Next Monday I'll be speaking to some research students in the faculty. 30 of them as part of their 'research skills' course.

To see how I fitted in and what they were like and what they'd be expecting, I thought I'd go to the first of the sessions which was today. Chinese academic, K, with a most beautiful voice is responsible for them all, so I could have listened to her all day. But it was well worth going to find out what was in store and be much better armed for next Monday.

Back at TheOldPlace I rarely spoke to students at this level in numbers greater than 1, so it was encouraging to see K demonstrating I didn't need to be talking to them at too high a level. She even showed me around some workshops in the faculty after the session so I learned a bit more about where everyone is (and what they're doing) which was also useful.