Researcher Development Programme (RDP) course timetable
January 2018
Mon 15 |
This course is designed for first-year PhD students to help you increase your effectiveness and meet the challenges of your PhD. We cover several different aspects of personal effectiveness in this one-day workshop, with practical solutions to get you started on your journey.
Outcomes:
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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 Outcomes:
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.“ |
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By the end of this course you will know:
Topics covered:
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Tue 16 |
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. Outcomes: 1) To help you understand:
2) To help you make progress with your writing, by working through the practical techniques of:
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.” |
Wed 17 |
By the end of this course you will know:
Topics covered:
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Thu 18 |
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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. |
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Mon 22 |
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Tue 23 |
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.” |
Wed 24 |
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.
“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. |
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Thu 25 |
By the end of this course you will know:
Topics covered:
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*Please note that this course is not aimed at PhD students* |
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Wed 31 |
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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February 2018
Mon 5 |
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.
“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.” |
Wed 7 |
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:
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Thu 8 |
Map your Postdoc Journey NOW!
Finished
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.
“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.” |
*Please note that this course is not aimed at PhD students* |
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Fri 9 |
Amy O’Leary, University Sexual Assault and Harassment Advisor will provide information on:
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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. |
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Mon 12 |
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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Wed 14 |
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:
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Postdocs: Self-Leadership
Finished
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.
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Fri 16 |
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. |
Wed 21 |
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:
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