Graduate School of Life Sciences course timetable

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This workshops is designed to introduce the concepts of Intelluctual Property and Commercialisation within the University. Participants will learn:

          What is IP and IPRs
          Why does it matter?
          Why do you want to protect it
          Who owns it
           
          What are the different types of IP
          Patents
          Copyright
          Design rights
          Database rights
          Know (trade secret)

         How IP can be/is protected - the importance of non-disclosure
         How can you establishe the value of IP?
         How the University's IP policy relates to postgraduate students

This interactive 3 hour workshop, led by Patent Attorneys from Marks & Clerk will be divided into two distinct sessions.

Introduction to Intellectual Property (IP) In this session we provide a presentation on what IP is and the different forms it can come in, giving an overview of patents, designs, trade marks , copyright and trade secrets, explaining what each of these is and how they may be of value. The session then focusses on patents, with information given on the rights conferred by a patent and how someone would obtain a patent for their invention. In particular, we focus on the importance of novelty and inventive step of the claims of a patent application, as well as the importance of data to support your invention and how much data may be considered sufficient. Following this presentation, the students are given an interactive case study to work through in small groups. This case study takes a real world patent that was opposed and asks the students to assess whether patent claims that were filed in an appeal are novel and inventive over three pieces of prior art. This task is talked through thoroughly before students are asked to make a judgment in their groups. Each group will then feedback and we go through what the answer is and why this was interesting, focusing on how the data of the application combined with the prior art show that the invention is plausible.

Commercial Relationships between Academia and Industry In this session an overview of different relationships between academia and industry is given along with some of the benefits and pitfalls of these various relationships. We give an overview of what to look out for with grant funding and the importance of considering the different agendas of the parties involved in collaborative projects. This is followed by discussion of the various compromises that should be considered to maintain positive relationships with collaborators. Towards the end of the session there is discussion on considering the ownership of any results generated in collaborative projects.

This session equips participants with all the fundamental skills that they need to research and begin writing their literature review. This includes building and executing effective search strategies to locate relevant materials for literature reviews, projects and other related research activities, key searching techniques, where to search, and how to keep up to date with the latest research. We will then discuss what to do with material participants find during their searching, looking at skills such as critical evaluation, structural reading and how to start writing.

This session will include live demonstrations of scientific databases to demonstrate the key principles covered in action, as well as time for participants to start developing their own key words and search strategies.

Funders of academic research and employers of researchers are increasingly valuing individuals with entrepreneurial spirit and a broader set of skills that can be used to innovate and create impact from research.

Researchers with these skills are at an advantage when applying for permanent academic positions, securing research funding, or pursuing commercialisation opportunities.

This interactive session will introduce you to:

1 what an entrepreneurial mindset is and how all researchers can adopt and develop this to pursue their interests
2 the frameworks and tools that are used in the startup world to create compelling business opportunities
3 how you can adapt these to support innovative research, create impact, and secure grant or fellowship funding
4 how to create your personal "elevator pitch" to introduce yourself and create new opportunities at networking events or to future employers.

Using a reference manager is one of the best ways to look after crucial research literature, whether planning for a literature review or simply keeping track of developments in a particular discipline. This session will introduce Zotero, an open source reference manager tool.

Using live demonstrations, discussions, and troubleshooting common referencing issues, the session will give an in-depth look at how Zotero (and tools like it) can help maximise a research project workflow while also ensuring that critical resources and information are not lost at any point in the research process.

Introduction to Fellowships What is a Fellowship? Why are they useful? What could a Fellowship mean to your career? How do you create a successful application? Introducing Narrative CVs for researchers – how to share your professional and personal research contributions so that others will care as much as you do.

This session introduces participants to the concept of research data, all the forms that it can take as well as negotiating the management of different data depending on their type.

Topics such as effective storage, handling sensitive data, and developing best practice approaches to avoid data loss during a project will be covered. The session will also explore how to create a data management plan (DMP) and the support available, as well as providing an overview of useful tools and services both within the University of Cambridge and beyond.

What are you good at vs what are you good for

What are you good at vs What are you good for? How to share the benefits of your research effectively with those who can benefit from and influence your impact. Establishing why your research is a good fit so you can position it successfully with the best host institution / programme / funder.

Persuasive Research Presentations and Pitches

Using the Research Canvas and Pitching Canvas to design and deliver an impactful message. These are useful, interactive tools to help you articulate your ideas, persuade your audience and outline the benefits of your skills, your research and your impact.

Led by "Sense About Science," participants will gain an understanding of how to approach writing a policy brief and why it needs to be different from an academic paper. We will provide a policy briefing template and guide ECRs through how they should approach each section – key findings, context, policy recommendations, plus language and tone – to get maximum engagement from policy makers.

The second session is made up of group work and discussions so that participants can start thinking practically about how to approach policy engagement in their domain. We will work through policy engagement exercises, for example a zooming out exercise (what issues can you comment on, where can you lend your voice) and stakeholder mapping exercises (identify your policy maker and opinion-forming audience). Depending on the mix of participants, we will decide whether participants will be grouped according to research topic or kept in mixed groups.

In this fun and interactive session Dr Steve Cross will help you develop the ways you talk about your work, and the ways you connect with people who might be able to help you. We'll look at how networking can make your working life easier and more rewarding, and come up with some strategies that suit you and your interests.

Fellowship Interview Guidance

What happens in a Fellowship interview? What questions can you expect? What answers are they looking for? Explaining and establishing your development needs to make the most of your Fellowship to your best advantage.

Being a researcher can be stressful, with managing the ups and downs of your PhD, balancing work and life and also having one eye on the future and what comes after you finish… This workshop is designed to help you build your resilience. You probably already have some strategies in place so we will reflect on the highs and lows you have already experienced, learn about 3 Cs of resilience (Commitment, Challenge, Control) and consider how we can better support your coping and wellbeing.

In addition we will explore the role of procrastination and how this can impact our sense of resilience, looking at tools and techniques to overcome procrastination to improve wellbeing and resilience.

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Congratulations! You have been selected to present your data at a conference, whether that be an oral or poster. You are being invited to tell your research story to the wider scientific community, how do you make an impact?

Like every good story, you research presentation will have a beginning, a middle and an end. This workshop is designed to help you utlilise the titles you use, the figures you display, so that you can tell your research story with impact, and get the most out of presenting your data.

Metrics have become omnipresent in research assessment, but are often flawed and used irresponsibly. This session explores the guidelines in place to help researchers use metrics more responsibly, including recommendations from DORA and University guidance. We'll then look at common metrics such as journal impact factor and h-index, where they are found and how they are used in academia. Finally we will discuss some particular circumstances where researchers should aim to use metrics responsibly, such as tidying up your online profiles, choosing a journal and recruitment.

Participants should leave the session more aware of the issues with particular research metrics and of the guidance available within the University, and confident in their ability to use metrics responsibly in their academic career.