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Postgraduate Researcher Training and Development Bulletin- 3 December 2025
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Welcome to this edition of Postgraduate Researcher Training and Development Bulletin, our last edition for 2025.
Although we're nearing the end of the year, there's plenty of great courses still to come in December, including Organising your references with EndNote on Monday 8 December and Wellbeing strategies for PGRs (PGR panel discussion) on Tuesday 9 December, where PGRs will be sharing the tips that have worked for them. We'll also highlight some of the courses we have in January 2026.
You can find all the details of our rich collection of online resources available to support you in this bulletin. These are available for you anytime. If you are unable to attend a course, you can find slides from many of our sessions on our PGR Training & Development Resources SharePoint site.
You will also find information about other training and development opportunities across the University and beyond.
The full list of courses can be found on our upcoming training webpage.
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Core Postgraduate Researcher Skill- Digital and technological capabilities
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With technology advancing at such a pace, it's important to get yourself up to speed with the digital tools available to you and improve your digital and technological capabilities.
Here are just some of the courses we have on digital and technological capabilities:
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Training courses on career skills
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We've recently added career skills workshops to help you boost your employability and focus on your next steps.
The courses are:
Spaces are limited so book on now. To see all upcoming dates and book on, please search for the course name in iTrent.
We also have a dedicated PGR Career Planning Guide where you will find a range of resources to support your individual, professional, and career development.
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About our training sessions
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Our training sessions are not like traditional lectures- they are interactive sessions involving group work so that you can fully engage with the topic being discussed and can share ideas with your fellow PGRs in a friendly and supportive environment. In order to encourage an open welcoming space for everyone, we ask that you join online sessions in a room where you are able to turn your camera on and speak freely.
If you have any questions around accessibility, please contact researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk to discuss how we can support your participation.
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Knowledge and Intellectual Abilities
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Organising your references with EndNote (Monday 8 December, 13.00-15.00 in person on Streatham Campus in Old Library Training Room 2)
Do you find organising all your references time consuming and difficult? This in-person session shows you how to use EndNote to store, organise and format them for you.
Working with Digitized Primary Sources (Wednesday 10 December, 10.00-11.30 via MS Teams)
This course will introduce participants to the range of digitised primary sources available for research.
NEW- Successfully searching for Grey Literature (Thursday 15 January, 10.00-11.30 via MS Teams)
This workshop will equip participants with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively search, identify and evaluate grey literature for research purposes.
NEW- Searching Smarter- Advanced Search Techniques (Thursday 22 January, 10.00-11.30)
Do you want to be able to search faster and more successfully for electronic resources for your research, learning or teaching? This session will cover advanced search techniques you can use for everything from Google Scholar to Web of Science.
NEW- AI Essentials for PGRs (Thursday 22 January, 13.30-15.00 via MS Teams)
Want to understand AI and how to use it responsibly? Join this 90 minute masterclass to learn a basic understanding of AI and how to make informed decisions about when and how to use it. This session is part of the Essential Skills kit brought to you by the Library, and is especially for PGR students.
NEW- GenAI under the microscope: thinking critically about it (Tuesday 27 January, 10.00-11.30 via MS Teams)
Want to learn how to be more critical about the information generated by GenAI assistants? This workshop is for you! We will go through some hands-on activities to get you into a critical mindset and boost your confidence when using GenAI for your research.
NEW- Systematic Literature Review (Faculty of ESE) (Wednesday 28 January, 10.00-11.30 via MS Teams)
This session, for PGRs in the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy (ESE), will introduce you to a systematic literature review as a specific research methodology.
NEW- Preparing for your Upgrade (Wednesday 28 January, 13.30-15.00 via MS Teams)
This workshop is for students on the MPhil/PhD pathway. It introduces the transfer from MPhil to PhD process, also known as the `upgrade`. It explains why the upgrade process is structured the way that it is. It explains what work has to be submitted as part of your upgrade portfolios, and what the upgrade viva voce oral examination will involve.
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Research Methods Training
Did you know that as a PGR at the University of Exeter, you can access the Consortium for the Advancement of Research Methods and Analysis (CARMA) though our institutional account for free? This gives you access to lots of online research methods webinars and resources. Sign up here using your University of Exeter email account (scroll down the page to ‘Find Out More’, then expand the arrow for CARMA (Consortium for the Advancement of Research Methods & Analysis) and follow the registration/sign up instructions).
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Wellbeing strategies for PGRs (PGR panel discussion) (Tuesday 9 December, 10.30-12.00 via MS Teams)
By practising self-care and putting in place practical strategies to help you maintain your wellbeing throughout your studies, you will be better placed to deal with difficulties as they arise. This panel session introduces some approaches that current PGRs use and is designed to get you thinking about what you will include in your own wellbeing plan. There will also be opportunities to ask any questions you may have and further connect with your fellow PGRs during the breakout room discussions.
