Domain B

The transfer process (RDC.2/2A)

The aim of the workshop is to prepare students for the process of the transfer from MPhil/PhD to PhD or ResM to PhD. All students who register for a research degree have the choice to proceed in their studies towards an MPhil or ResM award or to transfer onto a doctoral route that leads to a PhD. The process of transfer requires the production of written reports and their assessment by experts in the field who are independent of the supervisory team.

Intended learning outcome:
The workshop is designed to explain the process and to assist students in the preparation of the reports.

Facilitator: Dr Stephen Essex and Sarah Kearns
Applicability: Full-time research students who are 9 to 12 months (part-time students: 15 to 21 months) into their programme.

Course dates and times: 

• 5 October 2018, 0900-1200
  
• 22 March 2019, 0900-1200
• 28 June 2019, 0900-1200 
  

Preparing for the viva

The aim of the workshop is to familiarise students with the purpose and the format of the oral examination of their thesis. The workshop will familiarise participants with the role of the internal and external examiner and the judgements they will be making in the course of the viva. There will be an opportunity to prepare for the questions that they may be asked in the course of the oral examination.

Facilitator: Derek Shepherd
Applicability: Research students who have submitted or will be submitting their thesis in the next six months.

Course dates and times: 

• 12 November 2018, 0900-1300
  
• 4 March 2019, 0900-1300
• 3 June 2019, 0900-1300

Careers in academia - science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine disciplines

Come along and hear from the wisdom and experience of some of those who are working in roles as lecturers and researchers. They will share with you how they made it to where they are now and give you some top tips on how to get there yourself.

Intended learning outcomes:

• Attendance will help you reflect on the different career paths in academia and how a successful career can be managed.
  
• Network with fellow researchers and ask key questions of the academics.
  
  

Facilitator: Sarah Kearns and academic staff
Applicability: Suitable for most research students and research staff

Course dates and times: 

• 13 May 2019, 1200-1600
  

Careers in academia - humanities, arts and social science disciplines

Come along and hear from the wisdom and experience of some of those who are working in roles as lecturers and researchers. They will share with you how they made it to where they are now and give you some top tips on how to get there yourself.

Intended learning outcomes:

• Attendance will help you reflect on the different career paths in academia and how a successful career can be managed.
  
• Network with fellow researchers and ask key questions of the academics.
  
  

Facilitator: Sarah Kearns and academic staff
Applicability: Suitable for most research students and research staff

Course dates and times: 

• 20 May 2019, 1200-1600
  

Careers: The UK labour market for international students

This session will give you an up to date view of the UK labour market, a general overview of regulations for working in the UK - sources of information and practical tips

Facilitator: Annette Daly
Applicability: Suitable for most research students

Course dates and times: 

• 18 March 2019, 1100-1300
  

The application of persuasion in research

This two-hour interactive session is designed to help research students persuade both within their current research, and also wider life beyond a degree programme. You will identify who you need to persuade in order to achieve your goals. The targets of your persuasion could include employers, funders and those interested in your research. You will be introduced to some key models which may help you change the attitudes and behaviour of others towards you as a researcher. You will look at some scenarios that you might be faced with, and then how you could be effective persuaders in response. We will particularly focus on how you can improve your persuasive communication skills.

Facilitator: Dr Nigel Jackson
Applicability: Suitable for most research students and research staff

Course dates and times: 

• 13 June 2019, 0900-1100

Career planning - for postgraduate researchers 

This session is designed for postgraduate researchers and beyond in their research degree.

• Issues of career planning and management for academics and more generally.
  
• Options - within academia and beyond.
  
• Opening opportunities for yourself.
  
• Identifying gaps and what you can do to bridge them.
  

The session will include:

• How do you know what you might want to do? {approaches to career choice}
  
• What options are out there?
  
• What do researchers do?
  
• Jobs outside academia?
  
• How can you find out more?
  
• How to make the most of your time here to build your employability.
  
• Strategic planning - identifying actions you need to take to raise your profile and gain relevant experience.
  
  

Facilitator: Pippa Waller and Emily Packer
Applicability: Suitable for most research students

Course dates and times: 

• 21 January 2019, 1300-1500
  
• 13 May 2019, 1300-1500
  

Careers: The interview workshop for postgraduate researchers

The session gives participants the opportunity to experience the interview process in a safe and supportive environment. This session focuses on preparation for and participation in practice interviews, giving participants the opportunity to discuss interview techniques, practice taking part in an interview and give and receive feedback to/from their peers.

Intended learning outcomes:

• Allow participants to experience the interview process from both the interviewer’s and the candidate’s perspectives.
  
• Practice interview preparation, questioning and answering techniques and feedback.
  
• Increase participant’s awareness and experience of the techniques a recruiter may use to gain information from applicants.
  
• Gain feedback from their peers on their interview techniques and their CV.
  
  

Facilitator: Sarah Kearns and Claire Guy
Applicability: Suitable for most research students

This resource has been adapted by the University of Plymouth for our own non-commercial use. It is based on the original resource, The Interview Workshop developed by Vitae ©The Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited (2008).

Course dates and times: 

• 11 March 2019, 0900-1400 
• 10 June 2019, 0900-1400
  

Careers: Strengths and skills in professional development

Do you know that most people struggle to identify what they are good at and to evidence what they say they can do? This workshop will help you to explore your skills and strengths in relation to an academic career but also to think about what you have that other employers might value.

Intended learning outcomes:

• A better understanding of your strengths.
  
• Identifying key skills, considering your evidence for them and the opportunity to do a little practice at articulating them.
  
• A more general understanding of professionalism and CPD.
  
