Category Archives: Communicating Research

Book Your Place Today! What’s On – LDC Development Events for Postgraduate Researchers May – June 2022

Posted on by

Supporting You and Your Research

We are offering a range of online, specialist workshops on academic writing, research leadership, careers and employability throughout Spring and Summer.

These are a great opportunity to increase your knowledge, refine your skills, meet our friendly programme tutors and postgraduate researchers across the University.  
To find out more and register directly for the events while places last, please go to our LDC Development Team Eventbrite pages:  

May 2022

LDC Development Programme Timetable

Other upcoming courses presently open for booking via LDC Development website are:

Overcoming Imposter Feelings, 10 June 2022 (Time: 09:30am – 12:30pm)

The Emotionally Intelligent Researcher, 24 June 2022 (Time: 09:30am – 12:30pm)
 

We’ll be adding events throughout the year, so do check back!
Workshop numbers are capped and places book up quickly.  Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions at ldcdevelopment@liverpool.ac.uk .


We really look forward to working with you! 

Best wishes,
Sandra Grigglestone

LDC Development Team/SAS/SEE 

Last few places available! LDC Development Programme Updates for Postgraduate Researchers Feb – April 2022

Posted on by

Opportunity to increase your knowledge of understanding and working with people, communication, influence and impact

Places are available on the next two online sessions of Working with Difficult People, delivered by Company of Mind.

The knowledge, insights, skills and tools you will gain from Working with Difficult People will make it easier to understand and work with people, particularly in challenging situations.

To find out more and register directly for the events while places last, please go to our LDC Development Team Eventbrite pages: 

Supporting You and Your Research

Join us for the final part of our four-week programme ‘From Surviving to Thriving’! The session is  presented by Dr Matt Lane from The Researcher Development Partnership Cambridge on: 

While a joyful curiosity might be the fuel of research, doing it day-to-day can be really tough. The series aims to help researchers move just a little bit from a sense of merely ‘surviving’ within the research process to ‘thriving’, being just a little bit more productive and happier. 

Other upcoming courses presently open for booking via LDC Development website are:

  • Getting Organised for Research (and Life) 1 – Get Control of the ‘Tasks’ that Plague our Mind, 25 March 2022 (Time: 10:00am – 12:30pm)
  • Getting Organised for Research (and Life) 2 – Get Control of Research Literature and Information, 01 April 2022 (Time: 10:00am – 12:30pm)
  • Overcoming Imposter Syndrome, 05 April 2022 (Time: 09:30am – 12:30pm)
  • Getting Organised for Research (and Life) 3 – Get Control of Life’s Projects, 08 April 2022 (Time: 10:00am – 12:30pm)
  • The Emotionally Intelligent Researcher, 26 April 2022 (Time: 09:30am – 12:30pm)

Supporting Your Career Offer

  • Creating Effective Job Applications 1 and the Follow-up Support 2, 01 & 11 March 2022 (Time: 09:30am – 12:30pm)
  • Effective Career Networking, 15 March 2022 (Time: 09:30am – 12:30pm)  
  • Shining at Interview, 22 March 2022 (Time: 09:30am – 12:30pm)
  • PGR ‘Career Ready’ Bootcamp, 29 March 2022 (09:30am – 12:30pm)
  •  The Emotionally Intelligent Researcher, 26 April 2022 (09:30am – 12:30pm)

Our workshops listed above are taught live and online to Postgraduate Researchers throughout the year. Workshop numbers are capped and places book up quickly.  Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions at ldcdevelopment@liverpool.ac.uk .

We really look forward to working with you!

Best wishes,
Sandra Grigglestone

LDC Development online resources are moved into Canvas

Posted on by
Front page on site in Canvas

LDC Development now have an area within the University’s new virtual learning environment, Canvas ‘LDC Development Online Resources’, which offers supplementary information to our face-to-face and online programme of events.

Access: This resource is open to all PGRs at the University of Liverpool and can be accessed at any time through the link below:

Access the ‘LDC Development Online resources area’

– You will need to log in with your MWS credentials, with your username in the format username@liverpool.ac.uk .

