PRDP online workshops Semester 1 2020-21

Semester 1: 05 October 2020 – 05 February 2021

Programme overview

All our Postgraduate Researcher Development Programme (PRDP) workshops are taking place online until further notice. Most of our own sessions will be held on Microsoft Teams, a platform in your university Office 365 account. Sessions from external providers may take place on other platforms such as Zoom. Sessions are usually held on Wednesdays. Most are scheduled for two hours but will usually be shorter or feature a break in the middle.

Booking and joining

Please book your place on PhD Manager via the links below. You’ll find join codes on the event listing on PhD Manager. Sessions will usually run in the main PRDP 2020-21 Teams group although a few sessions may run in standalone groups and have their own unique join code. For guidance on using Teams codes, scroll down to the bottom of this page.

Session recordings

Most sessions, unless they are interactive, will be recorded and attendees will be notified that a recording is about to take place. Recordings can be found within the individual workshop Team area or on our PRDP semester 1 workshop recordings page.

More workshops will be added to the programme as the year progresses.

Creating your Research Profile on Pure

Wednesday 14 October, 14.00-14.45 (part of induction week)

PRDP logo

How can you raise your research profile? All doctoral students are strongly encouraged to create a research profile on Pure, our university-wide repository of research and our research website. In this practical session, you’ll find out more about Pure and learn how to start building your own profile. We’ll talk you through the technical elements and offer advice on crafting a strong profile that will effectively communicate your research to a non-specialist audience.

Fully enrolled students will have the opportunity to take advantage of live support and begin building their profile during the session. Please have ready a profile photograph (the recommended size is 244x320px) and a draft paragraph describing your research interests. (This interactive session will not be recorded.)

View session recording

Research Plan Guidance

Wednesday 14 October, 15.00-16.00 (part of induction week)

PRDP logoYour first doctoral milestone is one of the most important: submitting your research plan. This document will be the foundation of much of the rest of your studies, and designing and structuring a good research plan is an essential research skill.

Your research plan must be submitted within the first 4 weeks of study, for full time students, and 3 months for part-time students (see CoP section 6).

This session is part of our induction programme (13-15 October) and will help you to:

  • Write research questions and hypotheses
  • Show how your research connects to appropriate literature
  • Articulate aims and objectives
  • Consider suitable research methods and methodologies
  • Structure your research plan into a suitable format

View session recording

An Introduction to Research Ethics and Integrity (mandatory for Year 1)

Wednesday 21 October, 10.00-12.00

PRDP logoThis mandatory session will not be recorded but will be repeated every few months in 2020-21.

 

Please see below for details of the 09 December Research Ethics workshop

Scholars Programme (Brilliant Club) information webinar

Thursday 22 October, 14.00-15.00

PRDP logoThe Brilliant Club is an educational charity that offers PhD and early career researchers meaningful, professionally developmental, paid tutoring opportunities. This information webinar will provide you with a comprehensive insight into the structure of The Scholars Programme, the role of PhD tutors on the programme and the application process, and also give you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have. Next application deadline is 30 October 2020

Further information can also be found in the Information for Researchers flyer. Upon reading this, you can apply via the Online Application Form.

Repeated in November (see below)

Doctoral Milestones and Managing your Research Project

Wednesday 28 October, 10.00-12.00

PRDP logoFor new research students, there’s a lot to take on board. This workshop will help you to understand the structure of doctoral study at Brighton and anticpate the milestones ahead. You’ll gain an understanding of PhD Manager, our online system designed to help you manage your studies, and discover how to use the system to you and your supervisory team’s best advantage. You’ll explore how to apply project management techniques and tools to your research project, helping you to stay on track and complete your doctorate in a timely manner.

Interactive session so no recording available. We hope to have a short video guide to milestones and PhD Manager available in November.

Literature Reviews and Research Diaries

Wednesday 04 November, 14.30-16.30

PRDP logoThis session covers the role of the literature review in research. It looks at aims, strategies for identifying and managing the relevant literature, critical reviewing, and the use of literature and the literature review in a doctoral thesis.

View session recording

Working with your Supervisor

Wednesday 11 November, 14.30-16.30

PRDP logoYour relationship with your supervisory team will be a key part of your project, and the growth of that relationship will reflect your development as a researcher.

This workshop will help prepare you for the journey ahead by introducing you to the basics of PhD supervision and offering advice on how to maintain an effective working relationship over the course of your studies in terms of personal, institutional and learning dimensions. You’ll explore ways to manage time, manage the project, agendas and regulations, and how to engage well with roles, dialogues and interactions. You’ll learn how to respond to feedback, deal with challenges and seek support, and how to avoid and overcome blocks and issues.

View session recording

Academic Writing Skills

Wednesday 18 November, 10.00-12.00

PRDP logoAcademic writing is seen by many as daunting, difficult, challenging. Whilst we can all agree that we have to be able to write for academic audiences, in this session we will look at academic writing in a different way.

There is no one best way to write, approach writing or revise our writing. Imagination, planning and preparation, revision are all needed but, most of all, we must be able to read well. We’ll start by looking at how we read academic texts before going on to look at useful strategies that help you start, continue and complete a writing task before trying a range of writing exercises to find the strategies and tactics that work best for each of us.

And, unlike the often recited story about academic writing, we’ll have some fun along the way.

Interactive session so no recording available.

Book your place on PhD Manager

An Introduction to Research Organisation at Brighton: Futures, COREs and REGs.

Wednesday 18 November, 12.30-13.30 (rescheduled from 27 October)

PRDP logoJoin Profs Tara Dean, Andrew Church, a group of current PhD students and some of our leading academic researchers to find out how the university organises its research and enterprise. We’ll explore the ways in which these interdisciplinary structures can support you and your doctoral research.

