Researcher Development Programme (RDP) course timetable
Thursday 21 November 2019
| 10:00 |
To truly engage with literature at doctoral level it is crucial to develop a ‘critical’ approach that enables a strict and thus manageable selection of literature, and the development of interpretative themes by which to categorise and narrate the literature. Both aspects of critical reading and thinking often form the foundation of the thesis, given it both context and justification. Indeed, how a student approaches the literature is itself an integral part of establishing and evolving a unique contribution to knowledge. 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. |
| 14:00 |
Map your Postdoc Journey NOW!
Finished
How can you make the most of your postdoc years at Cambridge? What does a strategic postdoc look like? What could you be doing now to be more strategic, intentional and agentive during your time at Cambridge?
“It encouraged an overall view of thinking about my career and what I want out of it and what I am good at. It also covered examples of people who stayed in academia as well as those who did not, so that I was able to consider the pros and cons of more than just one route.” “I'm right at the start of my post-doc and it helped me to think about what I wanted to get out of the next few years in terms of my career.” |
| 15:30 |
Mindfulness Workshop: Keeping Calm
Finished
Please not that these courses are only for University of Cambridge students (undergraduate and postgraduate), who are affiliated to a Cambridge college. This is one of four "Mindfulness Workshop" sessions. You can attend one - four of these sessions as you wish, in any order. Although not designed as a course, the four sessions are complimentary and cover different aspects of mindfulness.
The other sessions are as follows:
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| 17:30 |
Please not that these courses are only for University of Cambridge students (undergraduate and postgraduate), who are affiliated to a Cambridge college. This is one of four "Mindfulness Workshop" sessions. You can attend one - four of these sessions as you wish, in any order. Although not designed as a course, the four sessions are complimentary and cover different aspects of mindfulness.
The other sessions are as follows:
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Friday 22 November 2019
| 09:30 |
Shot your research video? Got lots of video clips, photographs & audio you want to bring together to make one research video to share with public audiences around the World? Attendees on this course will learn how to cut, add soundtracks and do audio-mixing to edit their very own research video. |
Monday 25 November 2019
| 10:00 |
Starting Your PhD (STEMM)
Finished
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. Where do you start? How do establish productive working relationships, get up to speed with literature and establish a project that will be worthy of a PhD at the end? This half day 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. |
| 14:00 |
Why this course might make a difference Whether you are feeling confused about the first year report – or just want to become a more effective writer – the overall purpose of this course is to help you improve the writing both of your first year report and of your research in general. Previous Participant Feedback: “It helped me benchmark my progress against others, understand my specific challenges and get motivated to just write now, perfect later.” “It really got me started on writing and gave me a better sense of where I was and where I was heading with my first year report and PhD overall.” “To hear what are the expectations for the first year report, and what it should be included there.” |
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Facilitation Skills
Finished
How do you support people to do their best thinking? This is at the heart of what facilitators aim to do. Whether in meetings, while running workshops or when bringing groups or stakeholders together, facilitators seek to promote mutual understanding, encourage full participation, and cultivate shared responsibility as they guide others through problem exploration, problem-solving or decision-making. This workshop is designed to help you develop the insight, skills, and strategies to facilitate groups effectively.
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Tuesday 26 November 2019
| 10:00 |
Leadership is a word that seems to be ubiquitous in universities these days, but keeping a handle on all its possible meanings is becoming ever harder: research leadership, team leadership, institutional leadership, thought leadership, educational leadership, ethical leadership, inclusive leadership… Likewise, employers beyond academia repeatedly tell us that they’re seeking researchers who can be self-motivating, proactive, strategic; can build productive relationships with colleagues at all levels of seniority; are able to create consensus and shared understanding; know how to mentor and guide as well as take direction… So, if leadership is being talked about everywhere and yet is also very hard to define, how can you as a PhD student identify your own leadership practice and your future potential? This interactive workshop will combine practical insights with key leadership theories in order to explore the ways in which you’re already acting as a leader; to examine how ‘follower’ behaviours have a crucial role in shaping good leadership; and to consider leadership in a variety of contexts. The session will be led by Jen Wade, a highly experienced trainer who has been leading her own business for more than ten years, working with a diverse range of organisations across the academic, public, and commercial sectors.
