Research Training

For further information and to register for these workshops, please see the Postgraduate Research Training Calendar.

We will open each of the workshops for registrations 4 weeks before they take place, and we’ll send out a message when registrations open. If you’re interested in attending a workshop but can’t register, please make a note of the date and time in your calendar.

For each of the workshops we will usually have a waiting list. If you know that you won’t be able to attend a workshop, please message us and cancel you place to allow another person to attend.

All of the courses we provide enable the development of skills that are highlighted as vital for researchers in the Researcher Development Statement (RDS).

The four domains of the Researcher Development Framwork (RDF) encompass what researchers need to be effective in their research, when working with others, and in contributing to the wider society and environment. Information on what skills you can expect to develop from each course is detailed in the Graduate School Research Training course list.

The RDF provides more detail on the Four Domains. It is a tool for planning, promoting and supporting the personal, professional and career development of researchers undertaking postgraduate level research through to postdoctoral research and early career research. When looking through our programme of workshops, you will find each connected to a specific area of the RDF. Although many of our workshops cover a number of areas of the framework, we've highlighted the most prominent subject content.

While a large part of PhD development focuses on the 'doing' aspects of the PhD, it is often the struggle to manage the experience of doing a PhD that impacts on wellbeing, resilience and confidence. A coaching approach to support wellbeing and resilience means engaging with the individual's experience in a way that empowers them to have more awareness of their situation, where they can be making choices, and how they can build up trust and confidence in themselves.

This is the essence of coaching - enabling someone to be at their best to reach their potential in ways that they define. This means that while a coaching approach invites a process of stepping back, it also engages PGRs directly in the content of the challenges they face (whether those challenges are specific to the PhD or their wider life).

Our workshops include:

Pause with Purpose (online workshop, Autumn 2021) / Pause with Purpose (online workshop, Spring term)

Vitae RDF Domain B

Delivered by: Will Medd

Holding together the paradoxical relationship of resting in presence while tapping into the power of imagining what’s possible, the workshop involves a combination of experiential exercises, relaxation, and meditation to learn to step back, take stock, experience alternative perspectives, explore common challenges and identify a more definite sense of the way ahead. The day nourishes a sense of inner wellbeing while creating clarity in how to move forward.

Cultivating Confidence (online workshop, Autumn 2021) / Cultivating Confidence (online workshop, Spring 2021)

Vitae RDF Domain B

Delivered by: Dr Neil McLatchie

Confidence allows us to act and move closer towards where we want to be. Yet the PhD can often seem like it is designed to zap confidence. The unstructured nature of learning and responsibilities, combined with the large number of complex new skills that PhD students are required to learn and demonstrate to an international and expert audience, can deplete the confidence of even the most outgoing and competent students.

This workshop is designed to provide a space first for reflection and then for strategy towards developing confidence. We will:

• Define confidence and what it means to you
• Identify reasons why your confidence might be lacking
• Challenge limiting beliefs and assumptions
• Identify individual strategies and behaviours to increase your confidence
• Share experiences and learn from other PhD students

Researcher Resilience (in person workshop, Autumn 2021) / Researcher Resilience (in person workshop, Spring 2021)

Vitae RDF Domain B

Delivered by: Dr Neil McLatchie

Life as a doctorate student can feel unpredictable and chaotic, with what can seem like a never-ending list of new skills to master and new struggles to overcome. This can generate feelings of uncertainty and insecurity, and result in students losing their sense of direction. These challenges can deplete personal resiliency in all its forms… but resiliency is exactly what might be needed to improve such circumstances!

The workshop is therefore designed to build on the experience and the collective wisdom of the group, to develop an understanding of what resilience means for them and how they can develop strategies to nourish and sustain it in everyday life.

During the workshop, attendees will:

• Realise they are not alone in their concerns and feelings
• Identify their inner resources for improving their resilience
• Identify strategies for identifying and managing their inner chatterbox that can undermine their resiliency
• Take time to identify “draining habits” and “energising habits”, and how they might minimise the former and increase the latter
• Benefit from the wisdom of the group, and hear other PhD students’ experiences of developing resiliency

There will be times during your PhD where you will be asked to present your research. These presentations may be informally to your research group or members of your department or more formally at conferences outside of the University, and ultimately during you PhD viva; so it’s always good to think about developing these skills while you're studying for your PhD.

