Researcher Development Programme (RDP) course timetable

The Two-Day writing retreat is designed to offer structured sessions of academic writing for PhD students who wish to come and work in a supportive environment, and discuss strategies for good working practices that accommodate neurodivergence. You do NOT need to have a confirmed diagnosis to attend this retreat.

We start the first day with an introduction that discusses the kinds of challenges that Autism and ADHD can present in doctoral research, as well as strengths. This is followed by discussion sessions on finding adaptive ways to work when handling executive dysfunction, or issues with your environment. The rest of the first day is dedicated to writing, with short sessions to test out new ways to approach your work. The second day will be a dedicated writing retreat, with time in a comfortable environment to crack on with some writing! A full schedule for the two days will be sent out at least a week in advance.

You will be writing alongside fellow graduate students. There will be a ‘quiet room’ and a ‘noisy room’ to accommodate various working styles/activities, and attendees are welcome to bring along any fidget objects etc. that would normally help them focus. We will also bring a selection of these to try out!

If you have attended before you are very welcome to come again – feel free to skip the introductory talk or just go get settled in the ‘quiet room’ to start your work.

Lastly, tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided, but you will need to arrange your own lunch.

Join us for an engaging two-part workshop tailored specifically for PhD students interested in the dynamic world of interdisciplinarity! Delve into the fascinating realm where disciplines intersect and collaborate to broaden your research horizons.

In Part I, we embark on an exploration of the diverse perspectives on interdisciplinary research. From the integrative-synthesis approach, to the subordinate-service, and agonistic-antagonistic views, we uncover the rich tapestry of possibilities. Yet, we also navigate through the limitations of these perspectives, challenging the notion of well-defined disciplinary boundaries. Together, we venture into Thomas Kuhn’s concept of research paradigms, unveiling the hidden dimensions of fundamental research assumptions, which transcend disciplinary confines.

Part II invites you to embark on a historical journey through the evolution of disciplines and interdisciplinarity. Reflect on the emergence of disciplines, pondering whether it signifies a continuous progression, or a series of discontinuous material histories. Through a critical lens inspired by thinkers such as Foucault and Marx, we delve into the intricate interplay of power structures and economic interests, which shape notions of 'legitimate knowing'. This critical perspective complements Kuhn’s paradigm shifts, urging us to consider the positionality of researchers and material ontologies.

*It is NOT essential that you attend Part I before attending.

This beginner’s course is designed to get you thinking about preparing your first poster. 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.

Do you feel anxious or apprehensive about how to handle Q&A sessions after a conference paper? Come along to this session to talk about what to expect from a Q&A, how to prepare, and how to handle challenging questions. You will get the chance to meet with other PhD students who are preparing to give conference papers, and work through some friendly activities to practice your question-answering skills!

If you’re interested in developing your presentation skills further, you may also be interested in ‘Practicing your Presentation Skills’ or ‘The Basics of Academic Presentations’.

This online writing retreat is designed to offer structured sessions of academic writing for PhD students with autism and ADHD. You do NOT need to have a diagnosis to attend this retreat. If you feel like you would benefit from an online workspace that accommodates neurodivergence, please come along!

The sessions will be run on a Discord server which allows you to engage both on video, and via text chat. Before the event, you will be sent instructions for how to join, both in written format and as a video. You can also take a look at the Discord website beforehand, if you like: https://discord.com/

We start the first day with an introduction that discusses the kinds of challenges that Autism and ADHD can present in doctoral research, as well as strengths they confer. This is followed by discussion sessions on finding adaptive ways to work when handling executive dysfunction, or issues with your environment. The rest of the first day is dedicated to writing, with short sessions to test out new ways to approach your work. The second day will be a fully dedicated writing retreat to crack on with some writing! A full schedule for the two days will be sent out at least a week in advance.

This online writing retreat is designed to offer structured sessions of academic writing for PhD students with autism and ADHD. You do NOT need to have a diagnosis to attend this retreat. If you feel like you would benefit from an online workspace that accommodates neurodivergence, please come along!

