Welcome to our Postgraduate Researcher Training and Development Bulletin- our first bulletin this academic year! In the bulletin, you will find all our upcoming courses divided into four key areas of researcher development as per the Vitae Researcher Development Framework:

• Knowledge and intellectual abilities
• Personal effectiveness
• Research governance and organisation
• Engagement, influence and impact

You will also find other training and development opportunities across the University and beyond, and stay tuned for future bulletins as we have exciting things on the horizon!

If you are accessing this newsletter off-campus, please note that you will need to connect to the University's VPN to access the booking links.

The date of the next bulletin will be Tuesday 1 October

Our Full Researcher Development Programme for PGRs will be launching on Tuesday 1 October in a special edition of Postgraduate Researcher Training and Development Bulletin- keep an eye on this bulletin and our upcoming courses page!

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 here using your University of Exeter email account.

Postgraduate research can be challenging at times, but the Wellbeing Services team are available throughout the year, to offer support if you need it. Check out the services available here.

The Wellbeing Thesis offers all sorts of useful resources to help you on your doctoral journey.

How to manage your career (Thursday 26 September, 10.00-11.30 via MS Teams)

A practical and interactive career management course for postgraduate researchers (PGRs) and early career researchers (ECRs). The tools and techniques introduced in this session will be applicable to managing a career within research, but also to those participants wishing to investigate a broader career path outside academia.

Mapping and Marketing Your Skills (Thursday 3 October, 13.00-14.00 via MS Teams)

This course will provide you with the tools to successfully apply for positions when you finish your research degree. Mapping your experience, skills, competencies & attributes will enable you to write CVs and personal statements, and market yourself and answer questions effectively in interviews.

LinkedIn for Researchers: Developing and Using Your Profile (Wednesday 9 October, 13.15-14.30 via MS Teams)

A practical and interactive professional social media course for postgraduate researchers (PGRs) and Early Career Researchers (ECRs).

The tools and techniques introduced in this session will be applicable to all those who wish to develop their LinkedIn profile and be proactive in developing online relationships with the wider professional and research community.

Applying for academic jobs (Wednesday 13 November, 10.30-12.00 via MS Teams)

This course will enable you to enhance your knowledge and understanding of the process of applying for positions in the academic job market. We'll explore what academic recruiters are looking for, where to source vacancies and explore the different stages of the recruitment process. There will be a particular focus on how to write effective CVs, cover letters, application forms and perform well at interviews.

NEW- An Introduction to the Core Issues in Research Integrity (Thursday 7 November, 10.00-11.00 via MS Teams)

The session is intended to be an introduction to the core issues in research integrity for doctoral students who are preparing to be autonomous researchers confronting professional and ethical dilemmas and challenges.

NEW- Depositing your work to Open Research Exeter (ORE) (Monday 18 November, 11.00-12.00 via MS Teams)

Exeter's Institutional Open Access Policy mandates all staff to make in-scope research outputs available in the institutional repository, ORE (Open Research Exeter) via Symplectic, subject to copyright permissions. Postgraduate research students are required to deposit a digital copy of their thesis into ORE as a condition of award. This virtual session will focus on how to use Symplectic to manage publications and deposit them to the institutional repository ORE.

NEW- The Strategic Researcher (Wednesday 18 September, 13.00-15.00 via Zoom)

Are you wanting to get a grant, but not sure how to approach it strategically? Or despite getting the grant and getting the research done, do you find it hard to achieve the publication outputs? If you do publish, how strategic are you about it - do you just do the next paper on the list or do you think about which one will help with your next grant or be read by more people or have greatest impact? This workshop will teach you the strategies.

NEW- How to thrive in the first year of your doctoral journey- top tips from PGRs (panel discussion) (Tuesday 1 October, 11.00-12.15)

This is a panel discussion featuring University of Exeter PGRs who will discuss their top tips for thriving in the 1st year of your doctoral studies. Panel members will each share their own experience of starting their PhDs, offering tips on getting started and you will then have an opportunity to ask specific questions to help you better navigate the beginning of your doctoral studies.

NEW- Being an international PhD student at University of Exeter (panel discussion) (Tuesday 1 October, 13.30-14.30)

This is a panel discussion featuring University of Exeter PGRs who will discuss the joys and challenges of being an international student. Each panel member will share their own experiences and you will then have an opportunity to ask specific questions about life as an international PGR.

The Creative Club is an informal semi-structured space for creativity and experimentation. It offers a seasonal cycle of practical workshops, each hosted by a creative practitioner. No prior experiences of creative methods are required, only curiosity and willingness to have a go.

The Club is part of a PhD research project, which explores how creative interventions shape interdisciplinary practices amongst university professionals. Through techniques such as collage, poetry and performance, the Club invites participants to express and share their perspectives about different ways of knowing, doing, and supporting research.

If you have any questions or items that you would like to discuss, please don’t hesitate to contact Rebecca Edgerley for an in-person or online discussion.

Bored of working on your own? Finding it difficult to concentrate? Looking for other people to co-work with online? Then why not join the PGR Study Space, which is a welcoming and supportive environment run by PGRs for PGRs. Sign up here.

Check out researcherdevelopment.co.uk for useful resources on this topic area.

Engagement, influence and impact covers areas such as sharing your research.

Why not check out some of the numerous training and development resources available through Vitae this summer? 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.

To celebrate National Postdoc Appreciation Week (NPAW) the University of Exeter will be hosting a series of online sessions for any researcher at the university. Sessions open to PGRs include:

• An online training session led by Hugh Kearns (ithinkwell, pictured on the right) on ‘The Strategic Researcher’
• An online panel discussion ‘Surviving & Thriving as a Postdoc’ with a panel of academics ready to share their experiences of postdoctoral life. Visit Trent to book your place on these workshops.