Target audience: 

Postgraduate researchers at mid/late stages and from all disciplines.

Workshop description: 

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.

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.

About the facilitator:

Dr Catherine Pope was awarded her PhD 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.

Target audience:

Postgraduate researchers at all stages. Research staff are also welcome to book this workshop.

Workshop description:

Perfectionism is the act of setting unreasonably high standards so that you find yourself unable to reach them. Perfection is the enemy of ‘done’ because no matter how hard you work, you don’t feel the work is ‘good enough’, and the mindset can cause you to delay starting (or finishing) when the task is complex or difficult. Imposter phenomenon describes the sensation of thinking of yourself as a fraud, coupled with the intense fear of being found out.

Perfectionist behaviours and imposter feelings mean we sometimes get in the way of our own success – forms of self-sabotage. Experiencing either (or both) may mean you put yourself under more pressure to achieve, whilst at the same time your stress increases, productivity declines, and confidence is undermined.

This digital and interative workshop will introduce you to some techniques to minimise, address, and (with practice) overcome these unhelpful thinking patterns so that you can effectively handle perfectionist behaviours and imposter feelings if they arise.

Engaging with this workshop will enable you to:

• Explore the aspects and impact of perfectionism and imposter feelings
• Analyse your individual experiences and responses to these phenomena
• Experiment with some tools to minimise self-sabotage

Please join a few minutes early - the Zoom room will open ten minutes before and we will start on time. Late arrivals will not be able to join after the workshop has started. There is no pre-course work for this session.

About the facilitator:

 This workshop is designed and delivered by Dr Sarah Robins-Hobden (Learning and Development Consultant)

Target audience: 

Postgraduate researchers at all stages and from all disciplines.

Workshop description: 

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.

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

About the facilitator:

 This workshop is delivered by the Careers and Entrepreneurship team 

*Please note that the Careers and Entrepreneurship team manage the bookings for these sessions. 

Target audience:

Postgraduate researchers at any stage and from any discipline.

Workshop description: 

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

Facilitator:

 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. 

Target audience: 

Postgraduate researchers at any stage and from all disciplines.

Workshop description: 

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

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:

• 4-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 at all stages and from all disciplines.

About the facilitator

Nicky McCrudden was formerly the Managing Director of a multi-award winning management training company. For over a decade Nicky delivered skills workshops, gave high-stakes presentations as part of procurement exercises and delivered conference presentations to hundreds of people (virtually and in-person). As a learning and development professional Nicky specialised in helping people find their voice and get their message across. Now, a fellow PGR  student, Nicky’s PhD is exploring the development of compassion in workplaces.

Target audience:

Postgraduate researchers at any stage and from any discipline.

Workshop description: 

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

About the facilitator:

 This workshop is delivered by the Careers and Entrepreneurship team 

*Please note that the Careers and Entrepreneurship team manage the bookings for these sessions. 

Workshop description: Boosting your capacity for resilience and handling stress are skills you can expand at any stage, wherever your starting point is. These skills will support you when you are anticipating a stressful situation, preparing for an upcoming challenge, and recovering from difficulty.

This workshop will provide you with insights into how to boost your personal capacity for resilience, and introduce you to a variety of techniques to help you better identify, manage, and recover from stress. You will formulate personal action plan for both the short and long term, taking into account the nature of your specific research environment and need for balance in your life.

Engaging with this workshop will enable you to:

• Identify the origins and outcomes of stress and resilience
• Analyse your own responses to stressors and challenging situations
• Practice and evaluate a range of stress management techniques
• Create a personal action plan for handling adversity and boosting your capacity for resilience

About the facilitator: This workshop is designed and delivered by Dr Sarah Robins-Hobden (Learning and Development Consultant)

Target audience: Postgraduate researchers at any stage and from all disciplines.

Workshop description: 

This is a self-led online course.

In this short online course, running from Monday to Friday, we will be exploring and learning together with lots of opportunities for you to try tools that look interesting to you. Members of the Educational Enhancement team will be on call to answer questions, contribute to discussions and try out things with you. It's up to you when you engage with the course and how much time you spend on it, but you should be able to cover the basics in 30 minutes a day.

Course outline: The course gives us an opportunity to look at how digital technologies and services can support us to work in more efficient, dynamic and connected ways. Many of the approaches and tools we will explore can be used for personal/domestic activities as well as work and study.

This is the plan, but conversations will inevitably overlap and crossover days.

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

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.

Sign up below to secure your place and the details to join will be sent to your Sussex email address