Welcome to our Postgraduate Researcher Training and Development Bulletin! In this fornightly bulletin, you will find all our upcoming courses 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

In this bulletin, you will also find other training and development opportunities across the University and beyond, including our Cornwall Doctoral Training School 2024 and PGR 3-Day Residential Writing Retreat (Buckfast Abbey).

If you are accessing this newsletter off-campus, please note that you will need to connect to the University's VPN to access the booking links.

Next bulletin: Wednesday 17 July.

Questionnaire: a very basic introduction (Tuesday 16 July, 10.00-11.30 via MS Teams)

The workshop will focus on considering the key things to think about at the early stages of setting out on a questionnaire survey; it will be particularly appropriate for those who have no experience of questionnaire design.

Success at Interviews (Thursday 4 July, 12.30-14.00 via MS Teams)

The tools and techniques introduced in this session will be applicable to all those who wish to develop their skills and knowledge of how interviews are used in the recruitment process for roles within and outside of academia.

There will be information provided and opportunities for Q and A as well as live input from former PhD researchers who have been successful in securing both post-doc roles and industry/public sector opportunities.

Introduction to Project Management for Researchers (Tuesday 9 July, 09.30-16.30 in Exchange Building, Seminar Room Green, Penryn Campus)

This is an intense and compact 1-day in-person course that provides a high-level overview of key Project Management techniques and concepts.

It offers an introduction to the process of managing projects and the tools to assist in planning and tracking progress; this course is intended to be immediately applicable to planning and managing academic and research projects as well as commercial projects.

Introduction to Project Management for Researchers (Wednesday 10 July, 09.30-16.30 in Laver 320, Laver Building, Streatham Campus)

This is an intense and compact 1-day in-person course that provides a high-level overview of key Project Management techniques and concepts.

It offers an introduction to the process of managing projects and the tools to assist in planning and tracking progress; this course is intended to be immediately applicable to planning and managing academic and research projects as well as commercial projects.

The Emotionally Intelligent and Agile Researcher (Thursday 11 July, 09.15-13.00 via Zoom)

This Zoom workshop provides information about the different components of emotional intelligence along with research-based activities to enhance emotional agility and grow self-awareness.This course is recommended for those who are interested in maximising potential and the ability to connect well with others.

Check out researcherdevelopment.co.uk and ELE for useful resources on this topic area.

Research governance and organisation covers areas such as Research Ethics and Health and Safety.

Being a Neurodivergent Researcher: How to keep sane in the final months (Wednesday 3 July, 12.30-15.45, in person in Old Library Training Room 4, Old Library, Streatham Campus)

Are you neurodivergent and in the last phase of your research degree? First: well done! Second: this is where the real work starts. How do you get through this last stretch of work without crumbling at the finish? Lived-experience advocate and autistic mentor Jorik Mol has been there and done that and made all the mistakes he could make. Let's share our stories and how we keep ourselves on the safe side of sane just while you're about to submit.

Being a Neurodivergent Researcher: Communicating your fascination (Wednesday 10 July, 12.30-15.45, in person in Old Library Training Room 4, Old Library, Streatham Campus)

Throughout your research degree, being neurodivergent has been your secret weapon. Your passion and your joy for your subject dragged you through the worst of it. Now, your heart and soul needs to be judged and marked by (likely) neurotypicals. How do you express your joy and fascination in a way that allows that to be received by neurotypicals? This is where we share strategies, frustrations and laughs about miscommunications, including with supervisors, lecturers and at networking opportunities.

Being a Neurodivergent Researcher: Blank space, or, the future beyond the MRes/PhD (Wednesday 17 July, 12.30-15.45, in person in Old Library Training Room 4, Old Library, Streatham Campus)

"So, what are you going to do now?" The dreaded question. This is what you've been trying to avoid all these years. We're all perfectly aware that the job market is terrible for neurodivergent people, in whatever field we try to make our way - we have no illusions about that. However, there are ways to find yourself employed, healthy and supported - somehow, Jorik is all three of those right now! Let's meet and share stories of job interviews, making connections, 'the hustle,' and how to be creative in an economy that's great at excluding us.

Experience the Cornwall Doctoral Training School 2024: Communication & Dissemination! This 2-day program is designed to develop the key skills you need to effectively communicate and disseminate your research.

Developed specifically for postgraduate researchers (PGRs) at the Cornwall campus at the University of Exeter, this training school will cover critical topics like:

- Drafting impactful conference abstracts
- Writing and delivering engaging conference presentations 
- Leveraging social media and blogging to share your work
- Preparing for academic job interviews and presentations

Attending both days of the training school will allow you to fully immerse yourself in the material and get the most comprehensive learning experience. You'll have the opportunity to practice these skills through interactive group exercises and receive valuable peer feedback, as well as feedback from senior academic staff and Researcher Development. This is also a chance to meet up outside of campus and network with PGRs from across the university's three faculties.

Dates: Wednesday 10 July - Thursday 11 July 2024
Time: 10:00 - 17:00
Location: Princess Pavilion, Falmouth

The training, transport, and meals are all provided free of charge. Register now to secure your spot at this transformative event! If you are working off-campus, you will need to log into the University's VPN for registration link to work.

Your feedback from participation in this training school will also help us develop plans for future Cornwall-specific postgraduate training provision.

As part of Exeter Writes Initiative, we are offering a 3 day PGR writing retreat at Buckfast Abbey from Monday 22-Thursday 25 July. This is a dedicated space to write articles, PhD chapters etc, with timed writing sessions to enable PGR participants to focus on writing.

The retreat will provide transport, accommodation and breakfast, dinners and refreshments. This opportunity is open to all PGRs. To ensure fairness a first come-first serve system will operate within each faculty, so it will not be possible to accommodate everyone that requests a place.

Please note that places are very limited (13 in total), and preference will be given to those people who can commit to the full three days and who are in the writing-up phase of their doctoral journey. You will be notified by Friday 12 July whether or not you have been successful.

If you would like to attend and can commit to all three days, please register via the Microsoft Form by Monday 8 July 2024 at 16:00.