The sessions will be run on a Discord server which allows you to engage both on video, and via text chat. Before the event, you will be sent instructions for how to join, both in written format and as a video. You can also take a look at the Discord website beforehand, if you like: https://discord.com/

We start the first day with an introduction that discusses the kinds of challenges that Autism and ADHD can present in doctoral research, as well as strengths they confer. This is followed by discussion sessions on finding adaptive ways to work when handling executive dysfunction, or issues with your environment. The rest of the first day is dedicated to writing, with short sessions to test out new ways to approach your work. The second day will be a fully dedicated writing retreat to crack on with some writing! A full schedule for the two days will be sent out at least a week in advance.

This event is online only.

Successful public engagement can benefit research, researchers and the public – but how do you go about demonstrating this change? This workshop will guide you through the best evaluation processes showing you when, why and crucially how, to use evaluation to give you reliable and clear data. Demonstrate success to funders; record Impact for REF; learn how to improve your processes and have a better understanding of the people you are connecting with.

The workshop will be followed by the option of a one-to-one consultation to discuss individual and project specific evaluation approaches. These will take place after the workshop and last for 20 min. Please contact the ER team for information on how to book this session.

Dr Jamie Gallagher is an award-winning engagement professional with over ten years’ experience in the delivery and evaluation of quality engagement projects. Working across dozens of institutions and subject areas he has improved the reach, profile and impact of research engagement in almost every academic discipline.

As a specialist in evaluation Jamie provides consultancy services to charities and universities helping them to demonstrate their impact and to understand their audiences and stakeholders. He consulted on dozens of REF impact case studies in the latest round and works regularly with the vast majority of the Russell Group Universities.

Are you an academic, researcher or PhD candidate who would like to build a media profile and take your research to a global public audience by writing for The Conversation?

The Conversation is a news analysis and opinion website with content written by academics working with professional journalists. It is an open access, independent media charity funded by more than 80 UK and European universities.

In this interactive session we'll take you through what The Conversation is - our origins and aims; what we do and why.

We’ll look at why you should communicate your research to the public and take you through The Conversation’s unique, collaborative editorial process.

We’ll give you tips on style, tone and structure (with examples), look at how to pitch (with examples) and look at different approaches and article types.

• To book your space head over to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/university-of-cambridge-writing-about-your-research-for-the-conversation-registration-929009972837?aff=oddtdtcreator&_gl=1%2A1fy0m9p%2A_up%2AMQ..%2A_ga%2AMTkzNTU4NDYzMy4xNzE4ODc0MzY1%2A_ga_TQVES5V6SH%2AMTcxODg3NDM2NS4xLjAuMTcxODg3NDM2NS4wLjAuMA..

A PhD is a long project and a huge personal investment. It’s normal to find yourself feeling a bit ‘fatigued’ with your project, or to find it hard to maintain enthusiasm. This short session aims to bring this into focus and discuss ways of maintaining your pace throughout the PhD. Come along and meet other PhD students, and help each other to remember what you love about your PhD research!

If you find this course helpful, you may also be interested in our ‘Resilience in your PhD’ sessions.

Storytelling is the secret weapon that can help you get on in life, from demonstrating leadership and establishing a reputation, to motivating a team, to persuading and influencing.

It’s a deeply human trait to love stories. They account for about two thirds of conversations, according to research, play on our emotions, light up our minds, and are far more likely to be remembered than mere facts.

Which makes good storytelling the most powerful method of raising your profile, enhancing your reputation, and outlining your vision.

From the hook of how to start your story, to an emotional ending, and everything in between, this high energy, highly interactive workshop covers all you need to know to become a scintillating storyteller.

Tea, coffee, water, & biscuits will be provided.

This training is provided free of charge to postgraduate researchers, however, the cost of providing the course is £30 per participant.

So much of research success relies on collaborations and professional networks. But many of us undersell ourselves and our achievements, or struggle to fit our whole career into a cohesive narrative. This is where personal branding comes in.

In this training, you’ll learn how to define your personal brand, and communicate that effectively through writing, presenting, images, websites and social media. You’ll do exercises which will help you see yourself from an outsider’s perspective, and be given the tools to make you the hero of your own story.

Dr Anna Ploszajski is an award-winning materials scientist, presenter, comedian and storyteller based in London. She’s a materials generalist, equally fascinated by metals, plastics, ceramics, glasses and substances from the natural world. Her work centres around engaging traditionally underserved audiences with materials science and engineering through writing, podcasting, presenting and social media. Having developed her own unique blend of autobiographical scientific storytelling in her first book, Handmade: A Scientist’s Search for Meaning Through Making, she now trains professional technical people to communicate what they do better, through the study of story. In her spare time, Anna plays the trumpet in a funk and soul covers band and is an ultra-endurance open water swimmer. Oh, and it’s pronounced “Por-shy-ski”.

