Doing a PhD is demanding — but you don’t have to face it alone. Research shows that students who build peer support networks are more productive, publish more, and finish their degrees with less burnout.
This course will give you practical tools to support your own progress and to bring out the best in others.
The course will start on July 2nd and lasts until the 24th July. More details below on the calendar.
Through peer coaching, you’ll learn how to:
- Tackle writing and research challenges with more clarity
- Set realistic goals and actually achieve them
- Strengthen resilience for the ups and downs of PhD life
- Build leadership skills that transfer far beyond academia
Each session is highly participatory — a mini workout for your research practice. You’ll leave with new strategies you can apply immediately to your thesis, publications, and collaborations.
This course is conducted entirely in English.
We have put together an interactive course that will turn you into competent peer coaches. Each session will help you overcome research and writing challenges, set effective goals, and develop your leadership skills. A facilitator will guide you through the peer-coaching process. Even better, the online course develops 8 evidence-based foundational skills: Think of them as mini-workouts: You’ll come out of each module with your skills a little stronger! Each module is self-contained and takes about 30 minutes to complete.
Research on PhD productivity consistently shows:
- PhD students with peer support are more likely to finish and less likely to burn out
- PhD students who meet regularly to talk about their writing publish more quality work than those who don’t
Goals
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Boost your research progress and well-being by applying peer coaching tools to overcome challenges and stay productive.
- Support and collaborate effectively with peers by integrating coaching skills into everyday research life.
- Develop your leadership style through practice in a safe environment, gaining skills in communication, resilience, and collaboration.
- Contribute to a healthier research culture by experimenting with new ways of working and shaping positive team dynamics.
Content
- Part 1: Introduction: Why research needs peer coaching
- Part 2: Foundational skills – the “me”
- Part 3: Coaching skills – the “we”
- Part 4: Supporting a culture of coaching
Who is it for?
The course is designed for doctoral researchers of any stage and discipline, though any early career researchers can sign up.
We are capping attendance at 35 and slots are given on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Calendar
- Kick off online webinar: 2 July 11:00-12:30
- Online Access: From 2 July
- Online session 1: 16 July 11:00-12:30
- Online session 2: 24 July 11:00-12:30
Methods
After an introductory kickoff meeting, you will be given access to a course covering foundational and peer coaching skills in 8 modules. Each module contains resources for learning the material (videos, readings) and a brief (5-10 question) knowledge check. You need to pass the knowledge check before moving on to the next section. At the end of 4 modules, we will ask you to complete some peer coaching exercises prior to attending an online session. In the online session, we’ll guide you through peer coaching so you can apply the skills to your research life.
This training is designed to be useful for your research tasks and not add extra burden. After the kick-off and Session 1, we will ask you to complete:
- Asynchronous Online lessons 4 x 10 mins. Each + Knowledge Checks
- Skill Diary Cards: 5 mins. daily
- Writing reflections: 10 minutes
- Synchronous Online Sessions: 3 sessions of 1.5 hours each
Evaluation
- Participation in Online Peer Coaching: 20%
- 8 Knowledge checks: 20%
- Reflective Assignments, consisting of diary cards and peer coaching activities 60%
Calendar
- Kick off online webinar: 2 July 11:00-12:30
- Online Access: From 2 July
- Online session 1: 16 July 11:00-12:30
- Online session 2: 24 July 11:00-12:30