The University expects research students to undertake 30 days training and development activity over the course of their research degree. It is suggested that students undertake a broad range of activities from the areas below as this will best support their personal and professional development.
We define training and development activity in the following way:
Training
• Training courses co-ordinated centrally (The Postgraduate Skills Training Programme)
• On-line learning materials (videos, training courses and webinars)
• School/subject specific training co-ordinated at School level.
• Other instructor-led and on-line training delivered by external bodies (e.g. research councils, Vitae)
• Personal Effectiveness Programmes
Development Activity
• Attending or presenting at a conference
• Involvement in writing a paper/poster
• Teaching*
• Demonstrating*
• Job shadowing and employer visits
• Careers events
• Mentoring*
• Supervision of project students*
• Student-led initiatives
• Public Engagement Activity
* In relation to each of these areas, a maximum of 5 days developmental credits can be claimed.
The following activities are not considered to be developmental with regard to the Postgraduate Researcher Development Programme as they are integral to the process of completing a research degree.
• Thesis writing
• CAST placements
• Research visits which are an obligatory part of doing a research degree
• Laboratory Work
As the above is open to interpretation, please feel free to contact us if you need advise on the crediting of training and development activity.
Taking advantage of available 1-2-1 consultancy/advise and reading information provided within the PRDP cannot be credited within the 30 days expectation.
The University expects all students to maintain a record of all relevant training and development activity undertaken, on the Qsis system. This may be required by supervisors and in review meetings and will prove useful when applying for jobs. Instructions for recording training (outside of the Postgraduate Skills Training Programme) and developmental activity can be found here. You can also review a record of your training and development within Qsis by following the instrucitons available here.