Content –  Our resources in Canvas are organised into two sections, with further information below:

  • LDC Development Online provision
  • Related training sources  for Postgraduate researchers

LDC Development Online provision

The resources are divided into our seven programme themes:

  • Taking Ownership of Your PhD  – materials from our introductory workshops for new PGRs, including edited recordings of some of the workshops for those new to the PhD.
  • Communicating in Writing – materials to develop your academic writing, for your thesis and research publications, including recordings of materials from the three webinars on ‘Developing Writing Techniques’.
  • Communicating through Presentations –  materials looking at the requirements for research presentations and academic posters, including content from of the two online workshops covering Research Presentation.
    This area also includes guidance for the PhD Viva.
  • Research Productivity – materials covering Time and Project management
  • Resilience and Well-being –  ways that you can manage the challenges of life as a researcher
  • Career Planning – guidance and an online course  help  to help your prepare for the next step in your career
  • Creativity & Critical thinking – an introduction to the problem-solving, innovation and critical thinking skills needed as a researcher
  • Support for the PGR Toolbox – including a video of a recent introductory webinar with a software demonstration.

Related training sources  for Postgraduate researchers

The section contains links to further development opportunities with the University of relevance to postgraduate researchers:

  • Research Ethics and Research Integrity – access to the recommended Epigeum courses on these subjects.
  • Cross-faculty training Opportunities – a list of training opportunities available in April 2021.

Job searching in (or after) a pandemic?

Posted on by


For those near completion and now in the process of job searching, the challenges of the pandemic can make this process more challenging than before.  This means that planning ahead and making essential preparation is particularly important,, as highlighted in a recent article from jobs.ac.uk, ‘Getting your post-PhD job during COVID-19‘.

Our upcoming programme includes a number of online workshops, delivered by our Careers Consultant, Sally Beyer,  to support your career preparation, including two workshops to help your mental preparation and mind-set:

22 April09:30 – 12:00The Emotionally Intelligent Researcher
20 May09:30 – 12:00Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

For those close to PhD completion, and for whom career preparation is urgent, we still have places on the next Career boot-camp

06 May09:30 – 12:00PGR ‘Career Ready’ Bootcamp

The programme includes further career-focussed workshops for those at all stages of their PhD:

15 April09:30 – 12:00Shining at Interview
13 May09:30 – 12:00Effective Career Networking
10 June09:30 – 12:00Creating Effective Job Applications

Past feedback: From the Career-Wise Researcher  Workshop:

“A great opportunity to really think about your personal and career goals and consider the steps you can take to improve your chances of success”

“Good for identifying your inspiration, reflection on what you want from your career and a reminder of why you signed up for a PhD in the first place”

Further ways to prepare for the future

If you are still far from completion you will have more time for career preparation, and time to review your interests and assess the activities that you should be engaging in now to further those interests. We have a new workshop series, based in an engaging game format,  to  consider how the ingenuity, perseverance and opportunity can help you reach your desired ambitions:

25th May – 8th June “Star Researcher”:Team Missions to Help You Make Progress Now

If you are looking at other activities to supplement the experience in your PhD, you might also consider the opportunities to teach your research area in local schools through the Brilliant Club:

20-Apr13:00 – 15:00Webinar: The Brilliant Club & PhD Tutor Opportunities in the Scholars Programme

LDC Development Programme: April – June 2021

Posted on by

We have opened booking for most of the remaining events for this academic year on March 5th. These cover a range of subjects and include some exciting events new to the programme. The workshops are arranged under the following headings:

NB you will need to register for each workshop in the lists below separately.
Places are still very limited – please only book if you can attend!

Also, if anyone is interested in the opportunities to teach your research area in local schools and hear about the work of the Brilliant Club, they are offering an upcoming webinar:

20-Apr13:00 – 15:00Webinar: The Brilliant Club & PhD Tutor Opportunities in the Scholars Programme

Workshops to develop your writing

The upcoming programme includes a range of workshops to help you improve your writing techniques including two new series of workshops provided by Dr Matt Lane, who delivered our ‘From Surviving to Thriving’ series.
Places on all workshops are limited so we ask that you only book on one of the following three workshop series, to allow others the opportunities (Thank you!)

