PGR Wellbeing Programme

These in-person workshops and webinars are held exclusively for PGRs and focus on topics relevant to managing your wellbeing as a PGR. 

The webinars take place on Class Collaborate and the sessions have been designed for you to share your ideas anonymously via the keyboard, if you wish. The webinars are not recorded and participants do not connect with their own video or audio during the sessions.

The in-person workshops take place in our group room at 19 Clarendon Place. There are 14 places available for each workshop and places are allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Sign-up for PGR webinars and workshops opens two weeks in advance of each session and you can book a place via the Student Counselling and Wellbeing Hub.

Please continue reading for descriptions and useful resources for upcoming PGR Wellbeing Webinars and Workshops. 

A Balancing Act (Workshop & Webinar)

Monday 16 January 12-1.30pm (In-person workshop)         Book a place

Monday 23 January 12-1pm (Webinar)                                     Book a place      

This session will focus on increasing our psychological awareness of stress and stress symptoms and explore effective ways to manage personal wellbeing alongside the academic demands of PGR life. There will be an opportunity to relect on what gets in the way of prioritising wellbeing actions and we will consider how making small adjustments to our environment, routines and systems can help us to achieve a healthier work-life balance.

The Wellbeing Thesis 

How to manage stress 

James Clear atomic habits video clip 

Free habits app 

Becoming a Self-compassionate Researcher (Workshop & Webinar)

Monday 13 February 12-1.30pm (In-person workshop)            Book a place

Monday 20 February 12-1pm (Webinar)                                        Book a place

Taking a compassionate approach to yourself as a researcher can feel difficult – we may worry that we will be too easy on ourselves, putting our ability to achieve our goals at risk. This session challenges these misconceptions and explores the many benefits of practicing self-compassion during the PhD journey. We’ll focus on the motivational power of self-compassion and consider how a self-compassionate approach can help us to effectively work through setbacks and manage our emotional experiences of the research process.

Self-Compassion – Kristin Neff

Self-Compassion (CCI)

Self-compassion and motivation 

PGR wellbeing and self-compassion

Find Your Voice: Communicating Effectively as a PGR (Workshop & Webinar)

Monday 13 March 12-1.30pm (In-person workshop)         Book a place

Monday 20 March 12-1pm (Webinar)                                     Book a place      

Professional academic relationships can be difficult to negotiate as a PGR. This session introduces you to a number of assertiveness techniques designed to help you to improve your communications and your relationships with others. There will be an opportunity to share thoughts and ideas about how these strategies could support effective communication in a number of PGR specific scenarios. 

Assertiveness (CCI)

Mindtools – Assertiveness 

The Wellbeing Thesis – Effective communication

TED talk – Body language

Assert Yourself: Lindenfield (2001) Harper Collins: ISBN 978-0007557974