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Starting Your PhD (STEMM)
Finished
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. Where do you start? How do establish productive working relationships, get up to speed with literature and establish a project that will be worthy of a PhD at the end? This half day 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. |
Wednesday 27 November 2019
| 10:00 |
As a researcher, you are expected not only to run experiments, but also write regularly. Establishing a writing regular routine can be difficult, especially when experiments are running well. This half day workshop will explore the different writing techniques, tips and tricks, productive writers use regularly to keep on track with their writing commitments. |
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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. |
Friday 29 November 2019
| 10:00 |
Publishing and communicating as a public intellectual (Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences)
CANCELLED
What does it mean to be a public intellectual today? To convey ideas to diverse audiences requires skills in written and other forms of communication. We will be looking at how reaching ‘outside’ audiences is more than a question or terminology of style; we need to understand their fundamental values, premises and interests concerning knowledge and information. This is crucial for research exchange and impact, but also has practical implications for managing your career within academia and beyond. |
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The Engaged Researcher: An introduction to planning and evaluating impactful public engagement
Finished
This short course covers the what, why and how of public engagement and communication. The course is for research staff and PhD students who want to gain the skills and confidence required to plan and deliver an impactful public engagement project. |
Tuesday 3 December 2019
| 09:30 |
Across all AHSS disciplines (and within) there are varying views of what research is. Following the work of Thomas Kuhn, these views form what are commonly referred to as ‘research paradigms’, entailing a variety of epistemological (study of knowledge) and ontological (study of being) assumptions that ultimately underpin and guide how we carry out research (method). Though not a definitive means by which to conceptualize meta-research, this course offers the ‘research paradigm’ as a heuristic and expedient entry point into key terms and concepts often encountered by research students and the tactic 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. |
| 10:00 |
Successful engagement with the public can benefit research, researchers and the public – but how do you go about demonstrating this change? Evaluation of engagement doesn’t just help us demonstrate the value of our PE initiatives but can help bring us closer to our audiences by giving the public a strong clear voice. 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. This course is going to be run by Jamie Galagher: Jamie is an award-winning freelance science communicator and engagement professional. He has delivered training around the world, from skyscrapers of Hong Kong to tents in the African bush. Having had four years’ experience as the central PE lead for the University of Glasgow he has worked on improving the reach, profile and impact of research engagement in almost every academic discipline. Specialising in evaluation Jamie provides consultancy services to charities and universities helping them to demonstrate their impact and understand their audiences and stakeholders. Jamie is also an associate editor of the Research for All journal. He was named as one of the “100 leading practising scientists in the UK” by the Science Council and as one of the “175 Faces of Chemistry” by the Royal Society of Chemistry. He won the International 3 Minute Thesis Competition and Famelab Scotland. www.jamiebgall.co.uk @jamiebgall |
| 15:30 |
Mindfulness Workshop: Keeping Calm
Finished
Please not that these courses are only for University of Cambridge students (undergraduate and postgraduate), who are affiliated to a Cambridge college. This is one of four "Mindfulness Workshop" sessions. You can attend one - four of these sessions as you wish, in any order. Although not designed as a course, the four sessions are complimentary and cover different aspects of mindfulness.
The other sessions are as follows:
|
| 17:30 |
Please not that these courses are only for University of Cambridge students (undergraduate and postgraduate), who are affiliated to a Cambridge college. This is one of four "Mindfulness Workshop" sessions. You can attend one - four of these sessions as you wish, in any order. Although not designed as a course, the four sessions are complimentary and cover different aspects of mindfulness.
The other sessions are as follows:
|
Wednesday 4 December 2019
| 10:00 |
Effective Researcher (STEMM)
Finished
This course is designed for first-year PhD students to help you increase your effectiveness and meet the challenges of your PhD. We cover several different aspects of personal effectiveness in this one-day workshop, with practical solutions to get you started on your journey.
