Postdoc Academy course timetable

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:

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

This workshop runs termly.

Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.

Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list?

Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique.

These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment.

The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session).

Please note: It is important that when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process of importing the course appointment to your calendar.

Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list?

Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique.

These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment.

The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session).

Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.

This event is for postdocs near the mid-point of their current contract at Cambridge, and has been designed specifically for this key career stage to help you position yourself for the next step in your career (in academia or otherwise).

This interactive online session will cover:

• What next - reflecting on your professional development and identifying what you would like to achieve during the rest of your contract.
• Action planning - gain tools to ensure you know when and how to take the next steps during your remaining time as a postdoc.
• How could you get there - sharing ideas for how to achieve your development goals, focus on key professional development topics, and where to find information and support across the University.
• Q&A - informal discussion with the facilitators and other participants.

Please also complete this registration form when you make a booking so that we can tailor the session to suit the needs of participants. Your booking will be approved upon our receipt of this form.

The booking deadline is 1 October.

Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.

This masterclass will introduce you to a range of core project management principles which you can apply within your research projects to more effectively plan and monitor your activities.

In this 3-hour online session, you will:

• examine how to define the scope of a research project, including the delivery of outputs, impact and knowledge exchange
• discuss how to engage and manage the expectations of stakeholders to enable smooth project delivery
• explore how your planning and monitoring of research projects is shaped by your methodologies and the expectations of funders
• learn to use key planning, risk management and monitoring tools to effectively manage research projects
• identify your own challenges in managing research projects and discuss ways to overcome them.

This event runs termly.

Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED. FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY

Link to external booking site for reference

This workshop will cover a range of skills that will help you raise your profile, and build the networks that can help you succeed, whether your career aims are in academia or beyond it. This course is collaboratively delivered across the over 10 UK Higher Education Institutions and during this workshop you will get the opportunity to network, online, with researchers based at these institutions.

Places on this workshop are prioritised for postdoctoral and early-career researchers. To attend this workshop, you must agree to attend all sessions.

This programme is a collaboration between Queen Mary University London, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, Cardiff University, University of Glasgow, Imperial College London, King’s College London, University of Leeds, University of Liverpool, University of Portsmouth, Queen’s University Belfast, University of Nottingham, and University of York.

We humans are storytelling animals. We have evolved with and through stories, sharing vital information about food sources and dangers but also morality and values, thereby bringing communities together.

In this information age, can the ancestral art of storytelling help researchers to better communicate their work?

In this workshop, you will learn:

• the functions and principles of storytelling
• how to use storytelling techniques to enhance your research communication, from public engagement events to job and grant interviews
• how to adapt your storytelling skills for different media (talks, podcasts, videos, written articles) and different audiences
• the limitations of science storytelling.

Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.

Are you unsure how state pensions work in the UK, what the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) is, or how making international moves affects your pension as a postdoc? This session will cover:

• the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS)
• the State Pension system in the UK
• private pensions in the UK.

There will also be plenty of time for you to ask questions.

Please note: it is important that when you book this course, you select 'Add to Calendar' on the booking confirmation page to start importing the appointment to your calendar.

Do you find it difficult to stay on track in the pursuit of your career aspirations? Or would you like to improve your ability to set achievable goals? This session will give you protected time, space and support to develop your goals.

In this one-hour interactive masterclass, you will:

• learn to apply a well-established goal-setting technique (SMART goals) that will support you in realising your career aspirations
• have the opportunity to discuss and develop your long- and short-term goals with support from your peers
• acquire strategies for holding yourself accountable.

By the end of this session, you should have developed at least one goal that will lead to progress within your overall career plan and strategies for holding yourself accountable.

This session will run again in Lent and Easter Terms. If you would like to be notified of future iterations of this session, please add yourself to the waitlist or register your interest.

Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED. FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY

Link to external booking site for reference

This workshop will cover a range of skills that will help you raise your profile, and build the networks that can help you succeed, whether your career aims are in academia or beyond it. This course is collaboratively delivered across the over 10 UK Higher Education Institutions and during this workshop you will get the opportunity to network, online, with researchers based at these institutions.

Places on this workshop are prioritised for postdoctoral and early-career researchers. To attend this workshop, you must agree to attend all sessions.

This programme is a collaboration between Queen Mary University London, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, Cardiff University, University of Glasgow, Imperial College London, King’s College London, University of Leeds, University of Liverpool, University of Portsmouth, Queen’s University Belfast, University of Nottingham, and University of York.

How do you protect time to focus and manage your workload?

In this 1-hour session, you will learn how to:

• establish a method to enhance your focus for the most important work
• reduce distraction and prioritise more effectively
• establish a daily 'Protective Pause' to relieve stress, reduce self-criticism and strengthen resilience
• create space to recognise your achievements each day, increasing your self-awareness and confidence.

The session is followed by a 4-day Mini Habit Course. This is one technique per day to help attendees convert proven techniques into useful habits.

PLEASE NOTE: You must complete the facilitator's Zoom registration form to access your personalised meeting link. See joining instructions for further details.

Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.

Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list?

Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique.

These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment.

The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session).

Please note: It is important that when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process of importing the course appointment to your calendar.

Do you have a deadline coming up or a piece of writing that’s long overdue? Or maybe some data analysis that keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list?

Our online retreats give you time, peace, and space to think and write. Each session will provide a friendly and constructive environment in which to meet like-minded peers, discuss challenges, and work in a focused way using the Pomodoro technique.

These virtual retreats are being hosted collaboratively across several institutions to encourage researchers across career stages and institutions to come together in a sustainable writing environment.

The retreats will take place several times per month throughout the academic year and you can attend as many as you like (within booking limits for each session).

Please note: It is important that when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process of importing the course appointment to your calendar.

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED. FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY

Link to external booking site for reference

This workshop will cover a range of skills that will help you raise your profile, and build the networks that can help you succeed, whether your career aims are in academia or beyond it. This course is collaboratively delivered across the over 10 UK Higher Education Institutions and during this workshop you will get the opportunity to network, online, with researchers based at these institutions.

Places on this workshop are prioritised for postdoctoral and early-career researchers. To attend this workshop, you must agree to attend all sessions.

This programme is a collaboration between Queen Mary University London, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, Cardiff University, University of Glasgow, Imperial College London, King’s College London, University of Leeds, University of Liverpool, University of Portsmouth, Queen’s University Belfast, University of Nottingham, and University of York.

This short, interactive session will introduce the fundamental principles of Lean - a methodology which prioritises continuous improvement and respect for people.

Lean is a philosophy and way of working which removes waste from activities and ensures that emphasis is given to tasks that provide added value. Originally developed by Toyota, it is now widely used across many sectors including the NHS and Higher Education.

During this masterclass for postdocs, you will:

• gain a high-level understanding of continuous improvement tools and techniques, and how you can apply them
• develop skills to identify and remove waste in your day-to-day activities to become more effective and efficient.

This session will run again in Lent and Easter Terms. If you would like to be notified of future iterations of this session, please add yourself to the waitlist or register your interest.

Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.

This short, interactive workshop will introduce you to practical tools that will help you test and refine how you are articulating your research vision.

We will not generate ideas for new research projects in the session but, rather, explore what makes a potential research topic compelling. We will also explore how you can assess whether your ideas add up to a vision that is bold, exciting, coherent, and – hopefully – fundable.

This session would benefit researchers at the initial stages of developing a proposal for funding, and may work well as preparation for one of our sessions on Writing Fellowship Grants with Impact.

We will not review specific funding schemes or application materials in this workshop.

This session will run again in Lent and Easter Terms. If you would like to be notified of future iterations of this session, please add yourself to the waitlist or register your interest.

Please note: when you book this course, on the booking confirmation page, select Add to Calendar to start importing the appointment to your calendar.