100 Days of University: Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) Guide

By Kai from The Library Student Team

I am Kai Prince, a PhD student studying mathematics and I completed an integrated masters (MMath) at The University of Manchester (UoM) starting in September 2018.

At UoM, we have three faculties

• The Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH)
• The Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE)
• The Faculty of Humanities (HUMS)

Each of these faculties are broken down into schools and then each school broken down into departments or divisions. FSE has two schools and we separate these into departments as follows:

• The School of Engineering (SoE):
  - The Department of Chemical Engineering
  - The Department of Computer Science
  - The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  - The Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
• The School of Natural Sciences (SoNS):
  - The Department of Chemistry
  - The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
  - The Department of Materials
  - The Department of Mathematics
  - The Department of Physics and Astronomy

Whilst the intention of this blog post is to generalise the timeline and tips to succeed during the first 100 days of university in FSE, be aware that some details I will provide may not transfer perfectly for specific departments or disciplines within FSE. I will try my best to address these!

Additionally, during my MMath, I worked part-time averaging 20+ hours per week during term-time, I was registered with the Disability Advisory & Support Service (DASS) for depression, and I was undiagnosed with ADHD until within the first year of my PhD. I hope that my own lived experiences can help you thrive in your course as well as help you realise the range of support available at UoM.

Photo by Chris Curry on Unsplash

Preparing for University Life (Days 1–9)

As no one can stop me from doing this: we will start Day 1 on Saturday 7th September. This is around the time those moving into student accommodation are most likely to be preparing for their move to campus!

Registration

One of the first things you want to complete is the online registration. This is usually due by the end of September but there’s a chance that the first couple of weeks of teaching will be overwhelming. Leaving all 10 steps of registration to that be completed at that point is not ideal.

Further, if you’ve not registered with DASS for any disabilities, neurodivergence, mental health illnesses, etc., it would be a good idea to do so here: https://www.dso.manchester.ac.uk/

Whilst it isn’t mandatory that you register, it would provide a guarantee that someone in the university can support you if you need further support or something goes wrong. As part of the registration process, you decide who your personal data is shared with and you’re free to request no sharing of your personal data outside of DASS. Whilst this may seem pointless as this limits the range of academic support provided, being registered will mean you don’t have to fill in any paper work if you suddenly meet unexpected difficulties due to disability later in your degree.

If you’ve activated your IT account during the registration process, you can learn how to access your student email here: https://www.itservices.manchester.ac.uk/email/student/

Online Student Communities

Before students start moving onto campus, it’s incredibly likely that you’ll be able to join some online student communities. You should check if there are any group chats for the halls of residence you will be moving in, for the subjects you’ll be doing, or for any societies that represent your interests. This can be on any of the current popular platforms such as WhatsApp or Discord, such as the Whitworth Park and Brook Hall Discord servers.

You may also discover that some students will have already created group chats for their specific flats!

The most straightforward way you can join online student communities is by looking at the various student societies here on the Students’ Union (SU) website (some societies require you to reach out in order to access their group chat link): https://manchesterstudentsunion.com/activities

Alternatively, if you have access to your student email, you can join the Discord Student Hub for The University of Manchester here: https://discord.gg/67r8UdhXnx

If you’ve never used Discord, the Beginner’s Guide to Discord is my go-to as it briefly covers all the basics required. Any more advanced features can be learnt through engaging with the servers (I’ve found students on these Discord servers tend to be supportive in this). If you’re already familiar with Discord, feel free to make your own servers to address any that are missing and add them to the Student Hub!

Additionally, you’ll be able to find a range of other Discord servers for Societies and/or Subjects. You may also notice that a lot of the servers available lean towards FSE subjects! This is prominent in the top 5 academic servers on this hub:

1. UniCS - UoM School of CompSci: An academic society server within FSE with 900+ members for Computer Science students.
2. UoM Maths: A subject server within FSE run in collaboration with student representatives and MathSoc with 800+ members for any maths enthusiasts from any year group or subject, including PhD students. You can already see my clear bias here but it is arguably the most active Discord server in UoM!
3. MACE UoM: A subject server within FSE with 300+ members for any Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering students.
4. UoM BAEcon: A subject server with 200+ members for Economics students.
5. UoM School of Biological Sciences: A school server with 200+ members for any students within the School of Biological Sciences.

