Researcher Development Programme (RDP) course timetable

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:

• Understand the standard form and function of the first year report
• Start planning the structure of your report
• Experience the benefits of editing and receiveing feedback on writing

How can you make the most of your postdoc years at Cambridge? What does a strategic postdoc look like? What could you be doing now to be more strategic, intentional and agentive during your time at Cambridge?
This workshop explores how to navigate the research landscape, how to think and act strategically, and how to develop mental and emotional discipline for coping with the demands of the competitive research environment. We will explore the career journeys of former postdocs and see that there’s no one recipe for success, but there are common ingredients. This workshop is for postdoctoral researchers who want to get to and be prepared for the next step in their careers, whether that’s within academia or beyond.

Outcomes:

• Begin to take charge of your own career path
• Understand the many actions you could be taking now to achieve a career within or beyond academia
• Consider the important link between mental and emotional health and career advancement

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.”

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:

• Understand the form and function of the first-year report
• Start planning the structure of your report
• Experience the benefits of editing and providing feedback on writing

Do you get the results you want from your communication with others at work? Are you able to talk with confidence in meetings? Do you gain a high level of impact when speaking in public?

This individually focused and completely confidential one-to-one coaching session will help you in identifying how to further utilise your voice and gain greater awareness of how you present yourself, so that you can develop new approaches to your communication in a wide range of professional situations.

It will focus on your own specific requirements, but could include anything from practical points about elocution, ideas for how to hold the attention of a room, or new confidence in speaking up as an emerging leader in your research field.

Outcomes

• Greater awareness of your voice and body, and how you come across to others
• Practical techniques to help you communicate effectively, with impact
• Improved confidence with public speaking and presentations

Do you get the results you want from your communication with others at work? Are you able to talk with confidence in meetings? Do you gain a high level of impact when speaking in public?

This individually focused and completely confidential one-to-one coaching session will help you in identifying how to further utilise your voice and gain greater awareness of how you present yourself, so that you can develop new approaches to your communication in a wide range of professional situations.

It will focus on your own specific requirements, but could include anything from practical points about elocution, ideas for how to hold the attention of a room, or new confidence in speaking up as an emerging leader in your research field.

Outcomes

• Greater awareness of your voice and body, and how you come across to others
• Practical techniques to help you communicate effectively, with impact
• Improved confidence with public speaking and presentations

Do you get the results you want from your communication with others at work? Are you able to talk with confidence in meetings? Do you gain a high level of impact when speaking in public?

This individually focused and completely confidential one-to-one coaching session will help you in identifying how to further utilise your voice and gain greater awareness of how you present yourself, so that you can develop new approaches to your communication in a wide range of professional situations.

It will focus on your own specific requirements, but could include anything from practical points about elocution, ideas for how to hold the attention of a room, or new confidence in speaking up as an emerging leader in your research field.

Outcomes

• Greater awareness of your voice and body, and how you come across to others
• Practical techniques to help you communicate effectively, with impact
• Improved confidence with public speaking and presentations

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. By looking at everyday scenarios as well as life-or-death negotiations from his professional experience – e.g. with terrorists for the release of hostages or with someone threatening to commit suicide – Richard demonstrates how to listen for ‘levers’ that help you to persuade and influence, and to secure the best possible outcome.

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

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:

• Understand the standard form and function of the first year report
• Start planning the structure of your report
• Experience the benefits of editing and receiveing feedback on writing

Would you like to learn the skills and techniques of group coaching and see how it can support postdoc development, productivity and progression?

This workshop provides an opportunity to learn about and experience group coaching within a supportive, safe environment alongside other postdocs. We will use tools and techniques first introduced in Postdocs: Introduction to Coaching and Mentoring and Postdocs: Self-Coaching for Professional Development to support and facilitate you to coach others and be coached to progress your ideas. This workshop is intended for those wishing to set up peer group coaching in their own professional contexts.

This can be attended as an individual workshop but we strongly recommend that you attend it as part of a series starting with Postdocs: Introduction to Coaching and Mentoring and Postdocs: Self-Coaching for Professional Development.

Outcomes:

• Discover how the model of coaching in group situations can support postdoc development.
• Experience a short term group coaching situation.
• Identify when a group coaching situation could be useful in your specific context and how to set one up successfully for you and your colleagues.

