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Research Staff Newsletter - July 2020

Researcher Development workshops in July 2020

Workshop Date

Researcher Writing Hour / ONLINE	2nd July 2020
Researcher Writing Hour/ ONLINE	9th July 2020
Imposter Syndrome and How to Deal with it / ONLINE	9th July 2020
Careers Surgery Drop-In/Networking over Coffee / ONLINE	14th July 2020
Researcher Writing Hour / ONLINE	16th July 2020
Researcher Writing Hour / ONLINE	23rd July 2020
Researcher Writing Hour / ONLINE	30th July 2020

At a glance - workshops this month - http://edin.ac/3crY5OA

IAD Researcher development workshops - Suggestions Welcome

The IAD are keen to support researchers working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic by running online workshops, so we are extending our training programme to run Pop-Up IAD' sessions through the summer. The sessions can be found, with supporting links and resources on the IAD4Researchers blog: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/iad4researchers/category/pop-up-training/
We would be interested to know if there are any workshops or events you would like us to run over the next few months, for example workshops on effective time management, presentation skills, writing and publishing.

Please complete this form with suggestions.

CMVM Research Computing Overview

A new online course is available in Learn (online from any device) to help you get to grips with the many options for research computing that are available to support your research. (Although created by CMVM, most of the content is relevant to all researchers).
This course gives an overview of our key computing resources, organised by research lifecycle stage, and some helpful general information, tips and links to further help. This will be useful for all new recruits, and may be a helpful overview and refresher to those already using some of these resources as the latest offerings are included. The resources in the “Plan and Design” and “Organise and Store” stages, can be used to enable remote working with your research data.
To access this new resource visit the Learn site and click on the 'CMVM Research Computing Overview' Course: https://www.learn.ed.ac.uk/

Engaging Students in an Online Environment

This online workshop is aimed at tutors from the University of Edinburgh who are new to or have recently started teaching in an online environment. The course will be delivered via Collaborate Ultra to give participants experience of learning in an online context and to gain an understanding of some of the benefits and barriers that students may face when learning online.
During the session we will explore what student expectations of learning in an online environment may be, approaches we can use to engage and support students online, and some of the skills an online tutor will need.
After attending this workshop you will:

Have gained experience of learning in an online environment;
Be aware of approaches that can be used to engage students online;
Have considered some of the skills an online tutor will need to develop to support students effectively online.

Eligibility
All Staff
All PGs

Most suitable for

current online tutors at the University of Edinburgh
people who will be online tutors at the University of Edinburgh soon
these courses will be most valuable if you have already started in your specific teaching role or if you are starting soon and have a good idea of the context in which you will be working

Dates
This workshop lasts 2 hours and will run a number of times over August and September, and again in November. Event booking links will be posted to MyEd Events and the IAD website

Pop-Up Training update

We're still building the Pop-Up training library - each blog post includes a session recording, workshop materials and any useful links. Sara is still keen to hear from researchers about the topics you need at the moment and to hear from anyone who would like to run their own, or co-deliver. We've had a theme in June of "How do I do that online?". The sessions can be found, with supporting links and resources on the IAD4Researchers blog: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/iad4researchers/category/pop-up-training/ and you can book onto July's session through MyEd: https://www.ed.ac.uk/institute-academic-development/research-roles/research-only-staff/courses/this-month

SERCH – Support for Research during Covid Hub

SERCH - Supporting Research During Covid Hub

IAD's new Pop-Up workshops and our online guides feature in a new research support resource bank which has been put together by the CAHSS Research Office. SERCH – Supporting Research During Covid Hub – collates a range of resources to support Research and Knowledge Exchange under conditions of physical distancing and travel restrictions, targeted at researchers in CAHSS. It includes sections on

Researcher well-being, Adapting your research methods, Research ethics and integrity, Data and digital resources, Technology and Research, Researcher development and training, Collaboration, engagement and events, Funding Opportunities and Research on Covid-19 in the College.