1. Dr Matt Lane’s first workshop is aimed at those in their first year and are writing their Literature review or their First year report:

28-Apr09:30 – 12:30Writing the First Year: The Literature Review and First Year Report

2. Dr Matt Lane will also deliver a further series for those in their second year or beyond and are looking to advance their writing skills for research publications or their thesis:

04-May09:30 – 12:30The Foundations of Academic Writing, Part 1 – Laying the Foundation
11-May09:30 – 12:30The Foundations of Academic Writing, Part 2 – Effective Drafting
18-May09:30 – 12:30The Foundations of Academic Writing, Part 3 – Effective Editing

3. In addition, we are also offering three shorter webinars, delivered by Dr Shirley Cooper and based on the research writing webinars provided in previous years.:

14-Apr13:00 – 15:00Webinar: Developing Writing Techniques – Finding Motivation
21-Apr13:00 – 15:00 Webinar: Developing Writing Techniques – The Academic Document 
28-Apr13:00 – 15:00 Webinar: Developing Writing Techniques – The Editing Process

Research challenges and productivity

These remain challenging times and the following workshops aim to support you overcome general challenges as a researcher:

22-Apr09:30 – 12:00The Emotionally Intelligent Researcher
19-May13:00 – 15:15Surviving the PhD – The Middle Years
09-Jun09:30 – 11:30Webinar: Get Unstuck – Procrastination Busting Techniques
23 Jun09:30 – 11:30 Taking Charge of Your Time: Avoid Drifting

The following series from the Company of Mind will also help you gain control:

13-Apr10:00 – 12:30Getting Organised for Research (and Life) 1, Tasks that Plague our Minds
20-Apr10:00 – 12:30Getting Organised for Research (and Life) 2, Research Literature and Information
27-Apr10:00 – 12:30Getting Organised for Research (and Life) 3, Get Control of Life’s Projects

Finally it is a pleasure to welcome Dr Fraser Robertson of Fistral Training & Consultancy for a repeats of the Project management workshops:

7 May09:30 – 11:30 Introduction to Project Planning, Part 1: Establishing Foundations
14 May09:30 – 11:30Introduction to Project Planning, Part 2: Scoping the Project
21 May09:30 – 11:30Introduction to Project Planning, Part 3: Creating the Plan

Careers Preparation

The following workshops, delivered by our Careers consultant Sally Beyer, will help those preparing for a career at all stages of the PhD:

15-Apr09:30 – 12:00Shining at Interview
06-May09:30 – 12:00PGR ‘Career Ready’ Bootcamp
13-May09:30 – 12:00Effective Career Networking
20-May09:30 – 12:00Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
10-Jun09:30 – 12:00Creating Effective Job Applications

Details still to come:

We expect to continue our online writing retreats over the summer period. New dates will be share with all who have already signed up to the existing list for these retreats on the link:

Online Writing Retreats

New Series – We have now released details of a further series of team-based workshops by the Company of Mind (Dr Adrian West)., which are spread over the three dates: 25th May, 1st June and 8th June.

“Star Researcher”:Team Missions to Help You Make Progress Now

A full up-to-date list of all events is available on our programme timetable.

LDC Development Programme: Jan – March 2021

Posted on by

The Liverpool Doctoral College Development team programme for Jan to March is listed below and events are open for registration. Follow the links on each title for more information and to book a place. The list below is loosely organised to our programme themes, with some overlap between themes. All events will take place online, mostly in Zoom.*
NB Places are limited – please only book if you can attend!

Taking Ownership of your PhD

Workshops for those who have recently begun their PhD

03 Feb13:00 – 15:15Starting the PhD
17 Feb13:00 – 15:15Project Management of the PhD
24 Feb13:00 – 15:15Time-management in the PhD

We also offer a webinar to support those new to the PGR Toolbox:

10 Feb13:30 – 14:30Webinar: Effectively Using the PGR Toolbox

 Improving your resilience … and your productivity

Managing your own motivation is important to maintain research progress. We offer an early workshop to help you set goals for the coming year, and then two workshop series, the first to help you manage yourself and your motivations and the second to build better working relations with others.
NB you will need to register for each workshop in these series separately.

