The Doctoral College Newsletter provides you with fortnightly updates for events, opportunities and news specifically relevant to postgraduate researchers.

We hope you enjoyed the festive break. In our first newsletter of 2026, highlights include:

• Applications for Researcher Led Initiative Awards are open; head to the Opportunities section for details
• Catch up with the latest episode of Exeter Postgraduate Researcher Podcast in the Reminders section 
• Find out all the ways you can connect with other PGRs in our Community 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:

Opportunities

Events

Reminders

Community

Careers Support

Wellbeing Support and Sessions

Enquiries

The next newsletter will go out on Tuesday 20 January 2026. Please submit items for the next newsletter by Wednesday 15 January 2026. Please refer to our style guide before submitting your item.

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

The place to look for training and development opportunities at the University and beyond is our Postgraduate Researcher Training and Development Bulletin.

The Researcher Development and Research Culture team has funding for up £2,500 per award to support the development and cascading of personal, professional and career management skills by and for PGRs and ECR staff across the University of Exeter.  Staff applicants will need to indicate their job family (i.e. R only, E&R, E&S, Technical Strategy & Operations) and explain how they fit into the Early Career Researcher stage.

Are you removing, storing or using any human tissue for research or teaching? The Human Tissue Act (HTA) training is mandatory for anyone working with human tissue samples at the University of Exeter. The next session is on Wednesday 21 January at 10.00 (online).

If you plan to collect informed consent as part of your research, you need to attend the Informed Consent training, also held on Wednesday 21 January at 11.15.

You should attend these training sessions even if the human tissues that you work with are later rendered acellular (for example, plasma or urine). This helps ensure that all researchers at the University understand their responsibilities under the Human Tissue Act and feel confident in meeting those obligations. If you have previously completed this training but have not stored samples or taken consent in previous two years, then you should re-attend.

Please contact the HTA team on HTA-return@exeter.ac.uk for further enquiries or to book your place.

This Fast Track Impact training explores the role of evidence synthesis in research, and its importance in ensuring successful policy impact. Running from 9.00 to 12.00 on Zoom on Tuesday 3 February 2026, the course is free to attend, and early career researchers and postgraduate researchers are encouraged to apply. Places are limited, and those who are interested can sign up at Evidence Synthesis Training, or contact us at PolicyEngagement@exeter.ac.uk for more information.

The final episode of the Exeter Postgraduate Researcher Podcast tackles a big question: ‘Industry or Academia – which is right for me?’. Postgraduate Researcher Sylvie Agnello chairs a lively discussion with Dr Cédric Mesnage and Dr Ana Miguel Cruz, Regional Medical Advisor for a pharmaceutical company and an Exeter alumna. They share their career journeys and weigh the pros and cons of both paths. Created by postgraduate researchers, the podcast blends personal stories with practical advice, featuring current researchers, colleagues, and alumni.

Listen now on Spotify, Amazon Music, Podbean or Apple Podcasts.

We hope you have enjoyed the new series of Exeter Postgraduate Researcher Podcast and would like to give a massive thank you to all of our presenters and guests who offered their time, thoughts, and advice.

If you have listened to any of our episodes, please fill out a quick survey to share your constructive feedback to find out what makes a great podcast episode for you. The survey is anonymous. Please note that this survey only covers the 2025 series.

Interested in participating in the next series of Exeter Postgraduate Researcher Podcast? We’ll be releasing more information in the coming weeks so keep an eye on the Doctoral College newsletter.

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, singing, 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. 

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.

A relaxed, informal singing group to promote positive wellbeing and a sense of community and connection across our lovely campus. No experience necessary! Open to all staff and postgraduate students from Exeter, Falmouth, FX Plus, the SU, and any other organisation that is based on Penryn campus. If you know someone who might like to join, please encourage them to fill out this interest form.

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.

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 is available to book 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  (sign up using your University of Exeter email address).. 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.