Start your PhD with confidence and clarity
Beginning your PhD is an exciting new chapter — and a big step. The expectations shift from passing courses to creating original research, from following directions to defining your own path. It’s a journey that demands more than technical skills: it requires focus, organisation, communication, and the ability to manage yourself and your project with confidence.
This two-day interactive workshop is designed to help you start your PhD on solid ground. You’ll gain the essential, non-technical skills that will make your research life easier, more effective, and more rewarding. Through hands-on activities, reflection and collaboration, you’ll learn practical tools you can apply right away — to plan your work, communicate with impact, build positive collaborations and keep your motivation strong.
Presentation
Key learning objectives
By the end of this two-day programme, you will be able to:
- Design a clear work plan and conduct a risk analysis for your PhD project
- Communicate effectively — including giving and receiving feedback, using non-verbal cues, and presenting with confidence
- Collaborate successfully in diverse teams, manage conflict and use negotiation skills
- Apply creative problem-solving techniques to tackle research challenges
- Use practical strategies to manage time, energy and motivation
- Reflect on and strengthen your personal and professional skills as a researcher
How you will master these skills
This is a hands-on workshop, not a lecture. You’ll learn through practice, discussion and real examples from research life.
Strategic project management – Turn your research idea into a concrete plan. Learn to use tools like Gantt charts and risk analysis to structure your PhD, set realistic goals and anticipate challenges.
High-impact communication – Practise giving and receiving constructive feedback, improving non-verbal communication and developing engaging presentation skills — all essential for productive relationships with supervisors and peers.
Effective collaboration and teamwork – Understand your role in a team, explore group dynamics and practise strategies for managing conflict and building trust in diverse research settings.
Creative problem-solving – Learn structured techniques to think creatively, tackle complex problems and find innovative solutions together with other researchers.
Personal effectiveness and motivation – Discover strategies to stay focused, manage your time wisely, and maintain motivation throughout the ups and downs of your PhD journey.
A workshop, not a lecture
This programme is designed for active participation. You will learn by doing, reflecting, and sharing experiences with your peers — building not only skills, but also confidence and clarity for the path ahead.
You will also connect with PhD students from all BIST research centres, making this a perfect opportunity to expand your network of colleagues and potential collaborators within the BIST community.
Format and requirements
Format: In-person, interactive workshop
Audience: First-year PhD students from all BIST research centres
Language: English
Requirements: No prior preparation required. Participants are encouraged to bring openness, curiosity and a willingness to engage actively.
Attendance: Participants are expected to attend all sessions. Full attendance is required to receive a certificate of completion.
Format
In person
Dates
January 20 & 21, 2026.
10h - 13h / 14h - 17:30h
Registration dates
30/10/2025 to 30/12/2025
Venue
Sala Garbí (recinte de la Maternitat)
Speakers
- Andreu Gual: Co-Founder of Corkscrew Thinking and Nexgen Careers
- Holly Blondin: Adjunct professor at Parsons School of Design