After a short break in August, the Doctoral College Newsletter is back! Here are just some of the highlights this week:

• A new careers panel discussion from Exeter alumni- find out more in our Events section
• Head to the News section, where we say goodbye to our original PGR Study Space co-ordinator Jo and welcome to our new coordinator, Ellie
• Applications for LTHE (Learning and Teaching in Higher Education) Autumn 2025 Streatham, Penryn & Online programmes are open! Get the details and booking link in our Opportunities section

To find out more about these, and everything else at the University for PGRs, jump to the relevant sections using our linked contents list:

News

Events

Opportunities

Research Studies

Reminders

Community

Careers Support

Wellbeing Support and Sessions

Enquiries

The next newsletter will go out on Tuesday 16 September 2025. Please submit copy for the next newsletter by Wednesday 10 August.

You can also share your news and events on PGR Community Hub on Viva Engage, or on our new Bluesky account.

Please refer to our style guide before submitting your item.

The place to look for training and development opportunities at the University and beyond is our Postgraduate Researcher Training and Development Bulletin. The next bulletin will be sent out in September.

Keep your eyes on your emails as the PGR Researcher Development Programme for 2025 will launch on Wednesday 1 October. We have some exciting new workshops coming up as well as repeats of some of our most popular sessions. The programme is based around the new Vitae RDF framework so you will benefit from the most up-to-date knowledge and guidance for your development as a postgraduate researcher.

After playing an active role in the academic community by coordinating and facilitating the PGR Study Space group since January 2021, Jo Sutherst is stepping down to focus on completing her PhD.

Through PGR Study Space, she has nurtured a collaborative writing environment that supports the advancement of postgraduate researchers. Jo's work has not only pushed the boundaries of academic inquiry but also supported the development of her peers.  She is grateful for all the facilitators, and members of the group, who have provided writing company and support during her time as co-ordinator.

She is now handing over the coordination to Ellie Hepworth; Jo is excited to see how the group continues to develop as a vital networking opportunity under Ellie's leadership.

Jo is a year 6 part-time PhD researcher in Art History and Visual Culture. Her research explores how artists strategically utilise social media as a performance space to negotiate and redefine concepts of authenticity, representation, and authority within the art world. 

We would like to thank Jo for all the support she has given to our PGR community through coordinating PGR Study Space and wish her all the very best with her continuing doctoral studies.

Find out more about Ellie, our new PGR Study Space coordinator, in the item below.

We are delighted to announce that Ellie Hepworth has been appointed as the new co-ordinator for PGR Study Space.

Ellie is a second year PGR in Health and Life Sciences. Her research focuses on public health approaches to identifying and preventing intimate partner violence in older age. Throughout her research journey, she has been an active attendee and facilitator of the PGR Study Space. Ellie is passionate about this space as a valuable resource for supporting productivity and fostering a sense of community.

Ellie says: “Being part of the PGR Study Space has really enhanced my PhD experience so far and I'm excited to step into the role of PGR Study Space Coordinator. I'm looking forward to working closely with existing members and the Researcher Development Team, as well as welcoming new PGRs who are looking for a friendly, supportive space to focus on their research”

If you are on a Student visa, the University must contact the UKVI to let them know that your study location has changed temporarily. This can include doing fieldwork, a work placement or studying at another institution. As part of the conditions of your visa, you need to inform us if you will be off campus for more than 3 months. To do this, please fill out this form.

If you do not fill out this form, you might encounter issues from Border Control when returning to the country, or from an employer if you are on a work placement.

For any queries, please contact immigrationcompliance@exeter.ac.uk.

We are delighted to announce that the first episode of Exeter Postgraduate Researcher Podcast will be launching on Monday 15 September.

In our first episode, PGR Kate Werran will be talking to Exeter alumna Pankhuri Singh about the experience of returning to university as a mature student- the highs, the challenges and some excellent insights from Kate and Pankhuri.

Exeter Postgraduate Researcher Podcast is a PGR podcast, by PGRs for PGRs, and this series is a mix of personal experience and practical advice. All presenters are current PGRs and their guests are a mix of current PGRs, Exeter staff and Exeter alumni, delving into the subjects that interest you.

Follow us on Spotify, Amazon Music and Podbean for the latest updates; you'll also be able to access the episodes on our Essentials webpage.

Would you like to hear how to use your skills as a researcher to work in diverse sectors, from Exeter alumni who have been in your position?

