- With the nation’s mental health crisis taking front-and-centre in 2015, make 2016’s New Year Resolutions all about taking care of yourself. Take inspiration from these 5 steps to wellbeing, instead of the usual self-berating goals we usually set ourselves.
- Check out Student Counselling’s Swagota Basak Memorial Library for some inspiration to help with your rest & relaxation.
- Put the fun back into writing by taking the edge off with the 750-words intiative – a great way to complement being more mindful, to warm up for a long day of serious academic writing, or just as a cobweb-clearing process to enter 2016.
- Writer’s block? Check out the Academic Phrasebank for inspiration.
- If 3 and 4 aren’t enough, watch this ThinkWrite recommended 30-minute video to brush up your paper-writing skills.
- Read some PhD student blogs to keep yourself motivated through the break – and to collect helpful ideas and tips!
- Eat some lunch! Apparently academics are the least likely profession to take a lunch break – so use the holiday downtime to enjoy a regular, leisurely meal between breakfast and dinner for once.
- Find a space in the library with their Christmas guide. With all the undergraduates flocked home for three weeks, there’s suddenly so much more room to spare!
- Do some last-minute Christmas shopping, but with a uniquely academic touch, following these helpful suggestions.
- Get more into the festive spirit with an alternative to the typical Christmas pantomime at new theatre space The Wardrobe with Goldilock, Stock & Three Smoking Bears.
- Take part in PhD Comics’ Christmas Poll – and while away some hours by reading through their archive.
- Catch up with the #BristolFaces campaign and read about the students, URI directors, academics and professional services staff and other figures in the university who shape our vibrant community for what it is.
- Book some trips in 2016 with the Bristol International Student Centre – perfect for international students looking to explore around Bristol and the UK.
- International, British, or Southwestern local, learn more about Bristol by booking onto a free walking tour, or visiting the M-Shed – great ways to see the city without spending any money!
- Planning on research travel in 2016? Check out our essential guide for info on funding, collaboration opporunities, and researcher blogs from across the world.
- Make 2016 your most productive year yet with Academic Staff Development’s Seven Suggestions guide for Managing Your Time.
- Reflect on the skills training you completed in 2015 and update your STaR records in time for 2016.
- Revamp your CV with Vitae resources. Simply register your Bristol University email address and you can access content such as CV examples, advice on job applications, funding sources, raising your profile, and academic cover letters – to help you stand out for the right reasons, not the wrong ones.
- Most major research funders require some form of documentation at the application stage to explain how research data will be managed. Take the Bootcamp interactive tutorial to learn the fundamentals of research data management.
- Confused about all the systems available to you, and which ones you should or could be using? Check out ‘Essential Guide for Current Researchers‘ for a general overview.
- Write on the Cabot Institute’s online #uncertainworld grafitti wall and share your views on environmental uncertainty across disciplines.
SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES - Check out these 9 Highly Useful Tools for Academics via Academia Obscura.
- Get ready for the 3-minute thesis competition by watching last year’s participant videos.
- Got your Viva next year? Read these top tips to prepare.
- Most importantly, make sure you stay at home on Monday January 4th, as the university isn’t open until January 5th – despite what our misinformed bulletin email might have said!
The Bristol Doctoral College Blog
A forum for Bristol's postgraduate researchers