Researcher Development Programme (RDP) course timetable
Wednesday 5 February
| 10:00 |
From Surviving to Thriving: strategies to do your research and wellbeing just a little bit better. While a joyful curiosity might be the fuel of research, doing it day-to-day can be really tough. The purpose of this programme is to help researchers move – even just a little bit – from a sense of merely surviving within the research process to thriving within it. Eschewing the hyperbole of the self-help industry, this programme provides participants with practical tools and strategies grounded in the psychological literature to help you do your research and nurture your wellbeing just a little bit better. Whilst this programme of five sessions has been designed as a set, with each building on the one before – as participants move from a sense of ‘surviving’ to ‘thriving’ – each individual session is standalone, meaning you can book and attend the whole series or just those which you think may be particularly useful. Session 3: Increasing Your Productivity This sessions aims to help you get research done by: -
This training is provided free of charge to postgraduate researchers, however, the cost of providing the course is £30 per participant. |
| 12:00 |
Public Engagement: Drop-in Sessions
Finished
A series of 30-minute drop-in sessions to talk with a member of the Public Engagement team. We offer expert advice to support your public engagement work, engagement processes and activities. These include:
These sessions are not workshops or taught sessions. Based on your area of expertise and depending on your School affiliation, you can book a time with one of our public engagement professionals:
The team will be available every week, each mentor offering two sessions of 30 minutes in the day and time indicated above. We will release new slots in the same days and times a couple of months in advance. Please book for the day and time you would like to attend, and you will receive closer to the session the Teams link to meet with the mentor. The link will be sent by RDP Course Administrator. Please make sure that that e-mail address does not go to your spam folder. |
| 12:30 |
Public Engagement: Drop-in Sessions
Finished
A series of 30-minute drop-in sessions to talk with a member of the Public Engagement team. We offer expert advice to support your public engagement work, engagement processes and activities. These include:
These sessions are not workshops or taught sessions. Based on your area of expertise and depending on your School affiliation, you can book a time with one of our public engagement professionals:
The team will be available every week, each mentor offering two sessions of 30 minutes in the day and time indicated above. We will release new slots in the same days and times a couple of months in advance. Please book for the day and time you would like to attend, and you will receive closer to the session the Teams link to meet with the mentor. The link will be sent by RDP Course Administrator. Please make sure that that e-mail address does not go to your spam folder. |
Thursday 6 February
| 10:00 |
From Surviving to Thriving: strategies to do your research and wellbeing just a little bit better. While a joyful curiosity might be the fuel of research, doing it day-to-day can be really tough. The purpose of this programme is to help researchers move – even just a little bit – from a sense of merely surviving within the research process to thriving within it. Eschewing the hyperbole of the self-help industry, this programme provides participants with practical tools and strategies grounded in the psychological literature to help you do your research and nurture your wellbeing just a little bit better. Whilst this programme of five sessions has been designed as a set, with each building on the one before – as participants move from a sense of ‘surviving’ to ‘thriving’ – each individual session is standalone, meaning you can book and attend the whole series or just those which you think may be particularly useful. Session 4: Cultivating Your Happiness This session aims to help you move, even just a little bit, towards a sense of thriving by using a definition of happiness grounded in the psychological literature and applying its proven practical strategies to help you do so. In the process, you will reflect on and apply strategies to cultivate your own happiness; explore the perhaps surprising correlation between and meaning to see your research in a new light; rewrite your to-do list in terms of nurturing your happiness (and productivity).
