Welcome to the Doctoral College Newsletter - your fortnightly update for events, opportunities and news specifically relevant to postgraduate researchers.

Here are just some of the highlights this week:

• We are looking for PTAs to teach on our Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme for PGRs- head straight to the Opportunities section to find out how to apply
• Find out the results of our Three Minute Thesis final in the News section.
• Festival of PGR Research has come to a close! Read the message from founders Dr Gabby Davies and Kathryn Coombes (Researcher Development Managers (PGR)) in our final Festival of PGR Research 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

Festival of PGR Research

Events

Opportunities

External Opportunities

Reminders

Community

Careers Support

Wellbeing Support and Sessions

Enquiries

The next newsletter will go out on Tuesday 23 June 2026. Please submit items for the next newsletter by Wednesday 17 June 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.

It was a pleasure to watch our finalists (pictured on the right) present at our in-person Three Minute Thesis final on Thursday 28 May. Dr Simon Strange provided support by coaching our finalists in how to enhance their presentation skills. With strong presentations from everyone, selecting the winners was a difficult choice for our judging panel.

Thank you to all of our presenters, the judges, and the audience for coming to support their fellow PGRs and selecting the People's Choice winner.

The winners are:

• 1st Place (Winner): Namia - 'From scans to explanations. Explaining why pain persists after knee replacement'
• 2nd Place (Runner-Up): Morin Akeredolu-Ale - 'Why Aren't Circular Economy Policies Enough?'
• 3rd Place (Second Runner-Up): Sofia Cano Toyos - 'When the Body Stops Feeling the Pea'
• People's Choice: Sofia Cano Toyos - 'When the Body Stops Feeling the Pea'

Namia will be entered for Vitae's national Three Minute Thesis competition and we wish her the very best of luck.

We would like to say a big THANK YOU for making the first ever Exeter Festival of PGR Research such a success! We are grateful to everyone who took part in the Festival by entering a competition, joining a workshop or event, nominating a fellow PGR or supervisor for a Dean’s Commendation or visiting one of our poster exhibitions. We would also like to thank our competition judges, our brilliant Dean Professor Stacey Hynd and all of our colleagues who supported us by hosting workshops and events. A final thank you goes to our wonderful PGR and staff volunteers, whose support has been invaluable. 

It’s been a wonderful month-long celebration of our vibrant and talented Postgraduate Researcher community, and we are delighted to have seen so many PGRs, staff and students engaging in the programme. We look forward to seeing you next year!

Thank you to everyone who submitted a poster for our Festival of PGR Research Poster Competition. All the entries have been fantastic to see and we appreciate that a lot of time and effort goes into putting these together. 

The winners of the 2026 poster competition are as follows:

STEMM

• 1st Place: Christine Laessing "Unblocking Opportunities for a Sustainable Future"
• 2nd Place: Veronica White "Exploring visions for the future of farming in England"
• 3rd Place: Chloe Hutton "AI-enhanced dementia prevention using large language models"

HASS

• 1st Place: Vic Kendall Weiss "Re/Role the Past: Tabletop Storytelling as Queer, Radical Pedagogy in Heritage Spaces"
• 2nd Place: Emma Weaver "Investigating factors affecting student feedback engagement: A Design Based Intervention"
• 3rd Place: Sophie Stenson "Learning From Best Practice in Sustainable Governance Performance"

Most Innovative Poster:

• Vic Kendall Weiss "Re/Role the Past: Tabletop Storytelling as Queer, Radical Pedagogy in Heritage Spaces"

The judges also wanted to give a special mention to the following posters:
• Adler Santana De Medeiros "From top to roots: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal propagules inhabit leaf litter and can colonise new plants"
• Sofia Cano Toyos "Stepping into Prevention: Mixed Reality for Diabetic Foot Care"
• Emma Squire "Motivating the Masses: Behavioural Content in Biodiversity Recording Apps"

Thank you to everyone who joined one of our 'Meet the Researcher' sessions. Our poster creators really valued the opportunity to talk to you about their research, and we hope you enjoyed discussing it with them.

