All Researcher Development Programme (RDP) courses

This workshop is aimed at breaking the stereotype of an academic essay as a purely scholastic and tedious endeavour, devoid of such assumingly ‘literary’, elements as plot, narrative, denouement, metaphor, hyperbole, sound and rhythm, etc. My own experience shows that most of the guidelines, principles, and attitudes generally associated with the popular literary genre of ‘creative non-fiction’, can be successfully applied to academic writing at its best. This centres on mastering the essential ‘Five Cs’: Clarity, Coherence, Continuity, Concision and Cadence.

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

This workshop is tailored for postgraduate researchers interested in applying for small-scale funding opportunities, such as attending conferences or organizing events. Geared towards those with limited or no prior experience, it covers the essential considerations of the funding application process, and includes a hands-on exercise to provide practical insights into evaluating funding applications.

Creativity is a critical part of research, helping people look at old problems in new ways and facilitating leaps in thinking that seem logical in hindsight but are far from it in the moment. In this practical workshop we will briefly explore what creativity is, and quickly move on to exercises, tools and techniques that can boost your creative confidence so you can apply it to your own research.

A central theme will be that creativity is not a talent but a way of operating, and we will look at that way of operating. Although not essential, participants are asked to think of a particular problem or challenge in their research before the workshop so they can practice some of the tips and techniques - who knows, it could be the breakthrough you’ve been looking for!

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.

This workshop is a practical introduction to presenting a lecture. It is aimed at those lecturing for the first time, especially PhD students who may be delivering a guest lecture. Participants will have the opportunity to deliver a 10 minute lecture and receive feedback.

This workshop aims to support participants in:

• the practice of giving a lecture
• discussion of different approaches to lecturing
• to incorporate feedback to their own lectures
• to increase confidence

Please note this workshop is focused on lecture delivery and does not cover lecture preparation.

This workshop is aligned with A1, A2, A4, K2, K3, K5 of the UKPSF.

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.

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.

Researcher Development has moved to Inkpath.

In order to find scheduled training, book places and record your attendance, head over to Inkpath, select 'single sign-on' and log in with Raven.

Click here to Launch Inkpath

Blogs and online articles are becoming ever more important as a shop window to help spread word of your work and get your message across. They can draw attention to the great things you’re doing, generate interest, build partnerships and establish you as a leader in your field. The statistics say that organisations and their staff with blogs produce significantly more potential new opportunities and collaborations than those without.

This half day, highly interactive course teaches you all you need to know to write beautiful and beneficial blogs, from the importance of a title to layouts, what to write about to build an audience, and even smartphone photography.

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.

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.

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.

Researcher Development has moved to Inkpath.

In order to find scheduled training, book places and record your attendance, head over to Inkpath, select 'single sign-on' and log in with Raven.

Click here to Launch Inkpath

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.

This half-day course aims to provide researchers with a dedicated space to explore different communication styles, including their own, and learn more about when and how to use them with impact.

This will be an engaging programme which will give participants the opportunity to build confidence in their own communication approach and develop their self-advocacy, whilst becoming more aware of their strengths and motivations when working with others. The session will provide researchers with the techniques and skills to communicate effectively with supervisors, and colleagues, in difficult conversations, in negotiations, collaborative working, in meetings and when providing feedback.

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

Join this workshop to demystify and re-define the concept of “leadership” and understand the importance of developing your impact and influence in Academia and beyond. We will explore opportunities to increase your visibility and spheres of influence to drive research impact throughout your project and increase your power to pursue your research interests and aspirations. This is an opportunity to uncover what leadership means to you, decide on the type of leader and influencer you want to become as well as help you prioritise the relevant skills and mindsets which will help you progress to the next level of confidence and responsibility. The workshop will cover the following themes:

• Defining “a good leader” in research and beyond: uncovering myths and assumptions
• De-tangling the concept of leadership in the context of research in a post-COVID world: moving towards impact and influence
• Top skills and mindsets which you need to develop to increase your impact and influence in research and beyond
• The art of influence and impact: practical tips on building your leadership experience and how this will support your current research project

The workshop is highly engaging and requires active participation. This is a safe place to share your experience and learn from peers.

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.

An interactive and informal session addressing:

• What assertiveness is and isn’t.
• Your own assertiveness – where are you starting from, and what do you want to work on?
• The assertive and the unassertive you – when are you assertive and unassertive, and why?
• Some theory and hints & tips that will help you to work your assertiveness.
• Putting it all into practice.
• Actions for your assertiveness practice.

To enable everyone attending the chance to work and meet each other, the session will contain a mix of small and large group work, and some individual work. The small groups will be changed throughout the session.

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, you’ve got a first draft (of a section, of a chapter, of the whole thesis…) – what now? Well, unlike at undergraduate level where you can pull an all-nighter to write an essay, this doesn’t tend to lend itself as an approach at postgraduate level – one of the reasons being that texts tend to be much longer. But the far more significant reason is that at postgraduate level editing plays a far greater role in the research and writing process than at undergraduate level. For example, the average Cambridge academic goes through a 10-15 edit cycle when writing a paper for publication. So, whilst writing is important, editing is more important – although the number of edit cycles does differ across the disciplines (for reasons I’ll go into in the session itself).

So, in this session, we’ll start by looking at what to focus on when editing, before exploring one of the main reasons why we do this – namely, to show empathy for our intended reader. The story of our text doesn’t end when we click submit or upload – how successful our text is depends on how it is accessed by our reader(s). And so, in the final stages before clicking submit/upload, we, the writer, need to interrogate our writing as a reader – with our intended readers in mind. And to conclude we’ll look at some linguistic tools (largely related to the fact that English is a writer-responsible language, as discussed in the first session) that you can employ when your writing is starting to get a little unwieldy: so, Characters & Actions; Old before New; Simplicity First, Complexity Last; Passive; and Nominalisations.