This training is provided free of charge to postgraduate researchers, however, the cost of providing the course is £30 per participant. |
| 13:00 |
Sustainable Academic Practice
Finished
Ph.D. research journey can present many challenges in our ability to maintain work life balance and work sustainably while progressing towards our goals. Addressing the challenges of work-life balance and sustainability in the context of a Ph.D. is crucial for the well-being and effectiveness of researchers. This interactive session aims to create a space for researchers to hack key issues for developing sustainable academic practices and offers a toolkit of reliable, evidence-based strategies for wellbeing management. |
| 14:00 |
Public Engagement: Drop-in Sessions
Finished
A series of 30-minute drop-in sessions to talk with a member of the Public Engagement team. We offer expert advice to support your public engagement work, engagement processes and activities. These include:
These sessions are not workshops or taught sessions. Based on your area of expertise and depending on your School affiliation, you can book a time with one of our public engagement professionals:
The team will be available every week, each mentor offering two sessions of 30 minutes in the day and time indicated above. We will release new slots in the same days and times a couple of months in advance. Please book for the day and time you would like to attend, and you will receive closer to the session the Teams link to meet with the mentor. The link will be sent by RDP Course Administrator. Please make sure that that e-mail does not go to your spam folder. |
| 14:30 |
Public Engagement: Drop-in Sessions
Finished
A series of 30-minute drop-in sessions to talk with a member of the Public Engagement team. We offer expert advice to support your public engagement work, engagement processes and activities. These include:
These sessions are not workshops or taught sessions. Based on your area of expertise and depending on your School affiliation, you can book a time with one of our public engagement professionals:
The team will be available every week, each mentor offering two sessions of 30 minutes in the day and time indicated above. We will release new slots in the same days and times a couple of months in advance. Please book for the day and time you would like to attend, and you will receive closer to the session the Teams link to meet with the mentor. The link will be sent by RDP Course Administrator. Please make sure that that e-mail does not go to your spam folder. |
Friday 7 February
| 10:00 |
Getting off to a strong start in your PhD is vital, and at the University of Cambridge, we recognize the significance of your First Year Report in shaping your academic progress. This course is designed exclusively for PhD students in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, focusing on equipping you with the essential skills to excel in preparing your First Year Report - a pivotal step toward upgrading to a full PhD candidate. Don't Miss This Opportunity: Preparing your First Year Report is a crucial milestone in your academic career. Enrol in this course to receive expert guidance and support that will set you on the path to excellence. Secure your spot now and equip yourself with the skills to navigate this essential phase of your PhD journey at the University of Cambridge. |
|
From Surviving to Thriving: strategies to do your research and wellbeing just a little bit better. While a joyful curiosity might be the fuel of research, doing it day-to-day can be really tough. The purpose of this programme is to help researchers move – even just a little bit – from a sense of merely surviving within the research process to thriving within it. Eschewing the hyperbole of the self-help industry, this programme provides participants with practical tools and strategies grounded in the psychological literature to help you do your research and nurture your wellbeing just a little bit better. Whilst this programme of five sessions has been designed as a set, with each building on the one before – as participants move from a sense of ‘surviving’ to ‘thriving’ – each individual session is standalone, meaning you can book and attend the whole series or just those which you think may be particularly useful. Session 5: The Emotionally Intelligent Researcher As the final one of the programme, this session simultaneously looks back and forward by aiming to embed previous sessions’ learning to sustain your progress. As a self-contained unit, it also helps you develop your emotional intelligence by providing you with strategies to work effectively with others and develop, amongst others, your listening and assertiveness skills.
This training is provided free of charge to postgraduate researchers, however, the cost of providing the course is £30 per participant. |
|
|
Whoever you are trying to engage and whatever you are trying to engage them in, the way in which you do so will greatly affect the outcome. It’s not just what you say, but also how, where, when, why and who. This masterclass explores those peripheral aspects of communication, including:
|
Monday 10 February
| 09:30 |
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 session 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 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 day is dedicated to writing, with short sessions to test out new ways to approach your work. A full schedule for the day will be sent out at least a week in advance. |
| 16:00 |
Public Engagement: Drop-in Sessions
Finished
A series of 30-minute drop-in sessions to talk with a member of the Public Engagement team. We offer expert advice to support your public engagement work, engagement processes and activities. These include:
These sessions are not workshops or taught sessions. Based on your area of expertise and depending on your School affiliation, you can book a time with one of our public engagement professionals:
The team will be available every week, each mentor offering two sessions of 30 minutes in the day and time indicated above. We will release new slots in the same days and times a couple of months in advance. Please book for the day and time you would like to attend, and you will receive closer to the session the Teams link to meet with the mentor. The link will be sent by RDP Course Administrator. Please make sure that that e-mail address does not go to your spam folder. |
| 16:30 |
Public Engagement: Drop-in Sessions
Finished
A series of 30-minute drop-in sessions to talk with a member of the Public Engagement team. We offer expert advice to support your public engagement work, engagement processes and activities. These include:
These sessions are not workshops or taught sessions. Based on your area of expertise and depending on your School affiliation, you can book a time with one of our public engagement professionals:
The team will be available every week, each mentor offering two sessions of 30 minutes in the day and time indicated above. We will release new slots in the same days and times a couple of months in advance. Please book for the day and time you would like to attend, and you will receive closer to the session the Teams link to meet with the mentor. The link will be sent by RDP Course Administrator. Please make sure that that e-mail address does not go to your spam folder. |
Tuesday 11 February
| 10:00 |
This workshop is designed to help PhD students optimize their time and increase their productivity. In this workshop, we will explore a variety of time management strategies and tools to help you prioritize your tasks, meet deadlines, and achieve your academic goals. We will guide you through practical exercises that will help you identify your priorities, create realistic schedules, and manage your workload efficiently. We will also cover essential tools and techniques for managing your time effectively, such as the Pomodoro Technique, time-blocking, and goal setting. By the end of this workshop, you will have a comprehensive toolkit for managing your time more effectively, reducing stress, and enhancing your overall productivity. |
|
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. |
|
| 12:00 |
Lunch Series: Tips for Viva Revision
Finished
Your viva is just a few weeks away – your thesis is ready, you’ve got examiners, and you’ve got a date in the diary. What do you do with those few weeks to prepare for the viva? This short session is aimed at giving some tips for revision to help you go into your viva feeling confident and prepared. |
Wednesday 12 February
| 10:00 |
This interactive workshop will support participants to make the most of short periods of study, admin, teaching preparation or research time. Participants work together to create a personalised plan of action combining High Intensity Productivity (HIP) with focused goal setting. The session considers the biggest reasons for procrastination and participants learn how to break larger research, teaching, admin and study activities in to manageable and achievable tasks. The session benefits from integrated protected self-development time to trial the tools learned in the session. There is also the opportunity to reflect on how participants will implement their learning in order to make the most of future opportunities and avoid procrastination.