Outcomes:
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| 14:00 |
Do the terms ‘coaching’ and ‘mentoring’ intrigue you? Do you want to understand how they can be part of your future progression? There are many opportunities and programmes across this university for postdocs to get involved in coaching and mentoring in different ways. The overall purpose of this workshop is to help postdocs understand the importance of being coached and mentored, and/or being a coach or a mentor. This workshop introduces these two methods to explore what they are and how they can be part of a professional profile for postdocs.
“Great trainer - very professional, supportive and helpful.” “This was a great coaching and mentoring session. I liked the interaction with other people.” “I like the approach to the topics covered. [There was] useful information that I would like to explore more to enhance my coaching and mentoring.” |
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Please not that these courses are only for University of Cambridge students (undergraduate and postgraduate), who are affiliated to a Cambridge college. This is one of four "Mindfulness Workshop" sessions. You can attend one - four of these sessions as you wish, in any order. Although not designed as a course, the four sessions are complimentary and cover different aspects of mindfulness.
The other sessions are as follows:
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| 16:30 |
Mindfulness Workshop: Keeping Calm
Finished
Please not that these courses are only for University of Cambridge students (undergraduate and postgraduate), who are affiliated to a Cambridge college. This is one of four "Mindfulness Workshop" sessions. You can attend one - four of these sessions as you wish, in any order. Although not designed as a course, the four sessions are complimentary and cover different aspects of mindfulness.
The other sessions are as follows:
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Thursday 5 December 2019
| 10:00 |
Postdocs: Leading Others
Finished
Are you ready to lead others confidently in whatever leadership position you may find yourself in? This workshop draws on insight gained from Postdocs: An Initial Guide to Leadership and Postdocs: Self-Leadership and considers how to apply different skills, strengths, and styles of leadership as well as the strategies of self-leadership to enable you to thoughtfully and self-assuredly lead others. This workshop will help you cultivate a more profound and extensive portfolio of leadership capabilities and a deeper understanding of how to motivate people and to get the best out of them. It is possible to attend this as an individual workshop, although we would recommend that you try to attend the series starting with Postdocs: An Initial Guide to Leadership and Postdocs: Self-Leadership.
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Presenting is a crucial skill for researchers, yet it is often something that even experienced scholars struggle with. This interactive workshop is designed for people who already have some experience of presenting and the basic principles involved, but would like to develop their skills in this area to a higher level. This workshop provides the opportunity for practical experience of presenting within a supportive environment. During the workshop, you will be given time to design and deliver a short (5-10 minutes) presentation to a small audience comprised of your fellow researchers.
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Success as a researcher is as much about managing your process and resources as it is about intellectual brilliance. What’s more, there is no ‘correct’ way to operate – everyone has to find approaches that work for him or her and fit with their own circumstances. So, what does it mean to be efficient and effective, and how can we fit these simple tools and strategies to aid our effectiveness in the context being a researcher? This one-day immersive workshop will help you to build personal effectiveness tool-kit.
Self – Manage your personal development and growth Within these themes, the exact nature of the session on the day will be tailored to the needs and questions of participants and there will be a small amount of preparatory work to aid your reflection prior to the session.
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| 15:30 |
Mindfulness Workshop: Better Sleep
Finished
Please not that these courses are only for University of Cambridge students (undergraduate and postgraduate), who are affiliated to a Cambridge college. This is one of four "Mindfulness Workshop" sessions. You can attend one - four of these sessions as you wish, in any order. Although not designed as a course, the four sessions are complimentary and cover different aspects of mindfulness.
View complete timetable: https://universityofcambridgecloud.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/AD/CCTL_RDP/EYJcHMg6NslFq2huR8CfpwMB0Nrlcht5sPphj8xsmxJqSA?e=oWnvBc The other sessions are as follows:
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| 17:30 |
Please not that these courses are only for University of Cambridge students (undergraduate and postgraduate), who are affiliated to a Cambridge college. This is one of four "Mindfulness Workshop" sessions. You can attend one - four of these sessions as you wish, in any order. Although not designed as a course, the four sessions are complimentary and cover different aspects of mindfulness.
The other sessions are as follows:
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