Make sure you follow the university’s student code of conduct and social media guidance in your online activities (as well as in in-person activities)!

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

Preparing Strategies

Whilst it’s often straightforward to live independently, it is good to spend time planning strategies for university life specifically. For some students, transitioning to university life is a significant change that could be stressful and make studying more difficult.

There is no universally effective strategy so you should feel free to make your own or adapt other people’s strategies for your own uniqueness.

Firstly, the expected workload for students is 36 hours per week of studying, inclusive of in-person sessions, independent studying, and coursework. This can be broken down further into 6 hours per week of studying per 10 credit module. Whilst you probably won’t know any details regarding coursework at this point of time, you’ll hopefully have access to your timetable and can start allocating periods of time for each unit.

Some modules have a traditional teaching format or a blended/flipped format. The former meaning you learn everything you need to know in the timetabled sessions and then reinforcing your knowledge in your own time. The latter meaning you learn everything you need to know in your own time and reinforcing your knowledge in the timetabled sessions. If you don’t know the teaching format of your modules, you can ask current students or make sure your plan can be adapted later.

Examples of strategies covering specific elements of timetabling:

• Either planning every single 15/30/60 minute period in each day or planning “shifts” where the task can be flexibly started and/or completed within the defined period. I currently take the “shifts” approach to make studying a relaxing activity, reducing overwhelm and burnout.
• Scheduling standard breaks, using flexible breaks (adopting/adapting the Pomodoro technique is popular), or no breaks (make sure you’re continuously looking after yourself for this last one). During my degree, I adapted the Pomodoro technique by studying a certain number of pages of lecture notes and then rewarding myself with a round or two of whatever game I was interested in. Currently, I don’t give myself breaks during the day, eating Huel and taking eye-breaks whenever I’m taking a moment to think, because my previous strategy stopped working and this is now how I best work.
• Plan tasks around your own style of attention, such as what to study each day and when your chores should be. Some students find they can only study effectively if they only focus on one module each day and some students, including myself, cook meals in bulk on the weekends so there’s one less task to focus on during the weekdays. There is also a strong link to energy accounting, so I’m listing spoon theory, matchstick theory and spell slot theory as bonus reading!
• Use an interactive calendar that you can easily be changed. I use Outlook Calendar attached to my student email which allows me to easily move events around and share my availability with other people in the university. Other students use physical calendars with post-it notes for the activities.
• Categorising activities and ensuring a balance between categories. This is a very simple element of timetabling that is often neglected but is important in avoiding burnout. The most basic categorisation is to plan activities so each category of Purposeful, Enjoyable, and Connecting is covered every day. For example, one day you may plan to study (purposeful) and game with friends (enjoyable and connecting), and another day you may go to the gym (purposeful), study with friends (purposeful and connecting), and then binge watch Netflix (enjoyable).

You can also sync your university timetable with any cloud-based calendar!

Secondly, you should make sure your finances are sustainable by budgeting. The most straightforward way to do this is to make a spreadsheet, either digital using Excel or physical using a notebook. Whatever you decide, it doesn’t need to be perfect. It’s almost guaranteed that you’ll be making changes over the years.

Personally, I use Excel for automation purposes and I can easily access my spreadsheets through any device. I’m currently on my 4th iteration of my budget spreadsheet. My first spreadsheet, created in 2018, started as a basic view of my income and outgoings for the year. My current spreadsheet, created this year, allows me to input the shifts I work part-time, calculates payslip deductions, models my subscriptions, and tells me the minimum amount of money I should have in each of my Monzo pots. At first, it may appear that the complexity of these features are overkill, but I implemented them gradually over the past 6 years when the became necessary:

• Modelling future pay became necessary as the cost-of-living crisis made accurately modelling future pay a priority.
• Modelling payslips became necessary to check payslips for any mistakes or missing pay, as well as to forecast future income.
• Both modelling my subscriptions and automatically calculating the money I need in each of my Monzo pots at any time of the month/year were necessary in allowing myself to spend considerably less time checking and worrying about finances.

I do not advise going straight into budgeting (and automating) to the same complexity I do. You should only do what’s necessary for making your life easier. But I hope my own financial strategy helps motivate you to consider what could work for you right now and how you could flexibly adapt it over the years.

