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Living in Britain

This online seminar focuses on any questions participants may have about aspects of living in Britain that are of particular interest to them, whether cultural, intercultural, historical or social.

It discusses practical everyday issues that participants may already have encountered, both within the University environment and in the wider community, and also possible situations that they may be concerned about dealing with in the future.

This is a very relaxed and informal seminar which will be conducted on a Q+A basis, and participants should email their questions or areas of interest in advance to Sheila Dodds (smd48@cam.ac.uk).

• NB. Please read the Attendance section below before signing up for this course.

Culture shock isn’t necessarily a negative experience, but most students and researchers (both native and non-native speakers!) will experience the negative side effects of it in some form or shape when living abroad or when working in your home country but working across cultures face-to-face or remotely. Even a very good command of a language doesn’t guarantee an easy cultural ‘transition’ – one can master a foreign language to the proficiency level, but there is more to communication than speaking the same language.

In this online workshop, you will gain a better understanding of the culture shock, its impact on day-to-day interactions and how to deal with it.

Have you ever struggled with other students’ or colleagues’ styles of communication, wondered why some people seem to use more formal language, or be more direct than others? Culture plays a big part in how we communicate and adjusting to the cultural communication norms means more than learning a foreign language. Join our workshop to learn more about the importance of cultural competence in interactions - find out more about the impact of cultural (national, regional, interdisciplinary etc.) differences on management styles, team dynamics, communication and more.

In this never-changing world, adaptability is one of the most valuable skills for your time in Cambridge and also for your future employment. In this session, you will discuss the requirements of ‘the new normal’ – the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous reality that requires the right mindset to support you as an ongoing part of your professional life. You will learn how to address VUCA and how to turn the adversities we’re all facing and turn them into opportunities.

The ability to ‘sell yourself’ is, alongside luck, the most important ingredient when it comes to your career development. According to employers, being proactive in job interviews by showing not only why you should be hired and what makes you different but also what do you want are key factors in recruitment. In this workshop, you will learn about ‘selling yourself’ through strategic job interview

Technical skills are a must-have, but a new skillset is emerging when it comes to finding the right candidate for employment. Those harder to teach and quantify skills, the so called soft or interpersonal skills, have become critical in the recruitment process of global companies and are tested at various stages of job applications.

In this workshop, you will reflect on:

1. What are soft skills and why you need them?
2. How do you know which ones you have?
3. How can you demonstrate them to your future employers?
4. How to develop them?

This online course is designed for non-native English speakers from the Department of Engineering. It will cover a variety of spoken English, ranging from the more formal language needed for seminars, discussions and conferences, to the more informal everyday language used in the office and the student house.

• NB. Please read Attendance section below before signing up for this course.

This online course is designed for non-native English speakers from the Department of Engineering. It will cover a variety of spoken English, ranging from the more formal language needed for seminars, discussions and conferences, to the more informal everyday language used in the office and the student house.

• NB. Please read Attendance section below before signing up for this course.

The focus is on structure, logical flow, the effective development of ideas, accuracy and critical analysis.

• NB. Please read the Attendance section below before signing up for this course.

The course consists of 4 workshops followed by 1 individual supervision. The course focuses on common errors and problem areas for research students writing up dissertations and publishing papers. The supervision addresses individual areas for improvement at the end of the course.

• NB. Please read the Attendance section below before signing up for this course.

Writing for Engineers: Course for postdocs on refining papers for publishing. The course consists of four workshops followed by one individual supervision.

• NB. Please read ATTENDANCE section below before signing up for this course.