Wecome to this fortnight's edition of Doctoral College Newsletter; here are just some of the highlights this week:

• Check out our Upcoming Events section for a chance to expand your network with outdoors mingling and games at St Luke's Campus
• Visit our Opportunities section for information on how you can get involved with the Doctoral College Blog
• In our Reminders section, there's a last chance opportunity to sign up for the Career Mentor Scheme

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

Upcoming Events

Opportunities

Community

Reminders

Careers Support and Sessions

Wellbeing Support and Sessions

Enquiries

Our next newsletter will go out on Tuesday 13 May 2025. If you have a news story or opportunity you would like to advertise, please email ResearcherDevelopment@exeter.ac.uk by Wednesday 7 May 2025.

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 on Wednesday 7 May.

The Dean of PGR and the Doctoral College are delighted to launch two Dean’s Commendation schemes for postgraduate researchers.

Following a successful pilot, we welcome nominations for PGRs who have displayed excellence in Academic Citizenship, and for a new award for Excellence in PGR Supervision.

The Academic Citizenship Commendation recognises PGRs who contribute to a supportive and inclusive research community. The new Supervision award celebrates supervisors who go above and beyond basic role requirements.

Nominations are open to all – PGRs, Directors of PGR, support teams, and supervisors.

Submit your nomination by completing the below forms by 12.00 (midday) on Monday 19 May 2025:
Excellence in PGR Supervision
Excellence in Academic Citizenship

Award outcomes will be announced the week beginning Monday 9 June, with receptions at Penryn and Streatham in the week beginning Monday 16 June.

You will be pleased to hear that the Travel Risk Assessment for International Travel has been updated to make it more concise and easier to complete. Please note that risk assessments for Fieldwork have not changed. You can find all the guidance on travelling internationally and latest risk assessments on the Travel Sharepoint. Guidance for travellers and approvers on completing risk assessments has also been updated.

New rules now also apply to personal travel. Holiday travel taken in conjunction with business travel will no longer be covered under the University of Exeter travel insurance policy. Only incidental travel in the country associated with University travel will be covered.

If you have any questions, please contact the Insurance Team at insurance@exeter.ac.uk.

Date: Wednesday 7 May
Time: 13.00 – 14.00
Location: The Quad, St. Luke’s Campus

The Student Guild PGR Officer Team is excited to invite all PGRs to join us for Springtime Outdoor Networking. Whether you're from St. Luke’s or Streatham, this is a fantastic opportunity to expand your network, make new friends, and enjoy a refreshing afternoon outdoors!

• Meet and Mingle: Connect with fellow PGRs across different disciplines and campuses.
• Games & Fun: Enjoy board games, including Monopoly Exeter Edition, and light-hearted activities.
• Snacks & Refreshments: Lemonade and snacks will be provided—just bring your own lunch!
• Relaxing Atmosphere: Experience the charm of St. Luke’s Quad in full springtime bloom!

No registration required—just show up, bring your lunch, and enjoy a great time!

Date: Monday 19 May
Time: 15.30-17.00
Location: Streatham Court Lecture Theatre D (University of Exeter, Streatham Campus) and online via Zoom

The Ethical Data Initiative is excited to invite you to the UK premiere of the groundbreaking short film Data Shadows, which they are hosting on Monday 19 May 2025.

Co-directed by philosopher and data scientist Sabina Leonelli, visionary artist Jacob van der Beugel, and filmmaker Oliver Page, Data Shadows invites us to see data not just as numbers or code, but as something deeply connected to the material world - soils, stones, and plants. Through stunning visuals and a compelling narrative, the film reveals the lifecycle of data from extraction to transformation, while raising urgent ethical and environmental questions.

The event is free to attend. Please register by Wednesday 14 May via EventBrite.

The Developing Business-Aware Academics project is running a survey to understand how researchers engage beyond academia.
Whether you regularly collaborate with partners beyond academia, are just starting out, or if you have never considered working with businesses, non-profits and policy organisations, we want to hear from you!

Complete the 10-15 minutes survey before the closing date on Friday 23 May to be sure to have your say!

By sharing your insights, you will inform the design of researcher training and networking programmes in universities. 

The survey is being carried out by Developing Business-Aware Academics, a project responding to calls by universities, industry and government for greater research collaboration with non-academic organisations to realise the full potential of the UK’s research and innovation talent.

To keep updated on future DBAA work, you can follow along by subscribing to our newsletter and our social media pages.

Do you have a topic relating to postgraduate research that you're passionate about? Whether it's about the life of a postgraduate researcher, tips and tricks for dealing with the challenges of postgraduate research or a chance to share your research work with a non-expert audience, there is space in the Doctoral College blog for your post.

Our blog posts are written by fellow PGRs so it is a great way of engaging with your PGR community, and as the blog is public, sharing your thoughts with an even wider audience beyond the University.

For more information, please get in touch with Kelyn at researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk.

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.

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.

During a successful first term, our staff choir has evolved and now enjoys singing a range of both classical and contemporary songs, with only the occasional sea shanty 😉 Do consider dropping in for a mid-week singalong and enjoy the mood-boosting effects of group singing while having fun, all under the expert guidance of local artist and musician, Charlotte Cripwell.

Every Wednesday, 13.00 – 14.00, Stella Turk Seminar room, Penryn Campus.

Brought to you by the Cornwall Wellbeing Network- enquiries to Natasha Hammond or Andrew Pye.

The Career Mentor Scheme applications will close on Monday 5 May- don't miss out on this valuable opportunity for expert career support.

Join one of the UK’s largest employability programs, to have the opportunity to be partnered with an experienced mentor in your chosen sector. You can:
• Receive tailored 1:1 career advice
• Gain insights to make informed career decisions
• Get support with CVs and job interviews
• Build valuable professional connections through networking opportunities

The scheme runs from June-November 2025; opportunities are available on Handshake and allocated on a first-come first-serve basis.

If you have any questions, please contact us at careermentorscheme@exeter.ac.uk.

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. 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
Sprectrum.Life provides a confidential telephone, video, and live chat counselling service to help with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, bereavement and more. 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.