My Employability Points

I have achieved 1405 employability points

What are Employability Points?

University of Kent's Employability Points Scheme

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The University of Kent’s Employability Points Scheme encourages students to engage with extra-curricular activities and rewards the most engaged students with internships, work experience placements, vouchers and much more.

For each extra-curricular activity completed, students can claim ‘points’ and towards the end of each academic year, these points can be redeemed for ‘rewards’ offered by the external business community. See: www.kent.ac.uk/employabilitypoints

The Challenge!

Posted on 01 June 2018, 0:42
Last updated 02 June 2018, 18:22

My biggest challenge in these three years at the University of Kent has been to combine my volunteering and extra activities hours with my PhD. It's not been easy, and sometimes I went through very tough moments. But I got a lot of benefits from that! I have learnt how to manage my time effectively and organise my days carefully in order to do everything at the best of my capabilities! 

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Kent Union KSCV Gold Plus x3 years (330 points)

Posted on 28 May 2018, 18:55
Last updated 28 May 2018, 18:58

I have volunteered more than 600 hours in three years, helping our Students' Unions (GK Unions) and Team Medway. I have been awarded with three KSCV Gold Plus certificates in the past three years. Volunteering has helped me to become a better person! And I have enjoyed every single moment of this incredible experience! I have learnt so many things in terms of organisation, self-confidence, time management, leadership and volunteering itself and at the same time I have met fantastic people!

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And the GK Unions Awards nights have been a fantastic experience!

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Life-Time Achievement Award 2016/2017 (15 points)

Posted on 01 June 2018, 0:37
Last updated 03 June 2018, 12:24

The Life-Time Achievement Award is given to the student that has dedicated 2+ years to Team Medway and for the impact on sport at Medway.

"This was the most straightforward award to give and I am sure all of the Team Medway would agree - this person has been an ambassador for Team Medway and sport at Medway and been the catalyst for the success of two clubs. Juggling her PhD, this student has been the president of the basketball club for two years, securing nearly £2000 of sponsorship, been an integral part of the Team Medway Executive and probably her proudest achievement, has re-established the Women's Basketball Team, who played their first Varsity match this week and who battled throughout and only narrowly lost. The impact this student has on sport at Team Medway is unmeasurable and so the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Chiara Gattoni."

Mine was not a proper dress to impress at the Sports Awards Night. Running from the laboratory to the Awards, but I made it!

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GK Unions Most Improved Club of the Year Award 2017 (15 points)

Posted on 01 June 2018, 0:40
Last updated 02 June 2018, 18:14

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This is awarded to the club who who has improved significantly from the previous year or throughout the year by demonstrating outstanding organisation, commitment and initiative to improve and develop.

"And the winner is: Women's Basketball!!! Women's Basketball have had a great year. The team has come so far, especially as over half had never played basketball before joining University. This time last year they were not even a club and yet now boast 18 members, play in a local league and recently competed in Varsity which they battled through to the end, only narrowly losing 35-30. They have entered BUCS next season and look to continue their success. We wish them all the best in BUCS!"

Medway Employability Award!

Posted on 29 May 2018, 23:54

Winner of the Medway Employability Points Competition!

With 245 points, I got the highest scoring obtained during the Medway Employability Festival, October 2017.

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GK Unions Volunteer of the month! (10 points)

Posted on 01 June 2018, 0:40
Last updated 02 June 2018, 17:27

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"Chiara was very moved by the scenes from her home country of Italy following the earthquake of August/September 2016. She wanted to raise money for the Save the Children charity that was supporting the area. She organised a bucket collection on campus and impressively got about 18 students to help on the day, this included members of her basketball club, friends and members of RAG. This was a great example of one student inspiring others, uniting the campus and, to top it all, raising over £300 in just three hours."

1, 2, 3, MEDWAY!

Women's Basketball Give it a Go! Session (15 points)

Posted on 31 May 2018, 23:15
Last updated 31 May 2018, 23:16

As President of the Team Medway Womens Basketball Club I have organised a basketball Give It a Go Session opened to all girls who wanted to try a new sport and have some fun together.

 

My message to promote the event:

‘Hello, I am Chiara, we are a developing basketball team who welcomes players of all skill levels and aims to encourage everyone to try basketball. We enjoy teaching basketball to women and inspiring girls to take up the sport both socially and competitively. Come and join us for some games and basketball exercises! Let’s play for fun!’

It was such a successful event! 18 girls joined us for the session and everyone had lots of fun!

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Level 2 Basketball Table Official Course (10 points)

Posted on 01 June 2018, 0:41
Last updated 03 June 2018, 12:23

As Team Medway Basketball Clubs we organised a Level 2 Basketball Table Official Course in our campus. We gave our members the chance to become table officials and work during games. The course was paid by our GK Unions.