Join this panel session 'What Next? Postdoc Career Steps' on Thursday 18 September, 14.00-15.30, which is running online via Zoom.

We are looking forward to welcoming:
- Dr Elizabeth Laruni, who gained a PhD in History and is now Conflict Sensitivity and Gender Lead with the charity International Alert.
- Dr Jamie McFadzean, who gained a PhD in Biological Sciences and is now Vaccination & Research Policy Lead with DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
- Dr Hannes Titeca, who gained a PhD in Economics and is now a Senior Analyst for Ofgem

Each panellist will give a brief overview of their career steps after completing their research degrees at Exeter, and reflect on how their research backgrounds and skills have led to their current positions. There will be time for Q&A.

The Engaged and Participatory Research Fund is an annual scheme funded from the University of Exeter’s Participatory Research Fund allocation, awarded by Research England. We are seeking to fund projects between academics and their external partners, which use engaged or participatory approaches and demonstrate benefit for all partners. A total fund of £70,000 is available and applicants can apply for funding from £1,000 up to £10,000. The lead applicant must be staff (or a post graduate student with a staff member acting as co-applicant) at the University of Exeter. We welcome applications from academic and professional staff from all levels. All applications must be co-created with an external partner as a co-applicant.

Deadline for applications: 10.00 on Friday 10 October 2025.

Are you a postgraduate hoping to work as a teaching associate (PTA)? If so, you will need to complete at least Stage 1 of the LTHE programme.

Registration is now open for the LTHE Autumn 2025 programmes at Streatham, Penryn & Online which will start later this month. The programme is designed to meet the specific needs of educators who are either new to teaching altogether or are new to teaching in Higher Education. It introduces some of the core concepts and techniques of teaching in HE and aims to give an understanding of how to provide an active, stimulating student-centred learning experience.

LTHE Stage 1 (Unit 1) is mandatory if you intend to apply for Postgraduate Teaching Associate (PTA) positions. Once complete you can then progress onto Stage 2 (Units 2-5) which is necessary if you are going to be planning your own sessions and/or supporting assessment, marking and any feedback activity in your role.

Are you interested in your own fitness status and want to get personalised training protocols? We are looking for healthy people, recreationally active, aged 18-45 to participate in a study aiming to improve the accuracy of exercise performance predictions in intermittent exercise at the Public Health and Sports Sciences department, St Luke's campus. The study involves 6 lab visits including exercise tests on a stationary bike, and fingertip blood samples will be collected during the process. We will provide information about your fitness status in the form of a report, and travel expenses will be paid for your inconvenience. If you are interested, please contact Yujie Li at yl1122@exeter.ac.uk.

Just a reminder that our Images of Research competition is closing very soon- Monday 8 September is the deadline. The competition – which provides a great opportunity to practice communicating research to a non-specialist audience – has received hundreds of entries over the years, showcasing the breadth of research undertaken at the university through a single, visually-engaging image and short, jargon-free description. On the right of this item, you can see the winning image from 2023 ('Mapping Emergence' by Thomas O'Shea).

Due to popular demand, we are pleased to announce that this year, Postgraduate Research students, as well as anyone who considers themselves an Early Career researchers can enter!

Looking for some inspiration? Read our blog to hear from last year’s winners.

Deadline for submission: Monday 8 September 

Any form of recording whether via Teams or external tools like Fellow and other AI notetakers is NOT permitted. If you have any accessibility needs and do require a recording of the session, please contact Researcher Development in advance and we will arrange this with the trainer. 

The PGR Community Hub is a collaborative online space for Postgraduate Researchers at the University of Exeter. Posts can be uploaded by PGRs, The Exeter Students' Guild or The Falmouth and Exeter Students' Union, alongside teams that support PGRs such as the Researcher Development and Research Culture Team. Please use this space to discuss ideas, share best practice, ask questions and keep up to date with the latest activities, events and opportunities. Here you can have your voice heard and shape our community and research culture.

Please do not use this channel to advertise/search for rooms to rent; the University has its own Viva Engage channel where you can do this.

The Exeter Wellbeing Network is a social group for staff and PGRs run by volunteers, hosting a variety of events to help colleagues based at Streatham, St. Luke's or online to connect with one another. Recurring events include StaffCraft, Volleyball, Walk and Talk and Fika; find the full list on our webpage.

You can also contact us at wellbeing-network@exeter.ac.uk.

If you are looking for information about activities at Penryn, Falmouth and Truro, please visit the Cornwall Wellbeing Network webpage.

