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

In the following sections you will find:

• New Dean Appointment
• PGR Induction Portal - find PGR resources and support here!
• Spotlight on...
• Student-led communication forum for older mature students
• Exeter Students – Introducing your new PGR Officers and Academic Reps
• 2024 Researcher Led Initiative Awards – deadline 12pm on Friday 26 January
• Call for Focus Groups for PGR-PGR and PGT-PGT Peer Mentoring schemes
• Paid Opportunity: Student Peer Programme Organiser for the Maths and Stats Peer-Assisted Learning Scheme
• Opportunities
• 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 (5 February), please email ResearcherDevelopment@exeter.ac.uk by Wednesday 31 January.

Please refer to our style guide before submitting your item.

We are delighted to share the news that after a competitive external recruitment process, we have recently appointed Professor Stacey Hynd as our new Dean of Postgraduate Research and the Doctoral College. She is starting in post today (Monday 22nd Jan). As Dean, Professor Hynd will be responsible for leading the development and delivery of the University’s Doctoral College Strategy 2030.

Professor Stacey Hynd is a world-leading expert on conflict and humanitarianism in Africa. She obtained her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from the University of Oxford and joined Exeter in 2008. She holds the position of Professor of African and Global History and prior to this Dean appointment she was the Director of Postgraduate Research in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Science.

The Doctoral College Online Induction Portal is an online portal which allows you to learn about the University, the Doctoral College and its teams, along with all the student support services and how to get started with your degree. In order to access the portal you will have needed to have registered as a student first.

We recommend that all new PGR students should work through the induction portal before attending the face to face or online induction.

However, you don't need to be new to us to use the portal. This site is for all PGRs. We hold lots of references to contacts, sources of supports, reminders of information touched on at your welcome induction that you may have forgotten about, videos by our PGR Support team and how you can get involved as a PGR to really enhance your PGR experience (and more!)! We recommend you give this webpage a bookmark in your web browser and get in touch with us at Doctoral.College@exeter.ac.uk if you have any questions.

ARE YOU AGED 30 OR OVER?

Join our pilot UniChat scheme, aiming to help older students feel more engaged and involved, and improve their experience of university life.  This is a student-led initiative, with support from the University and the Guild.  We are trialling an online discussion forum, hosted externally, to allow older students across the University to better find each other, to socialise and for mutual support.

If you are turning 30 or over this coming academic year, you can register to join this pilot scheme here.

Lego Serious Play is a hands-on activity in which you build 3D models of your ideas, improving your creative thinking, communication and offering a different way of problem-solving.

Our Lego Serious Play sessions are a popular part of the Doctoral College Induction but there are many other opportunities to try it out. At our upcoming PGR Coffee, Cake and Conversation (Tuesday 30 January, 10.30-12pm in Old Library Training Room 4- sign up here), which is themed around goal-setting, we will be using Lego Serious Play to set short term (3-6 month) plans for the future. 

Or try our Build Your Wellbeing using Lego Serious Play workshop (Tuesday 30 January, 13:00-14:00pm in Old Library Training Room 4- sign up here), which will enable you to consider your wellbeing throughout your doctoral journey and to take away methods to put your wellbeing first.

Lego will be provided at the sessions.

We will have more courses involving Lego Serious Play later this year so keep an eye out for these in the Doctoral College newsletter and on our upcoming courses page.

Exeter Students’ Guild are pleased to introduce your new PGR Officer and Rep team for 2024.

Your PGR Officers Amer Asiri and Simon Preston (pictured) are here to represent you on all aspects of your PGR student experience, including your views on research culture, wellbeing, events, and activities. Get in touch with them on voice@exeterguild.com.

Your Academic Reps represent you on everything to do with your research degree, including supervision, pastoral tutoring, facilities, and resources. Find the reps for your Department on the Guild website. If your department doesn’t have any PGR Reps yet, you can sign up yourself.

The Researcher Development and Research Culture team has funding for up £2,000 per award to support the development and cascading of personal, professional and career management skills by and for PGRs and ECR staff across the University of Exeter. Find out more here. 

Apply Now!

Deadline for applications: 12pm on Friday 26 January 2024

If we set up PGR-PGR and PGT-PGT Peer Mentoring schemes, how would you like them to run?

This is what the Peer Support Team want to know from you! The best peer mentoring is student-led, so we would like to hear your ideas on what good postgraduate mentoring schemes would look like.

Come along to a focus group and chat to us about how we should form the scheme. Tea and coffee will be provided. You do not need to have been previously involved in mentoring or know about peer mentoring to attend.