Feedback:
“Thank you for the great course."

“[I found] the discussions [useful] about how to leverage successful group coaching and its hands-on examples."

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. By looking at everyday scenarios as well as life-or-death negotiations from his professional experience – e.g. with terrorists for the release of hostages or with someone threatening to commit suicide – Richard demonstrates how to listen for ‘levers’ that help you to persuade and influence, and to secure the best possible outcome.

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

Perhaps because it’s at the meeting point between the known and the unknown, research can seem to be inherently stressful; our good intentions to complete our research can in reality be fraught with setbacks. So how do we cope with these challenges?

Why this course might make a difference
The overall purpose of this two-hour practical workshop is to help you develop your resilience to cope with setbacks in your research.

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

• Developing your knowledge of the ‘6 Cs’ of emotional resilience: Coping, Commitment, Challenge, Control, Community and (self-)Care
• Developing your application of these ‘6 Cs’

Previous feedback:
“I like the way the course was thought, it was a good mix of direct teaching, reflection and practical exercises. I think it is really well balanced as it gives you the possibility to reflect on what you are doing and what you could further improve.”

“Provided useful tools and perspectives for dealing with future set backs, and an interesting opportunity for introspection.”

“It highlighted the various support networks there exist to aid me in my PhD.”

Research can be fraught with the challenges of working with others - whether your supervisor or PI or your colleagues – and the challenge of asserting yourself appropriately.

Why this course might make a difference
The overall purpose of this practical workshop is to help you develop your assertive communication skills, to enhance your everyday interactions with others.

Outcomes:
With this in mind, the course seeks to help you develop:

• An assertive mindset
• Practical strategies for developing your assertiveness

Previous feedback:

“It was dynamic, provided a high level of interaction between trainer and trainees and presented very relevant and thought-provoking ideas.”

“It showed us ways to communicate more effectively with colleagues.”

Do you get the results you want from your communication with others at work? Are you able to talk with confidence in meetings? Do you gain a high level of impact when speaking in public?

This individually focused and completely confidential one-to-one coaching session will help you in identifying how to further utilise your voice and gain greater awareness of how you present yourself, so that you can develop new approaches to your communication in a wide range of professional situations.

It will focus on your own specific requirements, but could include anything from practical points about elocution, ideas for how to hold the attention of a room, or new confidence in speaking up as an emerging leader in your research field.

Outcomes

• Greater awareness of your voice and body, and how you come across to others
• Practical techniques to help you communicate effectively, with impact
• Improved confidence with public speaking and presentations

Leadership is a word that seems to be ubiquitous in universities these days, but keeping a handle on all its possible meanings is becoming ever harder: research leadership, team leadership, institutional leadership, thought leadership, educational leadership, ethical leadership, inclusive leadership…

Likewise, employers beyond academia repeatedly tell us that they’re seeking researchers who can be self-motivating, proactive, strategic; can build productive relationships with colleagues at all levels of seniority; are able to create consensus and shared understanding; know how to mentor and guide as well as take direction…

So, if leadership is being talked about everywhere and yet is also very hard to define, how can you as a PhD student identify your own leadership practice and your future potential?

This interactive workshop will combine practical insights with key leadership theories in order to explore the ways in which you’re already acting as a leader; to examine how ‘follower’ behaviours have a crucial role in shaping good leadership; and to consider leadership in a variety of contexts.

The session will be led by Jen Wade, a highly experienced trainer who has been leading her own business for more than ten years, working with a diverse range of organisations across the academic, public, and commercial sectors.

Outcomes:

• Review a range of definitions of, and styles of, leadership.
• Recognise your current strengths and future potential as a leader.

Do you get the results you want from your communication with others at work? Are you able to talk with confidence in meetings? Do you gain a high level of impact when speaking in public?

This individually focused and completely confidential one-to-one coaching session will help you in identifying how to further utilise your voice and gain greater awareness of how you present yourself, so that you can develop new approaches to your communication in a wide range of professional situations.

It will focus on your own specific requirements, but could include anything from practical points about elocution, ideas for how to hold the attention of a room, or new confidence in speaking up as an emerging leader in your research field.

