Researcher Development Programme (RDP) course timetable

What do supervisions contribute to student learning at Cambridge? This session will provide an interactive introduction to supervising, including aims and objectives of supervisions, different approaches to supervisions, the roles and responsibilities of the supervisor and ways of dealing with common problems. Given the breadth of supervisions, this course is not subject specific.

Are you able to ask for the things you need and want? The career of a postdoc researcher is demanding, and it involves forging careful relationships with a variety of figures, from PIs to fellow researchers and peers to postgraduate students. Are you capable of asking for help from others? Do you spread yourself too thin by saying yes to others’ requests for support? This course is designed to help you develop an assertive mind-set and to communicate your needs in an honest, clear, and respectful way.

Outcomes:

• Understand the benefits of being assertive and the difference between assertive, aggressive, and passive thinking and behaviour
• Know what assertiveness looks and sounds like
• Develop skills in communicating assertively in day-to-day conversation

Feedback:

“It was one of the best training sessions I have attended while at the University. Went back to the lab and recommended it to my colleagues.”

“[This course] highlighted a new way of thinking/mindset that I was not very aware of. It gave me confidence that I can be more assertive.”

This course is aimed to increase your understanding of the issues surrounding disclosures of sexual assault and harassment of students, the support available locally and the new University Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Procedures.

Norah Al-Ani, Director of Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre will deliver a presentation on:

• Prevalence, definitions and the Legal Framework
• Attitudes to rape and sexual violence
• Effects and impacts of sexual violence
• Barriers to disclosure, barriers to reporting
• Working with and supporting survivors
• Sources of support

Sarah d'Ambrumenil will report on:

• The university new Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Procedures

This course will be delivered by the University’s Research Governance and Integrity Officer and will introduce researchers to research integrity and ethics at Cambridge. The course will:

• explore the issue of research misconduct in academia and facilitate discussion of why and how it occurs
• explain the recent research integrity agenda and examine how this effects researchers
• discuss some of the challenges to the integrity of research and ask what individuals, groups and institutions can do to tackle them
• introduce the University’s research ethics system
• use case studies and discussion exercises to examine key issues

This course complements the supervising training and information your Department will provide. It is a course that consists of: an online module, which introduces practices and principles of undergraduate supervision at Cambridge, and a face-to-face workshop in which you will explore challenges and approaches to supervising.

By the end of this course you will know:

• the purpose of supervisions at Cambridge
• how to deal with common supervision scenarios
• how to provide effective feedback
• the practicalities of starting to supervise

Topics covered:

• Introduction to supervising (including what supervisions are, format, preparing for them)
• Background information for those who need it (British education system, Cambridge undergraduate system)
• Role of a supervisor
• Dealing with different supervision scenarios
• Departmental information
• Summary of what you have learnt
• Practical tips and advice
• Resources for ongoing support and information

Starting your PhD might fill you with a range of emotions: from excitement at the thought of the intellectual pursuit, to trepidation of where to actually begin.

Why this course might make a difference
By complementing your departmental and supervisor support, the overall purpose of this intensive course for first-year students is to help you make the best possible start to your PhD that you can. Using practical exercises to clarify your thinking, the course explores three essential questions to achieve this purpose: the ‘Why?’ the ‘What?’ and the ‘How?’ of the PhD.

Outcomes:
Within the overall purpose, the course outcomes include:

• Knowing broadly what’s involved in doing a PhD, and what a PhD is.
• Having a definition of ‘Research’ that enables you to be effective.
• Knowing how to plan, so that you can adapt to the inevitable changes in your research project.

Feedback from 2016-17:

"After the reality of being a PhD student has set in, and the many details to attend to, it was a timely event to refocus on the broader overarching questions of what, why and how."

"I now have a broad understanding on where to start.“

Do the terms ‘coaching’ and ‘mentoring’ intrigue you? Do you want to understand how they can be part of your future progression? There are many opportunities and programmes across this university for postdocs to get involved in coaching and mentoring in different ways. The overall purpose is to help postdocs understand the importance of being coached and mentored, and/or being a coach or a mentor. This short workshop introduces these two methods to explore what they are and how they can be helpful to postdocs. It will also direct you to where you can access these opportunities at Cambridge University.