NEW- How to manage your career (Tuesday 27 January, 12.30-14.00 via MS Teams)
A practical and interactive career management course for postgraduate researchers (PGRs) and early career researchers (ECRs). The tools and techniques introduced in this session will be applicable to managing a career within research, but also to those participants wishing to investigate a broader career path outside academia.
NEW- PGR Study Space- Introduction and Taster Session (Tuesday 27 January, 13.30-14.30 via MS Teams)
This session will introduce PGRs to the PGR study space- its purpose and ethos, and how it runs. We will run a taster PGR Study Space/pomodoro session; and have a general discussion and opportunity to share study skills and resources.
NEW- Writing strategies - getting productive with creativity (Thursday 29 January, 10.30-12.00 via MS Teams)
This course will introduce you to a range of writing strategies to boost your enjoyment and improve your output as you write throughout your PGR journey. Taking cues from creative writing, wellbeing, and productivity, we will support you to experiment with and select approaches that suit your research area and you as a scholar and writer.
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Postgraduate research can be challenging at times, but the Wellbeing Services team are available throughout the year, to offer support if you need it. Check out the services available here.
The Wellbeing Thesis offers all sorts of useful resources to help you on your doctoral journey.
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Research governance and organisation
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NEW- Making your work open access in ORE (Tuesday 20 January, 14.00-15.00 via MS Teams)
Open access to research publications makes them more visible. This can lead to greater impact, higher citations, and can stimulate new research opportunities and collaborations.
The University's open access policy mandates Exeter researchers to make in-scope research outputs available in the institutional repository, ORE (Open Research Exeter), via Symplectic.
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Engagement, influence and impact
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NEW- Building your community - PGR speed networking (Tuesday 20 January, 10.30-12.00 via MS Teams)
Would you like to meet and connect with more of your peers and build your social network? Then come and join this very interactive, fun and fast paced session where you will have the opportunity to talk to lots of other PGRs. You will be randomly paired up with another person in a breakout room and given two topics to talk about for a few minutes before moving on to meet a new person and then another new person and so on.
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Bored of working on your own? Finding it difficult to concentrate? Looking for other people to co-work with online? Then why not join PGR Study Space, which is a welcoming and supportive environment run by PGRs for PGRs. Join our MS Teams PGR Study Space channel or contact our PGR coordinator Ellie Helpworth at PGRStudySpace@exeter.ac.uk for more information.
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Library Training and Events
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Did you know the Library runs its own training programme to help with library skills? It includes events such as:
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library research cafés where you can ask the library staff how to make the most of the Library Search service, identify and use academic databases, and build your online search skills so that you can quickly and easily find research materials to support your studies and research;
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sessions on academic writing and academic listening from English Language Skills Development Team;
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other relevant courses to familiarise yourself with key library skills.
Some courses are discipline-specific or may be aimed at undergraduates/postgraduate-taught students so don't forget to check the details before booking on.
Any questions? Click the 'Ask Us' button on the library webpages to start an online chat or email them at library@exeter.ac.uk.
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PGR Training and Development Resources SharePoint site
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Our PGR Training & Development Resources SharePoint site was launched at the beginning of this year. It's the place to go for slides and other resources from courses on our training programme. Refresh your knowledge from courses you have already attended or explore new topics, this resource can be referred to throughout your degree.
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Arts and Culture Online Resources
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Thinking about adding a creative element to your research work but not sure where to begin?
Developed by the University’s Arts and Culture team, the Get Creative toolkit offers practical, step-by-step guidance for planning and delivering successful projects with creative collaborators. It combines an interactive online guide with reflective prompts, a downloadable Planning Canvas to take ideas from concept to proposal, and detailed how-to advice on running exhibitions, workshops, performances, and other activities. You’ll also find tips on engagement, communications, finance, evaluation, and commissioning creatives.
The toolkit is a flexible resource to help you explore new approaches and make your projects more engaging, innovative, and impactful. Links below:
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Other training & development opportunities
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The Inclusive Research Hub is a living resource developed by the Inclusive Research Collective in collaboration with the People Development Team at the University of Bristol. It provides an accessible introduction to key concepts and practices in inclusive research, with over 20 sections organised across six key stages of the research process. Topics include reflexivity, literature review, budgeting, pre-registration, open-source software, and inclusive communication—alongside a growing collection of case studies that exemplify these ideas in practice.
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Training & Development Resources from Vitae
Why not check out some of the numerous training and development resources available through Vitae? They focus specifically on professional development for researchers and you can register for free using your University of Exeter account. Register here and then head here for general advice on various aspects of doing a doctorate and how to access further support, and guidance at all stages of your studies.
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Use of AI Notetakers in Researcher Development Workshops: New guidance
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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.
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A quick message from Researcher Development and Research Culture Team
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We appreciate that unexpected things come up and you may no longer be able to attend, or you may realise a course you have booked onto is no longer relevant to you. Please don't forget to cancel via iTrent so that someone else can book on, as our courses have limited spaces.
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