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Postdoc Academy Training

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Postdoc Academy course timetable

October 2024

Wed 16	Virtual Writing Retreats [Places] 10:00 - 12:00 Online Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list? Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique. These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment. The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session). Please note: It is important that when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process of importing the course appointment to your calendar.
	Pensions Explained for Postdocs [Places] 13:00 - 14:30 Postdoc Centre @ Eddington, Sanders Hall Are you unsure how state pensions work in the UK, what the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) is, or how making international moves affects your pension as a postdoc? This session will cover: the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) the State Pension system in the UK private pensions in the UK. There will also be plenty of time for you to ask questions. Please note: it is important that when you book this course, you select 'Add to Calendar' on the booking confirmation page to start importing the appointment to your calendar.
Thu 17	Postdoc Academy Workshop: Narrative CV Writing Retreat [Places] 13:00 - 15:30 Postdoc Centre @ Eddington, Sanders Hall Have you heard of the 'Narrative CV' structure? Funders are increasingly using it in their calls, and you may begin to notice it in job recruitment, too. If you have not worked with this format before, or if you have but feel there is room to improve, this workshop is for you. During this interactive session, we will: discuss what to put in each section help you develop your writing style introduce various tools and approaches to deal with the block of a blank page work with peers to help shape a successful narrative. Crucially, you will leave this writing retreat having started an initial draft that you can polish and use for future applications. Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.
	Postdoc Academy Masterclass: SMART Goals for Productivity and Development [Places] 14:00 - 15:00 Online Do you find it difficult to stay on track in the pursuit of your career aspirations? Or would you like to improve your ability to set achievable goals? This session will give you protected time, space and support to develop your goals. In this one-hour interactive masterclass, you will: learn to apply a well-established goal-setting technique (SMART goals) that will support you in realising your career aspirations have the opportunity to discuss and develop your long- and short-term goals with support from your peers acquire strategies for holding yourself accountable. By the end of this session, you should have developed at least one goal that will lead to progress within your overall career plan and strategies for holding yourself accountable. This session will run again in Lent and Easter Terms. If you would like to be notified of future iterations of this session, please add yourself to the waitlist or register your interest. Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.
Tue 22	Postdoc Academy Masterclass: Master Time and Focus [Places] 11:30 - 12:30 Online How do you protect time to focus and manage your workload? In this 1-hour session, you will learn how to: establish a method to enhance your focus for the most important work reduce distraction and prioritise more effectively establish a daily 'Protective Pause' to relieve stress, reduce self-criticism and strengthen resilience create space to recognise your achievements each day, increasing your self-awareness and confidence. The session is followed by a 4-day Mini Habit Course. This is one technique per day to help attendees convert proven techniques into useful habits. PLEASE NOTE: You must complete the facilitator's Zoom registration form to access your personalised meeting link. See joining instructions for further details. Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.
Thu 24	Virtual Writing Retreats [Places] 14:00 - 16:00 Online Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list? Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique. These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment. The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session). Please note: It is important that when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process of importing the course appointment to your calendar.
Fri 25	Virtual Writing Retreats [Places] 10:00 - 12:30 Online Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list? Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique. These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment. The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session). Please note: It is important that when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process of importing the course appointment to your calendar.
	Virtual Writing Retreats [Places] 10:00 - 12:00 Online Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list? Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique. These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment. The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session). Please note: It is important that when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process of importing the course appointment to your calendar.
Mon 28	Virtual Writing Retreats [Places] 09:35 - 17:00 Online Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list? Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique. These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment. The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session). Please note: It is important that when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process of importing the course appointment to your calendar.
Tue 29	Postdoc Academy Masterclass: What is Lean? [Places] 11:00 - 12:30 Online This short, interactive session will introduce the fundamental principles of Lean - a methodology which prioritises continuous improvement and respect for people. Lean is a philosophy and way of working which removes waste from activities and ensures that emphasis is given to tasks that provide added value. Originally developed by Toyota, it is now widely used across many sectors including the NHS and Higher Education. During this masterclass for postdocs, you will: gain a high-level understanding of continuous improvement tools and techniques, and how you can apply them develop skills to identify and remove waste in your day-to-day activities to become more effective and efficient. This session will run again in Lent and Easter Terms. If you would like to be notified of future iterations of this session, please add yourself to the waitlist or register your interest. Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.
Wed 30	Virtual Writing Retreats [Places] 10:00 - 12:00 Online Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list? Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique. These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment. The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session). Please note: It is important that when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process of importing the course appointment to your calendar.
Thu 31	Postdoc Academy Masterclass: Developing Your Research Vision [Places] 14:00 - 15:30 Online This short, interactive workshop will introduce you to practical tools that will help you test and refine how you are articulating your research vision. We will not generate ideas for new research projects in the session but, rather, explore what makes a potential research topic compelling. We will also explore how you can assess whether your ideas add up to a vision that is bold, exciting, coherent, and – hopefully – fundable. This session would benefit researchers at the initial stages of developing a proposal for funding, and may work well as preparation for one of our sessions on Writing Fellowship Grants with Impact. We will not review specific funding schemes or application materials in this workshop. This session will run again in Lent and Easter Terms. If you would like to be notified of future iterations of this session, please add yourself to the waitlist or register your interest. Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.