Outcomes:

• Describe the terms ‘coaching’ and ‘mentoring’ in more detail.
• Differentiate between the two and identify situations for each that are specifically relevant to postdocs.
• Compose a way forward to plan for coaching and mentoring to be part of your personal, professional and career progression.

Feedback:

“Great trainer - very professional, supportive and helpful.”

“This was a great coaching and mentoring session. I liked the interaction with other people.”

“I like the approach to the topics covered. [There was] useful information that I would like to explore more to enhance my coaching and mentoring.”

This introductory workshop will examine the processes of preparing and giving lectures. It will encourage you to consider what makes a good lecture and what lecturing is for.

*Please note that this course is not aimed at PhD students*

While there might be a simple ‘cure’ for procrastination – just get started on the things you’re putting off – for many of us, this simple ‘cure’ is not necessarily easy.

Why this course might make a difference
The overall purpose of this intensive, practical workshop is to help you manage your procrastination.

Outcomes:
With this aim in mind, specific outcomes of the course include:

Raising our awareness of:

• What procrastination actually is
• Our reasons for procrastinating and our habits when we do so
• Our rationalizations when procrastinating
• Two key steps to overcoming our procrastination
• Practical strategies and tips

Feedback from 2016-17:
“It helped me realize some deep reasons that cause me to procrastinate.“

“It made me think of all the ways in which I procrastinate and gave me several tools and ideas to help me improve my focus.”

While we might assume that creativity is a fixed innate ability – stereotypically leading to the creation of poems and paintings – in the context of our research, the creative thinking process that underpins creativity can be seen as a skill to be developed to solve problems large and small. Indeed, with this creative thinking process at the heart of research, research itself can be viewed as an inherently creative act.

Why this course might make a difference
The overall purpose of this intensive, practical workshop is to help you develop your creative thinking skills to help you solve research problems.

Outcomes:
With this aim in mind, the course outcomes are:

• To give you a systematic creative-thinking process for solving problems.
• The opportunity to apply and develop a creative thinking process, by working in pairs on a challenge.
• To explore your assumptions about your own creativity.

Feedback from 2016-17:
“It had so many ideas and mnemonics for having a creative and constructive brainstorm, with outputs!”

“This training event showed me how little time brainstorming actually takes and how it boosts creative process. I literally felt that after some warming up, my brain started to give me more and more pictures-ideas in two minutes each time.”

This course complements the supervising training and information your Department will provide. It is a course that consists of: an online module, which introduces practices and principles of undergraduate supervision at Cambridge, and a face-to-face workshop in which you will explore challenges and approaches to supervising.

By the end of this course you will know:

• the purpose of supervisions at Cambridge
• how to deal with common supervision scenarios
• how to provide effective feedback
• the practicalities of starting to supervise

Topics covered:

• Introduction to supervising (including what supervisions are, format, preparing for them)
• Background information for those who need it (British education system, Cambridge undergraduate system)
• Role of a supervisor
• Dealing with different supervision scenarios
• Departmental information
• Summary of what you have learnt
• Practical tips and advice
• Resources for ongoing support and information

Looking back at your experience of education you can probably remember those teachers and lecturers who were excellent. We remember the ones who were good because they have left a lasting impact on us; shaping both our learning in the past and our approach as teachers. Supervising undergraduate students at Cambridge can be one of the most rewarding activities for PhDs and Postdocs and this course is designed to make sure that you can offer your best and hopefully be one of those memorable teachers for someone else.

This blended workshop incorporates personal reflection on teaching practice, discussion of real teaching scenarios, a chance to ask questions of an experienced supervisor and access to practical information about organising and carrying out your supervisions.

This training is required by many colleges before you can carry out supervisions and is always a popular course.

About the trainer:

The course trainer is Dr Ben Murton who has over 14 years of teaching experience in Cambridge and was an undergraduate here as well. He is now a Fellow and Director of Studies at St John's College and a tutor on the Teaching Associates' Programme. If you have any specific questions you are welcome to contact him before the course on Ben.Murton@admin.cam.ac.uk

The life of a postdoc can be inherently stressful, with making applications for research grants, publishing and maintaining a work life balance, as well as coping with the precariousness of temporary contracts or visa regulations. Postdocs need an ample supply of resilience to deal with the ups and downs of being a professional researcher.