Outcomes

• Greater awareness of your voice and body, and how you come across to others
• Practical techniques to help you communicate effectively, with impact
• Improved confidence with public speaking and presentations

Do you get the results you want from your communication with others at work? Are you able to talk with confidence in meetings? Do you gain a high level of impact when speaking in public?

This individually focused and completely confidential one-to-one coaching session will help you in identifying how to further utilise your voice and gain greater awareness of how you present yourself, so that you can develop new approaches to your communication in a wide range of professional situations.

It will focus on your own specific requirements, but could include anything from practical points about elocution, ideas for how to hold the attention of a room, or new confidence in speaking up as an emerging leader in your research field.

Outcomes

• Greater awareness of your voice and body, and how you come across to others
• Practical techniques to help you communicate effectively, with impact
• Improved confidence with public speaking and presentations

Do you get the results you want from your communication with others at work? Are you able to talk with confidence in meetings? Do you gain a high level of impact when speaking in public?

This individually focused and completely confidential one-to-one coaching session will help you in identifying how to further utilise your voice and gain greater awareness of how you present yourself, so that you can develop new approaches to your communication in a wide range of professional situations.

It will focus on your own specific requirements, but could include anything from practical points about elocution, ideas for how to hold the attention of a room, or new confidence in speaking up as an emerging leader in your research field.

Outcomes

• Greater awareness of your voice and body, and how you come across to others
• Practical techniques to help you communicate effectively, with impact
• Improved confidence with public speaking and presentations

Do you get the results you want from your communication with others at work? Are you able to talk with confidence in meetings? Do you gain a high level of impact when speaking in public?

This individually focused and completely confidential one-to-one coaching session will help you in identifying how to further utilise your voice and gain greater awareness of how you present yourself, so that you can develop new approaches to your communication in a wide range of professional situations.

It will focus on your own specific requirements, but could include anything from practical points about elocution, ideas for how to hold the attention of a room, or new confidence in speaking up as an emerging leader in your research field.

Outcomes

• Greater awareness of your voice and body, and how you come across to others
• Practical techniques to help you communicate effectively, with impact
• Improved confidence with public speaking and presentations

Do you get the results you want from your communication with others at work? Are you able to talk with confidence in meetings? Do you gain a high level of impact when speaking in public?

This individually focused and completely confidential one-to-one coaching session will help you in identifying how to further utilise your voice and gain greater awareness of how you present yourself, so that you can develop new approaches to your communication in a wide range of professional situations.

It will focus on your own specific requirements, but could include anything from practical points about elocution, ideas for how to hold the attention of a room, or new confidence in speaking up as an emerging leader in your research field.

Outcomes

• Greater awareness of your voice and body, and how you come across to others
• Practical techniques to help you communicate effectively, with impact
• Improved confidence with public speaking and presentations

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...

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:

• Understand the standard form and function of the first year report
• Start planning the structure of your report
• Experience the benefits of editing and receiveing feedback on writing

Would you like to learn what constitutes an effective and impactful research presentation? Are you interested in improving how you communicate your research?

This interactive workshop helps participants to communicate research engagingly and effectively. In addition to reviewing useful patterns and styles of presentation, you will have the chance to try out different techniques and to observe others in action. 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

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:

• Understand the form and function of the first-year report
• Start planning the structure of your report
• Experience the benefits of editing and providing feedback on writing

A thorough awareness of issues relating to research ethics and research integrity are essential to producing excellent research. This session will provide an introduction to the ethical responsibilities of researchers at the University and explore issues of good research practice, research integrity and research misconduct. It will be interactive, using case studies to better understand key ethical issues and challenges in all areas.

The course will:

• explore the issue of research misconduct in academia and facilitate discussion of why and how it occurs
• explain the University and national expectations around research integrity 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

The course will be delivered by the Research Governance Team in the Research Strategy Office.

Research in the 21st century is global, and research teams are intercultural. 35% of Cambridge research students are from outside the EU; and postdocs are the most diverse group by nationality, representing almost 100 countries. This diversity is one of the University’s biggest strengths. Yet intercultural communication is not without its pitfalls and misunderstandings. It takes conscious discipline to think about one’s own cultural assumptions and to try to make sense of others'.

This half-day workshop will give you some tools to help identify where culture might be having an influence on your relationships, where common misunderstandings can occur, and how to address potential challenges.