If you cannot attend but would like to share your views on the subject, please let us know via our focus group sign-up form or via email to e.norman@exeter.ac.uk. We are looking for views from students based on Streatham, St Luke's and Penryn as any future scheme is likely to be offered to Exeter students on all 3 campuses.

Are you a current postgraduate student at Exeter with a maths specialism? The Peer Support Team have an exciting opportunity to help establish a new peer learning scheme!

They are looking for postgraduate students to run their new Maths and Stats Peer-Assisted Learning Scheme for undergraduates. This is a rare and rewarding opportunity to be involved in setting up a new scheme and helping students help students. The role is for up to 3 hours a week until June 2024 but may pause earlier depending on scheme demand. Remuneration claims will be processed via e-Claims and are subject to approval by the Peer Support Team. You must have the right to work in the UK to submit these claims.

If you are a current postgraduate student interested in this role, please read their SPPO role descriptor for full details and the link to apply.

Postdoctoral Fellowships in Sustainability at University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment (IonE) are looking for Ph.D graduates or Ph.D. candidates who are interested in interdisciplinary academic research and community-engaged scholarship with a focus on solutions-oriented research in sustainability to support an equitable and just transition for all. Please see fellowship description.

Those who are interested in applying can visit the IonE Postdoc Fellowship webpage. They are accepting applications on a rolling basis until 11:59 pm U.S. Central Time on March 11, 2024.
Please reach out to ione-research@umn.edu with any questions.

Deadline: 11.59pm (U.S. Central Time) on Monday 11 March

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:

• Tuesday 10:00am-12:00pm
• Wednesday 10:00-12:00am; 14:00-16:00pm
• Thursday 14:00-16:00pm

There are unfacilitated sessions outside of these timings.

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):

• Working with your supervisors (Monday 22 January, 10.00-11.30am via Microsoft Teams)
• Things I wish I'd known when I started my PhD (panel discussion) (Tuesday 23 January, 13.30-15.00pm via Microsoft Teams)
• Depositing your work to Open Research Exeter (ORE) (Wednesday 24 January, 10.00-10.45am via Microsoft Teams)
• Conducting a literature review Part 2: critiquing, structuring and writing (Thursday 25 January, 10:00-11:30am via Microsoft Teams)
• Developing Effective Networks for Research Projects (Tuesday 30 January, 10:00-11:30am via Zoom)
• PGR Coffee, Cake and Conversation (Tuesday 30 January, 10:30am-12.00pm in Old Library Training Room 4)
• Build Your Wellbeing using Lego Serious Play (Tuesday 30 January, 13.00-14.30pm via Microsoft Teams)
• How to get confident - Overcoming imposter syndrome (Thursday 1 February, 13.00-14.30pm via Zoom)
• NEW- Being an international student (panel discussion) (Tuesday 6 February, 10.00-11.30am via Microsoft Teams)
• NEW- Publishing in open access (Tuesday 6 February, 13.30-14.15pm via Microsoft Teams)
• NEW- Kickstart your PhD with joy, clarity and ease (Wednesday 7 February, 10.00-12.00pm via Zoom)
• How to get out of your own way - challenging self-sabotage (Thursday 8 February, 13.00-14.30pm via Zoom)

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.

NEW- Financial wellbeing webinars

Financial education specialists Affinity Connect are running financial wellbeing webinars for staff on 27th February, 12th June and 9th October. These webinars will be relevant to those who are members of the university’s pension scheme-“Universities Superannuation Scheme”, and will help understand your income, plan your spending, review your borrowing, plan your financial goals, prepare for unexpected costs and start planning for life beyond work. Please click here to book your place. 

For further support with your financial wellbeing, please explore our Financial Wellbeing Toolkit.

Supporting Your Health & Wellbeing During the Current Events in Israel, Palestine and the Middle East 

We know how distressing the ongoing situation in Israel and Palestine is, and the particular impact this is having on those in our community with family, friends, loved ones and other connections in the region. Our thoughts remain with all who are affected.

Our focus has been on supporting those members of our community who have been most impacted, to ensure we can hear about their experiences and to let them know about the support that is available. 

Our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) Spectrum Life has established a dedicated contact number to support those directly or indirectly affected by the situation in Israel and Palestine. They can provide in-the-moment support to any colleagues and PGR students and their dependents over 18 years old. The team of counsellors are available to talk to confidentially 24/7 and can be accessed as often as you wish. You can also call for advice on supporting another team member or colleague. All calls are confidential. You can reach this dedicated line and speak to a counsellor by calling: 0800 6525008.

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.