The aim of this workshop is to help you build emotional resilience by further developing coping strategies to overcome challenges. We will focus on what constitutes resilience, identifying your current coping strategies, and using theories of resilience to strengthen your ability to deal with whatever life and work throws at you, whilst maintaining a good level of wellbeing.

Outcomes

• Recognise that you already have emotional resilience and use strategies on an ongoing basis.
• Cultivate further effective coping strategies for various contexts.
• Discover how to use a range of tools and techniques to increase your resilience.

Feedback:

“I would like more courses like this! Thank you!”

“Really good framework for applying it personally.”

“Interacting in groups worked well while exploring real-life examples.”

Do you know how to write a successful research grant application? This course is designed for postdocs with little or no experience of getting their research funded. It will explore the current research environment and impact agenda and help you understand how research is funded. You will also experience the process of reviewing applications and gain valuable and timely knowledge about how to get research funded.

Outcomes:

• Learn tips and strategies to help you to get your current & future projects funded
• Understand how proposals are assessed by funders
• Gain experience of reviewing funding applications
• Gain information about translational research funding and support available to post-docs

Feedback:

“Both the online resources presented, and the focused training sessions were well structured and passed through the importance of well-structured proposal, and often overlooked issues such as impact.”

“[I liked] seeing a grant from another discipline, to realise that a well-written grant (even if not perfect) can be understood also by people external to the field.”

The first step toward confident leadership is assured and well-balanced self-leadership. Are you really aware of how you lead yourself every day? This workshop aims to inspire you to be a self-leader by developing strategies to extend your awareness and confidence to take action and design the professional outcomes you are looking for. We will encourage you to think about how to recognise patterns of your own behaviour that might hold you back so that you can have the understanding and tools to communicate yourself and your perspective with awareness and confidence. This will create a firm foundation on which to build your leadership of others.

This workshop leads onto Postdocs: Leading Others. We recommend that you do these workshops after having first completed Postdocs: An Initial Guide to Leadership.

Outcomes

• Explore and experience your skills, strengths, abilities and style in detail within your individual context.
• Consider how to extend your own self-leadership on a daily basis through a variety of strategies.
• Apply self-knowledge, awareness and techniques to your repertoire of leadership skills.

Let’s face it; being a researcher can be stressful! Not only are you managing the ups and downs of life in the lab, but you are probably balancing work and life and also have one eye on the future and what comes after your PhD…

This workshop is designed to help you build emotional resilience. You probably already have some strategies in place so we will reflect on the highs and lows you have already experienced, look at some of the theories of resilience and consider how we can better support your coping and wellbeing.

• Understand what resilience is
• Consider why researchers need to be resilient
• Identify when we have been resilient
• Be aware of the three Cs of stress hardiness
• Start to develop our resilience toolkits

Starting your PhD might fill you with a range of emotions: from excitement at the thought of the intellectual pursuit, to trepidation of where to actually begin.

Why this course might make a difference
By complementing your departmental and supervisor support, the overall purpose of this intensive course for first-year students is to help you make the best possible start to your PhD that you can. Using practical exercises to clarify your thinking, the course explores three essential questions to achieve this purpose: the ‘Why?’ the ‘What?’ and the ‘How?’ of the PhD.

Outcomes:
Within the overall purpose, the course outcomes include:

• Knowing broadly what’s involved in doing a PhD, and what a PhD is.
• Having a definition of ‘Research’ that enables you to be effective.
• Knowing how to plan, so that you can adapt to the inevitable changes in your research project.

Feedback from 2016-17:

"After the reality of being a PhD student has set in, and the many details to attend to, it was a timely event to refocus on the broader overarching questions of what, why and how."

"I now have a broad understanding on where to start.“

Would you like an opportunity to try out a presentation before presenting it live to your key audience?

This interactive workshop, which centres on you delivering of a five-minute presentation, will support participants to communicate research engagingly and effectively. In addition to reviewing useful patterns and styles of presentation, you will have the chance to observe others in action, as each participant presents their five-minute presentation. This workshop is for postdocs who want to achieve the greatest impact while presenting their work and to improve their public-speaking skills within a safe and collaborative environment. Feedback will be given to each participant.

Outcomes:

• Improve on designing and delivering a successful presentation
• Consider how to understand and engage your audience
• Gain constructive feedback on how you present and further develop your style

Ever wonder why you seem to ‘click’ with one person and not another? Ever wonder why you might find some things easier to do than others? The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) might shed some light on these questions.

