Back at the Centre for Doctoral Training for new Outreach workshops

Since 2019, PPL PWR has been running outreach workshops for new PhD students at the Centre for Doctoral Training in the Advanced Characterisation of Materials (CDT-ACM), a joint venture between University College London (UCL), Imperial College London and Trinity College Dublin. The aim of this collaboration between CDT-ACM and PPL PWR is to improve the outreach abilities of the students involved in the programme, using a workshop series that shares the tools and expertise around outreach as it is performed within PPL PWR. Students are supervised and working towards a genuine output. Taught skills include:

• Project Management - communication and tools

• Teamwork - roles and accountabilities

• Ideation, Design and Modelling (from the idea to the prototype)

• Presentation skills

In 2019, the sessions were in-person and focused on how to deliver outreach in a physical world - that is to say in schools, festivals, and conferences etc.

Due to the pandemic, the 2020 workshops took place online. This new format enabled the team to propose new material and outputs adapted for a rapidly digitalising world.  Over three months, the four teams created brilliant blogs, podcasts and videos on topics ranging from diversity and inclusion in postgraduate study to the effect of climate change on the availability of coffee.

All teams produced high quality outputs but particular congratulations went to the: Social Action team, who were praised for their podcast about Mental Health in Academia; and the Diversity & Inclusion Team, who launched their own podcast series on tackling barriers in postgraduate education (https://anchor.fm/phdchats).