Welcome to Waitrose CTP Cohort 1

Waitrose CTP welcomed its first cohort of students at the end of October for a 3 day Induction Training Event. This was held at the scenic venue of Forrest Hills at Lancaster University.

All students attended the event and some students had the company of their academic supervisors.

During the event the students and supervisors participated in a series of activities including training sessions and team building outdoor pursuits.

Carly Stevens, the Waitrose CTP academic director, introduced the programme before handing over to the students. All the students introduced themselves and discussed their project. The talks from each student were very engaging and full of enthusiasm for their PhD project.

Other training sessions within the 3 days included Fast track your impact and how to manage your PhD. Plus an inspirational presentation and workshop delivered by Alan Wilson, overall lead and non-academic director of the Waitrose CTP. Alan discussed leadership and management skills, good behaviours and attitudes in business and emotional awareness. The workshop was received very well by the students with one student commenting “it was the best part of the event”.

Day two was the day for the students and supervisors to get to know each other. The outdoor team building activities included raft building, archery and problem solving puzzles. The group had fun raft building on the lake. The rafts were strong enough to sail across the water and sturdy enough for all brave sailors to stand up on- great work CTP team.

Thank you to everybody who took time out of their busy schedules to attend; it was a great start to the CTP project.

Here are some photos from the event: