Monday 18-12-2023 - 15:30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On November 16 and 17, the DTA team organised DTA Autumn Connect 2023, the first in-person residential event of the academic year at Leeds Beckett University, where they welcomed the new cohort of Future Societies researchers. The two-day event was arranged at the City Campus. 

 

While the event was primarily aimed at the new cohort of Future Societies researchers, the current cohorts were also invited to attend the event. This was a great opportunity for the new starters, who are pursuing PhDs at different universities across the country, to come together and meet the DTA community in-person.  

 

The two-day training and networking event included different activities and workshops to help the new cohort of researchers get off to a great start. The programme included sessions on managing relationships with supervisors, meeting current researchers and alumni to hear their experiences, and understanding research ethics and integrity. Since the DTA Future Societies programme has an interdisciplinary focus on addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), some of the workshops focused especially on the interdisciplinary nature of the research, enabling the researchers to understand the concept and share their projects with peers. The programme also included a short visit to the newly established Leeds School of Arts Building which the participants greatly cherished. At the end of the day-one, an evening get-together was arranged for the attendees at Roxy Ball Games that added a unique dimension to the event and gave participants a chance to socialise over drinks and play party games.  

 

Researchers from the new cohort seemed to mingle well with the current researchers who are at the mid-stage of their PhD and utilised this opportunity to ask them questions and get guidance on the PhD experience. Additionally, two alumni also participated in the event to share their post-PhD experience during a session, which was extremely helpful to the newcomers as it helped them recognise the range of careers that are available after completing a PhD.  

 

The event served to welcome and integrate the new cohort of researchers into the programme, in addition to giving them the opportunity to meet their fellow DTA researchers, the DTA team, and academics from DTA universities.  

 

It was exciting to meet and greet the new starters in-person and we are looking forward to plan the next in-person event, which will take place in March at the Birmingham City University, STEAMhouse.