Researcher Development
Issue 123 of my PhD Journey (Internship over, PhD resumed!)
Hello friends 🤗
Where has four months gone!? That’s my internship in Researcher Development finished, and I had a blast.
Rather than try to cover everything that has happened in the past three months since my last newsletter, I figured I would share some highlights before starting afresh. So let’s jump into it!
📆 Updates
Presented lightning talk at Manchester Methods Fair 2025 (title: Material Culture Through a Screen: a Historian’s Perspective)
Submitted book proposal, introduction and sample chapters for Hidden Worlds (wooo!!)
Wrote an article with Neil for the Polyphony about the (now finished!) bindweed project
Co-delivered the Introduction to Postgraduate Research for Disabled PGRs workshop (and was a panellist, too!)
Completed a one-day course on using NVivo, and a shorter workshop on copyright essentials
Secured funding for ‘know your rights’ training for disabled staff and PGRs
Ran another successful term of seminars with Historical Perspectives
Adopted some new Jellycat children over Easter (Tuft, Bean, and Bun)
✅ So…. what did I do for four months?
Now for the bit that I can add to a CV and proof to myself that I made the most of my time in the team. Here’s what I actually did over the four months
Designed and created an interactive, online resource to support the career development of disabled PGRs and early career researchers using Articulate Rise
Shadowed the delivery of two ResDev workshops (Fellowships and Presenting), providing feedback and learning about workshop design and evaluation
Training in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign from the Graphics Support Workshop
Learned and practiced using Adobe Premier Pro, After Effects and Audacity
Co-ordinated, undertook, recorded and edited 12 interviews with disabled researchers (including writing and disseminating appropriate content release forms)
Edited over 52 videos using Adobe Premier Pro, including subtitling and thumbnails
Researched and recorded relevant policies, practices, and support offered by the University of Manchester to its staff and students
Advertised and co-facilitated a Neurodiversity Celebration Week event for staff
Met with internal and external stakeholders to gather information and shape the format and content of the career development resource
Updated accessibility guidelines for Researcher Development workshops
Contributed to working groups including EDI within Research and Business Administration, and the Disability User Group with Estates
Provided feedback and ideas to releveant colleagues on the ethics review process, and an Enhancing Research Cultures funding bid
Used podcasting suites, wireless microphones and digital cameras to create multi-media content for the online career development resource
Conducted literature review on experiences of disabled academics and practices within UK Higher Education, compiling a thematic report with recommendations for the University
🪞 Reflections
Turns out, I really like designing content for learning. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise. As a child, I would create powerpoints, workbooks and homework for my teddy bears based on what I learned in school. Then, as I got older, I created my own revision guides. One time I even made a whole A-Z guidebook for our dog sitter when we went away on holiday without Gibbs.
Anyway, being in researcher development for a while made me fully appreciate that people can do that kind of thing as a job. Incredibly cool. For now, I still want to continue in research but it is comforting to know there are other exciting and fulfilling careers out there if and when that changes.
Hearing about other people’s career journeys has also taught me a lot. Some practical things – particularly the importance of being strategic in how you spend your time. Other things less tangible – especially a newfound tolerance of uncertainty in career trajectory.
Going forward, I also have a much better understanding of the support and resources available for researchers through the University. Career coaching; research costing software; a dedicated library team for copyright enquiries; accreditation in teaching and supervision; a social responsibility team who support public involvement in research. I feel like I know where to go for support in basically any aspect of research, now. Provided I take the step to actually use that knowledge, that could give me a great advantage.
🧩 Entertainment 📺
📖 Read too many books to remember in the past 3 months. I remember one called The Silence Project… then I draw a blank. Currently reading The Marriage Act which is speculative fiction, and I am enjoying it (though the number of murders is a little ridicuous). I’ve read at least one other book by this author and this one is my favourite of his.
📺 I have also watched too many TV shows to keep track of iSome of the more memorable ones include: The Residence (very Benoit Blanc, loved it), Living with Yourself, Sick Note, Malpractice (season 2), Nobody Wants This, Space Force, Class of ‘07
💚 Hosted Samuel and Fionnuala, then mum
🧩 Escape room with Samuel and Fionnuala (we got out — yay!)
🎮 Video games with Shen and co. & trip to Dunham Massey 🌳
🎲 Another Dungeons and Dragons! We actually fought a dragon this time (I nearly died! Twice! )
🎠Saw MCHammersmith: the MC stands for Middle Class with Arlo
Wow what a busy few months, so happy you had a blast
Old man, that is a terrible thing to say. It is just as well he can’t read, mostly because he is asleep 😴