21 Jan13:00 – 15:15Setting PhD Goals: Looking Ahead to a Great PhD Year
  9 Feb14:00 – 16:00From Surviving to Thriving, 1:
Developing Your Resilience 
16 Feb14:00 – 16:00From Surviving to Thriving, 2:
Managing Your Procrastination
23 Feb14:00 – 16:00From Surviving to Thriving, 3:
Cultivating Your Productivity
02 Mar14:00 – 16:00From Surviving to Thriving, 4:
Nurturing Your Happiness 
 09 Feb09:30 – 12:30Working with Difficult People 1: People – Similarities
16 Feb09:30 – 12:30Working with Difficult People 2: People – Differences
23 Feb09:30 – 12:30Working with Difficult People 3: People & Change

Finally, we are able to repeat the two day workshop, ‘Becoming a Mindful Researcher’ in March:

15&16 March09:30 – 12:00Becoming a Mindful Researcher

Preparing for presentations and conferences

We have two workshops, repeated in March, to help those preparing for presentations and a webinar for those new to academic conferences:

20 Jan13:00 – 15:15Planning an Effective Research Presentation 
27 Jan13:00 – 15:15Delivering a Convincing Research Presentation 
03 March13:00 – 14:30Webinar: Making the Most of Online
Academic Conference
16 March13:00 – 15:15Planning an Effective Research Presentation
23 March13:00 – 15:15Delivering a Convincing Research Presentation

Writing and analysing research papers

 We are repeating the three workshops offered in Autumn 2020 to help you prepare and start your academic writing:

03 March09:30 – 13:00Getting Going on Your Thesis Writing
10 March09:30 – 13:00Critical Analysis of Research Papers
24 March09:30 – 13:00Getting your Work Published

Our online writing retweets will continue, which provide community writing support, particularly for those managing the final write-up in isolation. For details see:

Online Writing Retreats

 This year we will include some longer retreats. For Jan and Feb the dates are as follows:

  • 12th January 09.45 – 12.00
  • 19th January 09.45 – 15.00
  • 2nd February 09.45 – 12.00
  • 23rd February 09.45 – 15.00

A further peer group of researchers organise their own meetings within a Microsoft teams groups. Details are shared within the above meetings.

Careers preparation

We are continuing our series of workshops to support those preparing for a career despite these difficult times.

11 Feb09:30 – 12:00The Career Wise Researcher
11 March09:30 – 12:00Effective Career Networking
18 March09:30 – 12:00Using LinkedIn to Develop your Career

A full list of all events is available on our programme timetable.

*If you have problems in connecting, or have other access issues, please get in touch with us directly at ldcdevelopment@liverpool.ac.uk as it may be possible to make alternative arrangements.

Looking forward to 2021?

Posted on by

We have announced our new programme for January to March. Registration opens 6th January.

We would like to thank all those who have joined our events, webinars, workshops, writing retreats and so on over the past year. We wish you the very best for the coming break, and hope you do feel able to have a break, if not to meet people, at least to have a change of scenery … Look after yourself, and support friends and colleagues where possible.

We also hope that you are looking forward to 2021. It has been a challenging year for most of us and we can only hope for better in the coming year. Maybe you will more time in the University, meet people face to face at last, get to conferences, or to finish your thesis ….

We also have a new programme for January to March, although delivery will remain online. A full list is on our web timetable, where you can obtain further information for most events and registration opens on the 6th January. Here we take a preview of our January events.

Writing retreats – Our programme begins with our online writing retreats, which offer peer support to those writing (although you also do reading, data preparation …) All those already on our list for these events will be notified of these upcoming dates.

12  Jan09:45 – 12:00Online Writing Retreat
19  Jan09:45 – 15:00Online Writing Retreat

Teaching Opportunity – Are you interested in a teaching opportunity in local secondary schools? Would you like an opportunity to gain valuable and rewarding experience in teaching your own research area to support those considering University? The Brilliant Club are providing a webinar for us to introduce their Scholars programme, how it works (even in a pandemic) and how it will help you. No registration is required, see below for details:

12  Jan11:00 – 12:00Webinar for The Scholars Programme (The Brilliant Club)

Presentation skills – Are you looking to improve your presentation skills? We have two online workshops to help you plan your next talk, and deliver your research coherently and succinctly, and to help you develop your delivery style and gain confidence. For further details follow the links below. (The sessions are repeated in March.)

20 Jan13:00 – 15:15Planning an Effective Research Presentation 
27 Jan13:00 – 15:15Delivering a Convincing Research Presentation 

Goal planning – Finally, the start of the year is a good time to review your progress and set goals for the coming year. Join us in the following session delivered by Lynne Elliott (LSTM) to reflect on your progress so far, what you have learnt from your experiences and plan what you want to accomplish in the coming months:

21 Jan13:00 – 15:15Setting PhD Goals: Looking Ahead to a Great PhD Year

Wishing you all the best for the New Year 2021!

