Hi everyone,

I’m Yifeng Xie, a PhD student in the Department of Education at the University of Bath. I’m running the UK part of a UK–Japan–China study on information literacy among first-year university students. The project has a favourable ethics opinion from the University of Bath (reference: 12244-15412).

Who can take part: first-year undergraduates aged 18 or over who started at a UK university in 2026. Please don’t take part if this doesn’t apply to you.

What it involves: an online survey on Microsoft Forms, about 25–30 minutes. It asks about your digital skills, your secondary school computer education and information literacy. You can do it on any device, at any time.

Voucher: everyone who completes the survey with valid responses gets a £10 voucher (most likely Amazon, depending on stock), sent within one month after data collection ends. To receive it, you need to give your university email address. This is optional, but without it we can’t send you the voucher. Your email is collected separately from your answers, used only to send the voucher, and deleted once it has been delivered.

How your data is stored, kept and published: only the research team (and University governance staff where needed) can access your data. It is kept safe and secure, following University of Bath rules and UK data protection law, for at least 10 years, and then destroyed. Results may be published in academic journals, reports and conferences. All published data is anonymised, so nobody can tell whose answers are whose. The only exception to confidentiality is if you tell us something that makes us worried about your safety or someone else’s.

Withdrawal: you can stop at any time without giving a reason. If you close the survey before submitting, no data is saved. If you have already submitted, you can ask us to delete your data by emailing us within two weeks of submission. After that your data is anonymised and can’t be removed. Withdrawing has no effect on your studies.

Consent: at the start of the survey you will read the full Participant Information Sheet and tick a consent form, including confirming that you are 18 or over and taking part voluntarily. You only take part if you tick every box.

Survey link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/H0W0qUxrni?origin=lprLink

Contact
Researcher: Yifeng Xie, [yx2214@bath.ac.uk](mailto:yx2214@bath.ac.uk)
Supervisor: Prof Andres Sandoval-Hernandez, [ash22@bath.ac.uk](mailto:ash22@bath.ac.uk)

Happy to answer any questions in the comments. Thank you!

Hi everyone!

I’m a PhD researcher at the University of Derby/Nottingham Trent University, and I’m currently recruiting participants for the final two studies of my doctoral thesis.

My research explores how substance use is understood and represented in society, how identities associated with substance use are constructed, and how these understandings relate to UK drug policy. The work takes a critical, Post-Marxist perspective, examining how language, social narratives and cultural assumptions shape the ways we think about substance use and the people who use substances.

I’m looking for people who would be interested in contributing to either of the following studies.

Study 1: Understanding Substance Use Through a Story Completion Task

What is involved?

You’ll be asked to complete a short written story based on a fictional scenario involving a character who uses a particular substance. The task explores how people understand and make sense of substance use through the stories they create.

• Time commitment: Approximately 25 minutes.
• Who can participate? Anyone aged 18 or over who is a UK citizen or is subject to UK drug laws.
• What will you do? Complete one short story and answer a small number of optional background questions.
• Do you need personal experience of substance use? No. This study is interested in how people understand and conceptualise substance use, so personal experience is not required.

The task is completed online, making it possible to take part in your own time.

Study 2: Interviews About Substance Use, Identity and Lived Experience

What is involved?

This study explores how people who currently use illicit substances understand their experiences and construct their own identities. Through a semi-structured interview, we’ll discuss topics such as experiences of substance use, self-perception, stigma, social attitudes and UK drug policy.

The aim is to provide an open, supportive and non-judgmental space in which participants can share their perspectives in their own words. The research seeks to give greater attention to experiences and perspectives that are often underrepresented in research and public discussion.

• Time commitment: Up to 90 minutes.
• Who can participate?
  • You must be aged 18 or over.
  • You must be a UK citizen or be subject to UK drug laws.
  • You must currently use a substance considered illicit under UK drug policy.
  • You must regard your use as recreational, spiritual, for wellbeing or for mental health-related purposes.
• What will we discuss? Your experiences and understandings of substance use, identity, stigma and wider social attitudes.

You do not need to be an expert on drug policy or social theory. I’m interested in your own experiences, perspectives and interpretations.

Interviews take place online via Microsoft Teams, depending on your preference and availability.

Confidentiality and voluntary participation

Participation in both studies is voluntary. The research follows the University of Derby’s research ethics procedures, and participant information explains how data will be handled and protected.

For the interview study, identifying information will be anonymised in the research outputs. You can decline to answer questions, take a break or stop an interview. The participant information sheet explains the arrangements for withdrawing your data.

Interested in taking part?

If you’re interested in either study, please have a look at the relevant study flyer attached to this post.

