Welcome to this fortnight's issue of the Doctoral College Newsletter. In the following sections you will find:

• Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) 2023
• Applications Closing Soon: Researcher Leadership Development Programme (RLDP)
• Research Showcase 2023
• PGR Student Experience and Representation - Share your thoughts
• Training and Development
• 1-2-1 Careers Appointments
• Opportunities
• Reminders
• Wellbeing
• Enquiries

If you have a news story or an opportunity you would like to advertise in the next newsletter (3 April), please email: doctoral.college@exeter.ac.uk by Wednesday 29 March.

Postgraduate Researcher Experience Survey (PRES) 2023

All PGR students are invited to complete the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES). PRES is a national survey run by AdvanceHE, the results from this survey are used to inform the planning of the PGR experience at the University.

This is your chance to let the University know what we are doing well and what we could improve when it comes to the experience of PGRs. You can visit our ‘You Said, We Did’ page on the Doctoral College website to see how your responses have helped us to respond to your feedback in the past and help us to continue to improve the PGR experience.

To access the survey you will have received an email with your unique completion URL on Thursday 2 March and in various reminders. If you have not received an email and believe you should have, please email: Doctoral.College@exeter.ac.uk. For every person who completes the survey, we will donate a £1 to charity. You will be able to choose the charity that you wish to donate to at the end of the survey.

This 12 week programme, delivered via Zoom, starts 25 April 2023, running every Tuesday from 10am until 1pm, ending 11th July 2023.

• Are you the kind of person who wants to make a difference, to yourself and others?
• Do you want confidence in who you are and what you do as a leader?
• Do you want support to help you explore, understand and develop your leadership?  

The purpose of this programme is to help you make meaningful progress in your sense of who you are, and what you do as a leader. It aims to challenge your thinking and provide you with tools to tackle this challenge. 

The programme is open to:
• Early Career Researchers (R only contracts Grades E-G) 
• Postgraduate Researchers in their third year or part-time equivalent.
• Research Technicians (Grades E-G).

CLICK HERE TO APPLY!

Application Deadline: 12pm on Wednesday 22nd March

This year's PGR Research Showcase will be taking place from Monday 12th June to Friday 16th June. The Showcase provides an opportunity to promote the up-and-coming talent of Exeter's research base and to give postgraduate researchers the opportunity to develop their presentation, communication, and impact skills. As part of the Showcase, there will be three competitions that you can participate in:

• Poster competition
• Three Minute Thesis competition
• Tweet Your Thesis competition. #TweetYourThesis

To register for the Poster competition, please fill in the form here.

To register your participation in the Three Minute Thesis competition, please fill in the form here. We will be hosting 3MT in person on Streatham campus. Penryn students are encouraged to participate as we can offer support with travel. Students are asked to send their slide to ResearcherDevelopment@exeter.ac.uk by Monday 29 May.

#TweetYourThesis competition runs from 9am GMT on 5th June until 5pm GMT on 9th June. To enter, you must tweet during these times using the #tweetyourthesis and tagging @ExeterDoctoral.

Please keep an eye on our webpage, future newsletters and social media for further updates.

Following on from some of the discussion topics here, we've put together a short form about PGR Student Experience and Representation so we can improve our support for you and the students you represent. Please complete this when you can, and share it with your colleagues as well - the form is open to all PGRs, and we'll schedule a PGR Rep meeting for all officers and reps to go through some of the responses in a few weeks! Fill out the form here.

The below sessions are now bookable via Inkpath and more will be added very soon!

Please carefully check the delivery mode of your session as some of our new sessions are in-person only.

You can access Inkpath through your web browser, and by downloading the Inkpath app.

• Applying for jobs beyond Academia – 21/03/2023, 10:00-12:00
• Introduction to Unix – 19/04/2023, 13:00-16:00 (Part 1) and 26/04/2023, 13:00-16:00 (Part 2). You must attend both sessions. Register by 12/04/2023.
• NEW- Working with your supervisors (in person) – 20/04/2023, 11:00-12:00
• NEW- Project managing your research degree (in person) – 21/04/2023, 11:00-12:00
• Introduction to Python – 21/04/2023, 13:00-16:00 (Part 1) and 28/04/2023, 13:00-16:00 (Part 2). You must attend both sessions. Register by 14/04/2023.
• NEW- Designing research posters (in person) – 28/04/2023, 11:00-12:00
• NEW- Presentation skills for researchers (in person) – 02/05/2023, 14:00-15:00
• NEW- Lego serious play for writer's block – 04/05/2023, 11:00-13:00
• NEW- Conducting a literature review: critiquing, structuring & writing – 15/05/2023, 14:00-15:00
• NEW- Finding your way out of a rut with Lego Serious Play (in person) –17/05/2023, 10:30-12:30
• Perfectly imperfect writing practices for your thesis – 21/06/2023, 11:00-12:30

Please note all of our events have limited spaces; if you cannot attend, kindly remove your booking.

