24 December 2021

CaRST eNewsletter

Director's Message

As we reflect on the past year, we note that these times have been unpredictable and challenging for HDR students. Throughout, the AGC has worked hard to deliver professional development and support opportunities so that our HDR students can continue to thrive under these circumstances.

In the previous year, we had record numbers of students attending CaRST events. In 2021, this was surpassed with an astounding 5,000-plus attendees recorded across the 75 events delivered by the AGC. Helping to drive this increase in numbers were 17 new offerings this year, including the expanded Making Your HDR Work career and employability series.

CaRST offerings continue to be well-received by HDRs. In post-workshop surveys, 96% of survey respondents were happy with the workshop they attended, with 87% providing a rating of very good or excellent. Some comments include:

This was a great event - an hour really well spent! Thank you.
Amazing event, this should be mandatory for every postgraduate student to show they aren't confined to such a narrow space in the workforce.
Brilliant work by the CaRST team!!! Most appreciated (5 stars)
This was one of the most helpful CaRST events I've attended yet. Looking forward to the rest of the ones in this series.

In this new era where online delivery is now the norm, most of our live events were held virtually, however, we did convene 13 events in person to provide an opportunity for increased interaction. The online space is still favoured for its accessibility and convenience with many students taking advantage of the pre-recorded workshops in our CaRST MyUni course with nearly 2,500 views of these video recordings in 2021.

Adding to our suite of online training, we provisioned several online training packages from Epigeum and introduced courses freely available from Nature Masterclasses, Elsevier Researcher Academy, and LinkedIn Learning.

We had another successful run of the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition with 64 students university-wide vying for the title of best presenter. Though the competition itself was virtual again this year, the top 10 students were invited to present live and in person at Research Tuesdays.

Beyond our standard programming, we sponsored students to participate in Intersect training courses as well as the Industry Mentoring Network in STEM (IMNIS) and Career Control for Researchers programs.

We also introduced specialised courses to help our HDRs communicate and disseminate their research, including Nature Reviews Academy on Getting Published and the online course How to Design an Award-Winning Scientific Poster.

All of this could not be accomplished without the backing of a strong team. My thanks to Dr Erin Smith and Dr Charlotte Le Lan for all their hard-work this year and commitment to delivering a great program for HDRs. In 2022, Katy Dolman will join as a Manager, CaRST while I temporarily step away from the AGC to take up a position in Research Services.

As the year draws to a close, I hope you all enjoy a well-earned break and wish you all the best for a happy and healthy New Year.

Best,

Dr Monica Kerr
Director, CaRST

Other Training & Events

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News

Christmas Closure

The Adelaide Graduate Centre will break for Christmas on Friday 24 December at 1pm, reopening at 10am on Tuesday 4 January 2022. The office will be closed during this time.

Please note that we will be unable to accept thesis submissions on the morning of the 24th of December. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

About CaRST

Located within the Adelaide Graduate Centre, CaRST is a specialised training and development program for HDR students at the University of Adelaide. For further information on CaRST visit the CaRST website.