Building on our previous post on working from home, Rachel Sargeant, a full-time, distance-learning PhD student in the Film and Creative Writing Department, draws on her experience to give some advice. An adapted version of this post also appears on her personal blog.
Although I only commenced my studies in January, I previously completed a distance-learning masters and have been working from home for over a year since I became a full-time author. This is what I’ve come to realise:
It is unfortunately no longer possible to hope that the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak won’t have an impact on research activity and your research programme. Of course, many of us will also be affected personally, through restrictions on our activities or health-related issues for ourselves and loved ones. 
We have seen it coming, but yesterday marked a step-change with the announcement that campus operations will be restricted after the end of this term and government recommendations to work from home where possible.
In this post, we will explore some of the things that PGRs can do to stay up-to-date with the latest advice, consider the impact of the outbreak on their research, and protect their mental health.
In one of our occasional series of spotlights, we take a closer look at a specific descriptor from the RDF.
In this series of “Spotlight on…” posts, we’ll be delving into the detail of the descriptors in Vitae‘s Researcher Development Framework (RDF). Each one of the sixty-three descriptors is a characteristic of an excellent researcher, and we’ll be looking at how UoB PGRs can develop these characteristics.
Effective project planning and delivery involves a wide range of skills and strategies which underpin a multitude of research activities. In research, projects can vary from small-scale activities (such as a pilot study or organising a research-related event) to very large-scale, multi-team endeavours (such as clinical trials). While smaller projects can be successfully delivered with ad hoc planning, larger projects require a more rigorous approach. Continue reading “Spotlight on the RDF: “Project planning and delivery””
Creating a community of women and non-binary researchers in Mathematics
Because there's always room for improvement
A Blog about Academic Writing
Writing and research
Taking PhD careers one tip at a time
Because there's always room for improvement
Handy hints for PhD students
from the Researcher Development team at the University of Sheffield
University of Birmingham
UoB PGR Development 