Welcome to this edition of Postgraduate Researcher Training and Development Bulletin!

In the bulletin, you will find some of our courses which are coming up soon, divided into four key areas of researcher development as per the Vitae Researcher Development Framework:

• Knowledge and intellectual abilities
• Personal effectiveness
• Research governance and organisation
• Engagement, influence and impact

You will also find other training and development opportunities across the University and beyond, including information on The Dean of PGR’s Commendation for PGR Academic Citizenship and how to nominate a fellow PGR. The date of the next bulletin (our last for 2024) will be Wednesday 4 December.

Our full list of courses can be found on our upcoming training webpage.

As a postgraduate researcher, you will have many demands on your time. Before booking onto a course it is important that you read the course description fully and consider:

• Does this course cover what you expected from the title?
• Is it relevant for you at this stage in your studies?
• Is it relevant for your discipline?
• Which courses should I prioritise (your supervisor might be able to help advise on this)?
• Can I attend the date, time and venue (the majority of our courses are online but some are in person)?

All our courses have limited spaces so it is important that you book onto the courses that are suited for your specific needs.

We appreciate that unexpected things come up and you may no longer be able to attend, or you may find that 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 are in high demand.

Searching Smarter- Advanced Search Techniques (Wednesday 6 November, 14.00-15.30 via MS Teams)

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.

Conducting a literature review Part 1- searching, reading and note-taking (Friday 15 November, 10.30-12.00 via MS Teams)

Writing a literature review is an essential starting point of good research. A thorough literature review allows you to position your work within the wider academic field and articulate the need and value of your research. This session will help you get started. It offers practical strategies for searching, efficient reading and note-taking.

Please note that this workshop is the first of two focusing on literature reviews and will be followed by Conducting a literature review (Part 2): critiquing, structuring and writing. You are advised to attend both sessions.

Copyright for Researchers (Friday 22 November, 10.00-12.30 in person, Old Library Training Room 4)

Would you like to feel more knowledgeable about copyright matters? This in-person session takes a playful approach to copyright training through the use of a card game. You will work as part of a team to think about and discuss a number of common copyright scenarios. Concepts covered will include copyright works, usages, licences, and legal exceptions.

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).

Applying for academic jobs (Wednesday 13 November, 10.30-12.00 via MS Teams)

This course will enable you to enhance your knowledge and understanding of the process of applying for positions in the academic job market. We'll explore what academic recruiters are looking for, where to source vacancies and explore the different stages of the recruitment process. There will be a particular focus on how to write effective CVs, cover letters, application forms and perform well at interviews.

Applying for non-academic jobs (Thursday 14 November, 14.00-15.30 via MS Teams)

Applying for jobs beyond academia? Need help navigating the recruitment process? This interactive course will support you in enhancing your knowledge and understanding of the process of applying for positions in the job market beyond academia. We'll explore what recruiters are looking for, where to source vacancies and explore the different stages of the recruitment process.

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.

An Introduction to the Core Issues in Research Integrity (Thursday 7 November, 10.00-11.00 via MS Teams)

The session is intended to be an introduction to the core issues in research integrity for doctoral students who are preparing to be autonomous researchers confronting professional and ethical dilemmas and challenges.

An introduction to research ethics review (Tuesday 12 November, 11.30-13.30 via MS Teams)

The course is an introduction to the main principles of ethics review to assist researchers with little or no experience of applying to a Research Ethics Committee.

Depositing your work to Open Research Exeter (ORE) (Monday 18 November, 11.00-12.00 via MS Teams)

Exeter's Institutional Open Access Policy mandates all staff to make in-scope research outputs available in the institutional repository, ORE (Open Research Exeter) via Symplectic, subject to copyright permissions. Postgraduate research students are required to deposit a digital copy of their thesis into ORE as a condition of award. This virtual session will focus on how to use Symplectic to manage publications and deposit them to the institutional repository ORE.

Responsible research and innovation & data ethics (Friday 22 November, 13.00-14.30 via MS Teams)

Through lectures and open discussions, thiscourse will highlight the need for all researchers to demonstrate awareness of and commitment to the principles of responsible research and innovation, following the AREA approach. The session will cover the basics of data ethics in research; give an overview of existing data protection legislation (UK, European and other regional legislation); and introduce CARE, FAIR,TRUST principles.

