Researcher Development Programme (RDP) course timetable

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.“

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

Why this course might make a difference
While the first year report is arguably the first step in completing your PhD, the process of taking this first step can be fraught with uncertainty, particularly if you’re still ‘finding your feet’.

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.

Outcomes:
Complementing your departmental and supervisor support in this endeavour, this course has two broad outcomes:

1) To help you understand:

• The requirements of the first year report, so that you know why you’re being asked to fulfil these requirements.
• The writing process, so that you know what to do to move to the next stage within this process.
• Your work patterns as a writer, so that you can experiment with making adjustments to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your writing.

2) To help you make progress with your writing, by working through the practical techniques of:

• ‘Writing warm-ups’, to quell your internal editor so that you write more freely;
• ‘Writing in layers’, to help you develop an overall structure to your thesis, so that writing feels less daunting and you take a step towards procrastinating less.

Feedback from 2016-17:

“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.”

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

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

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.

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

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.

Outcomes

• Recognise own current skills and strengths in relation to developing further as a leader.
• Review a range of definitions of, and styles of, leadership.
• Apply to your own context.

Feedback from Michaelmas 2016:

“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.”

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.”

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.

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

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*

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

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.”

Your research is going well, you feel you are making progress, but looming on the horizon is the write up...

Aimed at those in their first year of study (PhD / Masters / Rotation students), this workshop is designed to get you thinking and working effectively on writing up your research. How do you 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 that will help you start to learn and apply the habits of a productive writer.

This course replaces "Writing Your First Year Report" and is designed to be more inclusive of the various programmes of study in Cambridge

Outcomes:

• Understand the standard forms and functions of academic reports
• Start planning the structure of your report
• Experience the benefits of editing and providing feedback on writing

Have you started a postdoc at Cambridge? Now is the time to create a plan for how you would like it to unfold. In this workshop, we will consider how to navigate the research landscape, how to think strategically about your strengths, and how to develop mental and emotional discipline for coping with how demanding and competitive the research environment can be. We will explore case studies illustrating that there’s no one recipe for success, but there are common ingredients. You will identify potential obstacles that might stand in your way as well as enablers that will aid your career progression. This workshop is for postdoctoral researchers who want to maximise their chances of succeeding in their chosen careers.

Outcomes:

• Devise an action plan for the near future including how to deal with the unexpected
• Learn how to identify enablers and obstacles to career progression and how to work with or around them
• Begin to take charge of your own career path

Feedback:

“It encouraged an overall view of thinking about my career and what I want out of it and what I am good at. It also covered examples of people who stayed in academia as well as those who did not, so that I was able to consider the pros and cons of more than just one route.”

“I'm right at the start of my post-doc and it helped me to think about what I wanted to get out of the next few years in terms of my career.”

This introductory workshop examines 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*