Online group coaching for PGRs

A coach is not an expert in your academic field, but an expert in helping you to develop the skills and mindset that you need to help you through these challenging tasks. A coach is also not a counsellor – it is not to deal with deep wellbeing issues but instead to help you develop effective working approaches and coping strategies (if you need help with wellbeing issues please visit our postgraduate support section instead). In this context, Vikki may also offer mentoring advice, on more general approaches to managing academic work, based on her 20+ year career in academia.

The sessions run on Zoom in webinar style, so you won’t be on screen unless you volunteer to be coached. In the 50 minute group coaching sessions, students take in turns to come on screen and be coached about their specific challenges in front of the group. No one will be pressured to be coached. Even as an observer, you will learn lots just by learning the tools and techniques and watching others getting coached. So, even if you don’t want to be coached yourself, please come along. Sessions should be treated as confidential and should address general issues (as listed above) rather than specific wellbeing issues or problems with supervisors. Anyone can volunteer to be coached on the day.

There are also 2 hour coaching workshops on specific topics such as what do do if you have too much to do, how to write when you’re struggling to write, and how to reduce imposter syndrome. These sessions include more specific teaching on tools and techniques to help manage your mind and achieve your goals. They will remain highly interactive with lots of time for individual support either in the chat or through coaching.

New for 2024, students now have access to self-paced online versions of the workshops, in case they are unable to make the live sessions and to The PhD Life Coach’s flagship course Be Your Own Best Boss. These interactive courses take you through all the key tips and lessons and help you reflect on how to embed them. The membership site also gives access to all the Zoom call details. Students can also join the Slack channel, so that they can support each other and arrange coworking sessions.

Online group coaching sessions (50mins) take place on Tuesdays at 10:00 and Wednesdays at 16:00 BST most weeks (any breaks will be indicated in the membership site where all these dates can be exported to your diary). From 1 October 2024, there will be an additional session on Tuesdays at 17:00; this is for any students, but has been added particularly for those with commitments during the day and/or in other timezones. Generally the Tuesday sessions are “open coaching” where you can bring any topic and the Wednesday sessions will have a topic as focus (e.g. procrastination; the topic will be on the membership site).

The two hour workshops are on Thursdays at either 10:00-12:00 or 15:00-17:00. The topics we are running this year are below and the specific dates are in the membership site calendar (most will run at least twice and the Quarterly Planning session runs four times).

How to be your own best supervisor

How to handle negative feedback

How to have a work-life balance

How to make decisions and prioritise

How to manage your supervisory relationship

How to manage your time and energy

How to network without feeling gross

How to overcome imposter syndrome

How to plan for the summer

How to reduce your procrastination and stay focused

How to write when you're struggling to write

What to do when you feel behind

What to do when you’ve got too much to do

Quarterly planning

The coaching programme is open to all University of Birmingham postgraduate researchers (PGRs). PGR programmes include: MPhil, MMus, MRes, MA by Research, MSc by Research, MLitt, PhD, PhD with integrated study, EngD, DDS, MD, Higher doctorates and Professional doctorates.

Complete this short form to be emailed an invitation to join the PhD Life Coach membership site. Once you have received your invitation, sign-in or register with your Birmingham email address, to become a member of the community. From there, you can find the calendar, Zoom links, online resources, and join the Slack channel. You do not need to register for each session, you can download the events into your calendar and then just turn up as often as you like. 

Dr Vikki Wright is the founder and CEO of The PhD Life Coach, where she supports research students and academics to achieve their goals with less stress and more fun. Before going full time as a life coach in 2022, Vikki was a Professor at the University of Birmingham. She has supervised several PhD students to successful completion, was the Director of Postgraduate Training for the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, and has published research on developing transferable skills in PhD students. She brings this wealth of experience of academia in general, and Birmingham specifically, to her coaching where she is certified by both the Institute for Leadership and Management and The Life Coach School. Find out more about Vikki on her website. You can also find out more about how Vikki supports research students by listening to her podcast, The PhD Life Coach, available on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you get your podcasts.