The Dean of PGR and the Doctoral College are delighted to announce the awardees of the 2026 Dean’s Commendations.

There are two categories; one for PGRs and one for PGR Supervisors.

The Excellence in Academic Citizenship recognises PGRs who contribute to a supportive and inclusive research community, while the Excellence in PGR Supervision acknowledges those who go above and beyond their basic supervisory role requirements.

Congratulations to all the nominees and recipients!

The list of this year's recipients can be found on our Dean's Commendations webpage.

UKRN Exeter Team are hosting the Open Research Awards Ceremony 2026 (running for the 4th year) on Thursday 18 June at South West Institute of Technology (SWIOT), Streatham Campus (10.00-16.00).

The University of Exeter Open Research Awards showcase and reward the very best of student-led open research practices across all departments and faculties. Join us as we celebrate doctoral researchers who are leading the way in transparency, collaboration and research integrity.

Please sign up to attend the awards ceremony via this form.

Date: Wednesday 24 June
Time: 18.30-20.00
Venue: Studio 74, Exeter Phoenix

Join us for a panel talk and Q and A at Exeter Phoenix, exploring the research behind video games, and what they tell us about ourselves, our futures, and the stories we tell. We'll be joined by Professor James Newman (Bath Spa University), Dr Richard Cole, (University of Bristol), Dr Amy Cutler (University of Exeter), Dr Rob Sherman (University of Exeter), and Dr James Sweeting (University of Plymouth), hosted by Co-Founder and Director of Bristol Games Hub, Dr Tomas Rawlings. This is a fantastic opportunity to level up your video game knowledge and hear from leading researchers bringing their work to the public.

Book your free ticket via Eventbrite, and contact per@exeter.ac.uk if you have any further questions.

We are pleased to announce that applications are now open for the recruitment of several casual Postgraduate Teaching Associates (PTAs) on our Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme for PGRs 2026-27. If you are interested in joining us and would like to develop your facilitation & training skills, please complete this Doctoral College PTA application form by Tuesday 23 June 2026 at 12.00 noon GMT. Please note that this is NOT the application form for Faculty and Department PTA roles, which are advertised and recruited separately.

Interviews for shortlisted candidates will be held virtually on Monday 6th July or on the morning of Wednesday 8th July, and will include a five-minute micro-presentation followed by interview questions. This is an opportunity to find out more about us and the role and to tell us about yourself and give us an idea of your presentation style. If you are shortlisted, please make sure that you are available on these dates as unfortunately, we are unable to offer any alternatives.  

If you have any questions, please email Gabby & Kathryn, your PGR Researcher Development Managers (Job share), at rdpgr@exeter.ac.uk with ‘PTA recruitment query’ in the title. 

We look forward to receiving your application.

The Laura Bassi Scholarship was established in 2018 with the aim of providing editorial assistance to postgraduates and junior academics whose research focuses on neglected topics of study, broadly construed. The scholarships are open to every discipline and the next round of funding will be awarded in Summer 2026:

All currently enrolled master’s and doctoral candidates, and academics within the first five years of full-time employment, can apply. Applicants are required to submit a completed application form along with their CV through the application portal on their website by Sunday 12 July.

Applications are now open for the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2026.The 2026 Festival theme is ‘Money, Finance and the Cost of Living’ however all ideas and topics within ESRC remit are welcomed in addition to this.

Awards available of up to £1000 for in person, online or hybrid events for a non-academic audience such as talks, exhibitions, quizzes, performances, craft activities, debates, pop-up stalls and more.

All successful applicants will receive free training and support with marketing events.

Open to all colleagues and PhD students with a project within ESRC remit (PHD supervisor must approve and act as budget holder, please see applicant guidance for full details).

Please read the FoSS Applicant Guidance before applying to assist you in your application.

Apply here. Deadline for applications: Monday 20 July 2026.

For further information and guidance please visit our Internal Funding Page or email us at esrcfestival@exeter.ac.uk

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.

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. 

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.

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 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.

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.