Effective Conference Presentations: Be Better than Boring Bullet Points (dates to be confirmed)

Vitae RDF Domain D

Delivered by Hutchinson Training and Development

Have you ever seen a great presenter and wondered how they do what they do? Giving an excellent presentation is mainly about practice, but there are many things that you can learn to do that will improve your stage presence and the way that you connect with a conference audience. The session will focus on your needs and explore tricks, tips and techniques of great presenters – and at times the context will be research presentations. Although the themes of the session will come from your needs, requests and questions, by the end of the workshop you should be able to:

• Deliver a message the audience will respond to, and guide an audience through dense and difficult material

• Build a rapport with an audience
• Handle questions with confidence
• Show a confident stage presence, project your voice more effectively and deal with nervousness
• Use audiovisuals effectively and so avoid PowerPointlessness

Getting Noticed in a Crowd: Producing an Effective Research Poster (dates to be confirmed)

Vitae RDF Domain D

Delivered by: Hutchinson Training and Development

This workshop has been designed for researchers who present research posters at academic conferences. Perhaps you’ve submitted a poster before, and it hasn’t had quite the impact you were hoping for? Perhaps you want to get it right from the start? Regardless of your experience base, this workshop will explore how to communicate your research in a simple form that will attract an audience and keep them interested. Specifically, we will consider:

• Content - how much is just right?
• Text, layout and colour – What size, font and style is best and what will work for your material?

• Story – how to communicate your research clearly and simply.

The Viva Experience (in person workshop, Autumn 2021) / The viva experience (in person workshop, Spring 2022)

Vitae Domains A and B

Delivered by Dr Simon Vaukins

Is the viva something that should be survived? Is this examination really a test of endurance? Will you really have to defend your research?

This session is aimed at final year students and those of you that have recently submitted your PhD and have a viva approaching.

This will be a practical session, in which you will be given the chance to work on answers to potential viva questions, and we will also discuss the general rules and regulations around the viva process.

Project Management for the PhD and Beyond (in person workshop, Spring 2021)

Vitae RDF Domain B and C

Delivered by Hutchinson Training and Development

Within your research career, you are likely to organise, analyse and present an enormous amount of information. You will also have to manage your time, set goals and review progress – and probably working with others to encourage them to do the same. This set of skills is often placed under the heading of “Project Management” and is highly sought by a wide variety of employers.

By the end of the session participants should be able to:

• Understand the criteria for successful project management and also consider why some projects fail
• Understand, evaluate and implement various tools to help research planning and communication of that plan
• Appreciate the importance of stakeholder and risk analysis

Regardless of whether your PhD is based in a multinational team and collecting data, or you by yourself evolving an idea, this course will be a productive and valuable way to spend a day.

Research Effectiveness (online workshop, Autumn 2021) / Research Effectiveness (online workshop, Spring 2022)

Vitae RDF Domains B and C

Delivered by Hutchinson Training and Development

In these current times it’s one thing to have a routine and complete tasks but it’s another thing to actually be effective as an original thinker. In this short focussed webinar (with a small amount of pre-thinking to help you get the most from it) we’ll focus on some strategies for helping you to read strategically and write effectively. We also briefly explore research creativity and thinking.Our aim is that these tools can be productive for you whether you’re in lockdown, or when we return to some sort of normality.

This webinar compliments the session on Research Efficiency, but one is not a prerequisite for the other.

Research Efficiency (online workshop, Autumn 2021) / Research Efficiency (online workshop, Spring 2022)

Vitae Domains B and C

Delivered by Hutchinson Training and Development

The current health situation has led to a radical change in professional and personal circumstance for everyone. But research goes on. And in the new reality of remote working and professional distancing we all need to reflect on how we are productive and efficient. This short webinar (with prethinking to help you get the most from the time) will not deal explicitly with remote working (there’s lots of advice about that already) but will provide a toolkit of ideas, reflective questions and proactive strategies to help you get the best out of your time, handle your project efficiently and manage your self and your motivation.

This webinar compliments the session on Research Effectiveness, but one is not a prerequisite for the other.