This session will help researchers to deepen their engagement with policymakers. It will focus on science and technology but will be of relevance to all researchers including those in arts, humanities and social sciences. Led by Nicky Buckley (Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP)) and Owen Garling (Bennett Institute for Public Policy), it will provide examples of successful partnership projects, and explore funding opportunities for collaboration with policymakers. Researchers will learn how to best disseminate their research in formats most favoured by policymakers and hear about the support available for becoming more policy-engaged. This will be a practical and interactive session, with the opportunity to ask questions and meet colleagues from across the University.

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.

Have you ever wanted to get creative with your research? To discover how writing can bring a new perspective to your work? How your words can engage with new audiences about the academic research that you are passionate about?

This training will enable you to develop creative ways by which you can use writing to engage with the public; providing you with the resources to be more confident in developing and sharing creative writing responses to your area of research.

The course will introduce creative writing for poetry and prose, and textual writing for exhibition / display. It will discuss developing writing for performance.  The aim is to work with you to bring out the creative responses that lay within your own work. There will be the opportunity to receive written feedback throughout the week, and to discuss your work in a 1-to-1 session with the course tutor (if requested in advance).

The training will be led by David Cain. David’s most recent book, Truth Street, was shortlisted for the prestigious Forward Prizes for Poetry (2019). David brings his writing experience together with a passion for public engagement - he currently leads the delivery of the Cambridge Festival.

Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are integral to effective and impactful public engagement. Effective public engagement requires intentional and thoughtful interactions with relevant parties, such as your intended audiences and engagement partners. This means public engagement that is accessible, inclusive and relevant to your audiences and engagement partners context.

In this course, we introduce and explore EDI concepts and guidelines for public engagement that can help you achieve this.

Engaged Researcher has moved to Inkpath

To view the information about the course and book your place: https://webapp.inkpath.co.uk/#/redirect/eyJuYW1lIjoiQWN0aXZpdHlEZXRhaWxQYWdlIiwicGFyYW1zIjp7ImlkIjoyMzU2M319

To view all the Engaged Researcher courses open for booking:

1) head over to Inkpath (https://webapp.inkpath.co.uk/)

2) select 'single sign-on', choose University of Cambridge, and log in with Raven

3) search 'Engaged Researcher' to find all of our courses currently open for booking.

Please note that this course will be held in person.

Learn the technical skills you need to make a podcast. Equipment, recording, technical specifications, editing & distribution all covered. During this very practical, hands on course you’ll make a practice 3 minute podcast. You’ll start with equipment advice, then use a microphone & your laptop to record, followed by editing your podcast, and finally, learning how to publish it. No previous experience necessary, but if you do have experience you’ll certainly learn more on this course

If you would like to take part in this in person session and have a specific question, please email me in advance: ch996@cam.ac.uk

The session will give an overview of key concepts in Knowledge Exchange, how to engage different audiences and stakeholders with your research and will enable you to find out about the support available within the University. The training is open to researchers as well as colleagues in professional services.

Communicating your research via the media can be an effective way of reaching a wide audience. This workshop will help you understand what makes a news story and what to expect when engaging with the media. It will provide tips to help you tell your story most effectively and ensure your research is reported accurately, as well as explaining how the University can support you.

In this session Dr Holmes-Henderson (Durham University) and Owen Garling (Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge) and Nicola Buckley (Centre for Science and Policy) will explain routes into policy engagement for researchers in Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines. They will explain the benefits for academics and their institutions of sharing academic research with policymakers in government, parliament and the devolved nations. This will be a practical and interactive session, with the opportunity to ask questions and design a strategy for getting started.

Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson is Associate Professor in Classics and Ancient History at Durham University where she holds a British Academy Innovation Fellowship (2022-2024). As an expert in Classics outreach and knowledge exchange, she engages diverse stakeholders to explore ways to widen access to the study of the classical world.

Working at the intersection of research, policy and practice, Arlene collaborates closely with policymakers in government and parliament on issues across the Humanities and Education. An affiliated researcher with the Bennett Institute, Arlene sits on AHRC’s Public Policy Advisory Board. Her successful policy engagement with a range of partners has been showcased in this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6gEzYV9RSY

Owen Garling is the Knowledge Transfer Facilitator at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy where he provides an important conduit between its own researchers and policymakers in the UK and internationally. His work helps to ensure that the Institute’s research is focussing on the questions that matter, and that it reaches the right policymakers and public audiences for making a positive difference. Owen’s work covers all of the Bennett Institute’s research themes: Place, Progress, Productivity and Decision-making in Government. With over two decades of experience of working in the public sector in and around Cambridge he has a particular interest in how the Bennett Institute’s work can support policymakers working at regional and local levels as well as at a national level.

Nicola Buckley manages the Fellowships and Networks at CSaP. She also develops CSaP's academic networks, supporting researchers to plan policy engagement, and develops interactions with other universities in policy engagement. Nicky is the institutional lead for the Capabilities in Academic Policy Engagement (CAPE) project, funded by Research England. As part of the CAPE project, Nicky was seconded for a year to the Knowledge Exchange Unit in the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) to help Select Committees in UK Parliament generate Areas of Research Interest and disseminate these to the academic community nationally.

Nicky is one of the Vice-Chairs of the Universities Policy Engagement Network, responsible for strategic partnerships.