I joined it as well and found it very useful! I'll be working on the court soon!

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Part-Time Job - Give it a Go! Team Leader (30 points)

Posted on 01 June 2018, 0:34
Last updated 03 June 2018, 12:24

Since September 2017, I have been working for the GK Unions as Give it a Go! Team Leader.

Give it a Go is a thrilling programme of events (which goes from sport to art, from music festivals to pop corn night movies, etc) and is opened to all Kent and Greenwich students at Medway who want to try something new, learn new skills and meet new people, at a very friendly price. 

As Team Leader I had to attend the sessions, be in charge with the setup, participants registration, supervision, pictures and videos for promotion.

At the same time, I was allowed to give Nerf Wars a go as well..!! 

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Oral Presentation at the Annual Conference - European College of Sports Science 2016 (20 points) + Attendance to two Conferences (30 points)

Posted on 01 June 2018, 0:30
Last updated 03 June 2018, 12:25

Presenting my first PhD study at one of the biggest sports science conferences has been absolutely an unforgettable experience! Moreover it's been a fantastic chance for me to discuss about science with researchers from all over the world!

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I have also attended The Physiological Society Conference 2016 and a 2-day symposium on fatigue (main topic of my phD) organised by the Royal Society in 2017. I found them both very stimulating and useful for my phd and my personal knowledge.

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Mentor for "The Science of Endurance and Training Performance" (MOOC) x 2 (30 + 30 points)

Posted on 29 May 2018, 23:22
Last updated 03 June 2018, 12:46

I have worked for two years as Mentor of a Massive Online Course (MOOC), entitled "The Science of Endurance and Training Performance" which has been organised by the School of Sports and Exercise Science, at the University of Kent. My role, as an expert in the topic, has been to reply to questions and give feedbacks to participants. The course has lasted 6 weeks and has covered several topics such as muscular fatigue, cognitive fatigue, nutrition, training and exercise performance.

My biggest achievement: explain difficult topics in a very simplistic way to a non-expert audience!

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/endurance-performance

 

Researcher Development Programme Workshops (90 points) + GK Unions Skills Trainings (60 points)

Posted on 28 May 2018, 19:39
Last updated 03 June 2018, 12:48

As a PhD Student I have attended several Researcher Development Programme Workshops organised by the Graduate School at the University of Kent. The Researcher Development Programme has given me a full range of skills which have improved my effectiveness as researcher and equipped me with some general employability skills useful in a variety of careers. 

https://www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool/skills/programmes/tstindex.html

Workshops attended:

  1. Kickstart your PhD: Guidance, Skills and the Researcher Development Assessment;
  2. Managing your time effectively;
  3. Effective researcher;
  4. Introduction to Refworks;
  5. Using Mind Map® for Note Taking
  6. Effective reading;
  7. An introduction to research and research methods for sciences;
  8. Basic Matlab programming techniques;
  9. Criticism and Confidence - Dealing with Impostor Syndrome;
  10. Getting published: Routes to successfully turn your work into papers;
  11. Measuring Research Impact;
  12. Keeping up to date with the literature;
  13. Publishing rights and wrongs: principles of copyright and open accessing publishing;
  14. Managing your research data;
  15. Networking and Personal Impact;
  16. Voice projection;
  17. How to create an exciting podcast: storytelling, presentation and on-camera skills.

Attending these workshops has also been a great opportunity for networking and meeting other PhD students!

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I have also attended six trainings organised by our Students' Union, which provided me with the proper knowledge and skills to lead, advertise and promote societies/sports clubs and to deal with/avoid conflicts and solve problems within a group.

Trainings attended:

  • War? What is it good for?
  • GK Unions Committee Training
  • Student Leader Training - Introduction to Committees
  • Team Medway Executive Training
  • Marketing Training

Profile information

Chiara Gattoni's profile picture
PhD Student at the School of Sports and Exercise Sciences and the Glaxo Smith Kline, looking at
the effects of mental fatigue on endurance exercise performance. In particular I am
investigating an innovative form of brain training to enhance exercise performance in elite
athletes (Brain Endurance Training).
 

President of Team Medway Basketball Club and Team Medway Executive Officer at Medway Campus.

Enthusiastic student and volunteer. Basketball player. Sport, photography and travelling lover.

- I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. - Leonardo da Vinci
 
  • First name: C.
  • Last name: Gattoni
  • Display name: Chiara Gattoni
  • Email address: cg380@kent.ac.uk

Three Years as President of the Men's and Women's Team Medway Basketball Clubs (75 points)

Posted on 24 May 2018, 18:33
Last updated 03 June 2018, 12:47

I became President of the Men's and Women's Team Medway Basketball Clubs three year ago and since then I never stopped. As president I created a women's basketball club in our Medway Campus, which now counts 27 members and kept having two teams for the men's club, as in the previous years! I managed to get a total of £3,500 sponsorship for both clubs, which has been spent to buy game kits, t-shirts, jumpers and training material for all members. I started a collaboration with a professional web-designer who was in charge with the advertising material for games and freshers events and created the Women's Club logo.

