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Researcher Development

The Researcher Development programme is provided by the Doctoral College to help you get the best out of your time at Warwick and the best out of yourself.

Summer 2025

As we move into the summer we switch up our focus on to your Career and professional development, planning and preparing for Conferences, Writing Up, Writing research grant proposals and for publication, Presenting your research and how to deal with those middle years.

This doesn't mean that we stop our additional support for your Writing, your Wellbeing and Productivity and repeating some of our more popular Research Methods sessions ( with some new ones too). We have new sessions on Being organised whilst being a parent doing a PhD, Devising and running an academic conference, evening and weekend sessions if that is easier for your personal and professional life, and lots of support for thinking and acting upon 'where next' with your career plans.

The popular PhD in Second Language continues with sessions for PGR colleagues to discuss academia and development with an RDO colleague who also did her PhD at Warwick in her second language.

The RDO Summer Programme 2025 opens on 9th June 2025.

Bookings open on Skills Forge on 26 May 2025

Want to keep up with what is on offer each week- then join our 1500+ community on our Researcher Development Online Teams site

Want to know even more - then check out our presentation 'What is Researcher Development 2024-2025?' Or read our annual report: Researcher Development Online 2024

 

@warwickrdo.bsky.social

"The prime gain from doing a PhD is little to do with the subject.

It is the life skills; surviving countless struggles, persisting through difficult times, becoming a resourceful problem solver and independent thinker; and knowing when to ask for help.

Invaluable for any future role!!"

 

Since Autumn 2024 we have run 190 workshops with over 2200 bookings, and over the summer we will be running 60 more. As you know we run small bespoke workshops with no more than 15 in the room so you can be sure of getting your question asked and your PhD progressed.

We will be starting our Summer 2025 programme on 9th June. We look forward to seeing you then.

Check out our How to guides for SkillsForge

Researcher Development Online (RDO)

RDO is a Performance Coaching programme to help you get the best from yourself whilst studying for your research degree. We run small, bespoke online workshops online via RDO Teams. The programme runs throughout the year including evenings, weekends and vacation periods; so hopefully you will find an event which suits your timing.

New for 2024 -2025

Researcher Development Online Moodle

Want the Top Tips from your workshop?

Looking for the follow up material?

Or do you want a refresher of the key areas covered in your workshop?

Or maybe you're on the waiting list for the workshop and want some key learning now?

 Check out our

Researcher Development Moodle

RDO YouTube Videos

RDO Podcasts



Researcher Development Programme - the 6 Pillars of Support

Our approach to PGR development is holistic, which acknowledges that PGRs are researchers and academics, and also multifaceted individuals with diverse needs. We offer a comprehensive and integrative curriculum that supports your intellectual development and also your wellbeing. Success encompasses more than just research achievements; it also includes the overall fulfilment and growth of an individual. For this, we've designed our sessions around six main 'pillars' of support: We offer sessions specifically for those doing their PhD part time too.

Accelerator series –Sessions that will get your PhD off to the best start. It will bring you into contact with other new arrivals at Warwick, starting to build your professional network and peer group of colleagues.

PhD Essentials: Includes our Productivity and Wellbeing series, Communicating Research, and Career Planning. The key areas that we all will need to cover no matter what our discipline and sessions to keep us on track, motivated, and meeting milestones.

Research Practices & Methodologies series- in addition to our popular research methods training we also focus on integrity, ethics, planning and team working

PhD in Second Language Series – If you are doing your PhD in your second, third or even 4th language then we run weekly sessions focussing on writing, presenting, speaking and also navigating strange accents and British culture. See our specific support for you

Writing Support- we start from the basics of sentence structure, through to writing your first press release. We cover how to manage large volumes of material, organising your argument, signposting and storyboarding. And when you are writing up, we offer retreats, proof reading circles and creative writing sessions to deal with writers block. Check out our dedicated Writing page

Planning your Career Path: our dedicated summer programme - we need to start thinking and planning where next, so that we can make the most of any opportunities we have during our PhD. Check out our dedicated Careers page

Our full resources page

Find us on Bluesky

@warwickrdo.bsky.social

RDO Feedback Form

Expression of Interest Form

Coming up in the next weeks of the RDO Summer programme

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Bookings open 26th May 2025

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