Welcome to this fortnight's edition of Doctoral College Newsletter; here are just some of the highlights this week:

• In our News section, we announce the winners of our Research Showcase competitions (Three Minute Thesis and Poster Competition)
• In our Community section, find details of the Exeter Wellbeing Network- a social group for PGRs and staff.
• Last chance to apply for 2nd GW4 peer support programme for Global Majority postgraduate researchers- find out more in our Reminders session

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

Opportunities

External Events

Reminders

Community

Careers Support and Sessions

Wellbeing Support and Sessions

Enquiries

Our next newsletter will go out on Tuesday 22 July 2025. It will be the last newsletter until September; please submit copy for the next newsletter by Wednesday 16 July.

Please refer to our style guide before submitting your item.

The place to look for training and development opportunities at the University and beyond is our Postgraduate Researcher Training and Development Bulletin. The next bulletin will be sent out on Wednesday 16 July.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Three Minute Thesis at Research Showcase this year, and to those in the audience supporting their peers. We are delighted to announce the following winners:

1st Place: Anh Le Ngu Ngo- 'From Greenwashing to Green Action: The Power of Regulation'.

2nd Place: Stephanie Hunter- 'Soluble immune messengers in type 1 diabetes: Leaky spies or white flag diplomats?'

3rd Place and People's Choice Winner: Xiaohan Xu-  'Neuromechanical Pattern of Postural Control in Chronic Ankle Instability'

Anh (pictured) will be entered for the Vitae National 3MT Competition and we wish her the best of luck!

 

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Research Showcase Poster Competition this year, and to those who attended the Streatham and Penryn displays.

We are delighted to announce the following winners:

1st Place (STEMM): Iona Selman- 'How is Climate Change-Induced Mismatch Impacting Snowshoe Hare Populations?'

1st Place (HASS): Emma Weaver- 'Factors affecting student engagement with feedback: Person and Process'

2nd Place (STEMM): Wijekoon Herath Mudiyanselage Shashanika Devmini Bandara- 'Uncovering Spatial Biases in Species Occurrence Data obtained from Contributory Citizen Science'

2nd Place (HASS): Bethany Linham- 'Delusion: An Illusion of the Healthy Brain'

3rd Place (STEMM): Raissa Iana Leite Jardim- 'Silvopastoral system as a strategy for biodiversity conservation and provision of ecosystem services: a characterisation of native trees found in Cerrado pastures'

3rd Place (HASS): Salma Hadi Alyami- 'Examining the influence of different modality variations on text comprehension and text comprehension self-efficacy for pupils with dyslexia: Theory of cognitive load perspective'

Most Innovative Poster: Amy Chinner- 'Understanding the communication of clinical uncertainty as a component of shared decision-making for people with multiple long-term health conditions'

Honourable Mention for Most Innovative Poster: Sofia Cano Toys, 'Transforming Diabetes Foot Care with VR: Virtual Steps to Better Health'

You can check out our online display of all poster competition entrants for 2025.

Any form of recording whether via Teams or external tools like Fellow and other AI notetakers is NOT permitted. If you have any accessibility needs and do require a recording of the session, please contact Researcher Development in advance and we will arrange this with the trainer. 

Keep your eyes on your emails as the PGR Training and Development Programme for 2025 will launch on Wednesday 1 October. We have some exciting new workshops coming up as well as repeats of some of our most popular sessions. The programme is based around the new Vitae RDF framework so you will benefit from the most up-to-date knowledge and guidance for your development as a postgraduate researcher.

In our latest Doctoral College blog post, Minlin Zou reflects on her experience running an initiative, 'Finding Your Footprint: Traditional Research Impact and Beyond for Postgraduate and Early Career Researchers across Exeter', as part of the Researcher-led Initiative Award (RLI) 2025. The idea emerged from her personal experiences with academic publishing, peer review, and job hunting.

