Welcome to our new postgraduate researchers! The Doctoral College Newsletter provides you with fortnightly updates for events, opportunities and news specifically relevant to postgraduate researchers.

Here are just some of the highlights this week:

• Final reminder that the PGR Researcher Development Programme 2025/2026 launches tomorrow (1 October); see more details in the Reminders section
• Take a break from your screen and paint your research at Penryn Campus; details in our Events section
• If you are a new postgraduate researcher, please read Welcome from the Dean in our News section then head to the section on Induction and New Starters

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

Reminders

Induction and New Starters

Events

External Opportunities

Community

Careers Support

Wellbeing Support and Sessions

Enquiries

The next newsletter will go out on Tuesday 14 October 2025. Please submit copy for the next newsletter by Wednesday 8 October 2025.

You can also share your news and events on PGR Community Hub on Viva Engage, or on our new Bluesky account.

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 in October.

Welcome, or welcome back, to the Exeter postgraduate research community! I hope you all had an enjoyable summer vacation, with as much fun, rest and research as you needed.

The Doctoral College has been busy over the summer.  We will shortly be publishing new guidance for the use of AI in Postgraduate Research, an updated Supervisory Agreement form, a new Development Needs Analysis form, updates to our regulations, and a new and improved Doctoral College website.

Thank you to all 1410 of you who completed the 2025 Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) earlier this year. The University of Exeter has improved by 3% to an 86% overall satisfaction rate, 11th of 89 institutions, which is great. We are analysing the data now to identify actions for further improvement, which will guide our activities over the coming year.

Wishing you all the best for this new academic year 2025/26.

Happy researching!
Stacey

Keep your eyes on your emails as the PGR Researcher Development Programme for 2025 will launch tomorrow (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.

The Doctoral College have been developing some guidance for the use of AI in PGR and are keen for student input, especially in STEMM subjects or where students may be using AI for coding, data or other technical uses and are looking for some PGR volunteers to review the guidance and provide examples of how they are using AI to support their research.

If you are interested, please contact Natalie Bartram, PGR Quality Development Manager, who can arrange for access to the draft.

The guidance will be discussed at the Postgraduate Research Board on Tuesday 7 October and released as soon as possible once approved.

Our Doctoral College Induction Portal contains all the key information you need to know in your first few weeks in one easy place. Whether you are just beginning your course, or looking to refresh your knowledge, please check out this handy SharePoint resource that covers topics such as PGR Support, wellbeing, student voice, researcher development and peer mentoring, plus many more!

When: Thursday 2 October
Where: ESI Café, Penryn Campus

Take a break from your screens, activate those creative neural pathways and enjoy some gentle socialisation at this relaxed arty drop-in session!

🎨 Two sessions available: 13:00 – 15:00 and 16:30 – 18:30
🎨 Drop in and out as you wish
🎨 Engage with your research in a new way
🎨 All art materials are included
🎨 Light refreshments will be provided

Any questions to pgpg@exeter.ac.uk

Are you a Doctoral Student from a WP background (e.g. were on free school meals, are care experienced, are a refugee or asylum seeker, have a physical disability or are neurodivergent, or come from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background)? Do you want to work in academia or university Professional Services? 

Come to our WP Networking masterclasses and Showcase on Thursday 20 November in The Forum, Streatham Campus, to meet the people who can support you in your career ambitions.

Exhibitors at the showcase include: PGR Research Skills, PGR Training and Development, Wellbeing, Peer Programmes, Aspire

Networking enables the development of social capital, communication skills and confidence, and the creation of community and friendship.

• Masterclass 1 – 10:00 -12:30
• Masterclass 2 – 13:00 - 15:30
• Masterclass 3 – 15:30 - 18:00
• Networking Showcase – 18:00 - 20:00. If you have booked onto a Masterclass, you don’t need to book the Showcase!

What is it about?
This is a course on English language, which we run in every academic term. We focus on English for communication and cultural understanding, with special emphasis on getting the most out of living in the UK.

Who is it for?
A course for the partners/spouses of international students (including postgraduate researchers).

When does it start?
Start date is the first week of October and the classes run on Tuesdays and Thursdays; each session being 2 hours with a break in the middle. It finishes at the start of December.

How do I find out more?
Just email one of the two addresses below and ask for more information about the Family Class: Insessional@exeter.ac.uk or J.D.Hughes@exeter.ac.uk

This is a friendly, social class, so come along and enjoy learning with us.

We welcome abstracts for the forthcoming issue of this open-access journal, a platform sharing the perspectives of graduate teaching assistants (known at University of Exeter as Postgraduate Teaching Associates- PTAs).

The journal welcomes opinion pieces, reflective essays, case studies, book reviews, and more.

We welcome papers from underrepresented groups in HE / PGR including but not limited to BAME; mature; disabled; care leavers; GRT; forced migrants; trans / non-binary; international / beyond UK.

For more information, examples of earlier publications and submissions, check the website.

Deadline for Abstracts: 10 October 2025
Full papers by 17 January 2026

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.

The Exeter Wellbeing Network is a social group for staff and PGRs run by volunteers, 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.

 

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.

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.

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

There are a wide range of societies and/or groups that you may like to join, such as the Mature Students Society and the PG Society (Exeter).

Check out the Doctoral College Networks webpage for full information. Don't forget to also take a look at the societies on offer at Exeter Students' Guild and Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union websites, which include a society for international students as well as various sports and interests.

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.

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 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 Training & Development Resources SharePoint- contains presentation slides from past training sessions. For career skills, check out the Personal Effectiveness section
• 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 will launch on Wednesday 1 October 2025 but you can add yourself to the waiting list for courses now

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  (sign up using your University of Exeter email address).. 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.