Welcome to the Doctoral College Newsletter! This is your fortnightly update on events, opportunities and news specifically relevant to you as a PGR.

Here are just some of the highlights this week:

• A reminder that applications for researcher-led awards (RLIs) are open until 17 November! If you have an idea for professional development but no funding, the RLI is for you.
• Is your research related to Low Carbon Agriculture? Developing Business Aware Academics project are looking for PGRs to join their stand- full details in the Opportunities section
• The University is offering at least two funded Fellowships for PGRs to undertake a short research project with University of British Columbia Okanagan (Canada). Check whether your proposal meets their focus areas in the Reminders section

To find out more about these, and everything else at the University for PGRs, jump to the relevant sections using our linked contents list:

Opportunities

Events

External Opportunities

Reminders

Community

Careers Support

Wellbeing Support and Sessions

Enquiries

The next Doctoral College newsletter will go out in the week commencing Monday 9 November 2026. The deadline to send items is Wednesday 4 November. Please refer to our style guide before submitting your item.

Don't forget, you can also share your news and events on PGR Community Hub on Viva Engage, or on our Bluesky account. You can also follow us on LinkedIn; we look forward to connecting with you.

The place to look for training and development opportunities at the University and beyond is our Postgraduate Researcher Training and Development Bulletin.

Are you a postgraduate hoping to work as a teaching associate (PTA)? 

Registration will be opening soon for the LTHE Spring 2027 Streatham, Penryn & Online programmes which start in January. Check out the dates the course is running and sign up to receive notification once enrolment opens.

The programme is designed to meet the specific needs of educators who are either new to teaching altogether or are new to teaching in Higher Education. The programme introduces some of the core concepts and techniques of teaching in HE and aims to give an understanding of how to provide an active, stimulating student-centred learning experience.

LTHE Unit 1 is mandatory if you intend to apply for Postgraduate Teaching Associate (PTA) positions. Once your Unit 1 is complete, you can then progress onto further units which will be needed if you are going to be planning your own sessions and/or supporting assessment, marking and any feedback activity in your role.

The Research England funded Developing Business Aware Academics (DBAA) project will have a stand in the exhibition hall at the Low Carbon Agriculture conference, 20-21 January 2027, at Birmingham NEC.

We are looking for PhD students and ECRs to join our stand. Successful participants will have the opportunity to explore the conference and exhibition as well as highlight their own research on our stand. 

The event is free to attend, open to researchers and PhD students with relevant interests, and travel costs to the venue and subsistence will be covered for attending researchers.

Attending researchers will have the chance to
• Highlight their research on our stand at a major industry exhibition 
• Discover industry perspectives 
• Build networking skills and connections 
• Spark ideas with industry employees in an informal environment
• Align your research with real industry needs  

Relevant interests include:
• Agriculture
• Renewable energy 
• Environmental science 
• Environmental business 
• Biotechnology and living systems
• Robotics and artificial intelligence 
• Geography, land use and soil science

Date: Wednesday 18th November
Time: 09.30-16.00
Venue: The Positive Lights Project, 184–187 Sidwell Street, Exeter, EX4 6RD

There’s still time to sign up for the joint Exeter Brain Network and Children and Young People’s Wellbeing (CYPW) Research Network workshop, Brain Health Across the Lifespan.

Join colleagues from across disciplines to hear about current research, explore shared interests in brain health and wellbeing, and connect with potential collaborators. The afternoon will focus on networking and interactive discussions aimed at sparking new ideas and partnerships.

This is a fantastic opportunity for PGRs and ECRs to build connections, identify research synergies, and develop future collaborations.

Places are limited, so please register soon and share with colleagues who may be interested. We look forward to seeing you there! Please email researchnetworks@exeter.ac.uk with any questions.

The Laura Bassi Scholarship was established in 2018 with the aim of providing editorial assistance to postgraduates and junior academics whose research focuses on neglected topics of study, broadly construed. The scholarships are open to every discipline and the next round of funding will be awarded in Winter 2026:

Application deadline: 15 November 2026
Results: 4 December 2026

All currently enrolled master’s and doctoral candidates are eligible to apply, as are academics in the first five years of full-time employment. Applicants are required to submit a completed application form along with their CV through the application portal by the relevant deadline. Further details, including previous winners, and the application portal can be found on their website.

Deadline: Thursday 19 November 2026 (12 noon).

We are delighted to announce that the Researcher Led Initiatives (RLIs) for 2026-2027 are now open for applications! If you have an idea for an activity or event that will benefit your peers and enhance research culture, then why not apply to run your own RLI? 

What is an RLI? An RLI is a competitively awarded small grant provided by the Researcher Development & Research Culture (RD&RC) team funded by Research England monies.

Rationale: The aim of the RLIs is to encourage you to develop your project management skills by initiating, designing, managing and delivering a peer-led professional development, networking or community-building event/activity.

Key themes: All RLI applications must cover at least one of the following Research Culture areas:
• Leadership & Employability
• Wellbeing
• Communication
• Building Community

Funding amount: Awards of up to £2,500.00 will be granted to successful applicants.

As part of the Exeter-UBCO Sustainability and Resilience Partnership, the University of Exeter is offering at least two funded Fellowships for doctoral research students to undertake a short research project (2 – 8 weeks) with the University of British Columbia Okanagan (Canada). We welcome project proposals in the focus areas of: Adaptation to Climate and Ecological Change, Innovative Health Initiatives, and Enhancing Social Justice. Each Fellowship is worth up to £4,000 with the funds available to support travel, accommodation, living expenses and other costs. This is an exciting opportunity to gain research experience in an international and interdisciplinary academic environment.

The application deadline is Thursday 12 November 2026 with Fellowships to be completed and items expensed by 31 July 2027. For more information and to apply, please visit this University of British Columbia webpage.

Deadline: Thursday 12 November 2026

Fintan May are playing Friday 6 November at Bomba. The band – made up of University of Exeter staff members Fin May, Hannah Timson, John Hodgkinson and Dave Newport – are particularly excited for this gig as it is the launch of their EP, If Only. To avoid missing out please visit the Fixr page to book your ticket, and head over to Spotify for a taste of what to expect on the night.

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.

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 Yanira Becerra, PGR Study Space Coordinator, at PGRStudySpace@exeter.ac.uk. 

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, singing, 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.

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.

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 – an online resource containing a wealth of PGR-specific information, advice and guidance relevant for all disciplines and career stages. Includes a Career Planning Toolkit where you can personalise the information and create your own Career Plan.
• Visit Career Zone for access to 'mycareerzone' where you can access careers webinars and 1:1 appointments.
• PGR Resources Hub- contains resources designed to support you in your personal and professional development at every stage of your research degree. For careers, look at the collection on Development and wellbeing.
• 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

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.

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.