Working with your supervisors (Friday 8 November, 10.00-11.30 via MS Teams)

The members of your supervisory team are the most significant individuals influencing the development of your research. This session- from a student experience- will give you an overview of what to expect from your supervisory team, and how to make the most of your supervisors' time, knowledge and skills

Writing conference abstracts (Monday 11 November, 14.00-15.30 via MS Teams)

Conferences are the cornerstone of research dissemination whether you are presenting a talk, a research poster, or contributing to a panel. Writing conference abstracts is therefore a fundamental skill you will need to develop to ensure your research is communicated widely. This webinar will introduce you to the process of writing conference abstracts, including key tips and tricks to ensure that your abstract has the highest chance of being accepted, and encouraging delegates to attend your talk, poster or panel.

Making research assessment fairer- the why and how of using metrics responsibly (Wednesday 13 November, 09.30-10.30 via MS Teams)

Universities, research teams, and individual researchers all want their research contributions and achievements and capabilities to be recognised fairly. Increasingly metrics- quantitative indicators, like journal impact factors or university rankings have become the go-to proxies for assessing research quality and scientific contributions. But metrics can also misrepresent and disadvantage researchers, distorting the work they choose to do, or where they choose to publish it, and holding back careers - or even whole disciplines. This session will introduce the core principles and aims of Responsible Metrics.

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. Sign up here.

The Creative Club is an informal semi-structured space for creativity and experimentation. It offers a seasonal cycle of practical workshops, each hosted by a creative practitioner. No prior experiences of creative methods are required, only curiosity and willingness to have a go.

The Club is part of a PhD research project, which explores how creative interventions shape interdisciplinary practices amongst university professionals. Through techniques such as collage, poetry and performance, the Club invites participants to express and share their perspectives about different ways of knowing, doing, and supporting research.

If you have any questions or items that you would like to discuss, please don’t hesitate to contact Rebecca Edgerley for an in-person or online discussion.

Give recognition to the outstanding PGRs who have demonstrated excellence in academic citizenship, research community and research culture development, and who have supported and improved the experience of their fellow PGRs, by nominating them for The Dean of PGR’s Commendation for PGR Academic Citizenship.

Anyone (PGRs, Directors of PGR, PGR Support Teams, supervisors etc.) can nominate a PGR who has shown excellence in the following areas:

• Contributing to a supportive and inclusive research environment in their department/ centre/ faculty/ university
• Contributing to a supportive and inclusive research community in their department/ centre/ faculty/ university
• Organisation, development and/or delivery of student-led workshops, symposia, reading groups, research culture resources;
• Mentoring and supporting less experienced students/peers.

For more information and to nominate someone for the Dean of PGR’s Commendation, check out the nomination form.

Nominations close: 12pm on Friday 22 November 2024
Outcomes will be announced: W/B Monday 25 November 2024

Did you know the Library runs its own training programme to help with library skills? It includes events such as:

• 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;
• sessions on academic writing and academic listening from English Language Skills Development Team;
• 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.

After a successful start to this year's Coding for Reproducible Research training offer, with all courses running at capacity, please find below details of our November and December workshops.

Click on the relevant direct links for further details and to register via the workshop schedule page - please note there is now a different form for each course.

In a change from previous years, sessions will be delivered exclusively in-person or online, with the mode of attendance no-longer being flexible. 30 spaces are available for each course which will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis:

Working with Data in R - Online only (2 sessions 13.00-16.00 Monday 18 November and Monday 25 November)
Over two sessions, learn how to use the Tidyverse to work with data in R. The Tidyverse is a collection of R packages designed to help manipulate, clean and analyse data.

Python for Data Analysis - In-person only (2 sessions 10.00-13.00 Friday 29 November and Friday 6 December)
This course focuses on essential libraries and tools used for data analysis such as NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, and Plotly. Additionally, it covers critical software development practices such as testing, virtual environments, and version control, to ensure code reproducibility and collaboration in research projects.

NEW- Introduction to UNIX - In-person only (2 sessions, 10.00-13.00, Tuesday 3 December and Tuesday 10 December, Streatham Campus)
This course introduces users to navigating the file system and shows how to carry out basic operations on the Unix systems using the shell (also referred to as the command line). Those wishing to attend our future Introduction to HPC & ISCA course in March must be familiar with the Unix operating system.

NEW- Software Development Best Practice - In-person only (2 sessions, 10.00-12.00, Wednesday 4 and Wednesday 11 December, Streatham Campus)
This language-agnostic course looks at the software development lifecycle with research projects in mind, enabling participants to explore problem decomposition, data management, version control and testing. Participants will learn how to collaborate on code effectively and make their code useful to others, to improve workflow and increase research impact.
Further details of our programme, self-study materials and helpful tools are available on our new website.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with the Coding for Reproducible Research initiative via CodingForReproducibleResearch@exeter.ac.uk.

Further details of our programme, self-study materials and helpful tools are available on our new website.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with the Coding for Reproducible Research initiative via CodingForReproducibleResearch@exeter.ac.uk.

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.