Would you like to write a post for the Doctoral College blog? This can be about your research area, experience as a postgraduate researcher- any topics relating to postgraduate research that would interest our postgraduate research community! Please contact researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk if you would like further information on writing for the Doctoral College blog.

Our Images of Research competition provides Early Career Researchers with the opportunity to gain valuable experience communicating their research to a non-specialist audience. Due to popular demand, we are pleased to announce that this year, we will also be opening the competition to our postgraduate researchers too!  

The competition has received hundreds of entries over the years and showcases the breadth of research undertaken at the university through a fantastic array of images and short, jargon-free descriptions. You can view past entries and the winners, as well as gain some inspiration for entering this year’s competition, in our Images of Research booklets.

Entries will be displayed online from the Autumn and winners promoted through social media.  

The competition will open on Monday 21 July and closing deadline is Monday 8 September.

We're working on making the Doctoral College website easier to navigate, and we need your help!

Please spare a few minutes to participate in a quick tree test - no right or wrong answers, just complete some simple tasks online.

Your input will help us build a better experience for everyone.

Date: Thursday 16 October 2025

Time: 14.00–16.00

Venue: Online

What is the British Library? What’s in the collection? How can I find what I need? What development opportunities are available?

This webinar, run by the British Library, is an introduction to the British Library for prospective and current PhD researchers of all disciplines looking to engage with our collections. They will show you how to access our collections and share details of your other researcher development opportunities, including their PhD Placement Scheme and fellowship opportunities.

Please note that the webinar is free but booking is required.

Are you a postgraduate researcher at a GW4 university from the Global Majority?

 

GW4 has now launched the 2nd GW4 Connect programme for Global Majority postgraduate researchers. The programme will offer cross-institutional peer support designed to recognise your unique experiences.

• The 10-month scheme builds on the pilot programme by providing both opportunities to develop your research skills and identity, as well as explore how that may intersect with your lived experience as Global Majority postgraduate researchers.
• The programme has been co-designed and will be co-facilitated by Kemi Oladapo, who specialises in coaching diverse communities in universities and healthcare, and Kate Tapper, a senior coaching practitioner and facilitator with longstanding experience in higher education.
• Participants will have the opportunity to engage with peers and have open conversations about race and racism, research culture and academia, outside of institutional structures.
• The programme will start in September 2025, with availability for up to 25 participants.

Deadline for applications is 12pm on Wednesday 9 July 2025.

The Doctoral College is working with the Career Zone on an “Inspiring Future Researchers” project to encourage students from *underrepresented groups to consider research as an achievable career choice.

We’re looking for Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs) and postdoctoral researchers (ECRs) from similar underrepresented backgrounds to share their stories (the highs and the challenges!) to illustrate that research is an attainable goal.

We’ll be using various channels to share stories including online profiles and prerecorded podcasts. If you’d like to find out more and get involved in the project, please complete the short registration of interest form.

*Underrepresented groups include those students who identify with at least one of the following indicators as defined by the University of Exeter’s Access and Participation plan 2025-29: socio-economically disadvantaged background, 1st generation in family to access Higher Education, Bursary recipient, mature, Disabled (physical, mental health condition, social and communication or multiple disabilities), ethnic minority, care experienced or estranged from family.

The Exeter Wellbeing Network is a social group for staff and PGRs, 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, Volleyball, 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.

 

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, or for further information, please contact Jo Sutherst.

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.

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.

During a successful first term, our staff choir has evolved and now enjoys singing a range of both classical and contemporary songs, with only the occasional sea shanty 😉 Do consider dropping in for a mid-week singalong and enjoy the mood-boosting effects of group singing while having fun, all under the expert guidance of local artist and musician, Charlotte Cripwell.

Every Wednesday, 13.00 – 14.00, Stella Turk Seminar room, Penryn Campus.

Brought to you by the Cornwall Wellbeing Network- enquiries to Natasha Hammond or Andrew Pye.

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. 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. 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.