Welcome to the new look Postgraduate Researcher Training and Development Bulletin! This is your go-to place for information about training and development courses and resources offered on the Doctoral College Postgraduate Researcher Development Programme 2026-2027, as well as other activities and opportunities happening across the University and beyond.

There are lots of new resources for you to explore including: 
• Over 150 different workshops on our Doctoral College Postgraduate Researcher Development Programme (PRDP)
• A wealth of asynchronous resources on the new Postgraduate Researcher (PGR) Resource Hub SharePoint site ready for you to access as and when you need it.
• The new Exeter PGR Development Needs Analysis (DNA), a tool designed to assist you assess your strengths and skills, identify areas for development and create your own professional development plan.
• And to help you plan the next steps in your career, please check out the new PGR Careers Resource

For more details about all of these new resources, please scroll down through the bulletin.

Our training sessions are not like traditional lectures - they are interactive sessions involving individual activities and group work so that you can fully engage with the topic being discussed and can share ideas with your fellow PGRs in a friendly and supportive environment. To encourage an open welcoming space for everyone, we ask that you join online sessions in a room where you are able to turn your camera on and speak freely.

After attending a workshop:
• Slides will be shared with attendees after each session.
• Recordings are not shared with attendees unless specifically requested.
• Please complete the Evaluation Form to log your key learning & supply your constructive feedback on the session

Accessibility:
We aim to make our workshops as inclusive and accessible as possible. If you have specific accessibility needs, please contact us at researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk to discuss how we can best support your participation.

Please note that for some courses (e.g. courses where sensitive personal information is shared), it may not be appropriate to record.

We appreciate that unexpected things come up and you may no longer be able to attend, or you may realise a course you have booked onto is no longer relevant to you. Please make sure to cancel via iTrent so that someone else can book on, as our courses have limited spaces. For guidance how to cancel, please see the PGR iTrent User Guide.

To help create a welcoming and fully engaged environment, participants are asked not to use AI assistants during online sessions/workshops. Some attendees may not feel comfortable with AI tools recording or summarising discussions. If AI assistant use is detected, participants will be asked to disable the functionality. Continued use may result in removal from the workshop. Thank you.

If you prefer to undertake self-paced learning, you can access a wide range of materials on the new PGR Resource Hub, which is also the home to guidance on completing your Development Needs Analysis. We worked with some brilliant PGRs to co-create this site, which offers material grouped under the three Vitae RDF25 domains of Researcher, Research and Research Communities as well as curated collections on specific subject areas. There is also signposting to other resources and information across the university that you may find useful. This is a living resource, so please do contact us if you have suggestions for additions and other topics you would like to see included.

We are delighted to announce that the University of Exeter has a new online PGR Careers Resource. The resource has been designed specifically for you and contains a wealth of PGR-specific information, advice and guidance relevant for all disciplines and career stages. There is an accompanying Career Planning Toolkit with activities linked to the various sections, so you can personalise the information and undertake your own career learning journey.

Topics in the resource include:
• Identifying your ideal role
• Career options
• Top skills employers are seeking
• Networking
• Entrepreneurship
• Professional development
• Applying for academic and non-academic jobs

We have just launched the Exeter PGR Researcher Development programme account on LinkedIn and invite you to follow/connect with us to broaden your professional network and to stay up to date with news of programme activities.

These courses focus on personal and professional values and behaviours.

• PGR Study Space- Introduction and Taster Session (Thursday 8 October, 10.00-11.30 via MS Teams)
• Getting started on your PGR Journey – a reflective workshop (Friday 9 October, 10.00-12.30. in person in Old Library Training Room 4, Streatham Campus)
• Preparing for your final year (Wednesday 14 October, 13.00-14.30 via Microsoft Teams)
• Academic note-making & data management (Thursday 15 October, 13.00-14.30 via MS Teams)
• How to thrive in the first year of your research journey (PGR panel discussion) (Tuesday 20 October, 10.00-11.30 via MS Teams)
• Development Needs Analysis: What is it? How to complete it (Tuesday 20 October, 13.00-14.30 via MS Teams)
• Getting Stuff Done (Wednesday 28 October, 12.30-14.00 via MS Teams)

We have developed some new training and resources to help you prepare for your fieldwork, which can be found at PGR Resources.

This includes a new 'one-stop' handbook that contains key information and advice, timelines and flowcharts, and new online and in-person training workshops. The resources cover everything from planning and selecting fieldsites at the start of your programme, to ethics and risk assessments, budgeting, packing and travel advice, to tips on lone working when you are in the field, and what to do when you get back to your desk at the end.

We hope that you will find these resources really useful, and that they will make preparing for your fieldwork (and trying to navigate all the related university websites) easier and more straightforward. Happy planning and safe travels!

These courses focus on the knowledge and skills you need to undertake research and deliver outcomes.