To learn more about Inkpath and to get started with your account please watch the following introductory content:

    Continuous tutorial video
    Individual section tutorials

Video Passwords: exeterinkpath2021

You can find all of our sessions on Inkpath under 'Activities.' If you have any technical questions/difficulties using Inkpath please email the helpdesk, info@inkpath.co.uk. If you have any questions about the training programme please contact ResearcherDevelopment@exeter.ac.uk

1-2-1 careers appointments with our dedicated PGR careers coach, Kenneth Howgill, are available to book throughout the Spring term on Tuesdays and Wednesdays each week. 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 and can be booked via Inkpath.

In-person event on Tuesday 21st March: Insessional Conversation Café - Come and chat with people from Exeter

The Insessional Conversation Café is an opportunity to chat with locals from Exeter and practice your English in a relaxed atmosphere. The café takes place on Tuesday 21st March, 16:30-18:00 in The INTO Building Room 2.02.

For further information and any queries, please contact Jo Hughes.

Online forum on Wednesday 22nd March: Widening Participation PGR Forum

Are you interested in contributing to paid ‘access’ activity for prospective Widening Participation students? Would you like to diversify and develop your skills, whilst making a difference?

The University of Exeter’s Widening Participation (WP) are running a virtual PGR Forum 3-4pm on Wednesday 22nd March (via Zoom) for PGRs who are interested in finding out more about paid Widening Participation opportunities.

The Widening Participation team organise and deliver an eclectic programme of access activity that is targeted at young people from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds from across the country. This activity is designed to support these young people by developing their subject knowledge, skills, and awareness of the teaching and research expertise at the University, to help them make informed choices about their future.

To join the forum, please complete this MS Form by midday on Tuesday 21st March.The Zoom meeting link will be disseminated shortly afterwards.

In-person event on Thursday 23rd March: Ramadan Iftar – Breaking of the Fast

Exeter Islamic Society would like to invite all students & staff to an open iftar at the Forum Street on what is expected to be the first day of Ramadan, 23rd March (depending on sighting the new moon). There will be lovely food on offer and the opportunity to learn why Ramadan is such a special month for Muslims.

Details:

• Meet in Forum Street @18:00pm for pre-breakfast talk about Ramadan: The Best Month of the Year.
• Call to prayer @ 18:38pm & breaking of the fast with dates & water.
• Maghrib prayers for Muslims (approx. 10 minutes).
• Main meal for everyone @ 19:00pm.
• For non-Muslims, sign up for the ‘Fast a Day With Us’ Challenge and experience what fasting a whole day Muslim-style is like!

Contact Ramona Nash if you have any queries.

Hybrid Talk on Friday 24th March: ReproducibiliTea Exeter - Open Science and qualitative research

ReproducibiliTea Exeter is a journal club aiming to promote Open Science (a movement to make research more accessible and transparent to the whole society). For the session on 24th March, we invite Daniela Fernandez to discuss open science in qualitative research as a PhD researcher in Psychology Department. She will talk about an example of an interview study following the publisher's open-access practices, and introduce repositories used in qualitative research. Anyone interested in this topic is welcome to join our session!

This session will be conducted with a hybrid approach. You can join us in person or online via Zoom. Lunch will be provided after the talk. Please register your attendance via Eventbrite.

If you would like to know more information, please do not hesitate to contact Xinran Du at xd247@exeter.ac.uk.

Reading Group on Monday 27th March: Routes Reading Group

Routes Reading Group is an interdisciplinary reading group for PGRs and ECRs working on, or with an interest in, migration, mobility and displacement. The first meeting will be Monday 27th March, 1-2pm in Forum Seminar Room 5. There will be refreshments!

If you would like to attend, please email Saskia Hardcastle (s.hardcastle2@exeter.ac.uk).

Online Panel Discussion on Monday 27th March: GW4 Roundtable: Careers in digital transformation

This is the second of a new series of career events exploring the regional strengths of the South West, open to postgraduate and early career researchers from the GW4 universities (Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter). Join us to hear from panellists working in connection with digital transformation and digital technologies all of whom conducted PhDs before entering the sector.

The session will consist of short presentations from our panel, followed by an opportunity for questions, so this is a fantastic opportunity to start building connections with people working in, and passionate about, new technologies and digital transformation. You will also have the chance to connect with PGR-focused and ECR-focused careers consultants from across the GW4, and ask us any questions you have as well.

Book via EventBrite. If you have any queries, please contact Kenneth Howgill.

GW4 Connect 2023 – Deadline for Applications 12pm on 28 March 2023

GW4 Connect is a suite of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) pilot programmes which will bring together postgraduate researchers from diverse backgrounds to form peer-to-peer networks of support for marginalized and underrepresented communities in higher education. Contact talentandskills@gw4.ac.uk if you have any queries. Apply here.

Application deadline: 12pm on 28th March 2023

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
Sprectrum.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 our PGR Support Advisor for Welfare, Cathryn Baker 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.

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: doctoral.college@exeter.ac.uk.

To view previous versions of the newsletter, you can do so here.