Researcher Development Programme (RDP) course timetable
Tuesday 12 March 2019
10:00 |
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.
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Wednesday 13 March 2019
10:00 |
Aimed at first-year PhD students, this course is designed to get you thinking and working effectively on writing your end-of-first-year-report. How to start? What is expected? How do you make it work for you? These and many other important questions, hints and tips will be addressed in this half-day session. Outcomes:
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14:00 |
Postdocs: Leading Others
Finished
Are you ready to lead others confidently in whatever leadership position you may find yourself in? This workshop draws on insight gained from Postdocs: An Initial Guide to Leadership and Postdocs: Self-Leadership and considers how to apply different skills, strengths, and styles of leadership as well as the strategies of self-leadership to enable you to thoughtfully and self-assuredly lead others. This workshop will help you cultivate a more profound and extensive portfolio of leadership capabilities and a deeper understanding of how to motivate people and to get the best out of them. It is possible to attend this as an individual workshop, although we would recommend that you try to attend the series starting with Postdocs: An Initial Guide to Leadership and Postdocs: Self-Leadership.
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Thursday 14 March 2019
10:00 |
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.
“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.” |
It’s that time of year: the report is looming on the horizon and the reality of writing is here! Aimed at first-year PhD students, with little or no academic writing experience. This course focuses on helping you develop good writing habits and become a more efficient writer. It is designed to get you thinking and to get working effectively on your end-of-first-year report / Certificate of Postgraduate Studies. Please note, this is a beginners course, so if you already have experience in writing for academic purposes, this course might not be for you.
Outcomes:
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Why this course might make a difference Whether you are feeling confused about the first year report – or just want to become a more effective writer – the overall purpose of this course is to help you improve the writing both of your first year report and of your research in general. Previous Participant Feedback: “It helped me benchmark my progress against others, understand my specific challenges and get motivated to just write now, perfect later.” “It really got me started on writing and gave me a better sense of where I was and where I was heading with my first year report and PhD overall.” “To hear what are the expectations for the first year report, and what it should be included there.” |
Friday 15 March 2019
10:00 |
Solving Research Problems Creatively
Finished
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.
“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.” |
Tuesday 19 March 2019
10:00 |
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. |
Wednesday 20 March 2019
09:00 |
Scientific Writing
Finished
This one-day course focuses on the structure of good scientific writing. Including writing exercises as an integral part of the workshop, we will look at the practical process of writing, the nature of scientific publishing, and the importance of editing. The day will finish with a group editing session in which you apply the ideas you have learnt by editing each other's work. For the group editing session you will need to write a 300-word abstract about your work in advance, and bring it with you as a printout (see 'Prerequisites' below for details). REGISTRATION starts at 9.00am on the day. Please ensure you arrive on time as latecomers may be refused entry.
Outcomes:
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10:00 |
Aimed at first-year PhD students, this course is designed to get you thinking and working effectively on writing your end-of-first-year-report. How to start? What is expected? How do you make it work for you? These and many other important questions, hints and tips will be addressed in this half-day session. Outcomes:
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Thursday 21 March 2019
10:00 |
It’s that time of year: the report is looming on the horizon and the reality of writing is here! Aimed at first-year PhD students, with little or no academic writing experience. This course focuses on helping you develop good writing habits and become a more efficient writer. It is designed to get you thinking and to get working effectively on your end-of-first-year report / Certificate of Postgraduate Studies. Please note, this is a beginners course, so if you already have experience in writing for academic purposes, this course might not be for you.
Outcomes:
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14:00 |
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 of this workshop is to help postdocs understand the importance of being coached and mentored, and/or being a coach or a mentor. This workshop introduces these two methods to explore what they are and how they can be part of a professional profile for postdocs. It will also direct you to where you can access a number of coaching and mentoring opportunities whilst at Cambridge University.
“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.” |
Tuesday 26 March 2019
10:00 |
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. |
Wednesday 27 March 2019
09:30 |
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10:00 |
Aimed at first-year PhD students, this course is designed to get you thinking and working effectively on writing your end-of-first-year-report. How to start? What is expected? How do you make it work for you? These and many other important questions, hints and tips will be addressed in this half-day session. Outcomes:
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10:30 |
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11:30 |
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13:30 |
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14:30 |
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15:30 |
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Thursday 28 March 2019
10:00 |
It’s that time of year: the report is looming on the horizon and the reality of writing is here! Aimed at first-year PhD students, with little or no academic writing experience. This course focuses on helping you develop good writing habits and become a more efficient writer. It is designed to get you thinking and to get working effectively on your end-of-first-year report / Certificate of Postgraduate Studies. Please note, this is a beginners course, so if you already have experience in writing for academic purposes, this course might not be for you.
Outcomes:
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Tuesday 2 April 2019
10:00 |
A good poster’s worth 1000 words… but a bad poster’s just a bit of messy paper. When it’s time for you to present your scientific poster how are you going to make the most of the opportunity? We’ll think about why we use posters to present our research, what makes the difference between a good and bad poster and some useful tips to help you present your data in style. Please note, this is an introductory course to help you start preparing for your first poster sessions... |
Thursday 4 April 2019
10:00 |
It’s that time of year: the report is looming on the horizon and the reality of writing is here! Aimed at first-year PhD students, with little or no academic writing experience. This course focuses on helping you develop good writing habits and become a more efficient writer. It is designed to get you thinking and to get working effectively on your end-of-first-year report / Certificate of Postgraduate Studies. Please note, this is a beginners course, so if you already have experience in writing for academic purposes, this course might not be for you.
Outcomes:
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Wednesday 10 April 2019
10:00 |
Are you in a formal leadership role, or have you taken on leadership positions informally? This workshop will help you to consider the variety of situations and contexts you find yourself leading in and guide you in understanding your leadership skills and abilities so that you can improve them and deploy them thoughtfully. We will look at a variety of meanings and views of leadership, discover the 4 elements of leadership, consider various leadership styles, and reflect on leadership within and out of research environment. We would encourage you to take this workshop as a brief introduction to leadership before attending more in-depth workshops, including Postdocs: Self-Leadership and Postdocs: Leading Others.
“I found it interesting to define what leadership means and to understand the different styles there are.” “It was a very interesting and different training which was very good to attend so as to know the skills to develop.” |
Monday 15 April 2019
10:00 |
Aimed at first-year PhD students, this course is designed to get you thinking and working effectively on writing your end-of-first-year-report. How to start? What is expected? How do you make it work for you? These and many other important questions, hints and tips will be addressed in this half-day session. Outcomes:
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