This month, BIST launches three new training courses for researchers: How to succeed in your PhD for first-year PhD students (starting March 14 and 21), Leadership in Action for postdoctoral researchers (starting March 24), and the Writing Thesis Bootcamp for final-year PhD students (starting March 29).
As part of our aim to foster and support scientific talent, BIST provides career development activities that meet the needs of researchers at all stages of their professional career. Within this framework, BIST launches three new courses this month: How to succeed in your PhD, Leadership in Action, and Writing Thesis Bootcamp.
How to succeed in your PhD, organised by the BIST centres using the VITAE framework, is an interactive and intensive two-day course for first-year doctoral researchers. It focuses on practical ways of increasing effectiveness and meeting the challenges of a PhD. The course will run in two sessions, one from March 14-15 and another from March 21-22, at the BIST headquarters in Barcelona.
The course programme covers PhD project planning, effective working practices, working with others in the research environment, creativity for collaborative research, negotiation skills, motivation, and getting feedback. Participants are placed in learning groups to work on a range of activities, wherefrom they will gain awareness of their performance as an individual and in a team. Participants will use and develop skills that are essential for a researcher, including communication, planning, time management, problem solving, conflict resolution, and building a greater self-awareness of their learning and working styles. Furthermore, participants will create a good atmosphere for promoting collaborative research among their peers from different scientific fields.
See the full programme and registration instructions here.
This new edition of Leadership in Action, also designed using the VITAE framework, will offer participants the opportunity to build skills for successful self-management and development, to progress in their professional career. The course is offered to postdoctoral researchers currently working at BIST research centres, but is also open to external postdoctoral community. It will take place online over four days: March 24, 25, 30, and 31, from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm.
The aim of the Leadership in Action programme is to develop leadership best practices whilst participants use their own strengths and style to:
• Encourage team cohesion and collaboration
• Develop techniques that support effective resource and task management
• Create a culture of open, proactive communication, and decision-making
The sessions will explore theories and test strategies that contribute to participants’ individual leadership development. This is a practical and participative workshop. Participants will work in small groups to apply the theory to their individual leadership challenges and create a professional development plan to apply new approaches.
See the full programme and registration instructions here.
The Writing Thesis Bootcamp is a multi-session online course for final-year PhD students who aim to submit their theses at the end of 2022. It is open to the BIST Community as well as external participants. The contents offered consist of a balanced mix of theory and tools, practical experience, and discussions.
The course is composed of a total of six 2-hour online sessions over seven weeks in Spring 2022, with the first session taking place on March 29 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm. Sessions 1 & 2 will be mostly theory based with short exercises to cover much of the skills and know-how of thesis writing, while sessions 3-6 will begin with a 30 min theory session followed by personal writing time.
See the full programme and registration instructions here.