Are you looking for a teaching opportunity to gain experience in local schools?

Posted on by

The Scholars Programme – PhD tutor opportunity – 2020-21

The Brilliant Club are recruiting for places in The Scholars Programme, in which doctoral and post-doctoral researchers deliver programmes of university-style teaching to pupils in schools that serve under-represented communities.

The Brilliant Club is recruiting now – to apply now for recruitment in Dec 2020, see https://thebrilliantclub.org/the-scholars-programme/

You can also gain further information from their upcoming webinar:

Tuesday 12 January at 11am – registration is not required

Webinar Information and access detailsDownload

Reasons to become a Scholars Programme PhD Tutor

  • Support local pupils from under-represented backgrounds to access university. Each Scholars Programme placement begins with tutors accompanying their pupils on a university trip, followed by six further tutorials in their school. At the end of the programme pupils submit an assignment that is marked by their tutor.
  • Get expert training and real experience to develop your teaching and other transferable skills. The training programme consists of two full-days including sessions on tutorial pedagogy, assessment and designing a course handbook.
  • Earn £500 per placement plus an additional £100 for designing a new course, and travel expenses
  • Disseminate your research to small groups of school pupils
  • Join a nationwide community of like-minded researchers making a huge impact on university access

The Brilliant Club are running a series of webinars where you can find out more about the opportunity to become a PhD tutor on The Scholars Programme. If you are interested in finding out more, we are hosting a recruitment webinar for University of Liverpool researchers on Tuesday 12 January at 11am.

Successful applicants are able to select which terms they would like to work as a tutor in and whether they would like to deliver multiple placements.

You can find out more about The Brilliant Club and the tutoring opportunity online. To apply please visit the application form at https://thebrilliantclub.org/the-scholars-programme/

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to email The Brilliant Club at apply@thebrilliantclub.org.

Covid-19 Update

The Brilliant club is committed to delivering The Scholars Programme for pupils, even whilst Covid-19 restrictions are in place and is currently running all Assessment Centres and training virtually.

Further Opportunities : Researcher Knowhow and The British Library

Posted on by

New PhD Researchers may be interested in the following development opportunities:

Researcher Knowhow

The Researcher KnowHow team are offering a range of online webinars this Autumn from ‘Copyright and your thesis’ to ‘Choosing the right journal ‘ and ‘ Planning and doing a search for your systematic review ‘. See the library calendar from more details and links to register. Places are limited.

Library training – Upcoming Researcher KnowHow events

British Library

In light of the ongoing pandemic, the British Library have had to make significant changes to the Library’s established series of Doctoral Open Days and are now looking forward to engaging with new researchers in a different, but nonetheless engaging and inspirational way.

In early 2021 they will be offering all first-year PhD students the opportunity to hear from expert staff via a programme of free online webinars, which will explain the practicalities of using the Library and its services, with increased focus on our digital collections and resources.

The webinars will take place every Wednesday afternoon between 14 January and 3 March 2021, starting with a first general introduction and followed by additional events exploring more specific collection areas.

They strongly recommend that all interested PhD students attend the first module Getting Started: Researching at the British Library on 14 January. Students are then welcome to join as many of the other modules as they are interested in. All modules are free to attend.

For further details, including the complete programme, and links to register, see PhD Webinars: Get Started with the British Library

WriteFest2020

Posted on by
Logo for event

Webpage: WriteFest2020 November 2020

A joint organisation between the Academy, the Library Open Research Team team and LDC Development

Writing is a core aspect of any academic role and forms an integral part of academic life. Developing skills in academic writing takes time and regular practice, while finding time and space to write is an ongoing challenge for any academic. WriteFest2020 is an international celebration of academic writing, that supports and encourages good practices and habits of writing.  Here at Liverpool, we are joining the celebrations with a month of writing related events including weekly WriteFest Coffees, writing retreats and workshops. You can find the full programme of events on our webpages. There should be something there for all researchers at any stage of their writing career.

Of particular relevance to PGRs writing up their thesis, journal articles or early reports, we are hosting a number of writing retreats. These are great opportunities to carve out time for thesis writing and get writing done in the company of other PGRs.

There are also some great workshops on offer from the library KnowHow team on copyright, systematic reviews, and turning your thesis into a monograph.