Welcome to this fortnight's issue of the Doctoral College Newsletter.

In the following sections you will find:

• Welcome from our new Dean of Postgraduate Research
• PGR Theses/Dissertations by an Alternative Format
• GW4 Roadshows - Tuesday 16 & Wednesday 17 April
• Open Now - Nominations for the Teaching Awards 2024
• HASS Project Monograph Update
• SCI Project Showcase Series: Queer Natures- Thursday 29 February
• Launch of HASS PGR Research Culture Blog
• The Theory and Practice of Social Mobility Seminar Series- Thursday 7 March
• Casual Mixed Floorball Group
• Student Achievements
• Opportunities
• Reminders
• PGR Study Space
• Training and Development
• 1-2-1 Careers Appointments
• Wellbeing Support and Sessions
• Enquiries

If you have a news story or an opportunity you would like to advertise in the next newsletter (4 March), please email ResearcherDevelopment@exeter.ac.uk by Wednesday 28 February.

Please refer to our style guide before submitting your item.

Hello! My name is Professor Stacey Hynd, and I am the new Dean of Postgraduate Research and of the Exeter Doctoral College. I was previously the History department DPGR, Humanities College DPGR, and HASS Faculty DPGR. I’ve always had a strong focus on PGR training and skills development, promoting equality, diversity and inclusivity, and collaborating with PGRs to develop student-led research culture activities, and I will bring this ethos to my work as your Dean. I will also focus on representing your needs and ambitions to the wider university. One of my first duties is to finalise the new Doctoral College strategy, which will be launching soon. I’m always keen to hear ideas from PGRs about how we can develop our community, enhance your skills, and support you to produce the best possible research and have the best experience as postgraduate researchers at Exeter, so please do reach out if you have ideas. I look forward to meeting some of you at various events and learning more about your research.

The Doctoral College has expanded its policies around the submission of theses in ‘alternative formats’. These amendments seek to provide greater clarity for those considering alternative presentations of theses – for either the whole or a part of a thesis – which could include for example pieces of art, performance, broadcasts, websites, exhibitions, or databases. 

Further details around the policy for submitting a thesis in an alternative format, including those on by-practice programmes, are available in Section 3 of the TQA PGR Handbook. Full guidance, forms and an FAQ, is available in PGR Alternative Format Theses page. Applications will need to articulate the alternative elements and the format they will be submitted in, provide a justification for the alternative format, and explain how the thesis will be submitted and archived. Queries should be directed to the PGR Support Team or department DPGR.

Join the GW4 Alliance & University of Exeter colleagues on
16 & 17 April 2024 for an engaging information, lunch and networking session, exploring GW4’s strategic priorities, their programmes of work, and the funding, support & career development opportunities they can offer to academic staff, researchers and PGRs across the University.

The event is open to all staff and PGRs, with free lunch and refreshments provided. Please register to attend, using the links below.
• Tuesday 16 April, Streatham Campus, LSI Seminar Rooms A&B, 11am-1pm
• Wednesday 17 April, Penryn Campus, ESI Trevithick Room, 11am-1pm

Nominations for the Teaching Awards 2024 open today (Monday 19 February), and will close at 08:00 on Monday 8 April. You can nominate your lecturers, supervisors, tutors, postgraduate teaching associates, administrators, and other members of staff for various awards which recognise their contributions to improving the student experience.

The full descriptions and criteria for each award category are available on the website. If you have any questions, please do get in touch with the Students’ Guild Voice Team via voice@exeterguild.com.

The Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Project Monograph aims to create a better culture for writing and producing research across our community. A wide variety of writing retreats both on and off campus, as well as writing and journalling workshops are now available throughout the next few months, along with a buddy system that pairs colleagues to support your writing. The team are always looking for new ideas and ways to support creative writing and practice, so please get in touch with Rachel Dallyn and William Galois with your suggestions.

SCI Project Showcase Series: Queer Natures
Date: Thursday 29 February
Time: 13.00-14.00
Venue: Digital Humanities Seminar Room 1
Speaker: Dr Ina Linge (Languages, Cultures and Visual Studies)

The Societies and Cultures Institute (SCI) celebrates LGBTQ+ History Month with this next event in its Project Showcase Series. Dr Ina Linge will deliver a seminar on her unique interdisciplinary project, 'Queer Natures: Animals, Environment and Modern Sexual Knowledge Production (1860s to 1930s and today)'.

Find out more and register here.

The Societies and Cultures Institute works to encourage and enable innovation, interdisciplinarity, external partnerships and real-world impact in HASS research.

The HASS PGR Research Culture blog is your opportunity to showcase your research - while you are still doing it! When the site goes live in February, it will share stories about the brilliant research and impact going on across the faculty. You could write a guest post about a research trip, a new discovery, or a hurdle in your progress. You could be interviewed by us about your work and your ambitions. You could even put your supervisor in the hot seat!

