Recommended training
All postgraduate researchers are strongly recommended to choose at least two options from the list below to supplement their training. These should be completed before the end of Year 3.
Year 1
Working with Your Supervisor
- Establish the roles and responsibilities of supervisors and students.
- Identify the essential elements of good supervisory meetings.
Writing a Literature Review in Science and Engineering
- Identify the most effective structure for your own literature review.
- Critically evaluate a piece of academic writing.
- Synthesise literature to build your own coherent argument.
Academic Writing for PGRs in FSE
- Be able to recognise the elements of ‘academic style’ in your own and other published writing.
- Better understand the writing process and the ways to make the task easier.
- Understand the importance of report structure to communicate your ideas to the reader.
- Be able to improve your writing effectiveness.
Year 2
Effective Research Presentation
- Learn how to organise presentation content, how to keep the audience engaged and create an effective presentation.
Calm and Confident Presenting: Understanding and managing your presentation anxieties.
- Content similar to Effective Research Presentation but with a focus specifically on managing anxiety and confidence building.
How to communicate your research
- Building a web presence to increase your impact in academia and beyond.
- Learning to write for an attention-poor audience and addressing people's contexts, needs, and behaviours.
Lay Summaries with Impact
- Understand why plain English is important when writing lay summaries.
- Be able to identify the different types of language that a public/lay audience may find challenging or inappropriate.
- Be able to utilise techniques to translate written academic and specialist language for a public/lay audience.
- Understand what a lay/public audience would expect to see in a plain English summary and why.
- Identify some forms of bad practice in plain English summaries and ways to correct these.
Year 3
Practical Viva Preparation
- Complementary session to Preparing for Viva in Science and Engineering: Developing your Skills and Building Confidence but with more time on practical aspects.
- PGRs have the chance to practice answering viva style questions, with a practice examiner and observer.
- Learn about the types of questions you might be asked in your viva.
- Identify personal next steps to help you prepare for your viva.
Planning Life Beyond your Doctorate
- Identify the impact transitioning from postgraduate research can have.
- Have time to reflect on what you have achieved to date, and how this may inform what you do next.
- Assess different strategies for career planning.
- Consider how your research skills are valued in a range of sectors.
Further Information
For queries regarding the requirements and process please contact the Doctoral Academy Support Team.
For queries specific to the training provided, please contact the Researcher Development Team.