Although written for researchers in CAHSS, most of the resources are relevant to researchers in all fields.

https://www.ed.ac.uk/arts-humanities-soc-sci/research-ke/serch-research-hub

We are seeking more tutors for the Summer Student-Led, Individually-Created Courses

SLICCs are credit-bearing courses offering an experiential reflective learning and assessment framework using an e-portfolio. Summer SLICCs are offered to Year 1 and 2 students from across the whole university, to undertake an experience that they propose, arrange and organise for themselves, during the summer vacation. Tutors support students in reflective learning surrounding that defined experience. The role of the tutor is definitely not to provide input into the subject area / topic / project - we actively discourage this - that is for the student to take ownership of.
There has been an enthusiastic response from students, frequently linked to the current circumstances surrounding lockdown, so hence this request for more tutors. There are some really interesting and innovative experiences that students are proposing for themselves.
SLICCs are very topical in the hybrid/remote teaching space. They are fully online so offer a useful perspective for both staff and students. They will also really suit staff working towards HE/professional teaching accreditation, offering insight into online teaching, reflective learning, that can be a strong exemplar for accreditation purposes.
Tutors time commitment - 3h per student and we ask that each tutor takes on three students so they have a comparison (so about 11-12hrs for three students, and including the concise training). Tutors have three points of contact with the student, where they offer timely formative feedback on student's 'Proposals' (end June-early July), their 'Interim Reflective Report' (mid July into August) and then in assessment (early Aug into Sept) - there is a little bit of flexibility, depending on the student's plans.
Tutor training - this is a comprehensive set of online (succinct) training materials, augmented with online Q&A workshops with me as the course organiser.
Please note that this represents a training opportunity, and is not a paid post.
slicc@ed.ac.uk

Funding Opportunity with EPSRC Human Data Interaction (HDI) Network Plus

The EPSRC Human Data Interaction (HDI) Network Plus is now inviting proposals under the theme Ethics & Data - we are calling for research and development proposals exploring concepts, provocations, and solutions related to the moral challenges posed by data-driven systems.
The HDI Network plus is an ever-expanding network of projects and individuals all focused on how we can create data-driven systems that better support human flourishing. The concept of HDI focuses specifically on enhancing human agency, legibility of data flows/systems, and the spaces where people might negotiate their relationship with systems that make use of their data. Each of our projects focus on one or more of these areas, though the interpretations vary from artistic expressions, through social research, to the development of prototype systems.
Ultimately, we wish to deepen and expand our understanding of the human-data relationship in order to inform a better future. To this end, we are funding projects across a range of themes - Ethics & Data is the 7th of 9 themes. In this call we are particularly interested in practical outputs and are keen to welcome creative and exploratory research, design and practical investigation. We are looking for proposals that directly address one or more of the three HDI concepts (Agency, Legibility and Negotiability), with the goal of developing solutions, provocations or experimental explorations to moral problems arising from data-driven systems. This can include (but is not limited to) software development, prototype evaluation, user testing, interface design, arts-based responses and the empirical development of heuristics and design guidelines.
More information on this project theme, including the application form and guidance, is available here.

The funding: We hope to fund around 5 projects (1 x 50k, 1 x 10k and 3 x 2.5k), though this will be determined by the quality of the proposals. All projects must plan to end by June 2021.
Deadline: 10th July 2020

Careers Surgery Drop-In/Networking over Coffee

Our new career surgeries started in June! These are an experimental idea aimed at broadening access to our careers support, so we will be very interested in your feedback and suggestions.
We'd like to hear how you'd like us to run the surgeries. We've run the first couple of surgeries in a structured way, but if you'd prefer to have the option to drop in, chat to other researchers and hear about their career queries we'd be interested in doing this as well.
LET US KNOW!