This is our chance to demonstrate our powerhouse PG research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences to the wider University and the wider world. Public engagement articles like these look great on your academic CV and they help you think about your research in fresh ways.

Get in touch with Ruth and Jo today at HASSblog@exeter.ac.uk - they'd love to help you share your story.

If you are not based in HASS, don't forget that we also have the Doctoral College blog, open to all faculties.

Join us on Thursday 7 March, 11.30am-14.30pm in Seminar Room A, LSI, Streatham Campus, for a practical session on improving research design, dissemination and impact from a social mobility perspective. In addition to a networking lunch, you will have the benefit of learning Professor Lee Elliot Major’s Top 10 Tips for Policy Impact and Dr Anne-Marie Sim will discuss how to embed social mobility into research design. All are welcome and lunch is free.

Contact Dr Antony Mullen (a.mullen@exeter.ac.uk) with any queries.

For full details and to book your place, please click here.

This activity is a Researcher-led Initiative​ that has been funded by the University of Exeter Researcher Development and Research Culture team.

A mixed group of academics, staff and PGR students are looking for new members to join their floorball (indoor hockey) group. They play casually every Thursday 12 - 1 pm at the Streatham sports hall and are open to all. No prior experience is required, and all equipment is provided. If you would like to join or know more, feel free to contact Valentin at v.haemmerli@exeter.ac.uk.

PGR Renee Shang awarded £9000 travel grant

2nd year PhD researcher Renee Shang, from Department of Engineering, has been awarded a £9000 travel grant for her project titled 'New Generation Hydrogen Storage Vessel via 3D-Printed MOF/Polymer Composite Structures'. This prestigious grant is provided by the Wohl Clean Growth Alliance, managed by the British Council, and stands as a significant acknowledgment of the impact and potential of Renee's research. This accolade not only showcases Renee's commitment and excellence within her field but also highlights the successful research collaboration between the UoE and Tel Aviv University (TAU). This collaboration, which is a part of the initiative supporting the Materials Water-Energy Nexus, has been funded by the UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.

PGRs win two awards at Australasian Animal Studies Association (AASA)

Congratulations to Dr. Kris Hill, Dr. Michelle Szydlowski, Dr. Tom Aiello, Sarah Oxley Heaney, Jes Hooper, Gill Howarth, Irene Perrett, and Louise Hayward.

Prizes were donated by AASA members in honour of the late Associate Professor Siobhan O’Sullivan.

• The 2023 Journal Article by an Early Career Researcher Prize ($500) was awarded to Jes, Tom, Kris, Michelle, and Sarah for their paper “Nothing More than ‘Anti-Cull Activists’: Accusations of Bias and the Politics of Research that Advocates for Non-Human Animals”

• The 2023 AASA Popular Communication of Animals Studies Prize ($500) was awarded to the group for their work to establish Anthrozoology as International Practice (AIP): A Student Conference in Human-Animal Studies.

The group donated their prize to cover costs associated with hosting the next conference.

Open for Submissions and Registration: 45th New Phytologist Symposium: Ecological and evolutionary consequences of plant–fungal invasions

26–29 June 2024, UNICAMP, Brazil
Organised by

• Laszlo Nagy, University of Campinas
• Erika Buscardo, University of Brasília
• Miranda Hart, University of British Columbia Okanagan
• Jason Hoeksema, University of Mississippi

A two-day pre-symposium workshop on ‘Metabarcoding and Metagenomics, powerful tools to explore the ecological dimension of biological invasions’ will also be held from Monday 24 June 2024. See the programme for full details of sessions and confirmed speakers.

More details and registration can be found here.

Deadlines for abstract submission:

• Travel grants and oral abstracts: Friday 1 March
• Poster abstracts: Monday 1 April

Artwork Competition at Postgraduate Pedagogies Journal

At Postgraduate Pedagogies Journal we are currently working on our fourth volume of academic articles authored by postgraduate researchers and academics working with them. We aim to publish in summer 2024. We are reaching out to Doctoral Schools and Graduate Colleges throughout the UK to share an exciting opportunity. We are looking for artists and designers to contribute a refreshing cover artwork to dress the forthcoming volume of our journal.

For the artwork competition, there are three prizes:
First prize:
•artwork printed on the front and back covers of Postgraduate Pedagogies Journal Vol. 4
•£200 (voucher)

2 Runners-up:
•artwork printed inside the Postgraduate Pedagogies Journal Vol. 4
•£50 (voucher) each

Artwork specifications:
Format: JPEG
               300dpi (final version)
                31.2x21.6cm
Please submit file size 180dpi

All artwork submissions to be sent to: postgrad.pedagogies.journal@gmail.com by 1st April 2024.

Deadline: Monday 1 April

PhD students - micro-consulting on deep tech research projects

The Pitch: Intellectually stimulating and hyperflexible virtual work with no min commitment.  Outsmart Insight are on the hunt for PhD students who enjoy thinking, writing and speaking about new and emerging technologies.