Whilst thinking about timetabling and finances, it’s good to consider the decisions you plan to make whilst you’re at university: Will you be walking to university? Will you pay for an annual student bus ticket? Are you planning to get a student membership at the gym? Will you be working part-time and, if so, how many hours per week?

Photo by Ben Wicks on Unsplash

Moving In

If you’re moving into any of the university halls of residence, make sure to check the date you can move in on this page. Some allow you to move in on the 9th of September, most allow you to move in starting the 12th of September, and one halls of residence allows you to move in starting the 15th of September.

Deciding which day you want to move in will be important in planning your packing as well as completing any other processes. See this webpage to see a breakdown of what you need to do as part of this process, all of which are incredibly important.

This includes registering with a GP. I’ve known too many students who have become significantly ill during exam periods and could not produce a sick note for mitigating circumstances as they procrastinated registering with a local GP!

Regardless of whether you move into student accommodation or a private house share, you should get to know your flatmates/housemates and agree on some expectations and boundaries. Everyone has different expectations and values around living independently so agreeing on compromise around these is important for building a positive environment. Especially with university students having diverse backgrounds, it’s important to respect that everyone has a different perspective on what is considered good etiquette or “common sense” and have different levels of experience living in shared spaces. So don’t make assumptions and make sure discussions around setting expectations and boundaries are respectful, open-minded, and clearly communicated.

Welcome Week (Days 10–16)

Welcome Week starts on the 16th September and is worth engaging with!

This is where many students will experience some level of “culture shock”. Similarly to moving into university accommodation, you will engage with students of various backgrounds. Differences of culture and communication may be due to internationality, neurodivergence, or even due to the North-South divide of England! It can be difficult to navigate the range of socio-communication differences so don’t feel bad for asking questions and making mistakes.

Respectfully asking questions with a genuinely curious open-mind is always better than making misinformed assumptions!

If you like to look at social situations from a theoretical perspective, like myself, here are some resources (and my brief thoughts) that I’ve found interesting to read:

• A Wikipedia article about cross-cultural communication. The section on “Aspects” is one I’ve found particularly interesting that I’ve yet to read further on.
• A blogpost about Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory and how it relates to Autism. Regarding the section on “Indulgence v Restraint”, I would argue that, whilst this is harder to place for autistic subcultures, the ADHD subculture would lean towards being an indulgent culture. With ADHDers, it is common to have an impulsive communication type that can be perceived as “providing too much information” and, within the ADHD subculture, topics of conversation tend to be more open and personal.

Whilst topics and discussions around socio-communication differences are useful in understanding the diverse range of experiences, keep in mind that theories often oversimplify human experiences and prioritise trusting other people’s lived experience over these.

Timetabled Activities

During Welcome Week, you will see introduction events added to your student timetable hosted by your Department and School. You should go along to these to take notes of any important information relating to your degree!

You should have received a Student Handbook by this point so it’s recommended to read this before these timetabled activities to make sure you only note down new information.

For me, the icebreaker and Stellify activities are the only activities I can still remember!

• I made friends with (and ended up living with) some of the people I met in the Maths icebreaker activity.
• The Stellify activity stood out as it was something different, it was enjoyable, and led to me receiving the Stellify Award when I graduated.

If you find purpose in positively impacting the lives of other people and/or want something to add to your CV to make you stand out, I recommend taking the steps to receive the Stellify Award: https://www.stellify.manchester.ac.uk

SU & FSE Fresher’s Fairs

Alongside the timetabled activities, you should check out the FSE Societies Fair and the SU’s Societies & Sports Fairs.

I’ve already covered checking out societies to join online communities earlier, but you should still come to these fairs to collect the free stuff at least! I’ve still got portable batteries and a bottle opener on my key ring that I received from the fairs.

Jokes aside, there’s no other time to go to a single place to see and interact with all the various society committees. There’s also no other time to better witness the friendly banter between academic societies, e.g., MathSoc vs PhysSoc.

Additionally, each subject or department usually has a dedicated sports team of some type, the most popular being football teams. If you enjoy playing a sport you should consider joining the team representing your subject!

The main reason to go to these fairs, however, is to diversify the friends you make. You may have a niche interest which may make it difficult to find other students on your course with the same interest, so this is where societies and sports teams come in. They make it significantly easier to find other students who share these interests. For example, if you enjoy info-dumping and presenting about random topics, then the Anti-Journal Journal Club is likely the best society that enables that!