 

Join fellow PGRs in this online space, led by PGRs for PGRs to focus individually on whatever tasks you would like to work on. You can join the PGR Study Space Microsoft Teams Group here.

The PGR Study Space facilitated hours are as and when facilitators are available.

There are unfacilitated sessions outside of these hours so you can fit it around your working patterns.

If you have any queries, please contact PGRStudySpace@exeter.ac.uk. 

Parent and Family Support (PAFs) is a community of university wide student parents that currently has 100 registered members from the University of Exeter, with individuals choosing to attend inclusive events that best fit their schedules and family responsibilities. The group has expanded to support a wider community, as well as ‘mature-mature’ students with or without children, and postdoctoral researchers, at the University of Exeter who were drawn to our inclusive community.

There are a wide range of societies and/or groups that you may like to join, such as the Mature Students Society and the PG Society (Exeter).

Check out the Doctoral College Networks webpage for full information. Don't forget to also take a look at the societies on offer at Exeter Students' Guild and Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union websites, which include a society for international students as well as various sports and interests.

The University has some excellent resources to help with careers. Whether you plan to work in industry, set up your own business, join the third sector, stay in academia, or are not yet sure and want to explore your options, you can find guidance and helpful pointers using these resources:

• PGR Career Planning Guide - a dedicated website to support your career development. This resource provides in-depth information and practical guidance specifically tailored towards postgraduate researchers whether you are thinking about working in academia, industry, self-employment or research.
• Career Zone- much of the online content is open to all current Exeter students, including PGRs
• PGR Training & Development Resources SharePoint- contains presentation slides from past training sessions. For career skills, check out the Personal Effectiveness section
• PGR Training and Development Bulletin- find out what courses and opportunities are happening at the University in this monthly newsletter, which all PGRs are signed up to
• Upcoming training courses- our training programme will launch on Wednesday 1 October 2025 but you can add yourself to the waiting list for courses now

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
Spectrum.Life provides a confidential telephone, video, and live chat counselling service to help with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, bereavement and more. The Spectrum Life web portal offers wellbeing courses, mindfulness, healthy eating resources and online fitness classes to help you to stay well.

Wellbeing Centre
If you would like to speak to PGR Education Welfare Team for Welfare, they 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.

The Nurture-U team are offering FREE resources and therapies to help with confidence and stress while doing your PhD.
We have:
1. An online toolkit, to help you track your mood over time and manage your busy lives
2. An innovative app to build confidence,
3. Online therapy, with a therapist or self-guided, and
4. A resilience workbook, with support from a therapist.
All these options have been proven to work, we’re just researching who responds best to what type of support. You can hopefully improve your wellbeing, earn shopping vouchers, and help other students in the future by contributing to research!

Any questions, please email nurture-u@exeter.ac.uk. You can also follow us on Instagram.

Mindfulness is a powerful practice of training our attention and an evidence-based way to tackle anxiety, stress and low mood. If you’re interested in exploring more, there is a variety of free internal options available for all colleagues.

Sessions from the internal Mood Disorders Centre mindfulness team include: an eight-week MBCT-L course (2hrs weekly), an eight-week ‘deeper mindfulness’ course for those who’ve completed the MBCT-L course and bespoke ‘healthy mind’ sessions for whole teams, which can be delivered in-person or online.

You may also be interested in trying mindful meditation in 30 min online sessions each Thursday lunchtime. This is a secular practice run by the Chaplaincy.

Details on how you can contact the PGR support team, either via email, telephone or face to face via our hubs (located on all campuses) is available on our contact us webpage.

Remember you can come along and meet the team or to ask any enquiries you might have at either of our helpdesk hubs below at any of our campuses:

The Streatham PGR Hub is open from 10.00 – 15.00 Monday to Friday. The Streatham Hub is situated in the Old Library Ground Floor next to the Quiet Study Space and Bill Douglas Centre.

The St Luke’s PGR Hub is open from 10.00 – 15.00 on a Monday and a Thursday. Students wishing to access the hub should go to the Info at St Luke’s desk and request PGR support, the PGR team will then be called to see you.

The Penryn PGR Support Office is open from 10.00 – 14.00 Monday to Friday. It is based in the Postgraduate Suite in Daphne Du Maurier building 3 (next to the SU and opposite the Stannary).

For enquiries surrounding training and development, please contact the team on: ResearcherDevelopment@exeter.ac.uk

You can view previous versions of the newsletter here.