PhD Researcher and Clinician, University of Leicester 2020
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. |
| 12:00 |
Public Engagement: Drop-in Sessions
Finished
A series of 30-minute drop-in sessions to talk with a member of the Public Engagement team. We offer expert advice to support your public engagement work, engagement processes and activities. These include:
These sessions are not workshops or taught sessions. Based on your area of expertise and depending on your School affiliation, you can book a time with one of our public engagement professionals:
The team will be available every week, each mentor offering two sessions of 30 minutes in the day and time indicated above. We will release new slots in the same days and times a couple of months in advance. Please book for the day and time you would like to attend, and you will receive closer to the session the Teams link to meet with the mentor. The link will be sent by RDP Course Administrator. Please make sure that that e-mail address does not go to your spam folder. |
| 12:30 |
Public Engagement: Drop-in Sessions
Finished
A series of 30-minute drop-in sessions to talk with a member of the Public Engagement team. We offer expert advice to support your public engagement work, engagement processes and activities. These include:
These sessions are not workshops or taught sessions. Based on your area of expertise and depending on your School affiliation, you can book a time with one of our public engagement professionals:
The team will be available every week, each mentor offering two sessions of 30 minutes in the day and time indicated above. We will release new slots in the same days and times a couple of months in advance. Please book for the day and time you would like to attend, and you will receive closer to the session the Teams link to meet with the mentor. The link will be sent by RDP Course Administrator. Please make sure that that e-mail address does not go to your spam folder. |
| 14:00 |
This workshop will cover key themes relating to procrastination. Participants are encouraged to reflect and share experiences with others and take part in discussion groups and activities. The session covers the common causes of procrastination, how to recognise personal procrastination traits and techniques to dig deep to find the real cause of procrastination in order to banish it for good.
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. |
Thursday 13 February
| 10:00 |
How to project manage your PhD
Finished
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. |
|
From lab equipment to label makers, objects can help people to engage with your research in new and interesting ways. In this session we will look at how you can safely introduce objects into your public engagement, how close looking can help enthuse people and how even the most seemingly un-exciting artefact can tell stories. Sarah-Jane Harknett co-ordinates evaluation projects across the University of Cambridge Museums. Alongside this role, she also heads up the Public Engagement programmes at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology where she regularly teaches with objects. |
|
| 14:00 |
Public Engagement: Drop-in Sessions
Finished
A series of 30-minute drop-in sessions to talk with a member of the Public Engagement team. We offer expert advice to support your public engagement work, engagement processes and activities. These include:
These sessions are not workshops or taught sessions. Based on your area of expertise and depending on your School affiliation, you can book a time with one of our public engagement professionals:
The team will be available every week, each mentor offering two sessions of 30 minutes in the day and time indicated above. We will release new slots in the same days and times a couple of months in advance. Please book for the day and time you would like to attend, and you will receive closer to the session the Teams link to meet with the mentor. The link will be sent by RDP Course Administrator. Please make sure that that e-mail does not go to your spam folder. |
|
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:
|
|
| 14:30 |
Public Engagement: Drop-in Sessions
Finished
A series of 30-minute drop-in sessions to talk with a member of the Public Engagement team. We offer expert advice to support your public engagement work, engagement processes and activities. These include:
These sessions are not workshops or taught sessions. Based on your area of expertise and depending on your School affiliation, you can book a time with one of our public engagement professionals:
The team will be available every week, each mentor offering two sessions of 30 minutes in the day and time indicated above. We will release new slots in the same days and times a couple of months in advance. Please book for the day and time you would like to attend, and you will receive closer to the session the Teams link to meet with the mentor. The link will be sent by RDP Course Administrator. Please make sure that that e-mail does not go to your spam folder. |