🎄Dear SCDTP Students, PGRs, and Supervisors🎄,

As the festive season draws near, we’re excited to share the final edition of the SCDTP and Network Update for 2024. While this newsletter comes slightly earlier than usual, we wanted to connect with you before the holiday bustle begins. 

This newsletter is a vital thread that keeps our community connected, highlights opportunities, and fosters collaboration across institutions. Your engagement and feedback throughout the year have been invaluable, helping us enhance our initiatives and support.

As we reflect on the year gone by and look forward to what’s ahead, we’re committed to building an even stronger and more dynamic community in 2025. Take a moment to explore the updates and links below, and as always, we welcome your thoughts and contributions!

 Wishing you a joyful and restful holiday season.

As we near the close of the year, our weekly meditation sessions are taking a pause, allowing us to reflect on how we can better support your wellbeing in the coming months.

These sessions, sponsored by SCDTP and offered free of charge to all members of our cohort, were designed to provide a calming space for relaxation and stress relief amidst the demands of postgraduate research. However, we recognize that not everyone has been able to participate, and attendance has been lower than anticipated.

We genuinely value your time and insights. Whether or not you’ve attended a session, we would greatly appreciate it if you could take a few moments to complete a brief survey. Your feedback is essential in helping us shape future initiatives that truly align with the needs and preferences of our community.

Thank you for your continued understanding and for contributing to a supportive and dynamic environment. Your input has a lasting impact, and we’re grateful for your help in making our activities even more meaningful.

As you will be aware, the SCDTP Final Year Conference will take place on Friday 24 January 2025. The FYC committee are working hard on arrangements to make this a memorable day for final year students who will be presenting and other attendees.

There will be 3 themed rooms with presentations taking place simultaneously. The FYC committee would like to invite students and PDF’s to volunteer to take on the role of chairing / facilitating for one of these rooms on the day. This is an opportunity to gain valuable experience that will look good on your CV, and to make a difference to the SCDTP community! It might be that you have the expertise to help chair or facilitate for a particular theme.

If you are interested, please email scdtp@soton.ac.uk. You will receive training, instructions and support from the FYC team, and will be invited to join organising committee meetings.

Responsibilities and roles are:

Chair:

1. 1. Prior to the day- Familiarise themselves with speakers abstracts
   2. Introduce speakers
   3. Take notes and facilitate discussion (list of Qs for speaker in case they are needed)
   4. Introduce questions

Facilitator:

1. 1. Field questions using the tech, provide list of questions to co-chair
   2. Monitor time limits and keep speakers to time with prompts where required
   3. Provide contingency if question tech fails (post it notes for Qs)

The themes of the rooms are:

Adapt:

Example topics include:

‘The Role of Trauma in the Association between Autism and Psychosis’, ‘Reducing work hours for a 'better future'? Exploring preferences and experiences of working-time reduction’, ‘Material belongings: Family and nation as lived by members of LGBTQ+ in Lebanon’, ‘Navigating Hospital Operations Through Simulation: A Study of Urban Flooding Disasters and Physical Damage Impact’.

Evolve:

Example topics include:

‘Memory beliefs and memory distortion: The impact of memory misunderstanding in clinical and legal contexts’, ‘Exploring Individuation as a Strategy for Enhancing Recall Accuracy in Intelligence-Gathering Investigation Teams’, ‘How orangutans cope in a rehabilitation environment: Examining attachment and attachment-related behaviours with mothers, caregivers and peers’, ‘Charting Westminster’s Bubble: An Ideological Map of Britain’s Digital Elite’.

Innovate:

Example topics include:

‘It feels like a lightness, and it feels… happy”: Gender Euphoria, Gender Dysphoria, and Sexual Wellbeing in Transgender and Non-Binary Adults’, ‘Attachment and Support Behaviours in Long-Distance Relationships’, ‘Seasonality and Child Health in Bangladesh’, ‘Perception of Natural Scenes: Colour and Depth in Vision’.

We would like to remind you that the RTSG application is required before incurring any expenses for additional training or related costs to be funded by SCDTP.

Identifying Training Opportunities:

If your recent DNA process or discussion with supervisors identified new training needs, the first point of call is to look within the department and university to identify suitable modules that will meet these needs.

Please only consider external training providers and paid training when in-house options are not available. If mutual training need is identified, SCDTP will be able to help organise training for this need.

Managing Your Research Budget:

The additional training cost from external providers will count towards a student’s RTSG allowance, and we advise students to rationalise the spending in training to make sure the RTSG can cater for a broader range of experience such as training, research related cost, and conference attendance.

Traveling to Training:

When arranging travel, refer to your university’s finance policies and utilize your university’s appointed travel agency, where applicable.

• SCDTP-Organized Training:

Travel to training organized by SCDTP at a location other than your home university is exempt from RTSG applications.

• Other Training Events:

For training not organized by SCDTP, any travel costs that is not located within your home university area should be included in your RTSG application if you would like them to be funded.

Please contact the scdtp team at scdtp@soton.ac.uk if you have further question or would like to discuss your training needs. We’re here to help!

Dear SCDTP Staff, Students and Supervisors,

We are excited to announce the creation of the SCDTP Hub on our website, a central platform for students, supervisors, and collaborators to access valuable resources, guidelines, and stay updated on events and opportunities within the SCDTP community. While the content is still being developed, we are ready to open registration!

We invite you to sign up to help us ensure the platform runs smoothly when it's fully ready. We will email you once your login is ready and you are able to access the hub. Your participation is key to making this a useful resource for everyone.

Additionally, we've created a Help Form for you to reach out to us with any issues or feedback regarding the SCDTP website.

Your input is invaluable as we move forward, and we appreciate your support in helping us shape this platform to better serve the community.

These placements are for the attention of all SCDTP students (except for first year PhD and Masters student).

Please find attached details of a placement opportunity being offered by Ipsos UK, in collaboration with The Market Research Society (MRS). The lead host organisation Ipsos UK is a leading market research company specialising in delivering insights into consumer behaviour and public opinion. The collaborating host organisation is The Market Research Society (MRS), a professional body, trade association and regulator for individuals and organisations involved in market, social, and opinion research.

The project seeks to understand how to better engage Generation Z (15-to-24-year-olds) in market research surveys by using behavioural science (or other applied social science approaches) to address barriers to participation in face-to-face fieldwork. 

The application deadline is the 7 February 2025 at 23:59 (GMT). Details on how to apply can be found within the opportunity attached. 

Please find attached details of a placement opportunity being offered by The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR is the independent regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority, which is a non-ministerial government department.

The project offers an opportunity to improve the way OSR regulates official statistics across the UK statistical system, by creating greater accountability for government departments to comply with the intelligent transparency principles.

The project seeks to develop a monitoring and reporting approach for intelligent transparency, which will be summarised in a report.

The application deadline is the 24 January 2025 16:00 GMT. Details on how to apply can be found within the opportunity attached in the links above.

As we wrap up this final edition of the SCDTP and Network Update for 2024, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude for your continued engagement and contributions throughout the year. Your enthusiasm, feedback, and participation have been the cornerstone of our vibrant community, and we’re excited to carry this energy forward into 2025.

We hope this edition leaves you feeling informed and inspired to make the most of the opportunities ahead. As always, we welcome your thoughts, questions, or suggestions at scdtp@soton.ac.uk—your input helps us grow and improve together.

Thank you for being an essential part of the SCDTP community. Wishing you a joyful holiday season filled with rest, reflection, and celebration. We look forward to reconnecting with you in the new year!

Warm regards,

🎄The SCDTP Team🎄

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