Student Resources

London NERC DTP – Brief Guide for Students 2020/21

NERC Specific DTP Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions (DTP 1)

NERC Specific DTP Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions (DTP 2)

Research Council Training Grant Guide

UCL Academic Manual

UCL Doctoral School Codes of Practice

London NERC DTP Moodle

UCL Doctoral School

Student Funding Office

Intellectual Property Information and Resources

Research Fish

NERC DTP Postgraduate Student Network (LinkedIn)

Twitter Follow-List for DTP Students

Request to borrow DTP equipment

A PhD Survival Guide (2012)

– some brief advice for PhD students

The Thesis Whisperer

– a blog dedicated to helping research students everywhere

PhD Life

– a blog about the PhD experience

What I learned during my PhD

– a blog post by palaeontologist Jon Tennant about what he learned during his PhD

Advice to get you ready for your next conference

– a blog post by ecologist Jeremy Fox about preparing for a conference

How to give a science flash talk

– a article on SciDev.Net about how to give a great short science talk.

NERC Reserach facilities

– a list of all NERC-funded research facilities that are available to PhD students.

R Studio

– a very highly rated development environment for R, a programming language for statistical computing and graphics.

R for fledglings

– a short introduction to R and its utility in natural resource management

Data Camp – Beginner Statistics

– a free online course providing a hands-on introduction to statistics with R

Code Academy

– free online courses for several major coding languages including HTML, CSS, JQuery and JavaScript

iRecord App

– record any species on the go

Co$ting Nature

– a web-based tool for natural capital accounting and analysing the ecosystem services provided by natural environments

Water World

– a testbed for the development and implementation of land- and water-related policies for sites and regions globally

National Biodiversity Network’s Gateway

– a repository of biodiversity data from the UK.

MPAtlas

– a map of the World’s Marine Protected Areas.

NERC Research centre training programme

– a programme of training courses open to all NERC students.

NERC Advanced Training Short Courses (There are currently no training opportunities available – please keep an eye on the NERC website)

– individual training courses hosted across the UK, open to all NERC students.

UCL Information Services Division Digital Skills Development Courses

UKRI Policy Internships

– 3 months working at a policy organisation, annual competition

Royal Institution Internships

– 3 months working at the Royal Institution, either on The Big Bang Fair or The RI Christmas Lectures.

BES POST Fellowship

– 3 months working at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology.

Environment YES

– a team of 4 or 5 members work together to devise a business plan for a company based on hypothetical science.

Get Involved

UCL Brightclub

– training in public engagement through science comedy.

Famelab

– science communication competition.

PubhD London

– science talks in the pub.

The Brilliant Club

– tutor brilliant school children aged between 10 and 16.

I’m a Scientist

– online science engagement and outreach activities with children and young people.

London SciComm Socials

– fun, friendly meet-ups for everyone interested in science communication. .

STEMNetwork Ambassadors

– activities and events with young people to improve learning and enjoyment of STEM

NERC Public Engagement Training

Three minute thesis

– a competition that celebrates exciting research conducted by PhD students, and tests their ability to communicate concisesly.

Science Live

– connecting event organisers, volunteers and speakers to put on live science events, brought to you by the British Science Association.

List of Science Festivals in the UK (2017)

– a useful list of science festivals, which always need volunteers!

There may be opportunities to get involved in public engagement activities directly through the DTP, particularly at summer science events (e.g. Royal Society Summer Science, Cheltenham Science Festival, Einstein’s Garden) – please contact the NERC DTP Co-ordinator, Kate Moore for more details.

Organise Your Own Event

UCL Beacon Bursaries

– grants of up to £2000, available to UCL staff and students.

Train and Engage

– grants of up to £1000, available to UCL staff and students after undertaking the training course.

RSB Outreach and Engagement grants

– grants of £200 – £500, two rounds of applications per year in September and March.

Biochemical Society Science Outreach Grants

– grants of up to £1000, two rounds of applications per year in September and April.

British Geophysical Association Outreach Fund

– grants of up to £2000

Tips and Tools

The Association of British Science Writers

– expert advice, events and training

The Open Notebook

– expert advice and interviews, pitch database

The Writer: Readability Checker

– check how readable your writing is

EurekAlert

– press releases

Contribute

The Natural Environment Blog

– all DTP PhD students are welcome to contribute to our DTP blog

Sci Snack

– writing improvement for young and early career researchers

The Conversation

– students and academics can contribute

Bioweb.ie

– a place for enthusiasts of environmental, zoological and botanical-related fields to promote their work and themselves

Images

Every good blog post needs images, but it can be hard to find copyright-free images. Here are some great places to start your search!

Wikimedia commons

– a great source of CC images of almost anything you can think of

Flickr commons

– make sure you search only the commons for copyright-free images

morgueFile

– free stock photography

Kalyan Varma

– beautiful creative commons wildlife photography

Phylopic

– free silhouette images of animals, plants and other lifeforms

NASA Image and Video Library

– free images and videos released by NASA