We're starting with a two-hour slot broken into short individual appointments where you could ask for pointers to resources, quick CV feedback or ask for advice on career planning. The surgeries will be run by either Eleanor (our careers consultant) or Sara (Head of Researcher Development and a former Careers Adviser). Book a slot through MyEd (July 14th https://edin.ac/2VurHV5). Once your booking is confirmed, we'll ask you for a quick indication of what you'd like to discuss. This doesn't have to be detailed but will help to save time on the day. We will allocate you a specific time in the two-hour surgery.

For the open drop-ins (which we'll only schedule if demand overwhelms the structured approach) researchers would drop in and ask questions and get answers together - less privacy but more chance to chat!

Remember that the Pop-Up IAD includes a number of career related topics as well as the Career Management resources on our website. We'd recommend that you look at any that relate to your query before any kind of appointment - this will help you to get the most of the time with the adviser.

Nature is encouraging postdoctoral researchers to respond to a survey dedicated entirely to postdocs, addressing issues including job satisfaction, career progression, working hours & financial compensation. For more information, please visit: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01863-y and to access the survey visit:
go.nature.com/3fDup2u

Lab sustainability webinar

This event will provide an overview of sustainability at the University of Edinburgh, and how it translates into the lab environment, including tips and recommendations for adopting good practices which not only improve sustainability, but also often save money, improve science, and improve health and safety too. The session is relevant for anyone who works in a scientific laboratory at the University of Edinburgh, whether they be technical or academic staff. https://edin.ac/3hZLsOf

ONLINE POSTDOC SEMINAR SERIES

Join us this Friday 3rd of July at 3pm for our Postdoc Seminar Series!

Our two fantastic speakers will be:

Dr Katherine Bonnycastle , "Convergence in presynaptic dysfunction across models of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability"
Dr Susana Ribeiro dos Louros, "Perturbed proteostasis in autism spectrum disorder"

To join the session use this link : https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/f7e1fa85423844a2aedb14179b428ad6 (we recommend using Google Chrome)

The main idea behind this initiative is to showcase the work of our talented postdocs but also to foster potential collaborations and get to know what your lab neighbours are doing and what kind of expertise you can share. Therefore the sessions will be open to EVERYONE (from students, technicians to PIs).
We encourage EVERY POSTDOC, from any university campus, at any stage of their postdoctoral training to give it a try. You don’t need to have a complete story to participate. You can use this to practice for a conference talk, to talk about your preliminary results or your innovative ideas!

If you are keen to participate as a speaker, please drop us an email to g2pd@ed.ac.uk

Find us on twitter @g2_pd (G2 Post Docs)
We hope to see you all there!!

G2PD Team

Researcher Writing Hour

10.00am - 11.15am
Online via Collaborate
Every Thursday in July

The aim of this writing hour is to give you a dedicated writing time to focus on writing projects whilst working from home.

The session will include a 10-minute check-in at the start to allow you to share hints and tips (optional) and to focus on what you want to achieve in the session, there will then be a full hour dedicated to writing.

Booking link: https://edin.ac/38emTbL

Mental health and Wellbeing Support

It is important to take care of your mental health and wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic and changes to your working environment and daily life. There are a number of online resources you can access:

Big White Wall

University wellbeing services

Feeling Good App

SilverCloud

The Wellbeing Thesis

If you are worried about your mental health or that of a friend, the Advice Place has a list of services that you can contact for support.

Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas

Despite the Fringe falling victim to Covid, CODI is back and will be streamed live from the Stand Comedy Club starting on the 8^th of July as part of The Stand On Demand!

3 researchers will be explaining their dangerous ideas in each one hour show, compered by comedian Jojo Sutherland.

Checkout: https://ondemand.thestand.co.uk/Video/EGMEGL/the_cabaret_of_dangerous_ideas for details of all our July shows and to tune in.

Institute for Academic Development
Email: iad.researchers@ed.ac.uk
Tel: 0131 651 3598
www.ed.ac.uk/institute-academic-development/research-roles/research-only-staff

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