You’ll get to hear about:

  • The Brighton Futures, our five cross-cutting themes – Connected, Creative, Healthy, Radical and Responsible — which offer an infrastructure and associated investment to promote cross-university research and external partnerships to create impact
  • The COREs, our 14 Centres of Research and Enterprise Excellence that address focused research agendas and contemporary societal challenges
  • The REGs, our Research and Enterprise Groups that are the incubators for research excellence, building connections and capacity in both emerging and established areas of interest

We’ll showcase some of the research our doctoral students have carried out within the COREs and REGs, show you how to join our centres and groups, and highlight the benefits you can expect to gain from being a member.

Recording available shortly (24/11)

Scholars Programme (Brilliant Club) information webinar

Thursday 19 November, 14.00-15.00

PRDP logoThe Brilliant Club is an educational charity that offers PhD and early career researchers meaningful, professionally developmental, paid tutoring opportunities. This information webinar will provide you with a comprehensive insight into the structure of The Scholars Programme, the role of PhD tutors on the programme and the application process, and also give you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have.

Further information can also be found in the Information for Researchers flyer. Upon reading this, you can apply via the Online Application Form.

Teams for Doctoral Researchers

Wednesday 25 November, 10.00-12.00

PRDP logo

In this session from Information Services, we will look at some of the ways researchers can use MS Teams and how Teams can be used to facilitate collaborative project work, and conduct research interviews and focus groups.

Topics we will look at include: working and collaborating with external partners using Teams; workflows for conducting interviews and focus groups; security and privacy; working with externals; recordings and transcripts from Teams meetings.

This session was not recorded; further sessions for all UoB academics and PGRs will run in 2021

Developing your Critical Thinking in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Wednesday 25 November, 14.30-16.30

PRDP logoTo do well in our thesis, we need to learn how to improve our thinking: not just how to generate our own ideas, but how to develop them. Good thinkers are self-reflective: they think about their thinking while they think!

This workshop will help you develop tools for showing connections between your ideas so that these can be developed rationally and consistently; and ensuring that those connections you make between your ideas are then made in a coherent way. We will look at examples relevant to arts, humanities and social sciences to illustrate the particularities of doing research in these disciplines.

This session was not recorded.

CANCELLED: Structuring your Thesis

Wednesday 02 December, 10.00-12.00

PRDP logo***Please note this session will not take place on this date due to the planned UCU strike action***

Rescheduled session: Wednesday 13 January 2021, 14.30-16.30

 

Preparing for your Viva

Tuesday 08 December, 10.30-15.30

IPRDP logot’s the culmination of your research degree: submitting your thesis and defending your work in an oral examination. But what’s the procedure for submission and how can you prepare for the final hurdle? This practical workshop provides an insight into the process, helping you understand the requirements, purpose and possible outcomes of the examination, the roles of those involved, and what to expect from a typical viva. You’ll receive tips and advice on handling nerves, responding to difficult questions and offering a defence without being defensive.

This workshop is aimed at students in the final six months of study. You will be invited to participate in a simulation to help prepare for a mock viva and are asked to bring along an abstract of your work to help shape the discussion.

This session will not be recorded but will be repeated in 2021.

Book your place on PhD Manager

An Introduction to Research Ethics and Integrity (mandatory for Year 1)

Wednesday 09 December, 10.00-12.00

PRDP logoThis workshop (mandatory for year 1 students) will provide a background to the areas of research ethics and research integrity and why they are important. It will include an introduction to the University’s three tier ethics review framework, and the processes involved, and will look at some common ethical issues, and discuss how these can be addressed.

The session will also look at what we mean by research integrity, and will identify some barriers to research integrity and potential causes of research misconduct. Case studies will be used to consider how ethical dilemmas can be resolved, and illustrate how poor research practice can be avoided.

This online session will not be recorded but will be repeated every few months in 2020-21.

Book your place on PhD Manager

Demystifying the Viva

Wednesday 09 December, 14.30-16.30

PRDP logoFor many doctoral students, the viva looms large on the horizon of their research degree. At Brighton, we offer comprehensive support for students nearing submission including workshops and mock vivas, and we have a dedicated Exams Officer to guide you through the process. But students often want to know what to expect before they reach those final stages.

In this brand new session aimed at early and mid stage students, we’ll take a look at what happens prior to, during and after your viva. We’ll explore the different roles of participants (chair, candidate, examiners) and we’ll also discuss the specific circumstances that pertain to online vivas. We’ll offer advice on what you can do now to help ensure that your thesis is ready to be examined and you are equipped to defend it successfully.

Book your place on PhD Manager.

Structuring your Thesis

Wednesday 13 January 2021, 14.30-16.30

PRDP logoThe task of writing and compiling upwards of 60,000 words of text can feel daunting. In this session we will look at some methods and strategies for compiling and structuring your doctoral thesis.

Central to this workshop and its approach is a focus on what your thesis is meant to ‘do’ and what audiences will be expecting. Using recent examples of successful doctoral theses we will look at how real world cases map onto, or diverge, from the text book advice available on how to structure your thesis.

This workshop is directed towards early / mid stage doctoral students but all are welcome.

Book your place on PhD Manager


How to use Teams join codes

Enter the join code via the field in the top right corner of your main Teams area. We generally do not provide links to Teams groups so please look out for join codes.  

Graphic of instructions for using join codes on Teams: 1. Go to you main Teams area; 2, Click join or create Team in top right corner; 3. Enter code

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