It’s that time of year: the First Year Report is looming on the horizon and the reality of writing is here!

In this workshop, we will discuss the function of the First Year Report, introduce several writing exercises, you will do some writing and have the opportunity to ask questions.

Tea, coffee, water, & biscuits will be provided.

Join us for an engaging two-part workshop tailored specifically for PhD students interested in the dynamic world of interdisciplinarity! Delve into the fascinating realm where disciplines intersect and collaborate to broaden your research horizons.

In Part I, we embark on an exploration of the diverse perspectives on interdisciplinary research. From the integrative-synthesis approach, to the subordinate-service, and agonistic-antagonistic views, we uncover the rich tapestry of possibilities. Yet, we also navigate through the limitations of these perspectives, challenging the notion of well-defined disciplinary boundaries. Together, we venture into Thomas Kuhn’s concept of research paradigms, unveiling the hidden dimensions of fundamental research assumptions, which transcend disciplinary confines.

Part II invites you to embark on a historical journey through the evolution of disciplines and interdisciplinarity. Reflect on the emergence of disciplines, pondering whether it signifies a continuous progression, or a series of discontinuous material histories. Through a critical lens inspired by thinkers such as Foucault and Marx, we delve into the intricate interplay of power structures and economic interests, which shape notions of 'legitimate knowing'. This critical perspective complements Kuhn’s paradigm shifts, urging us to consider the positionality of researchers and material ontologies.

The time has come to start writing your thesis, but you may still be in the lab finishing experiments and/or writing papers for publication.

This ‘hands on’ workshop focuses on helping you plan to write your thesis. In this workshop we will remind you of some writing exercises, introduce techniques to help you with the planning, you will have the opportunity to ask questions and be prepared to do some writing.

Tea, coffee, water, & biscuits will be provided.

Join us for an engaging two-part workshop tailored specifically for PhD students interested in the dynamic world of interdisciplinarity! Delve into the fascinating realm where disciplines intersect and collaborate to broaden your research horizons.

In Part I, we embark on an exploration of the diverse perspectives on interdisciplinary research. From the integrative-synthesis approach, to the subordinate-service, and agonistic-antagonistic views, we uncover the rich tapestry of possibilities. Yet, we also navigate through the limitations of these perspectives, challenging the notion of well-defined disciplinary boundaries. Together, we venture into Thomas Kuhn’s concept of research paradigms, unveiling the hidden dimensions of fundamental research assumptions, which transcend disciplinary confines.

Part II invites you to embark on a historical journey through the evolution of disciplines and interdisciplinarity. Reflect on the emergence of disciplines, pondering whether it signifies a continuous progression, or a series of discontinuous material histories. Through a critical lens inspired by thinkers such as Foucault and Marx, we delve into the intricate interplay of power structures and economic interests, which shape notions of 'legitimate knowing'. This critical perspective complements Kuhn’s paradigm shifts, urging us to consider the positionality of researchers and material ontologies.

*It is NOT essential that you attend Part I before attending.

This course seeks to help students develop their critical reading skills, and to deploy tactics and strategies that can accelerate the process of literature-based research without sacrificing detail and depth necessary for a doctoral thesis.

Do people tune out when you talk to them about your research? Can you explain why your research is worth their attention? Do you know how to make your research better and enhance its impact by gathering external perspectives from industrial and commercial contacts?

This 3-hour workshop gives you the tools to discover and communicate the broader context of your work when engaging with industry and business contacts. It will help you explain the relevance and anticipated impact of your research to non-experts. Practice discussing your work among peers so that you can crystallise your message and make it relevant. This will maximise the value of your next opportunity to talk about your research to external contacts.

This workshop is particularly relevant if you are preparing to participate in a workshop, conference or poster session where you will be engaging with potential industrial partners. It is also relevant if you are looking for future sponsorship for your research, preparing for its commercial uptake, or even if you are considering a job outside academia!

