RDP Training 2023-24

Getting published is a central part of being a researcher. Understanding where and why to publisht is crucial to developing an effective stragegy that will help you realise your research and/or career ambitions.

With this in mind, the workshop explores strategy around the question of ‘high impact’, and the various meanings (formal and informal) this implies, the limitations of impact metrics and the importance of understanding publishing cultures across academia, and how these vary..

This 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 day with an introduction that discusses the kinds of challenges that Autism and ADHD can present in doctoral research, as well as strengths. The rest of the 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!

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

You are beginning one of the most exciting, yet challenging programme of your academic career. You have entered a new lab, with a new supervisor, new lab colleagues and a new project. This workshop will explore what it means to do a PhD, think about how to establish meaningful student-supervisor relationships and plan for a productive PhD project.

Join us for an intensive and productive writing retreat tailored exclusively for doctoral scholars like you. Enjoy uninterrupted writing time, expert guidance from mentors, and a collaborative environment to refine your research. Take a day to focus solely on your dissertation or thesis projects, right here on campus. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your productivity and connect with fellow scholars!

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!

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.

Come to the Student Services Centre and settle down to enjoy some focused writing time. These sessions will run once a week throughout the Academic Writing Month, in November and are 2 hours long. Tea and coffee will be provided.

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.

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.

Ever wonder why you seem to ‘click’ with one person and not another? Ever wonder why you might find some things easier to do than others? The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) might shed some light on these questions. Why this course might make a difference.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator presents a framework to help you understand yourself and others, by exploring differences and preferences in four areas of your personality. As a result of this exploration, you may work more effectively and be more understanding in your relationships with others.

Led by a qualified MBTI practitioner, the workshop comprises working through the MBTI questionnaire and self-assessment exercises, so that participants can:

• Understand the concept and theories behind the MBTI types and process to obtain a personal profile
• Explore the differences and preferences within personalities in research-related scenarios

Striking the balance between good writing and following best academic practice through referencing can be a bit of a headache. In this session, we will demonstrate how referencing can help you structure your work as well as sharing techniques to support you in keeping your writing process flowing without any extra stress when it comes to submitting your thesis. We will provide a live demonstration of the reference management tool Zotero to give you an idea of how tools can do some of the heavy lifting for you.

The student-supervisor relationship is vital for success in all research degree programmes. However, the exact role of the supervisor is often unclear and sometimes it may feel as though you are not getting the support you need. This can be frustrating for students and supervisors alike, and can lead to a negative doctoral experience.

Come to the Student Services Centre and settle down to enjoy some focused writing time. These sessions will run once a week throughout the Academic Writing Month, in November and are 2.5 hours long. Tea and coffee will be provided.

This practical in person session gives you opportunity to practice presenting in a supportive environment. Before attending, please prepare a 5 minute presentation. You will deliver your presentation to the rest of the participants and receive feedback.

This beginner’s course is designed to get you thinking about preparing your first presentation. Giving presentations is an essential skill for a researcher, be it in your department, at a major conference, or in your next job interview! During the workshop we will discuss how your story, your slides and you as a presenter contribute to the impactful presentation.

Research in the 21st century is global, and research teams are intercultural. 35% of Cambridge research students are from outside the EU; and postdocs are the most diverse group by nationality, representing almost 100 countries. This diversity is one of the University’s biggest strengths. Yet intercultural communication is not without its pitfalls and misunderstandings. It takes conscious discipline to think about one’s own cultural assumptions and to try to make sense of others'.

This workshop will give you some tools to help identify where national culture might be having an influence on your professional and social interactions, where common misunderstandings can occur, and how to address potential challenges, especially when the majority of it is now happening online. The content of the session is informed by research form intercultural studies and refers to culture as a framework of shared values, attitudes and behaviours. It explores the nature of generalisations and the relationship between culture and personal values.

The last hurdle, your viva examination, but what will it be like? What will the examiners ask? How can you prepare for it?

This workshop provides participants with an insight into the process, and helps them understand what to expect within a doctoral degree viva, including a discussion on the type and nature of questions most-likely to be posed by examiners.

This course is not suitable for students in their first year, and we strongly advise against students in their second year from attending.

This short course is designed to get you thinking about how to make and maintain a network as a PhD researcher – what is important to you, and how do you build an effective network that helps you to be the best researcher you can be?

If you find this course helpful, you may also be interested in our ‘Becoming Interdisciplinary’ course, which takes a theoretical look at the challenges and opportunities presented by interdisciplinary research.

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.

This workshop focuses on the basics of teaching and facilitating seminars in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. It is ideal for participants with little to no seminar teaching experience.  

You will learn how to structure a seminar, harnessing an array of design methods, thought-provoking questioning techniques and effective communication skills, and the importance of reflective practice. Likewise, you will learn how to surmount challenges associated with engagement, including with seminar-related reading materials and any other pre-sessional work.  

By the end of this workshop, you will have heightened confidence in designing and delivering compelling seminars that rely on pedagogical principles for creating an inclusive, engaging and cooperative learning space.  

This workshop aligns with D1 and A1 & A2 of the HEAs Professional Standards Framework (PSF), I.e., with the ‘Associate Fellow’ level. This workshop does not result in recognition or a qualification but can be considered as part of an application. 

Let’s face it; being a researcher can be stressful! Not only are you managing the ups and downs of your PhD, but you are probably balancing work and life and also have 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.

Across all AHSS disciplines (and within) there are varying views of what research is. Though not a definitive means by which to conceptualize research, this course offers Thomas Kuhn’s idea of the ‘research paradigm’ as a heuristic and expedient entry point into key terms and concepts often encountered by research students and the tacit assumptions underpinning them. This can and often does result in an ability to understand the significance of one’s own research, the research of others and the broader intellectual context in which both are situated.

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.