastic experience! I learned the importance of switching activities within a single session to maintain attention and avoid monotony. Incorporating games and gamification into lessons proved to be highly effective in keeping the students engaged. This is a technique I still use when designing sessions for both PGR and undergraduate workshops.”
How does it work?
On The Scholars Programme, tutors are trained to deliver a research based programme – either one based on their academic research, or a pre-designed programme. They deliver this course in university-style tutorials to groups of 7.
To help fit alongside their other commitments, tutors indicate their availability on a termly basis. Placements are paid from £605 per placement, with an additional £161 for designing a Scholars Programme course (plus London weighting). Travel expenses are also paid.
We asked Han Fan, from the School of Business Management, if he would recommend the Scholars Programme to other PGR’s, and if so why:
“I will definitely recommend the Scholars Programme to other PGRs. It is a great opportunity to introduce the subject we are studying, and of course we are loving, to others. And it may raise their interest in this field. I always believe sharing our thoughts is meaningful. Besides, it also helps us to improve our skills of expressing ourselves, and it requires us to carefully construct our tutorials and handbooks. Lastly, this programme also offers us an opportunity to reconsider our PhD subject and we may have some new thoughts when talking to our students.”
How to get involved
Be sure to attend one of our Brilliant Club Scholar’s Programme Information sessions which are available to book via CPD. The next session is taking place on Tuesday 29 April, and we look forward to seeing you there!