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

• iTrent Learning Events and Absence Reporting
• Poll to name our new Researcher Development podcast- Deadline Friday 14th July 2023
• What is research culture and how can you play your part?
• PGR Researcher Development Web Resource Relaunch
• PGR Shut Up and Write Group
• Training and Development
• 1-2-1 Careers Appointments
• Opportunities
• Research Studies
• Wellbeing (including sessions)
• Enquiries

If you have a news story or an opportunity you would like to advertise in the next newsletter (24 July), please email: doctoral.college@exeter.ac.uk by Wednesday 19 July.

August will see the launch of our new learning events and absence reporting system. Look out in the next newsletter and your mailboxes for further information and how to use it.

We are excited to let you know that the new Researcher Development podcast is nearly ready to launch, and we need your help to decide on a name! We have a short poll that includes a few possible podcast names, as well as the option to add your own suggestion. We would love to hear your ideas!

Please fill out the poll here before it closes on Friday 14th July 2023. Thank you!

Research culture can be summed up as the shared experience of the behaviours, values and expectations of all those who contribute towards research. A positive research culture not only enables all researchers to thrive, but has wider benefits from the way research is conducted and communicated, to consequent impact in society.

Our new Research Culture SharePoint site provides information about how we support a positive and thriving research culture and includes examples of what our departments are doing to support research culture locally.

There is growing sector awareness about the importance of research culture and our funders are increasingly wanting to see what we do to support our research culture. In response, we have developed a Grants toolkit which can help you answer research culture questions for grant bids.

Fostering a positive research culture is a collective responsibility and we encourage you to join in the conversation on our Research Culture Viva Engage community.

We are pleased to announce that your refreshed PGR Researcher Development web resource is now live! Developed in consultation with PGRs for PGRs, why not explore all the amazing online training and development information available at the click of a button? Happy learning! 

If you have questions or need help finding resources on particular topics, please contact researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk

Did you know that we have a daily online writing group run by PGRs for PGRs?

The Exeter Shut Up and Write group runs 365 days a year, 8am-10.30pm each day. Some sessions are facilitated, and some are not.

Always keen to have new people join us – everyone is welcome!

If you would like to join Shut Up and Write, join the Teams group or email Jo Sutherst.

Our face-to-face and webinar development opportunities will be added to our new booking system over the summer, with our 2023/24 Researcher Development Programme commencing in September 2023. In the meantime, 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.

If you are booked onto either of the below courses and wish to make a change to your booking, please email researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk:

Questionnaire: a very basic introduction – 27/06/2023, 14:30-16:00
Writing journal articles – 11/07/2023, 11:00-12:00

1-2-1 careers appointments with our dedicated PGR careers coach, Kenneth Howgill, are available to book throughout the summer on Wednesdays and Thursdays 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. We will be moving to a new booking system during the summer; if you want to make a change to an existing booking, please contact researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk.

Unlocking Open Research

Want to know more about sharing research software/code, preprints or publishing in open access? Register in the workshops that are being delivered by the University’s Open Research team, based in the Library. These workshops have been designed in the scope of the UK Reproducibility Network and are being offered to researchers from all career stages and disciplines. Registrations here.

For more information, please contact openaccess@exeter.ac.uk.

Event on Thursday 13th July - Climate Walk

For all staff working on climate science, policy and environmental research, please feel free to join a Climate Walk to explore your thoughts and feelings about the climate and ecological emergency in a welcoming, open and confidential setting.

To join a Climate Walk please book your place via this form. The meeting spot is the XFI Atrium in the Business School. The next walk will take place on Thursday 13 July, from 1pm to 2pm. Walk facilitators are trained by Climate Psychology Alliance. You are welcome to bring your lunch and a drink. For further information, please contact infoGSI@exeter.ac.uk.

Free public engagement training by Exeter Science Centre on Thursday 13th July and Thursday 20th July

Exeter Science Centre is providing a FREE two-day training this month (13th and 20th of July from 10:00-13:00 each day). The training will be in-person on Streatham Campus.