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING

Deep tech research and foresight. You’ll help the R&D divisions of global companies and government agencies be at the forefront of innovation. Tasks span literature reviews, finding collaboration partners, communicating concepts, and mapping trends.
Time commitment? Anything from zero to 10 hrs per week (possibly more outside termtime), depending on available projects, your free time and aptitude.

WHAT YOU WILL GET IN RETURN
By micro-consulting with us on various projects, you’ll
✔   Earn consulting fees
✔   Create impact using your scientific knowledge
✔   Explore unfamiliar technology areas
✔   Supercharge your CV and career prospects
✔   Build your network of industry professionals and academics

APPLY
It takes 150 seconds to pre-register: associates.outsmartinsight.com/join

PGR Hybrid Writing Retreat (Online and Face-to-face at Streatham Campus) Wednesday 21 February 2024

• Wednesday 21 February 2024, 10am – 4pm
• Spaces limited to 35 face-to-face, online unlimited
• ONE/TR01 - Pearson Teaching Room /Building:One

Sign up here.

Join online via this Teams link.

Deadline for sign up: Tuesday 20 February 2024
 

PGR Online Writing Retreat (Online and Face-to-face at St. Luke’s Campus) Tuesday 19 March 2024

• Tuesday 19 March 2024, 9am – 12noon
• Spaces limited to 35 face-to-face, online unlimited
• BAR/128 - 128 /Baring Court

Sign up here.

Deadline for sign up: Monday 18 March 2024

Join online via this Teams link.

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, or for further information, please contact Jo Sutherst.

PGR Study Space core facilitated hours are:

• Monday 10:00am-12:00pm
• Wednesday 10:00am-12:00pm
• Friday 10:00am-12:00pm

There are unfacilitated sessions outside of these hours so you can fit it around your working patterns.

Here are some of our upcoming courses (if you are working off-campus, you will need to log into the University VPN to access these links). Please check the venue when booking as some courses are in-person:

• An introduction to research ethics review (Wednesday 21 February, 10.00am-12.00pm via Microsoft Teams)
• Essentials of Leadership (Wednesday 21 February, 10.00am-12.30pm via Microsoft Teams)
• Mapping and Marketing Your Skills (Thursday 22 February, 14.00-15.30pm via Microsoft Teams)
• How to manage your career (Tuesday 27 February, 10.00-11.30am via Microsoft Teams)
• An Introduction to the Core Issues in Research Integrity (Wednesday 28 February, 10.00-11.00am via Microsoft Teams)
• Maintaining momentum and focus after your upgrade (Thursday 29 February, 10.00-11.30am in Old Library Training Room 4)
• NEW- Writing conference abstracts (Friday 1 March, 10.30am-12.00pm via Microsoft Teams)
• NEW- LinkedIn for Researchers: Developing and Using Your Profile (Thursday 7 March, 10.00-11.30am via Microsoft Teams)
• NEW- Conducting a literature review Part 1- searching, reading and note-taking (Tuesday 12 March, 10.00-11.30am via Microsoft Teams)
• NEW- Applying for academic jobs (Thursday 14 March, 10.00-11.30am via Microsoft Teams)
• NEW- Finding your way out of a rut with Lego Serious Play (Tuesday 19 March, 13.00-14.30pm in Old Library Training Room 2)
• NEW- Conducting a literature review Part 2- critiquing, structuring and writing (Wednesday 20 March, 10.00-11.30am via Microsoft Teams)

Check out our full list of upcoming courses here.

We use PGR iTrent as our booking system for training. Please note that PGR iTrent is separate from staff iTrent; we advise bookmarking this page so that you know you are using the correct links.

You can find presentation slides and recordings of some of our previous courses on ELE. Further resources are also available on researcher-development.co.uk.

You will need to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access iTrent if you are working off campus or not on the University network. You can access information about how to use VPN on the University’s webpages.

1-2-1 careers appointments with our dedicated PGR careers coach, Kenneth Howgill, are available to book on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Kenneth is a qualified and experienced career coach, lecturer and learning and development professional with over 20 years’ experience within the corporate sector, universities, further and adult education. He has held management roles in the public, corporate and not for profit sectors, leading professional development, coaching programmes, and recruiting graduates. Kenneth is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is a member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council and holds a business degree, a master's in music and a professional career coaching qualification.

All appointments are 50 minutes long. You can book via MS Bookings; please contact researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk if there are any technical difficulties.

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.

Wellbeing Centre
If you would like to speak to Zoë Hughes, PGR Support Advisor for Welfare, Zoë 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.

Free Mindfulness Sessions for Wellbeing

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.

Information about these sessions, how to sign up and their benefits can be found on our mindfulness webpage.

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 10.00am – 3.00pm 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 10.00am – 3.00pm Monday to 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 10.00am – 2.00pm Monday to Friday and 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.

To view previous versions of the newsletter, see here.