November 2024

Mon 4	Postdoc Academy Masterclass: Writing Fellowship Grants with Impact [Places] 14:00 - 15:30 Online In the increasingly competitive field of fellowship funding, your applications need to stand out immediately. During this online masterclass for early career researchers, you'll learn key considerations for preparing a strong fellowship application.  The session will explore: desirability, feasibility and viability what’s important to the funder elements of successful applications how to plan for impact. It will consist of a 60-minute talk, followed by 30 minutes for you to ask questions. This session will run again in Lent and Easter Terms. If you would like to be notified of future iterations of this session, please add yourself to the waitlist or register your interest. Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.
Wed 6	Postdoc Academy Panel: From Idea to Published Work [Places] 13:30 - 15:00 Online Academic Writing Month, or 'Writefest,' invites researchers at all career stages to collaborate and foster a supportive writing environment. In this spirit, the Postdoc Academy, University Libraries, and the Postgraduate Researcher Development Programme invite you to a panel event exploring the publishing cycle, offering postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers the chance to engage with an expert panel. This session will provide a forum for postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers to bring their questions to an expert panel, including: Michelle Ellefson - Professor of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge Emily Hockley - Commissioning Editor (Literature), Cambridge University Press Róisín Owens - Professor of Bioelectronics, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge Katie Silvester - Open Access Books Manager, Cambridge University Press George Vousden - Deputy Editor-in-Chief, PLOS ONE It will feature a discussion between our panellists and plenty of time for questions from the audience. Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.
Thu 7	Postdoc Welcome Event [Places] 10:00 - 11:30 Postdoc Centre @ Eddington, Sanders Hall The Postdoc Academy provides welcome events specific to postdocs joining the University of Cambridge - these are open to postdocs affiliated with the University, Colleges and University Partner Institutes. These sessions include presentations from the Postdoc Academy, PdOC and Careers Service, followed by a Q&A and then networking. You will be given information on how to navigate life as a researcher in Cambridge and then have the opportunity to network with other new postdocs and University services. During the session, postdocs will learn about: interacting with the Postdoc Academy attending professional development activities and accessing the Careers Service connecting to the wider postdoc community at Cambridge accessing resources available to postdocs as staff members. Please note: it is important that when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar. If you have any questions or problems with signing-up, please email welcome.pda@admin.cam.ac.uk.
	Virtual Writing Retreats [Places] 14:00 - 16:10 Online Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list? Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique. These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment. The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session). Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.
Wed 13	Virtual Writing Retreats [Places] 10:00 - 12:00 Online Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list? Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique. These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment. The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session). Please note: It is important that when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process of importing the course appointment to your calendar.
	Postdoc Groups Series [Places] 13:00 - 14:30 Postdoc Centre@ Mill Lane, Eastwood Room Meet with postdocs, academics and those who support postdocs from a range of departments, to share best practice of postdoc support, learn what others are doing, and identify improvements and future activities. We will be hosting three sessions throughout the academic year. This session will: facilitate discussion between postdocs and academics from a range of departments identify the current needs of the community lead to inter-departmental activities to facilitate networking and collaboration feed into discussions of postdoc support within the Postdoc Academy and University. Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.
Thu 14	Postdoc Academy Workshop: Planning fundable research using Research Canvas [Places] 14:00 - 16:00 Postdoc Centre @ Eddington, Sanders Hall How can you make your research proposition stand out in a competitive funding landscape? In the business and start up world, the Business Model Canvas tool is used to help companies work out how they will create, deliver and capture value. The research canvas is an adaptation of this and helps researchers plan and present their case for applying for research funding. In this workshop, you will learn to use the Research Canvas. You will also have the opportunity to submit your research canvas after the workshop for personalised feedback. This workshop will: demonstrate the utility of an entrepreneurial tool in a research context enable you to implement a tool for planning and presenting your research give you opportunities to share your ideas and receive feedback from peers and facilitators. This session will run again in Lent and Easter Terms. If you would like to be notified of future iterations of this session, please add yourself to the waitlist or register your interest. Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.
