LIFE BEYOND THE PhD CONFERENCE

meeting room with lots of people

This year, there will be a Life Beyond the PhD conference which will take place at the Cumberland Lodge. The event aims to bring PhD holders together where they can exchange views and get inspiration from experts in various fields, thus helping them excel in their careers. It is a celebration of postgraduate research culture, and it is the place to be from 27th to 30th August 2019.
This event has taken place for the past decade and this year’s conference will be the twelve of its kind. It takes place annually to give postgraduates a chance to mingle and explore the various ways in which they can advance their careers. Attending this event enables you to be on top of emerging trends and to be part of a community where you can get advice on various issues.

This sold-out conference is open to PhD students as well as early career researchers from all over the United Kingdom who come together to talk about their experiences. They are also able to take part in various activities at the event, which enables them to enjoy both personal and career growths as they explore more options. With such a supportive environment, attendees can work on:

Presentation and Writing Skills

Being a researcher means that you will often have to show your work to people who will be on the edge of their seats, eager to hear what the findings are. You thus need to work on your writing skills such that you can compile papers which people can peruse with ease, and thus enjoy. Additionally, you need to come up with engaging presentations and to work on your audibility and engagement of the listeners if you wish to deliver memorable talks.

Public Engagement

If you were to survey a group of ten people, more than half of them would likely admit to having a fear of public speaking. Granted you are on display with people watching your every move, it is easy to feel anxious and may not deliver as well as you had hoped. There will be workshops in the event where you can polish up on your skills, giving you the confidence, you need to approach people and engage them with ease. And even if you are good at it, some fine tuning will not hurt your chances of success.

Self-Leadership

While it is great to be under someone or an institution where you have financial stability, it is essential to know how to lead, rather than follow. At the event, the speakers will delve into how you can carve out a niche for yourself, enabling you to be the one at the helm, giving the orders. You also need to learn how you can manage people and processes to run a business or other kind of venture successfully.

Mental Health

There has been a global emphasis on the need for mental health across all generations, and people in research are especially affected by mental health problems owing to the isolating nature of their work. There will be experts at the event who will teach you as to how you can know when things are not right and how to go about it. Striking a balance is also of the essence, and there will be talks on the same.

Other than these topics, the speakers will also get into interdisciplinary research proposals and sharing your work with a non-specialist audience. Here, you will learn how you can use your educational background to venture into both academia and non-academia related careers as you join a supportive network. Hundreds of students from 113 higher education institutions across the UK have been here before and have hugely benefitted from the workshops. Register today and await a career-changing event at the end of August!