The training is for researchers from STEAMM (science, tech, engineering, arts, maths and medicine) disciplines at any career stage - PhD students upwards - who have an interest in public engagement but little or no experience with it. The overall purpose of the training is to develop your understanding of meaningful public engagement, through case studies, best practice, activities and discussions, and give you the tools and opportunity to develop your own engagement plan. Participants will be asked to bring along an idea (however vague) of an area of your research that you would like to engage people with or a reason for why you would like to engage with the public.

You can find more in-depth information on the Eventbrite page. Any questions, please contact Dr Dreolin Fleischer.

Workshop on Thursday 20th July - Using creative methods: Mental health research with children & young people

This interdisciplinary workshop, taking place on Thursday 20th July from 2-4pm at St Luke’s in Baring Court room 112, is hosted by The CYP Wellbeing @ Exeter Research Network and will provide the opportunity to learn about and experience a range of creative methods to engage children and young people in your work.

Spaces are limited due to size of the space, so please do register soon to secure your place. Register via EventBrite.

If you have any queries, please contact cypwellbeing@exeter.ac.uk.

Deadline Friday 21st July -  Anglo-Thai Education Awards 2023

The Awards have been in existence for many years with the key focus on recognising and rewarding talented students.

• Open to ALL nationalities studying PhD in UK
• Up to £1,000 per award available
• Demonstrate how YOUR research could benefit Thailand
• ALL research areas considered e.g. sciences, humanities etc.
• Application deadline on 21 July 2023
• Winners announced on 30 September 2023
• Presentation ceremony in London on 10 November 2023
• Full details and application form on ATS website. 

Deadline: Friday 21st July

Deadline Thursday 24th August - Call for Abstracts for Defence and Security Doctoral Symposium (DSDS23)

Defence and Security Doctoral Symposium (DSDS23) is a national conference that is hosted by Cranfield University and is co-sponsored by AWE and Dstl. This year it is taking place on 8th - 9th November 2023 at the STEAM Museum in Swindon. The aim of the event is to showcase the work of research students and early career researchers in the areas of defence and security, covering the social sciences as well as the technical and scientific aspects of defence and security. A selection of outputs from last year’s symposium can be viewed in the online DSDS22 Collection.

The final date for submission of abstracts is 24th August 2023 and the symposium is free to attend for students and their supervisors. Further information on abstract submission and registration can be found on their webpage.

Deadline for abstract submissions: Thursday 24th August

Student Psychology Study

Do you find yourself being harsh towards yourself? If yes, would you like to participate in a psychology lab study? You will be reimbursed for your time. It will take 30-45mins in lab and eligibility surveys.

For more details, contact Pranati (PhD student) at pm534@exeter.ac.uk.

Survey: Assessing interest in experiential programme evaluation training with the voluntary sector

The Department of Public Health and Sports Science, in connection with the Regional Engagement Team, are conducting a scoping project about the potential for a programme evaluation training whereby staff from local voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) join postgraduate students (PGRs) and early career researchers (ECRs) to learn, as equal partners, programme evaluation skills.

The survey, for PGRs and ECRs, has 20 questions (of which very few ask you to provide text answers) and should take less than 10 minutes to complete. There is no compensation for completing the survey, but you can choose to enter a draw for a £25 Amazon voucher. You can find more information and the survey here. Please complete the survey as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please contact Dreolin Fleischer.

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 our PGR Support Advisor 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.

Free Mindfulness Sessions

Mindfulness is an evidence-based way to help with anxiety, stress and low mood.

Free mindfulness sessions are provided by an experienced clinical team at our own Mood Disorders Centre. To find out more, please visit our mindfulness webpage. 
Our Buddhist Chaplain also offers free weekly, lunchtime mindful meditation sessions. Please see the group page for details and email StaffLife@exeter.ac.uk to join the mailing list.

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.