Some societies have merged with other societies and sports teams so they may appear to be missing from the Fairs. For example, over the years, MathSoc merged with the Competitive Maths, Maths Football and Maths Netball Teams, and the Data Science Society merged with the Algorithmic Trading Society.

During these fairs, make sure to note down any icebreaker events you’re interested in that the SU or any of these societies are running.

Week 1 of Semester 1 (Days 17–23)

Day 17: The first day of the teaching period starts on 23rd September. This week should be a relatively easy with introductory classes but you should make sure you note down important information.

Each lecture or review session will give an overview of the module and expectations. Out of everything you could note down, make sure you note down all the information about assessments and their deadlines. It’s also a good idea to post this information in any group chats you’re in!

After noting down assessments and the expectations around the module, you should update your timetabling system to account for these. Doing this in Week 1 is the best time for this as this week should not require an overwhelming amount of work to keep up.

The second most important thing to note down is any skills you don’t recognise or are weak on, such as critical analysis or presenting. These may appear in the Independent Learning Outcomes (ILOs) or in the information about the assessments. The main reason you want to note these down is so you can check whether these skills are taught within your course curriculum and, if not, you can book onto the Library My Learning Essentials (MLE) study skills workshops (there are also wellbeing workshops) which you can use to cover these skill gaps: https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/training/my-learning-essentials/workshops/

Sickness and Fresher’s Flu

You may notice that during this week (or the following weeks), some students will appear ill with the flu. I’m sure most of you will have heard about “Fresher’s Flu” before arriving at university. I decided to add this to urge students to either wear a face mask or stay at home if they’re ill. Though I understand this may be futile, haha!

Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

Weeks 2 to 5 of Semester 1 (Days 24–51)

I have no advice here except good luck, have fun, and that it’s okay and normal to experience impostor syndrome!

Almost everyone on your course has likely come from schools or colleges where they were the top in their class. The most common and difficulty transition with starting a degree is that being good at the subject and being average in your cohort is okay! Depending on the subject, you’ll still be in the top 10% of the population.

If you’re struggling during the semester, make sure to talk to your academic advisor and/or check out the range of support services available here: https://manchesterstudentsunion.com/support-services

If you’re not interested in the services above, at the very least reach out to your peers! Other people on your course may be struggling with the same difficulties but, more importantly, there are also systems in place to allow for change! Talking to Students Reps, Student Associations, the SU Exec Officers, or the Library Student Team can help initiate that change. All of these groups have made their own impacts on UoM and the student experience over the years and that can only happen with an active collective student voice.

Reading Week (Days 52–58)

For the week commencing Monday 28th October (Day 52), it is very likely you’ll have a “Reading Week”.

Reading Week is a week where:

• There are no scheduled teaching sessions.
• You have the opportunity to catch up with learning or assignments.
• You have the opportunity to relax and reflect.

Reflective Practice

Reading Week is a perfect opportunity to reflect on the semester so far and strategise for the rest of the semester.

Reflective practice is a structured approach of learning from the past, recognising strengths and weaknesses, and adapting for the future. Everyone does this automatically at varying levels, but reflective practice is important in externalising this process so that it is properly evidenced and to overcome psychological biases.

There are various professions and workplaces that require reflective practice with annual reviews and accreditations / certifications depending entirely on a reflective case study or log being produced to evidence appropriate evidence-based practices. Examples of roles that require reflective practice include: Non-Medical Helper Study Skills Mentor, Academic roles, Teachers, Accredited Coaches, etc.

Reflective practice logs can sometimes be a part of therapy treatment by allowing progress to be visualised objectively, which can help patients feel confident that their quality of life is improving.

There are various models of reflective practice with varying degrees of complexity, but the most popular and simplest model is Driscoll’s ‘What’ Model (2007):

• What?
  - Context
  - Success or difficulties
  - Outcomes and wider impacts
• So What?
  - The reasons behind the actions taken
  - Are there any lessons learnt as a result?
  - Are there any knowledge/skill gaps?
• Now What?
  - Do you plan to engage with personal/professional development?
  - Do you plan to change / emphasise your practice or approach?
  - What is your reasoning behind your action plan?

