Welcome to this fortnight's issue of the Doctoral College Newsletter. 

In the following sections you will find the following:

• My Career Zone Update
• Training and Development
• Opportunities
• SWDTP Online Seminars
• Wellbeing
• Podcasts & Blogs

If you have a news story or an opportunity you would like to advertise in the newsletter please email: doctoral.college@exeter.ac.uk.

As you may already know, the My Career Zone Booking System is going, and will no longer be accessible from 31st July 2021. We strongly suggest that you copy your individual training record from My Career Zone for your own records, as we are only able to download and keep limited data centrally due to GDPR. You can access your training record on your Dashboard under Event Bookings and Event Bookings History. Please follow this guide on how to download your training record.

The Careers Service are replacing the My Career Zone Booking System with Handshake, which is employer focused and not suitable for PGR training and development. Therefore, from September we will be introducing the use of Inkpath, a booking system designed specifically for researcher training and development programmes. You can find out more about Inkpath on their website, and we will be sending through further details about the Inkpath launch date and how to access and set up your Inkpath account.

The Summer Training and Development Programme has now finished.

Please find all online resources and recordings available on ELE.

Over the summer period you can still attend the Doctoral College online Writing Group sessions; each using the renowned pomodoro method. All you need to do is join the Microsoft 'Team' here.

Tipping Points for Food and Land Use Systems Transformation

Register now for a workshop hosted by GSI University of Exeter and the Food and Land Use Coalition around transforming global food and land use systems. When? Thursday, 8 July 2021, 2-4pm BST

Metamaterials Colloquium

Sign up now to the 'Metamaterial platforms for nonlinear optics, imaging and biophotonics applications' event, with Prof Andrea Di Falco, University of St Andrews. When? Friday 9th July, 12.30-13.30pm via Zoom. Registration and further details of the event are available on the EventBrite page.

Take part in Futures 2021

On 24 and 25 September Agile Rabbit are running an event called Futures 2021, part of European Researchers’ Night that takes place across 200 cities. It’s about celebrating research and researchers from all backgrounds, disciplines and levels of experience from PhD onwards. They are on the lookout for researchers with exciting ideas for interactive engagement with the general public to take part. See more here.

Could you rate the effectiveness of a short online lecture in environmental psychology?

The purpose of this study is to explore student perceptions of a new environmental psychology lecture delivered online. This will enable the reserchers to develop online content that is recommended by students for students. This is open to students from all disciplines and year groups and has been reviewed and approved by the Psychology Research Ethics Committee at the University of Exeter. £25 Amazon voucher prize. Take part here. 

Mum PhD community

Mum PhD is an online community for all women combining academia and motherhood (now or in the future). It is a safe and respectful environment for giving and receiving support, sharing knowledge, engaging in debates and finding solutions. Register here.

Part time work opportunity: University of Exeter Assessment Helpdesk Advisors

The University are looking for PhD students to work with the exams team in running the student assessment helpdesk. This is a work at home post where you will be required to take phone calls from students during live exams and assist them with any issues they come across, full training will be provided. The role is paid at £11.35 per hour, the helpdesk is open 8am until 8pm and is split into shifts. You will need to supply your own laptop/PC, internet connection and a phone. The helpdesk opens 9th August until 28th August. Please email examsadmin@exeter.ac.uk to express interest.

Book onto the upcoming South West Doctoral Training Partnership events:

• Narrative Inquiry in Organisation Studies and Management Research, 5 July, 10.00am-12.00pm
• Secondary analysis of cross-national, comparative survey data, 7 July, 2-4pm
• Publishing your Social Sciences Doctoral Research as a Monograph, 19 July, 10-11am

Wellbeing Centre sessions

Mindfulness - Tuesdays and Fridays at 11.30am

Every Mind Matters

Having good mental health helps us relax more, achieve more and enjoy our lives more. The NHS have expert advice and practical tips to help you look after your mental health and wellbeing. See their website here.

Spectrum.Life

Sprectrum.Life provides a confidential telephone, video, and live chat counselling service to help with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, bereavement and more.

Wellbeing Centre

If you would like to speak to our PGR Support Advisor for Welfare, Cathryn Baker can be contacted at: welfare.pgr@exeter.ac.uk or tel: 01392 726207. Further wellbeing information, tools and support can be found on our wellbeing webpages, 

Beyond Your Research Degree podcast

• Alexandra Smith (Public Health Research Support Officer at Devon County Council)
• Dr. Joanna Alfaro (Director of Pro Delphinus)
• Dr, Heather Hind and Dr. Philippa Earle (Digital Learning Developers at the University of Exeter)

Blog

• Working with policymakers

We have published a range of guidance, checklists and the University travel policy for colleagues planning on travelling for work or study. The information covers both international travel and trips within the UK. Find out more here.

From 7th June, all PGRs will have access to our new research Ethics application and review system. To access the system visit the new Ethics webpage and use your university single sign on (SSO). To support the change you’ll find information about the system and links to training resources and drop-in sessions here. Do contact your Ethics Chair for further details.

Please note the hyperlink has now been updated due to a faulty version last week.

Remember we are currently not in the office however you can still contact us via email or via a Teams appointment. Full details on how to get in touch with your PGR support team, please see our enquiries webpage.

For enquries surrounding training and development please contact the team on: doctoral.college@exeter.ac.uk.

To view previous versions of the newsletter you can do so here.