Accomplishments:

  • New women's club
  • Inclusive clubs opened to any kind of level and background
  • New material thanks to a three-year sponsorship
  • Club fundraising for Save the Children 
  • Three teams (two men's and one women's) in the BUCS league
  • Four active social network accounts for both clubs(Twitter, Facebook (two pages), Snapchat and Instagram) and a website page
  • Promotion of 'This Girl Can' campaign (any girl can play basketball!)
  • Creation of the women's club logo 

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Social Media:

2 x Team Medway Executive Committee Officer (25 + 25 points)

Posted on 31 May 2018, 23:01
Last updated 31 May 2018, 23:03

Being part of the Team Medway Executive Committee for two years has been a fun and diverse role.

My role:

  • Ratify new Team Medway Clubs 
  • Team of the week (i.e. deciding the 'Team of the Week' based on the Team Medway Captains' match report)
  • Approve/reject development fund applications (i.e. availability of £1000 development fund which clubs could apply for to help with the clubs aims and objectives)
  • Planning of annual sporting events
  • Planning and advertising of Varsity and Team Medway Sports Awards to the wider sporting community
  • Promoting Team Medway via social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat)

Moreover, as member of the Team Medway Executive Committee I have campaigned for a particular cause: to promote inclusivity and diversity within ALL sports clubs, to make sure all clubs and their activities are accessible to all. In particular, as president of the womens basketball club I supported the "THIS GIRL CAN" Campaign. Every single girl could join our club! You didn't have to be tall or an experienced player to join us!  

 

Team Medway Executive Committee being interviewed for the Varsity Launch 2016/17.

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..Because sport is for any girl!!!!

The new Womens' Team Medway Basketball Club Logo, designed together with our amazing media girl, as well as my cousin, Maddalena Gattoni!!!

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Charity Event (10 points)

Posted on 28 May 2018, 18:23
Last updated 28 May 2018, 18:58

As president of the Team Medway Basketball Clubs, I organised a bucket collection in Medway Campus to help kids hit by the earthquake in central Italy in 2016. We raised more than £300 in three hours! All the money were given to Save the Children. And most of the players were involved and helped the cause!

 

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Women Basketball Team Member for 3 years! (30 points)

Posted on 01 June 2018, 0:14
Last updated 03 June 2018, 12:45

Being part of the Team Medway Women's Basketball Team as player has been an amazing experience!

I have played basketball at semi-professional levels in the past, but I had a serious injury and stopped playing for many years. When I arrived in Medway three years ago though, I decided to join (and rebuild) the women’s basketball club. What I have experienced in these years has been absolutely amazing! Being part of Team Medway allowed me to enjoy and practice the sport that I love, but it gave me much more than that. I have met incredibly nice people who welcomed me since the first day of my Team Medway adventure. I have socialised with students from both Kent and Greenwich Universities, of different nationalities, background and age. Thanks to Team Medway Basketball I have lots of friends now! They are my family here in England!

This year, after many years, the team have played in the University League (BUCS League), getting a fantastic and unexpected second position! Moreover, for the first time ever, we won Varsity 2018 against University of Greenwich! 

2017/2018 (part of the) Team 

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And for the first time ever, we are Varsity Winners 2018!!!!

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And it's not been only about playing..but socialising all together!!!

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Student Ambassador for the School of Sports and Exercise Sciences (100 points) + PhD Student Representative (25 points) + Student Mentoring (45 points)

Posted on 30 May 2018, 17:27
Last updated 30 May 2018, 17:43

I have covered the role of Ambassador for the School of Sports and Exercise Sciences, running several projects and workshops with high-school students, teaching them how to build up research projects and conduct an experiment. I have also represented my school at Open days and local schools, promoting sport and the benefits of sport science-related career paths.

Used of communication, presentation and teaching skills. 

  1. Promoting my school at University Open Days
  2. Running the Inside Sport Science Project with high schools
  3. Promoting sport at open events in secondary schools and academies

In the picture below, at the Big Bang Near Me event at Discovery Park.

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And it's not only about working..it's also a lot of fun!

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Being a Phd Student Representative for my School has been an honour! I have been elected by my School and I have worked as hard as I could to give voice to our Postgraduate Research Students!

I have also been a Student Mentor for another PhD student at the School of Sports and Exercise Sciences. The student had some important heath issues and my role was to facilitate her work, by bringing and sending material for her studies and by supporting her for any kind of problem in general. This role touched my heart and I am so glad for having helped her to go through a though moment. Since then, we became very good friends too!

Used of time management, problem solving and positive attributes skills.