Weeks 6 to 11 of Semester 1 (Days 59–98)

Similarly to before reading week, I have don’t have much advice here either!

Continue making sure you have a healthy balance of activities and engage in conversation about your course with your peers. If there’s something you’re struggling to understand or if you’re stuck on an exercise/problem, I objectively believe there’s no better source of support than other students. These conversations, regardless of the problem being discussed, will always be mutually beneficial and helps build a collaborative revision resource for everyone that has access to the conversation. It’s important to recognise that the time spent engaging in these conversations can count towards your time spent independently studying.

I have found that many students struggle with impostor syndrome at varying severities and label themselves or their questions as “stupid” so they avoid seeking help. There are also students who best learn by asking questions on various aspects to ensure they have a deep understanding of the content, but many might feel they’re asking “too many” questions. So taking initiative and openly asking questions in group chats or Discord servers will benefit these students.

On the other hand, I have found there’s many students who struggle with procrastination and spending enough time studying each week. This can be due to a faster learning speed so spending 36 hours per week studying may not be seen as necessary. If good study habits are not being developed then the sudden requirement to spend 30–50 hours per week in later years will risk burnout and possibly withdrawal from the degree before completing the final year (I am speaking from personal experience here). Fortunately, these students often find building motivation significantly easier when it’s externally placed so providing opportunities for these students to support the learning of other students is incredibly effective. This can also only be done if there are other students openly asking questions, regardless of perceiving the questions as “basic” (often the basic questions are the hardest to answer).

For the students who prefer learning by teaching others, make sure you’re reflecting on your practice and seeking informal/formal feedback for your teaching. As well as ensuring your teaching practice is effective and evidence-based, this can help build evidence for receiving a teaching accreditation with Advance HE, which students and staff can apply for free through the university. You may recognise people with this accreditation if they have post-nominal letters (letters that follow someone’s name): AFHEA, FHEA, SFHEA, PFHEA.

The wider opportunity to receive this accreditation (and training in how to complete it) is being revised and renamed but it was previously called the Leadership in Education Awards Programme (LEAP). There’s also the opportunity to receive the AFHEA accreditation as a Peer-Assisted Study Session (PASS) Leader.

If you want to gain stronger experience relating to teaching and learning during your time as a student, consider applying for student partnership roles. There are roles, such as the Library Student Team, where you can influence teaching practices within the university, which is a requirement for Senior Fellowship (SFHEA). The SU’s Exec Officer roles (Lead MCR) are also a key opportunity in taking a more strategic position in impacting teaching within Higher Education, which could potentially some build evidence for Principal Fellowship (PFHEA).

I would also recommend becoming Committee members of Societies if you want to make an impact on student experience and build some experience before committing to any paid roles.

Photo by Brody Childs on Unsplash

Christmas Break & Exams (Days 99–100)

The start of the Christmas break is Saturday 14th December on Day 99. Take this time to relax and celebrate getting through the semester, which may involve some light catch-up studying or revision.

The exam period is between Monday 13th January and Friday 24th January, so you have plenty of time to do more intensive studying / revision in the new year. I would recommend last-minute cramming as that will make the knowledge less likely to be retained, especially if you go through any skill regression (related to state-dependent memory) due to any big changes in your life, such as cognitive behavioural therapy for depression or an ADHD diagnosis (I am speaking from experience again, haha!).

During the break, you may go home or stay on-campus. I remember staying on-campus most of the years I’ve been at the university, largely due to the pandemic! Regardless, you should open up to staying connected to others during these periods:

• Spending time with family or friends is typical.
• Gaming or having video calls with online friends.
• Cooking a large Christmas dinner for yourself and post pictures of the achievement on the food channel on the UoM Maths Discord. Not because of a lockdown (like when I did this haha!) but out of choice and desire for challenge!
• Engaging with on-campus or virtual society events over the Christmas period. For example, the International Society hosts various on-campus social events for students not going back home over Christmas.

As a conclusion to this blogpost and to add one more point: Make sure you actually rest and spend time on your own needs during the Christmas break. After the exams, you may find that you either only have a week before Semester 2, or that you immediately get dropped into Semester 2!

Don’t ask me why this is a thing. Hopefully, we can build a strong evidence-based argument supported by a large enough student population to finally improve this.