Event Summary

For UKALTA members - though do join UKALTA here

Free of charge

Date and time: Wednesday, 9th February 2022

13:00-14:00 (UK time)

Location: Online Event, Microsoft Teams

Professor Lynda Taylor will offer some practical recommendations on how to stay fit and well in academia.​

Event abstract

Undertaking a PhD and establishing yourself in an academic career can be a lengthy and daunting journey. Both processes can take several years of focused commitment and there can be significant stress and challenge along the way. Sometimes challenges are due to unexpected health problems or unforeseen obstacles, or they may simply be due to the persistent and competing pressures of ordinary daily life, i.e. our academic studies, our working life, our family responsibilities, etc. What practical steps can we take to stay fit and well on the journey - physically, mentally and emotionally - and how can we build personal and professional resilience for those times when things just don't go according to plan? What can we do to help support friends and colleagues who may be experiencing difficulties or about whom we are concerned? This session will give us a chance to consider some of these issues, how they affect our academic journey as PGRs/ECRs and what measures we can adopt to support one another in successfully navigating that experience to achieve our goals. The session will last 1 hour and will begin with some input on wellbeing and resilience, during which I will share something of the 'ups and downs' of my own academic career journey; after that, there will be plenty of time for questions and discussion together.

Additional information

The UKALTA PGR (Postgraduate Researcher) Network aims to bring together UKALTA members who are in the process of completing their master’s or doctoral studies in language testing, as well as early-career researchers (ECRs) who have completed their studies within the past five years. PGR Network’s aims and objectives are:

1. to offer an accessible opportunity for UKALTA PG and ECR members to network.
2. to further build an online and face-to-face community of practice of UKALTA PG and ECR members.
3. to support the language testing research community and new and emerging researchers working in the field of language testing.
4. to encourage greater partnership between postgraduate students and early-career researchers to exchange information and research as well as to encourage discussions on language assessment on a broad range of languages in the UK.

*At present, activities are being conducted through the Microsoft Teams online platform, but in future, we envisage offering both online Microsoft Teams-based events and face-to-face events. Go to the PGR Network Events page for details of upcoming plans.

To join the UKALTA PGR Network and the Microsoft Teams area, please fill in this brief survey. We also request that you join UKALTA first. If you are not a UKALTA member, you need to become one to be part of the UKALTA PRG Network. Please note that UKALTA membership is free of charge and is open to individuals with a professional and / or academic interest in the field of language testing and assessment and who are working, studying or living in the UK (or have strong UK connections).

See UKALTA website for the UKALTA PGR Network section.