OD&PL Development Roundup - April 2025

This April OD&PL development roundup is also available to read on the Staff Intranet, and some of the links in the following updates may direct you to the intranet.

Access the April roundup article on the Staff Intranet (requires UoL login)

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All staff 

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⏰ Deadline for the May matching process: 25 April

Become a mentor or mentee as part of the University-wide mentoring scheme. Available to all colleagues, you can apply throughout the year, with new partnerships set up in May and November. Apply before midnight on 25 April to be included in the May matching process.

The mentoring experience provides a valuable opportunity to share knowledge and skills with others to achieve their individual objectives. It can support you to develop your career, build skills, enhance confidence, gain fresh perspectives and address specific challenges you're facing. Alongside the scheme, we provide a series of events and workshops for mentors and mentees, supporting you to get the most out of mentoring.

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📅 1 May, 11am-12.30pm or 9 June, 1-3.30pm

If you’ve recently joined the University, you can book a place at our upcoming welcome events for new colleagues. These online sessions provide information about Leeds, give you the chance to meet new colleagues, and outline the benefits, support and advice available to you.

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If you travel as part of your work, did you know that the University offers two travel safety workshops to help you feel prepared and confident? The travel safety essentials session is for all staff and PGRs, covering key safety and security guidance. The advanced workshop is recommended for those visiting higher-risk destinations, offering additional insights and support. These workshops, next running in May, provide practical advice to help you plan and navigate work travel smoothly.

• 📅 Physical and Digital Security and Safety for Travellers (Essentials) – 13 May, 1-3.30pm
• 📅 Security and Safety for Travellers in Greater Risk Environments (Advanced) – 14 May, 9am-5pm

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Looking for your next opportunity to support your development? Head to our programme and events calendar to explore a wide range of options, whether you’re searching for something specific or looking for inspiration. You can now easily filter our calendar by development category and date to find opportunities that best suit your needs. New events are added regularly, so be sure to check back often.

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Digital development and culture

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📅 30 April, 10-11am (online)

Join us for an introduction to the Jisc Discovery Tool on 30 April. This tool helps you assess your digital capabilities and identify development opportunities to enhance specific skills. The session will also help managers explore ways to support their teams’ digital development.

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📅 10 April, 11am-12noon (online)

Sign up for our next Pedagogical Power of PebblePad workshop to hear from colleagues in the Faculty of Medicine and Health (FMH) about some of the innovative ways they're using PebblePad. Sue O’Leary-Hall will discuss supporting leadership and management development through the FMH Leadership Portal, while Shelley Fielden will explore how PebblePad is used to support students on the Gateway to Medicine programme.

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Grades 2-5

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⏰ Careers Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG) programme starts 13 May

There's still time to join the next Careers Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG) programme to explore effective CVs, skills profiles, job applications and interview techniques.

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📅 24 June, 10-12noon (drop-in anytime)

Due to University closed days in April and May, our next monthly drop-in session at the Wellbeing Hub will take place on 24 June between 10am and 12noon. These drop-in events provide an opportunity to explore learning and development opportunities for colleagues in grades 2-5 roles. Drop-in sessions take place on the fourth Tuesday of each month, except when this falls on a University closed day.

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Leadership and management

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📅 15 May, 2-3pm or 19 May, 10-11am (online)

Ahead of applications opening on 16 June, we are hosting online briefing events to help colleagues and line managers learn more about the Aurora programme. These short sessions focus on what to expect from the programme, how to apply, what to consider before applying and how line managers can support colleagues attending Aurora. The session will close with a Q&A with our University's Aurora Champion, Maria Stopyra.

What is the Aurora programme?Aurora is a women-only leadership development programme, designed and facilitated by Advance HE. The programme is aimed at women (including non-binary and transgender colleagues) in grade 6-8 roles who are committed to developing and enhancing their career. 

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There is availability on our upcoming specialist modules, as part of the Connected Leadership Programme. Running in cohorts throughout the year, these six specialist modules are designed to develop specific skills and address key leadership challenges you’re facing. Here are the next start dates for each module:

• Values-led leadership (starts 12 June)
• Leading and managing change (starts 30 April or 11 June)
• Developing and translating strategy (starts 7 May or 23 June)
• Understanding systems and culture (starts 7 May or 2 July)
• Leading and developing teams (starts 6 May or 1 July)
• Optimising a coaching leadership style (starts 29 April or 10 June)

Additionally, the programme includes a core pathway that offers an in-depth exploration of core leadership practices for senior leaders. This flexible structure allows you to tailor the programme to the elements of leadership you'd like to develop.

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• Management essentials: Explore upcoming Management Essentials sessions on our events calendar or the Management Essentials webpages.
• Leading in Student Education Workshops: We have upcoming dates in June for these Leading in SE workshops aimed at leaders in student education roles.
• Leadership development information sessions: Explore our full range of leadership programmes in these sessions running on 29 April, 4 June and 29 July. We'll guide you through each programme, sharing an overview of course content and objectives, and details about applying.
• Join the waiting list for future cohorts: Establishing your Leadership and Discovering your Leadership are now fully booked for 2024/25, but the waiting lists for 2025/26 are now open.

