Pop into the Research Exchange to enjoy some coffee and cake, while chatting with other researchers.

These sessions are a great opportunity to network with other researchers, discuss your research, and to take a break so that you can return to your work refreshed and relaxed.

Research Refresh runs throughout the year, apart from University closed days.

Pursuing a doctoral degree whilst juggling research, teaching and learning can be quite a challenging and stressful experience. High levels of stress can create severe difficulties in normal functioning, which subsequently can negatively impact your physical, mental, social and academic life.

In this workshop, which will be supported by a qualified and licenced low-intensity psychological wellbeing practitioner, you will learn how to develop your stress management skills in understanding what stress is, how to recognise symptoms of stress and learn strategies for boosting your capacity for handling and recovering from the impact of daily stress. Subsequently, you will be able to apply learnt knowledge to your day-to-day life during your PhD, as well as in the future.

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to gain insight into how stress works, the importance of keeping stress levels in check, and what techniques you can use to combat stress during your degree, which will help you to formulate your short- and long-term stress management plan of how to cope with you stress, based on your specific research environment and your own individual needs.

Remember that the prime gain from doing a PhD is not just becoming an expert in your field, but also becoming and an expert in life skills: surviving countless struggles, persisting through difficult times, becoming a resourceful problem solver and independent thinker, and knowing when to ask for help. These life skills will be indeed invaluable skills for any future role!!’