5. Additional resources & training#
The group’s professional development syllabus covers various useful topics for researchers.
If there are skills you feel you need but are not on the list, please let us know at TeDCog@bristol.ac.uk!
Letters of recommendation / references#
You may require a letter of recommendation or a reference from your supervisor(s) for employment or future study. This can be easily arranged, but it will be easier (and quicker) if you do the following:
Ask your supervisor first if they are willing to be your referee before you put them down (this is a courtesy, but also your supervisor will be less likely to misfile external emails if they are aware they will be coming). When you are asking for a letter for the first time, make sure you allow enough time (> 1 week) for your supervisor to respond. It takes time to prepare a letter and the more lead time the better. (On subsequent occasions, the timing is less critical because the letter will have been written already.)
If you require an open-ended reference letter, make it easy for your supervisor to write you one that includes what you need in it. For example, think about the contributions you made in the lab or qualities you displayed during your research project that are relevant to the position you are applying for—after all, you know best what prospective employers will be looking for. Mentioning these to your supervisor may also help jog their memory!
Collaborative Writing Tools#
You will often need to collaborate with others when writing reports, papers, and other outputs. Collaborative writing software can facilitate this process and ensure people work on the same document (and avoid having to send attachments back and forth). Below is a (non-exhaustive) table of options and their pros and cons, to help you choose the software that would work best for your particular project.
Cost |
Free |
Paid product (UoB has access) |
Basic version free |
Basic version free |
Basic version free |
Permission sharing |
Easy |
Insanely frustrating |
Generally easy |
Easy (unless adding admins) |
Generally easy (with some fiddly things) |
Real time joint editing |
Quite good |
Horrible |
Good |
Excellent |
Good |
Offline editing |
Okay (but can get out of sync) |
Good |
Not great |
Not possible |
Not great |
Track changes? |
Can turn on |
Can turn on |
Can turn on |
Automatic (and not distracting) |
No |
Commenting |
Yes |
Yes (MS Word) |
Yes (multiple ways) |
Yes (multiple ways) |
Yes |
WYSIWYG editor* |
Yes |
Yes (MS Word) |
LaTex editor, but with editor toolbar (beta version) |
Markdown, but with editor toolbar |
Yes (and also supports Markdown) - but a bit clunky |
Autocorrect/language support |
Yes |
Yes |
Minimal |
No |
No |
Referencing support |
Possible |
Only in MS Word with citation tools |
Yes (BibTex) |
No |
No |
Adding graphical elements |
Copy/paste (quality poor) |
Fine if you can open in MS Word (Browser version is poor) |
Yes (LaTex) |
Yes (Markdown, some editor toolbar help available) |
Yes, multiple file uploads and attachments possible, website quality |
GitHub compatibility |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
*What You See Is What You Get
Pure and Explore Bristol Research#
Staff and PGR members of the group should maintain their profile page on the Explore Bristol Research website. This page is populated via Pure, the University’s research information system and repository of scholarly works. Academics and postgraduate research students (PGRs) use Pure to collate information about their work. Explore Bristol Research (EBR) is the public catalogue of the University’s research. Information on EBR comes from Pure. Academic staff must use Pure for Open Access and REF purposes. Post-graduate researchers must use Pure for depositing their Theses. All research outputs must be added to Pure within three months of being accepted and the Pure records must include the acceptance date and the author accepted manuscript.
We ask that all staff and PGR members of TeDCog tag both (i) their own profile and (ii) all new research outputs entered in Pure with the ‘TeDCog’ structured keyword (Faculty of Life Sciences > TeDCog). This allows all staff/PGR researchers and outputs associated with the TeDCog group to be grouped and displayed in one place.
University of Bristol policies#
The University of Bristol has developed policies and strategies that provide information and guidance on important areas of activity. It is the responsibility of staff members and students to familiarise themselves with relevant policies, particularly those relating to good practice and conduct.
Data Protection: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/secretary/data-protection/
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: http://www.bris.ac.uk/equalityanddiversity/policy.html
Human Resources: http://www.bris.ac.uk/hr/policies/
Research Data Management / Open Data: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/research/environment/governance/research-data-policy/
Research Ethics: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/red/research-governance/ethics/
Research Governance and Integrity: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/research/environment/governance/
A comprehensive list of the University of Bristol’s policies and strategies can be found at: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/university/governance/policies/
Other resources#
The following other resources were used in the creation of this handbook, which might provide useful additional reading:
The Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers: https://www.vitae.ac.uk/policy/concordat
University of Bristol’s Induction Handbook for Principal Investigators, freely available to UoB staff who enrol on the associated self-study programme (log-in required).
TeDCog publications#
All publications of the TeDCog group are available on our homepage, which is automatically updated.