  

Facilitator: Paul Gillard
Applicability: Suitable for most research students.

Course dates and times: 

• 1 April 2019, 1100-1300

Careers: An introduction to interviews and assessment centres

This session will introduce you to the process and give you an opportunity to explore the types of questions and exercises you might meet in a range of selection activities from academic interviews and competency-based assessment to assessment centre activities. It will cover: how to prepare effectively, what to expect and will provide time to reflect on how you might respond to a range of questions and how you might frame and answer questions. There will also be consideration of communication tools such as body language, listening etc.

The session will give a general understanding of what might be covered in an assessment centre but will not cover this in depth.

Facilitator: Annette Daly
Applicability: Suitable for most research students.
Selection interviews - An interview role play workshop will be offered but some people might enjoy this initial gentler introductory session before such participation.

Course dates and times: 

• 11 February 2019, 1100-1300 

Careers: Application forms and writing tailored CV's

The session will introduce you to a wide range of application forms including an understanding of competency based selection, on line selection and the supporting statement. It will also introduce you to the process of recruitment and selection in the UK and to the different styles of selection help you to identify your marketable skills and understand why some employers prefer an application form. An introduction to different types of application forms, How to analyse adverts, job descriptions and job specifications to help you improve your applications.

The session will cover:

• A brief outline of the general principles of CV writing
  
• How to demonstrate your skills and experience to show relevant added value
  
• What makes an effective CV?
  
• Why are covering letters used?
  
• CV’s and networking
  

Part 1 will focus on academic applications and part 2 on writing CV’s and applications for non academic/alternative job roles. There will be a short break between parts 1 and 2 and those wishing to concentrate solely on academic CV’s may leave after part 1.

Please note: You should submit your CV to the Doctoral College prior to the session. Although the CV’s will be used in the session there will not be time to check individual CV’s though this can be done by booking an individual appointment with a Careers Consultant on +44 (0)1752 587456. It is recommended that you use the virtual careers adviser materials prior to the session. This is available from the applications section of the careers web page. If you are thinking of a non academic career it is recommended that you also attend general sessions on career planning and application forms in advance of this session.

Facilitator: Oliver Jenkin
Applicability: Suitable for most research students.

Course dates and times: 

• 31 January 2019, 0900-1200

Introduction to creating and developing your career management portfolio

A general understanding of the structure and content of a career management portfolio and how to develop and use it to forward your career.

A career management portfolio supports you in:

• assessing your progress in your career development i.e. identifying your strengths and what you need to develop further and how
  
• identifying career direction
  
• developing the habit of documenting your work for that time in the future when you are job hunting, or maybe trying for that higher position, or even proving that you are a valuable member of the team
  
• evidencing your potential
  
• proving that you are capable of what you say you are
  
• capturing the results of your work
  
• creating a personal database to facilitate the creation of a CV and personal statement
  
• preparing for interviews
  
• confidence development.
  
  

Facilitators: Cate Bennett
Applicability: Suitable for most research students and research staff

Course dates and times: 

• 16 October 2018, 1200-1500
• 5 March 2019, 1200-1500

Making progress in your research degree - avoiding defeatism and self sabotage

This session is designed to give research students some guidance on avoiding defeatism and self-sabotage so that they can make better progress in their research degree.

This session allows participants to:

• Discuss their working practices and consider how constructive they are.
  
• Learn about the physiological basis of stress and consider typical symptoms.
  
• Consider strategies to deal with stress and negative thinking.
  
• Reflect on the balance of activities in their life.
  
• Discuss how to achieve progress.
  
  

Facilitator: Sarah Kearns
Applicability: Suitable for most research students.

Working with feedback and setbacks

• Research degrees are challenging
  
• you will need support from others
  
• feedback from your supervisors, expert commentators and peers is an essential part of the research process
  
• how you work with feedback will form a crucial part of development for you and your research project
  
• research degrees are not straightforward
  
• setbacks in research are common
  
• how you work with setbacks will determine your progress
  
• not all setbacks are negative – you can learn from these.
  

Intended learning outcomes:

• Understand what is meant by feedback and identify good models of practice.
  
• Realise the importance of self-awareness and reliance in managing feedback and coping with set back.
  
• Understand the usefulness of self-reflection and learn of models of reflection.
  
• Identify common scenarios in feedback and setback and develop strategies to positively deal with them.
  

Facilitator: Ian Roberts
Applicability: Suitable for most research students

Course dates and times: 

• 4 February 2019, 1300-1600
  

Strategies for busy researchers

• If you are doing a research degree you will be busy!
  
• Many researchers have multiple roles and commitments.
  
• Strategies to prioritise your work and commitments will determine your progress and help you focus.

Intended learning outcomes:

• Understand the importance of being able to manage and balance the postgraduate experience.
  
• Map and your work life pattern and the factors that affect it.
  
• Learn of tactics and techniques to positively manage your postgraduate experience.
  

Facilitator: Ian Roberts
Applicability: Suitable for most research students.

Course dates and times: 

• 7 May 2019, 1300-1600

Every Researcher Counts:  equality and diversity in researcher careers

Many of the challenges relating to equality and diversity are systemic within the higher education sector, particularly for research staff. These challenges create a difficult environment for any researcher striving for a successful research career within higher education.

The Every Researcher Counts session supports understanding of equality and diversity issues for researchers and for those who work with researchers in higher education institutions.

Facilitator: Sarah Kearns and Rachel Jagger-Thomas

Applicability: All research students and research staff

Course dates and times: 

• Semester 1 date to be confirmed
• 9 April 2019, 0930-1230 (to be confirmed)