CONNECT to Succeed
CONNECT to Succeed is a brand new coaching scheme aimed at fostering interdisciplinary working amongst Researchers at UCL.
The scheme will involve participants working with experienced coaches, to identify and work through, any issues that are affecting their work as part of an interdisciplinary collaboration, be it work relationships, cross-cultural issues, dealing with multiple partners, managing multiple priotrities, etc.. It’s very much for each participant to decide the topics for discussion with their coach. We also hope to be able to better position participants to be able to bid for future funding in a research landscape that is increasingly calling for more interdisciplinary working.
Applications for our next cohort will open in April 2026.
Postdoctoral and Doctoral Researchers at UCL are eligible for the scheme but must already be working in an interdisciplinary team. 20 places will be available in the first instance.
Participants will be offered four, 1-2-1 sessions with a trained coach to talk through their experiences. These sessions are flexible and can be booked around your availability.
Applications will open in April 2026
The scheme is free, and is funded by the UCL Academic Careers Office through the NIHR UCLH Biomedical Research Centre.
After the deadline has passed for signing up, we will be in touch to confirm wether you have a place. You will then be asked to complete a second survey that will allow us, and the coaches, to better understand your working situation and how we might best support you.
We are working with two coaches who also work on our ADAPT to Grow programme. They have a lot of experience with coaching, and providing support for academic researchers. We will also be hosting group workshop sessions with key leaders from around UCL with a proven track record of success in interdisciplinary projects.
All of the discussion between you and your coach in your private sessions are kept confidential and will not be shared in any form with UCL. As the group workshops will consist of you and a group of your peers, please be aware that we cannot guarentee confidentiality in that setting.
Once you have been introduced to your coach, you will be asked to book your four sessions for 2026.
If you need to reschedule or cancel your appointment you should give the coach at least 48 hours' notice. All rescheduled sessions must be arranged before the end of the six months period.
If something comes up unexpectedly and you miss an appointment without giving proper notice, you should contact your coach as soon as possible to reschedule.
If you miss two appointments without giving notice you may be dismissed from the programme. We will have a discussion first, though.
Participants will complete surveys before joining the scheme, and again after it's completion so we can measure how much/if the scheme has had an impact on how you succesfully manage your interdisciplinary working. As this is a pilot scheme, we will also ask questions about how you feel the scheme was conducted, in order for us to evaluate how we might continue the scheme in future iterations.
Any, and all, questions should be directed to CONNECT Manager Alex Teale via a.teale@ucl.ac.uk