Why this course might make a difference
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator presents a framework to help you understand yourself and others, by exploring differences and preferences in four areas of your personality. As a result of this exploration you may work more effectively and be more understanding in your relationships with others.

Led by a qualified MBTI practitioner, the workshop comprises working through the MBTI questionnaire and self-assessment exercises, so that participants can:

• Understand the concept and theories behind the MBTI types and process to obtain a personal profile
• Explore the differences and preferences within personalities in research-related scenarios

Feedback from 2016-17:

“I had known about the Myers-Briggs, but I hadn't understood the different dimensions fully, or their interactions at a deeper level. Between explanations and activities, the course really helped me to understand the Myers-Briggs perspective, and to be aware of personal and professional differences between my friends and colleagues.”

“The contents of this training and the design of the teaching were very attractive and interesting. I think this training is very useful and helpful, and will recommend it to my friends and other students in my department in the future.”

Giving presentations is an essential skill for a researcher, be it in your deparment, at a major conference, or in your next job interview! You know your subject but sometimes issues of performance and clarity stop you being your best. Perhaps you can't project your voice, perhaps you are terrified of the Q&A, perhaps you feel your slides let you down, or perhaps you just don't know what to do to get better.

This is a highly interactive workshop that requires you to throw yourself into the activities. Everyone will be involved as we apply some of the material from the online Presentation and Performance toolkit and try it out in a safe and supportive environment.

The workshop is especially designed for those who feel less confident with the performance aspects of giving presentations. If you are comfortable standing up and talking in front of others then we recommend starting with the online materials.

When opportunities come along, do you feel confident about working with people to get what you need? This course gives you a practical insight into the application of professional communication to everyday life, learning how to persuade and influence others effectively. Improving your listening and communication skills is advantageous for both your personal and your professional life.

This workshop is led by Richard Mullender, an external trainer who formerly worked for the Metropolitan Police as a hostage negotiator, and then as Lead Trainer at the National Crisis & Hostage Negotiation Unit in Scotland Yard. People trusted their lives to the skills he teaches in this course.

Outcomes:

• Be able to use communication consciously to persuade and influence effectively
• Recognize when others are using persuasive communication techniques
• Feel more confident in presenting yourself well to others and in gaining support

As a postdoc, you’re in a transitional period of your career, one that can be precarious and uncertain at times or marked by dependency on others. Inevitably, there are moments when you have to engage in difficult conversations, whether with your PI, your peers, or with the people you now oversee. You may need to discuss the advancement of your career, settle a conflict with a colleague, or provide feedback to the students.

This workshop is designed to equip you with the right tools to prepare for and have difficult conversations. We will consider the factors that make particular conversations difficult as well as the “third-generation thinking” and mindful listening that will help you elicit the response you want. This interactive workshop is for all postdocs who want to hone their communication skills, advance their careers, and develop their leadership capacities.

Outcomes:

• To think differently in leading difficult conversations to negotiate and influence.
• Articulate own view point in collaboration with team members.
• Consider different ways to deal with difficult conversations in light of your own behaviour and that of others.

Feedback:

“I liked the way we explicitly broke down the process of preparing for difficult conversations by giving techniques.”

Increasingly, successful researchers are expected to be leaders. Yet with a vast academic and popular literature on Leadership and a huge industry of leadership development programmes, where does a researcher start?

Why this course might make a difference
The overall purpose of this intensive and practical one-day workshop is to introduce PhD students both to the concept of leadership and to practical ways to lead, by exploring four foundational ‘elements of leadership’.

Outcomes:
With this in mind, the specific outcomes for this introductory course include:

• Knowing the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s four elements of leadership, and developing an awareness of two theoretical models of leadership, thereby developing a starting ‘toolkit’ for leadership
• In the process of developing this knowledge, having the opportunity to apply this knowledge to lead a small team
• As a result, developing your confidence in your ability to lead should the opportunity arise

Feedback from 2016-17:

“The course gave a good overview of the key elements of leadership. It allowed each participant to put into practice what was learned and receive constructive feedback.”

“I feel much more competent in my ability to lead, now that I know theories behind the skill and know frameworks which I can implement. Practicing by leading a group of people I did not know was very useful.”