• AI Essentials for PGRs (Thursday 8 October, 13.00-14.30 via MS Teams)
• Getting Your Research Approved: Sponsorship, Standards & Support (Thursday 8 October, 13.30-14.30 via MS Teams)
• Crafting clever GenAI prompts (Monday 12 October, 13.00-14.30 via MS Teams)
• Thinking with AI: Using Generative AI to Structure and Communicate Research (Friday 16 October, 10.30-12.00 via MS Teams)
• GenAI under the microscope: thinking critically about it (Monday 19 October, 13.00-14.30 via MS Teams)
• Research without Barriers- Publishing in Open Access (Wednesday 21 October, 14.00-15.00 via MS Teams)
• Critical reading (Thursday 22 October, 10.00-11.30 via MS Teams)
• The ethics committee and me: how to get the most out of the ethics review process (Thursday 22 October, 13.00-14.30 via MS Teams)
• Writing a literature review (Wednesday 28 October, 10.00-11.30 via MS Teams)
• Thesis Project Management (Thursday 29 October, 10.00-11.30 via MS Teams)

Did you know that as a PGR at the University of Exeter, you can access the Consortium for the Advancement of Research Methods and Analysis (CARMA) though our institutional account for free? This gives you access to lots of online research methods webinars and resources. Sign up using your University of Exeter email account (scroll down the page to ‘Find Out More’, then expand the arrow for CARMA (Consortium for the Advancement of Research Methods & Analysis) and follow the registration/sign up instructions).

Have you explored The Writing Brain? It's a one-stop website to help support your academic writing development. It contains a wealth of resources from the basics, through clarity and style to structure and includes mini video lectures and practical worksheets on a wide variety of topics.

A big thank you to Dr Emily Bernhard Jackson for curating all content and to Research England for funding this resource.

These courses focus on the knowledge and skills you need to engage and work with others.

• Getting the most out of supervision (supervisor perspective) (Wednesday 14 October, 11.00-12.30 via MS Teams)
• Working with your supervisor(s) (PGR perspective) (Wednesday 21 October, 10.00-11.30 via MS Teams)

The University has some excellent resources to help with careers. Whether you plan to work in industry, set up your own business, join the third sector, stay in academia, or are not yet sure and want to explore your options, you can find guidance and helpful pointers using these resources:

• PGR Careers Resource - This site has been specifically designed to support PGRs from all disciplines, at all stages of your degree programme and career journey, with activities for you to complete as you work through the sections of the resource, to personalise the information and create your own career plan.
• PGR Career Planning Guide - a dedicated website to support your career development. This resource provides in-depth information and practical guidance specifically tailored towards postgraduate researchers whether you are thinking about working in academia, industry, self-employment or research.
• Career Zone- much of the online content is open to all current Exeter students, including PGRs. 
• PGR Resources Hub- contains resources designed to support you in your personal and professional development at every stage of your research degree.
• PGR Training and Development Bulletin- find out what courses and opportunities are happening at the University in this monthly newsletter, which all PGRs are signed up to
• Upcoming training courses- our training programme is available to book now

The Insessional team run the Academic Literacy and English programme for all students studying at the University of Exeter who are speakers of languages other than English.

There are a variety of ways you can learn:

• Guided Independent Learning- an online resource for you to independely improve your language skills through self-study
• Attend in-person workshops
• Book a one-to-one session via MS Teams
• Join their Viva Engage community to ask questions, get advice, and find out what other students are asking about.

Did you know the Library runs its own training programme to help with library skills? It includes events such as:

• library research cafés where you can ask the library staff how to make the most of the Library Search service, identify and use academic databases, and build your online search skills so that you can quickly and easily find research materials to support your studies and research;
• sessions on academic writing and academic listening from English Language Skills Development Team;
• other relevant courses to familiarise yourself with key library skills.

Some courses are discipline-specific or may be aimed at undergraduates/postgraduate-taught students so don't forget to check the details before booking on.

Any questions? Click the 'Ask Us' button on the library webpages to start an online chat or email them at library@exeter.ac.uk.

Thinking about adding a creative element to your research work but not sure where to begin?

Developed by the University’s Arts and Culture team, the Get Creative toolkit offers practical, step-by-step guidance for planning and delivering successful projects with creative collaborators. It combines an interactive online guide with reflective prompts, a downloadable Planning Canvas to take ideas from concept to proposal, and detailed how-to advice on running exhibitions, workshops, performances, and other activities. You’ll also find tips on engagement, communications, finance, evaluation, and commissioning creatives.

The toolkit is a flexible resource to help you explore new approaches and make your projects more engaging, innovative, and impactful. Links below:

https://www.artsandcultureexeter.co.uk/resources/get-creative
https://www.artsandcultureexeter.co.uk/resources/get-connected
https://www.artsandcultureexeter.co.uk/resources/get-inspired
https://www.artsandcultureexeter.co.uk/resources/get-involved
https://www.artsandcultureexeter.co.uk/resources/get-learning

The Inclusive Research Hub is a living resource developed by the Inclusive Research Collective in collaboration with the People Development Team at the University of Bristol. It provides an accessible introduction to key concepts and practices in inclusive research, with over 20 sections organised across six key stages of the research process. Topics include reflexivity, literature review, budgeting, pre-registration, open-source software, and inclusive communication—alongside a growing collection of case studies that exemplify these ideas in practice.

Why not check out some of the numerous training and development resources available through Vitae? They focus specifically on professional development for researchers and you can register for free using your University of Exeter account. Register here and then head here for general advice on various aspects of doing a doctorate and how to access further support, and guidance at all stages of your studies.