Finding Literature Workshop (online)

Vitae Domains A and B

Delivered by Dr Louise Innes and Bob Frost (Faculty Librarian, FST)

This online workshop will focus on how to develop an effective search strategy and employ different search techniques.  You will explore the resources available to you through Lancaster University Library, be able to test and evaluate search strategies for your own research topic, and learn how to set up alerts to keep you up-to-date with your field of research.

Writing a Literature Review (in person workshop)

Vitae Domains A and B

Delivered by Dr Louise Innes and Dr Beth Caldwell

This interactive in-person workshop will look at the structure and purpose of a literature review and will explore strategies for planning and writing one. The workshop will also include the opportunity to analyse real literature reviews.

Writing Up Results (in person workshop)

Vitae Domains A and B

Delivered by Dr Louise Innes and Dr Beth Caldwell

This interactive in-person workshop will explore effective ways to write about your results. By looking at real examples, we will identify useful language for describing results. We will also explore ways to successfully incorporate figures and tables into your writing.

Writing Discussions & Conclusions (in person workshop)

Vitae Domains A and B

Delivered by Dr Louise Innes and Dr Beth Caldwell

This interactive in-person workshop will explore ways to write effective discussions and conclusions. We will analyse the key moves that occur in discussion and conclusion sections and examine useful phrases to help you communicate and discuss your conclusions clearly.

2 Day Scientific Writing Retreat for Postgraduate Researchers

Vitae Domains A and B

Delivered by Dr Louise Innes and Dr Beth Caldwell

This virtual writing retreat will give you the opportunity for focussed writing time in a supportive online community. Over the two days, there will be opportunities to discuss writing approaches, share goals and progress as well as blocks of time for individual writing. The retreat will be held on MS Teams and through the range of sessions and workshops, you will be able to progress your writing as well as be part of a supportive online writing community. The day will be facilitated by experienced writing retreat convenors.

Please note – this is an exclusive 2 day retreat and you must be available to attend both days. By signing up on this link, you are committing to attending the whole retreat. Further details including the MS Teams link and instructions will be sent to your email prior to the event.

Write Here, Right Now (online workshop, Autumn 2021) / Write Here, Right Now (online workshop, Spring 2022)

Vitae Domains A and B

Delivered by Will Medd

A one-day ‘live’ coaching writing retreat that brings together the space of a writing retreat with the provocation of live coaching to enhance and sustain an effective writing experience. This unique combination of retreat and live coaching means that, while working on a current piece of writing, participants engage in a series of coaching-based experiments designed to embed motivation, instil confidence and generate productive writing habits beyond the retreat itself.

There is a large amount of help and advice on the University's Careers website, which can be accessed at any time and where you can also book one-to-one sessions with a careers consultant.

The information below contains links to careers workshops developed to support PGRs in FST and will take you to Panopto recordings of these workshops. We will be putting together follow up workshops later in the year to support this information and will be in touch shortly with more details.

Career Options Inside Higher Education

Are you currently undertaking your PhD and considering a career in academia? Are you wondering what other career options there are for Postgraduate Researchers in a university? This workshop gives you a clear insight into the full range of career opportunities available.

Career Options Outside Higher Education

Are you part way through your PhD and starting to wonder about what careers are in the public or private sector? Are you considering using your expertise as a consultant and be your boss? If so, this interactive and engaging workshop will give you valuable insights into the variety of careers outside the university - some of which you may not have considered or even have heard about!

How to Write an Effective Academic CV

Are you starting to write your first academic CV, or have you already written one, but are finding that when you apply? Then this workshop is for you. This interactive workshop explores the unique focus and structure of the academic CV. The class allows you, using job descriptions from real academic jobs, to learn more about the structure, content and evidence base required. It also includes the chance to review examples of a wide range of academic CVs.

Lancaster University Library provides information on the submission of your thesis, your search data management and open access alongside a large amount of other information of its Information for Researchers pages. Visit this page for more information on open access, research data management and requirements for the electronic submission of theses and dissertations.

There is a considerable range of digital skills training provided by our ISS department. More details can be found by visiting the Digital Skills Training page. Visit this page for more information on working with Microsoft Office, building online surveys, using software such as SPSS for data analysis and for information on programming in Python and Matlab.

A research project being conducted by FST staff and/or research students should be submitted to the FSTREC for ethical review if it involves human participants, or other possible ethical risk factors, and is not being reviewed externally.

For more information please visit the Reseach Ethics page

More details of workshops will appear here shortly