ACRC Academy visits Burn for cross-cohort retreat

Friday: Arrival at the Burn – Szu-Chia Huang (Cohort 4)

On Friday afternoon, we travelled north to the Burn in Aberdeenshire, a lovely country house that serves as an academic retreat. A rainbow appeared across the sky along the way, a beautiful start to the weekend. By the evening we arrived at the Burn House, settled into our rooms, and gathered for dinner together. It was a relaxed opportunity to reconnect with each other and to ease into the weekend’s theme of “Sustaining your future.”

Following dinner, Dr Lucy McCloughan (Programme Manager of the Advanced Care Research Centre) shared her talk, “Never tell me the odds: one person’s story of navigating the asteroid field of post-PhD employment.” Her vivid career experiences encouraged us to think more openly about the future beyond and after a PhD. Career development is often shaped not only by planning but also evolves through networking, relationships, conversations, and opportunities that arise along the way. The people we meet at different stages of our journey may meet us again in unexpected ways.

The evening continued with a board game organised by Cameron Wilson (Cohort 1), who introduced many of us to Trouble Brewing. As the Storyteller, he guided us through a lively and engaging game of deduction and deception. Players gathered information, shared suspicions, and relied on logic and intuition to figure out who among us were the good characters and who might secretly be evil. Navigating misinformation and hunting the hidden demon brought a fun, laughter-filled end to the first day. 

Saturday: Learning, Reflecting, and Connecting – Deniz Hepdogan (Cohort 4)

Waking up at Burn has a way of clearing your mind. There must be something about the stillness of the Highlands that invites you to begin again, but unrushed. By 7:30 am, we had gathered for a soothing hour of yoga. With breathing in sync and moving slowly, we eased ourselves into the day with intention.

After breakfast, the rhythm of the retreat resumed. We heard from Elisa Cardamone (Cohort 2), who had flown in from the US, where she is currently completing her Fulbright Scholarship research at MIT. Her talk was both grounded, insightful and motivating, covering different aspects of PhD journey with life beyond it. She emphasised the importance of being strategic, not in an overly calculated sense, but in a way that respects your goals and your limits. One idea that lingered with many of us was her distinction between time management and energy management. Perhaps, one of the most fruitful self-reflection skills to attain on this journey is to understand when and how we are able to give our best.

This was followed by a panel of our Academy Directors, Prof Ian Underwood, Prof Heather Wilkinson, and Prof Susan Shenkin, chaired by Lucy. Their career trajectories unfolded as honest stories. It was deeply reassuring, I must admit, to hear that uncertainty, detours, are all part of the process. Another key takeaway was the importance of aligning our careers with our values, and being willing to say no when something does not feel quite right. What also stayed with me most was the vulnerability in their stories. Even with experience, even with success, challenges persist. And perhaps that is the point, that success is not about perfection. There is no single pathway to success, and no single definition of it.

Later on, the afternoon brought us together for the work-in-progress session, where we had conversations around our PhD projects. We exchanged ideas on literature reviews, shared struggles with participant recruitment, and navigated the complexities of ethics applications. There was comfort in the collective effort, in realising that many of us are asking, or have asked, the same questions. It was very helpful to hear how others are approaching similar challenges, and it really highlighted the value of being part of a cohort-based programme.

We then turned to an expansive session on developing our public profiles, led by Emilie McSwiggan (Cohort 2). From setting up and refining our University PURE profiles to exploring ORCID, personal websites, ResearchGate, Google Scholar, LinkedIn, and polishing our CVs, we began to shape how we present our work, and ourselves, to the world. The following work session gave us time to actually do this, turning intention into action, one profile at a time! It was encouraging to see how even small updates could make our research more visible and accessible, and it reminded me that building a professional presence is an ongoing process rather than a one-time task.

And then, as the day folded into evening, there was…

The ceilidh.

Guided by Cameron and Anna Bryan (Cohort 1), what began as tentative steps and nervous laughter soon turned into a room of collective joy full of spinning and clapping. For me, there is something wonderfully inviting about a ceilidh in that it doesn’t ask for perfection, only participation. By the end of it, everyone could dance.

And before I finish, I have to ask, everyone could dance a ceilidh, okay, but does everyone have friends who will play the music for them? 

Sunday: Final day at the Burn – Jenn Yoo (ACRC Academy Project Manager)

The final day also started with an optional yoga session before breakfast. Afterward, students practiced slowing down and taking in their surroundings on a walk through the Burn grounds. Students had the chance to walk together and practiced a few meditative movements. Based on feedback, students found the tools useful to prevent burnout during their research. As the final session, I presented on the importance of ending well, and how projects and research does not end with submission but with reflection and feedback. Through practical common examples, students discussed various methods to ending a project or task well.