Hybrid Event at 90 High Holborn

The UCL Department of Computer Science mental health working group are organising a series of events called Mindful Conversations. UCL staff and PhD students are welcome to attend.

Our second seminar tackles the widespread issue of anxiety and uncertainty in academia, impacting professional services (PS), PhD students, postdocs, and PIs alike. PS staff may experience anxiety due to potential power imbalances between themselves and academic staff. For PhD students, anxiety often stems from self-doubt, the solitary nature of research, concerns about timely completion, future employment prospects, and direction of their research. Postdocs face the additional stress of short-term contracts, and the pressure to produce high-quality research and publications while constantly job hunting. Principal investigators (PIs), experience anxiety related to securing grants, managing teams, and maintaining research outputs. This session will provide practical strategies to manage these anxieties, fostering resilience and a supportive community.

Speaker: Natalie Snodgrass, Quiet Space Coaching

Natalie is a transformational leadership, neurodiversity and career development coach, as well as an accredited workplace mediator and HE consultant. With a background in HE professional services and over 20 years' experience within the UK HE sector across a broad range of operational and strategic roles, Natalie brings an in-depth and first-hand understanding of the HE sector and context to her coaching and consultancy work with universities. She has coached staff at all levels through transformational change in both their personal and professional domains, supported the development of psychologically safe and high-performing teams, and delivered successful organisational change through a wide range of consultancy projects and the facilitation of effective change leadership and management. Natalie has a special interest in EDI (particularly neurodiversity), psychological safety, organisational culture and change, effective communication and conflict management, and resilience and wellbeing.

https://quietspacecoaching.co.uk/about/

Please register for catering purposes and building access.

Audience:

This event is open to all UCL staff and PhD students - please register for your free place now. This event will be run hybrid, please select the appropriate ticket when registering.

Accessibility and food allergies:

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible or comfortable for you, please let us know by emailing Kiran Ahmed (kiran.ahmed@ucl.ac.uk)

Mindful Conversations 2: Managing Anxiety and Uncertainty in Academia