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Researcher development and culture

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Our new monthly newsletter for postdoctoral researchers offers a quick, curated roundup of career development opportunities, key dates and useful resources to help you plan your next steps. Whether you're applying for a research fellowship, transitioning to a career outside academia, or looking for guidance on navigating LinkedIn Learning, Pathfinder provides a broad range of support. Postdocs should receive this email automatically. The first issue was sent on March 14. Look out for the next edition in mid-April. If you haven’t received it or if you’re not a postdoc but want to stay informed, you can subscribe to the Pathfinder newsletter here.

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📅 23 April, 2-3pm (online)

Our next Research Culture Café is aimed at technical staff who support research. These events offer a supportive, peer-focused environment to share your experiences and contribute to shaping a positive, inclusive research culture. Join us to be part of a discussion about the challenges you face, what we're doing well and could share more widely, and what a better culture could look like. Bookings are also open now for our 10 June event, which runs 10-11am on campus and is aimed at postgraduate researchers (PGRs)

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Our 2025 Career Catalyst programme has wrapped up another successful year, supporting 50 researchers, technicians and academics in developing skills on LinkedIn Learning and enhancing their professional presence on LinkedIn. Led by our experts from OD&PL, Rachael Clark and Ruth Winden, participants developed their profiles over five months, culminating in a competition to apply their new skills.

Rachael Clark said: “It’s been a pleasure working with such an engaged group who have worked so hard to develop a strong LinkedIn presence. The standard was so high this year that we awarded joint prizes in our end of programme competition! Congratulations to all our participants, we look forward to seeing your future endeavours.”

Register your interest now for the next Career Catalyst cohort, which will run from November 2025.

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This April, we'll have welcomed over 400 attendees to our BOOST programme this academic year. It’s been fantastic to see so many colleagues taking part, and there are still opportunities to join us for the following sessions:

• 📅 7 April, 10am-1pm – Planning Your First Fellowship
• 📅 9 April, 2-3.30pm – CV Drop-in
• 📅 11 April, 9.30am-12.30pm – Career Planning and Making Good Decisions
• 📅 15 May, 2-4pm – How to Negotiate a Job Offer
• 📅 19 May, 1-3pm – Time to Think About Your Career

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Our Quest programme has a number of upcoming sessions between April and July. These workshops provide valuable opportunities for PGRs to engage in discussions, share insights and learn collaboratively:

• 📅 30 April, 1-3.30pm or 21 May, 1.30-4pm – Developing good supervisor relationships
• 📅 8 May, 10am-12noon – Research culture for PGRs
• 📅 4 June, 10am-12noon – Your viva
• 📅 11 June, 2-4pm – Research culture for PGRs
• 📅 18 June & 16 July – Exploring leadership for PGRs
• 📅 25 June & 9 July – What does Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) mean to me?

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Student education development

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Apply to join our September cohort of the PGCAP and sign up for an online information event on 24 April to learn more about the programme. The PGCAP helps you to enhance your practice by providing the opportunity to explore different teaching and learning approaches, reflect on your practice, connect with peers and complete an impactful research project to your ongoing academic practice. It’s also one route available to gain Advance HE Fellowship (FHEA). 

• ⏰ Find out more about the programme on the PGCAP webpage and apply by 30 May.
• 📅 Sign up for the information event on 24 April.
• 🎓 Read about our latest PGCAP graduates

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⏰ Deadline: midnight on 4 April.

Register for the Assessment Matters Conference on 23 April, a one-day internal event exploring innovative approaches to assessment and feedback. Hear from colleagues sharing research and scholarship from across the University, and explore best practices and challenges in designing effective assessments. The event is open to all staff, with both in-person and online options to attend.

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Sign up for our next Leading in Student Education Development workshops this June. These sessions are designed for colleagues in leadership roles within student education and are organised into three themes:

• 📅 5 June, 10am-12noon (online) – Understanding the system
• 📅 12 June, 10am-12noon (online) – Influencing others and building consensus
• 📅 18 June, 10am-12noon (online) – Creating presence and authenticity in your leadership  

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Explore these upcoming events in April and May for academic personal tutors:

• 📅 3 April, 10.30am-12noon – Student perspectives on APT
• 📅 7 April, 9.30am-4pm – Supporting students through menopause
• 📅 28 April, 9.30am-4.30pm – Bereavement training
• 📅 1 May, 1.30-3pm – Supporting disabled students as an APT
• 📅 21 May, 1.30-3pm – Supporting international students during summer through APT

You can find all APT sessions and resources, including the APT Bitesize video series, on the APT Development Opportunities webpage.

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📅 8 April, 10am-12noon (online)

Join our next SoTL-informed Praxis Workshop, part of Build Your Scholarship Practice (BYSP). The programme enables colleagues to develop and share scholarly teaching practices and scholarship projects informed by Curriculum Redefined. Dedicated to the theme of literacies for partnerships, this fifth praxis workshop features world-renowned researcher on feedback literacy, Professor David Carless from the University of Hong Kong and Head of the Academic Unit SCAPE (Social Contexts and Policies in Education).

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• TIPS Community: Teaching and Learning Chats (TLCs): Next event runs on 9 May and looks at building confidence with inclusive practice approaches.
• Foundations in Teaching Course (FiT): Sign up for this self-paced, online course at anytime. After FiT, you can attend our series of workshops, with plenty of dates currently available to book.

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