Over the past 12 months, 16 of our postgraduate researchers have worked on the Liverpool Doctoral College (LDC) Development Programme, performing paid teaching work.
Shirley Cooper, the Programme Lead, commented: “The quality of the researchers contributing to the scheme has been extremely high and the feedback from attendees has always been very positive. The researchers have also provided many ideas and feedback to help invigorate the whole LDC Development programme.”
Some researchers on the scheme have worked as assistant tutors, providing a useful additional support to the main programme, as well as to assist with the development of new materials. Other researchers have created and delivered their own sessions, either workshops or webinars, open to all postgraduate researchers as part of LDC Development programme.
Through these contributions, the programme included a wide range of new subjects, ranging from webinars on the academic use of Twitter and The Conversation, to workshops exploring approaches to time-management, creative ways to start your writing and the ‘Improv’ method for innovation.
Speaking about the programme, PhD student Natasha Bradley from the Institute of Psychology, Health and Society said: “Developing my skills as a facilitator with the LDC development team has been very worthwhile. I’ve been able to work in a number of roles – assisting with the delivery of workshops and webinars, collaborating on the development of new programme activities, and leading my own sessions teaching other PhD students. The work has been enjoyable and my confidence in public speaking has improved a lot”.
PhD student Catrin Owen from the Department of Communication and Media said: “I’ve found teaching on LDC courses a really enjoyable experience both for sharing ideas about different aspects of the PhD experience (such as writing for the wider public), but also for engaging with the wider PGR community. Teaching means you get to meet and have discussions with people from different departments who you wouldn’t usually have the opportunity to interact with, for example, I worked with someone from a Science background to deliver a webinar.
Upcoming opportunities
Development Tutor Scheme: The Development Tutor Scheme will be continuing in the coming academic year (2018-19) with a repeat of many of the titles offered last year, as well as new titles to be announced, including sessions during the LDC Researcher weeks.
Monthly support sessions: In a further new development, three postgraduate researchers, Lorna Bryant, Rachel Heah and Natasha Bradley will be providing monthly support sessions for researchers to come together and discuss the issues that affect research life in a semi-structured format. These sessions are informed by the focus group these researchers ran last June.
Workshops: Do you have a good idea for a workshop, or are you interested in developing your teaching in this area? The LDC Development team are offering a series of workshops in September to help you develop facilitation skills and plan your own workshops. Following attendance at these workshops, you can apply to join the Development Tutor Scheme. The scheme is flexible, allowing you to find employment around your own research timetable.
The Development Tutor Scheme includes relevant development in facilitation and the planning of development workshops, and support as required for those planning their own sessions. You’ll find further information on the upcoming Facilitation sessions below.
| Date | Time | Title |
| 19 Sep | 12:30 – 13:30 | Webinar: Introduction to Facilitation |
| 20 Sep | 13:00 – 16:00 | Becoming a Facilitator |
| 26 Sep | 13:00 – 16:00 | Designing & Facilitating Workshops I |
| 27 Sep | 13:00 – 16:00 | Designing & Facilitating Workshops II |
You can find out more about the development workshops on the LDC Development website, or come to the development workshops in PGR Researcher week on the 8 to the 12 October.
To be one of the first to view and book onto the new schedule of workshops, please visit the Postgraduate Researcher Week webpages.
LDC Development Programme
LDC Development Programme runs throughout the academic year with activities to support personal and professional development of postgraduate researchers, to help them develop the generic skills to become a successful researcher and make preparation for their career after their PhD. The programme is wide-ranging, form one-hour webinars to full day workshops and longer online courses.