Academic writing can be hard at the best of times. It's especially challenging when there’s so much going on. In this interactive session, you’ll discover how to make writing more manageable, even under difficult circumstances.

Learning outcomes

We'll cover:

• Understanding the circle of control
• Planning a piece of writing
• Building a writing fortress
• Improving productivity
• Staying focused
• Looking after yourself

By the end of the session, you'll have a range of strategies you can apply right away to help you keep going.

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers at all stages and from all disciplines.

About the facilitator

Dr Catherine Pope was awarded her doctorate by the University of Sussex in 2014. Since then, she has written three books and contributed to several edited collections. Over the years, Catherine has devised methods for tricking herself into writing. She loves sharing those methods with researchers and helping them achieve their goals.

Booking information

For online workshops, the link to join the session will be shared to your Sussex email address one working day before the event.

Perfectionist behaviours and imposter feelings reduce our self-belief and cause us to sometimes get in the way of our own success. Experiencing either (or both) may mean you put yourself under more pressure to achieve, whilst at the same time experiencing increased stress; declining productivity; and undermining your confidence. This workshop will introduce you to an array of techniques that help you minimise, address, and (with practice) overcome the unhelpful thinking patterns that underpin perfectionist behaviours and imposter feelings, increasing your capacity to effectively handle these issues as they arise in the future.

Learning outcomes

Engaging with this workshop will enable you to:

• Explore the commonalities, contributing factors, and impact of perfectionism and imposter feelings
• Analyse your personal experiences and responses to these phenomena
• Experiment with a range of tools to help you think and behave differently
• Implement effective strategies to reduce the negative impact of perfectionist tendencies and imposter feelings

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers at all stages and from all disciplines, and ECRs from all disciplines, broadly encompassing research assistants, postdoctoral researchers and research fellows at grades 6-8.

About the facilitator

This workshop is designed and delivered by Dr Sarah Robins-Hobden, chartered psychologist, accredited member of the International Society for Coaching Psychology.

Booking information

For online workshops, the link to join the session will be shared to your Sussex email address one working day before the event.

What can you expect in an interview? Whether you have had ten interviews or zero, interviews can still be a daunting prospect. This session will help you prepare for success.

Find out how to succeed at interviews for roles inside and outside of academia after your PhD. This webinar will look at different styles and approaches to help you market your skills effectively.

Learning outcomes

You’ll come away knowing:

• What to expect from interviews
• How to build your confidence and feel positive
• Key differences between an academic and beyond academia interview
• How to handle unusual questions and showcase your skills
• Where to find additional resources

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers at all stages and from all disciplines.

About the facilitators

This workshop is delivered by the Careers and Entrepreneurship team. *Please note that the Careers and Entrepreneurship team manage the bookings for these sessions.

This event looks at ideas and methods to help you with your networking with organisations and people who might help your career choices. Building a network of resources and people who can help you can be important in researching and developing a career.

In this event we will:

• Explore what is meant by networking and its value to you
• Identify networking resources
• Learn how to identify networking opportunities
• Establish a winning LinkedIn profile and learn how to network digitally
• Share further resources

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers at any stage and from any discipline.

About the facilitators

 This workshop is delivered by the Careers and Entrepreneurship team. *This workshop is run by the Careers and Entrepreneurship team, who manage the bookings for these sessions. 

We’ll explore the different destinations and job markets that postgraduate researchers typically move into after achieving their doctorates. We’ll cover both academic ones as well as ‘beyond academia’ destinations (ie industry, public sector and NFP).

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Better understand and investigate possible career destinations after your research degree
• Identify skills developed in your research degree work and how they can be used
• Start a targeted job search
• Know where to find further resources

Target audience 

Postgraduate researchers at any stage and from all disciplines.

About the facilitators

This workshop is delivered by the Careers and Entrepreneurship team. *This workshop is run by the Careers and Entrepreneurship team, who manage the bookings for these sessions. 

Giving presentations comes high on most people list of ‘least favourite things to do’, but with a few simple tricks and a structure to help you plan, you can counteract your fear of presenting. This short, interactive session will cover:

• Four steps to planning that give your presentation a clear focus
• Designing slides that add value and don’t detract from your presentation
• Ways to open and close with panache
• Top tips for managing nerves and remembering what you want to say
• How to manage audience questions

Learning outcomes

By participating in this workshop you’ll discover a systematic way to plan presentations for virtual and in-person delivery, helping to build your confidence and avoid common mistakes that undermine the quality of your message.

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers in the mid-late stage of their research degree and from all disciplines.

Booking information

For online workshops, the link to join the session will be shared to your Sussex email address one working day before the event.

Find out how to produce an excellent CV for roles inside and outside academia after your PhD. This webinar will look at different styles and approaches to help you market your skills effectively.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the session, you will:

• Understand the difference between CVs for academic and industry jobs
• Learned about ways to enhance your CV to showcase your skills, knowledge and experience
• Know where to find further resources

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers at any stage and from any discipline.

About the facilitators

 This workshop is delivered by the Careers and Entrepreneurship team. *Please note that the Careers and Entrepreneurship team manage the bookings for these sessions.

This workshop takes the approach that less is more. A brief overview of stress will equip you with an understanding of general stress responses, from which you'll identify how stress affects you on an individual level. Having insight into your current landscape, you'll then work with three specific stress-management/resilience tools, in partnership with other researchers on the programme. You'll broaden your awareness of opportunities in your situation, and decide how to take small practical actions to focus on what is within your control, whilst better managing your reactions to what is not.

Learning outcomes

Engaging with this workshop will enable you to:

• Understand how the physiological stress response affects your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours
• Clarify what you can control or influence, and take proactive steps to focus where your agency is strongest
• Explore your personal resilience and bust unhelpful myths in favour of strategies that will work for you
• Discover and deploy your personal strengths as super-powers to ease your experience of stress in the future

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers at all stages and from all disciplines, and ECRs from all disciplines, broadly encompassing research assistants, postdoctoral researchers and research fellows at grades 6-8.

Workshop feedback

• "Very Insightful!"

About the facilitator

This workshop is designed and delivered by Dr Sarah Robins-Hobden, chartered psychologist.

Booking information

For online workshops, the link to join the session will be shared to your Sussex email address one working day before the event.

Take 5 online bitesized courses are short, facilitated, self-study courses. Hosted on Canvas, the courses are designed for those who may be too busy to attend a one or two hour workshop - each day of the course can be completed during a lunch break or spare time. Each course is split into five ‘bitesize’ pieces - one a day Monday to Friday. Each day builds your understanding to give you a solid foundation. Members of the Educational Enhancement Team will be available throughout the courses should you have any questions or wish to learn more about any of the topics.

• Monday - Teamworking with Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday - Communication and collaboration
• Wednesday - Managing and organising tasks
• Thursday - Note making
• Friday - Reflection, tips and tricks

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers at all stages and from all disciplines.

About the facilitators

This is a self-led online course, with access to members of Educational Enhancement learning technologists during the week for discussion and support.

Booking information

The course enrolment link will be sent to your Sussex email address one working day before the course commences.