Tue 19	Virtual Writing Retreats [Places] 09:35 - 17:00 Online Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list? Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique. These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment. The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session). Please note: It is important that when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process of importing the course appointment to your calendar.
Thu 21	Postdoc Academy Workshop: Turning your thesis into a book (AHSS) [Places] 13:00 - 15:00 Online This workshop will familiarise postdocs with the process of, and the various issues involved with, turning their PhD thesis into a published work. When we talk about turning a thesis into a ‘book’, we are really talking about a ‘monograph’. A monograph is generally considered a written work that focuses on one specialised subject with a view to contributing original insight and knowledge. Given a doctoral thesis – particularly in the Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences – is a dedicated study on one specialised area of research, it is a kind of proto-monograph. During this 2-hour session, you will: learn the differences in content and form between a thesis and a monograph understand the copyright and editorial issues of publishing material from thesis learn and appreciate the process of selecting a publisher and writing a book proposal develop a plan that considers the publication process, from submission of the proposal up to actual publication. Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.
Fri 22	Postdoc Academy Masterclass: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome [Places] 10:00 - 11:30 Online Have you ever walked into a meeting and questioned your right to be there? Or taken on a new job and then felt you weren’t really the right person for it? For many people, this is a common life experience and one which can be quite debilitating if left unchecked. This session focuses on identifying the set of behaviours that are often referred to as ‘imposter syndrome’, and the implications they can have for yourself and your work environment. During this session, you will: find out more about ‘imposter syndrome’ and its prevalence among researchers and academics identify the impact it can have on you and your work learn about different ways to overcome it and thrive by being at your best. Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.
Wed 27	Postdoc Academy Masterclass: Mini Protect Focus [Places] 12:00 - 12:30 Online How would improving your focus habits benefit you? In this 30-minute session, you will: learn how our brains get into the flow state - the neuroscience of focus plan your dedicated focus hours for the week ahead plan high quality restorative breaks to recharge your willpower and manage difficult thoughts Enhance focus, reduce stress and strengthen resilience. All techniques proven by science. PLEASE NOTE: You must complete the facilitator's Zoom registration form to access your personalised meeting link. See joining instructions for further details. Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.
	Virtual Writing Retreats [Places] 14:00 - 16:00 Online Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list? Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique. These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment. The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session). Please note: It is important that when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process of importing the course appointment to your calendar.
Thu 28	Virtual Writing Retreats [Places] 10:00 - 12:00 Online Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list? Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique. These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment. The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session). Please note: It is important that when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process of importing the course appointment to your calendar.
	Postdoc Academy Open Hour [Places] 11:30 - 12:30 Postdoc Centre@ Mill Lane, Seminar Room These informal sessions give you the opportunity to talk to members of the Postdoc Academy, helping you to figure out how you can begin interacting with us and the wider University community. There will be the opportunity to ask questions within the small group or speak to us one-to-one. These sessions provide: an introduction to our services, programmes and resources guidance on interacting with the wider community, including college affiliations signposting to the relevant areas of the University for any advice you may need connections to members of the Postdoc Academy team. Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.