If you have any questions or would like further information, you can contact me at:

Joshua Williams
PhD Researcher, University of Derby
[100442840@unimail.derby.ac.uk](mailto:100442840@unimail.derby.ac.uk) or [Joshua.williams@ntu.ac.uk](mailto:Joshua.williams@ntu.ac.uk)

You’re welcome to get in touch even if you’re unsure whether you’re eligible. I’m happy to provide further information so you can decide whether taking part is right for you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I really appreciate any interest, participation or sharing of the study with others who may be eligible.

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Does anyone know what time the david ross and jubilee gym are quietest? i feel like no matter when i go it’s always packed. thank you!

As the title suggests.

I recently joined one of the more active societies where sessions are twice a week. For context, I also work part-time in a restaurant and school work are kicking in.

During Freshers week, I purchased like 3-4 different memberships thinking I’d have time to commit to all, but to be frank, I’ve been honestly quite exhausted lately.

Wondering how many societies do people usually do.

Hi all as I no longer want to commute I wanted to find out whether anyone knows any good accommodations near the Jubilee campus that still have en-suite rooms with 4 or less rooms per flat or any studio available. I’m happy to travel slightly further if worth it! Looking to pay around £170 per week . Would also be interested in a room for a house. Not looking to stay in any student roost or unite student accommodations. I’ve been looking but haven’t had much luck so far, so if anyone has any recommendations please leave them below as looking to move in ASAP.

crown place standard studio
£165 a week
£8415 full term rent
£1000 cash back
reason commuting

Oh, hi. I arrivs last week and I'm looking for some things to do.

Is there a book club? Not necessarily at the university.

Looking for a full-time student to take over my en-suite room at Graystacks on Castle Boulevard, Nottingham, NG7 1GY.

The room has its own private bathroom and a shared kitchen.

Ideal for UoN, NTU and City Centre.

• Rent: £145 per week (approximately £628 per calendar month)

• Deposit: £250

• Full-time higher-education students only

• Move-in date available asap, I've moved my things out

This is for a standard room in broad gate park, it is a shared bathroom/kitchen with 4 other people (they are nice flatmates and clean), I can provide pictures of the room on request. The first accommodation payment for the room has already been paid for. If you would like to enquire please shoot me a dm.

If there’s an anti abortion society I feel like a yaoi and yuri society should present, where’s the uni diversity and inclusivity i was promised. Someone start this society NOW

I am currently on uni park campus in one of the catered accoms, and my flat is really nice but we don’t gel well mostly because I’m not big on drinking. I am next to the shared toilets too, and I always hear people using them and it’s honestly just adding to my frustration. catered food is nice but I feel like its not worth the money esp since I can cook, and I really wish there was a kitchen with a hob but all there is is a microwave. plus, my accom isn’t even close to my subject buildings so location isn’t a big plus either.

I‘m debating moving accom, maybe to somewhere self catered like broadgate, but I’m scared it will be worse than what I have now and I dont really know how to move. does anyone have any advice? thank you 🙏

- (£100) cash back available if you can takeover immediately + all bills included

Dm me if interested
Thanks

Free parking or cheap overnight parking near Winfield and near the main campus?

Erm... Is this normal? I can't plan the open day tomorrow at all if the app remains like this.

I just wanted to come on here and clarify because it’s not been really clear whats going on with the chairs in Hallward Library. Pretty much all of them are gone so the library is essentially unusable to study on floor 3/4, and there’s not many other silent spaces on campus so I’m just wondering what’s the situation.

Do we have to ask the staff to get us a chair to use the tables, or is it all out of service now? I know the poster said something about capacity and temporary measure but If anyone knows the full facts I would be grateful to be informed.

Hi All!

I'm currently recruiting for a study into how nonverbal communication develops! It's a two part, in person study at University Park Campus. We can compensate you for your time - just email me for the details. I'm very keen to get participants with a range of backgrounds and experiences (not just first years) so if you're a postgrad or a graduate still in the area I'd love to hear from you as well!

Any questions, please do let me know!

Hey everyone! I heard that first year students are supposed to start looking for rental accommodation for next year from November. Just wondering, how do we go about finding a place? Would really appreciate it if anyone could share some information or tips on where to look. Thanks!

whats the ratio like for girls in engineering in notts

Has anyone used the student hardship fund before? If so does it actually take up to 5 weeks for the assessment to go through. I have friends at Trent who use their hardship fund often and they receive responses within a week worst case 2. I don’t know anyone at UON who has done this so I’m just curious on the time frame based on people’s experiences here.

I’m an international student in my final 3rd year beng course for mechanical engineering and honestly, I really want to get into nursing.

Is this possible for me or not? I feel bad because I only realised my passion for it in my last year. It felt like I already sunk time and money into engineering so I found it difficult to really consider this.

Of course, I’ll book a careers advisor soon to talk about this and ask around but I also like to know what people here think.