Course Organised by: Maxwell Centre (www.maxwell.cam.ac.uk)

Please note for in-person courses the Maxwell Centre is on the U bus route.

Powerful presentation skills can be critical in winning backing for your ideas, grant funding and financial investment, establishing partnerships, and spreading word of your work.

This half day, highly interactive course covers the secrets of public speaking and presentations, from a compelling opening, entrancing narrative, and memorable ending to your talk, to the effective use of body language, interactions and visuals.

And given public speaking is constantly rated as one of the greatest fears of working life, we’ll even deal with how to conquer nerves as well.

Please note that this session requires a minimum of 8 participants to run.

Tea, coffee, water, & biscuits will be provided.

This training is provided free of charge to postgraduate researchers, however, the cost of providing the course is £30 per participant.

Once upon a time there was a researcher who spun a story so enthralling that it captured their audience’s imagination and they remembered the research for years to come.

Was that researcher you? Would you like it to be?

Telling a good story helps you connect with an audience; brings your research to life, visually and emotionally; and makes it easier for them to listen, understand and remember your research.

This module takes you through the art and science of storytelling: understanding attention, motivation and the evolution of storytelling, the strength of non-verbal connections, dramatic structures and rhetorical devices; to give you the skills to craft an engaging story to communicate your own research.

And if you want to apply this on a specific story of your own, then further support is available through individual coaching.

Sarah is passionate about the art and science of communication and eloquential is her rattle bag of knowledge, skills and experience which she uses to train, coach and facilitate. Sarah collects research from areas such as psychology and neuroscience, along with practitioners’ experience from the performing arts to fill her bag of tricks, tips and advice. Sarah has been involved in public engagement since 2006, working closely with the Cambridge University. She is also a peripatetic teacher of communication and performance skills in schools, and a co-host of a podcast called Gin and Topic

It’s time to start working on your writing, but where do you start? How do you deal with the dreaded blank page? Come along to a short session to talk about how to confidently get started with your writing.

After this session, why not book onto one of our writing retreats? Meet with fellow PhD students and work on your thesis in a supportive, friendly environment.

Do you feel like there are never enough hours in the day to complete your research project? Are you struggling to balance your work and personal life while still making progress towards your career goals? Look no further than this course on Effective Time and Project Management for Postgraduate Research Students.

This course aims to equip you with the tools and techniques required to effectively manage your time and research projects. Through interactive lectures and practical exercises, you will learn how to prioritize tasks, manage your workload, and develop effective time management strategies that can be applied to any research project.

With a focus on project management, this course will cover topics such as setting SMART goals, developing project timelines, and identifying and managing project risks. Additionally, you will learn how to identify time-wasters, manage interruptions, and optimize your work environment for maximum productivity.

This beginner’s course is designed to get you thinking about preparing your first poster. 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.

The Two-Day One-Day writing retreat is designed to offer structured sessions of academic writing for PhD students who wish to come and work in a supportive environment, and discuss strategies for good working practices that accommodate neurodivergence. You do NOT need to have a confirmed diagnosis to attend this retreat.

We start the first day with an introduction that discusses the kinds of challenges that Autism and ADHD can present in doctoral research, as well as strengths. This is followed by discussion sessions on finding adaptive ways to work when handling executive dysfunction, or issues with your environment. The rest of the first day is dedicated to writing, with short sessions to test out new ways to approach your work.

You will be writing alongside fellow graduate students. There will be a ‘quiet room’ and a ‘noisy room’ to accommodate various working styles/activities, and attendees are welcome to bring along any fidget objects etc. that would normally help them focus. We will also bring a selection of these to try out!

If you have attended before you are very welcome to come again – feel free to skip the introductory talk or just go get settled in the ‘quiet room’ to start your work.

Lastly, although you will need to arrange your own lunch, coffee, tea, & biscuits will be provided, alongside fruit and cake. Although non-dairy milk, and vegan & gluten-free flapjacks will be ordered, please notify us of any allergies when you make your booking.

This is an in-person event.

This training will introduce you to the world of visual communication. We will look at visualising data versus visualising abstract concepts and think about appropriateness! How can you simplify a huge body of research into something that is visually enticing to people outside of your field? In this training you will learn how to create visual metaphors that illustrate your research as well as the basics of frame by frame and stop motion animation so that you may turn these illustrations into short animated gifs.