Doctoral Skills: Personal development and training
In addition to acquiring in-depth specialist knowledge of a specific research topic, your time as a research student is an opportunity to gain many valuable skills that will be transferable to other situations.
The skills tasks required of PhD students in Physics are used for progress monitoring, as well as developing research appropriate skills in topics such as presentation, planning, project management and communication. As part of your training you can expect to spend approximately two weeks per year on activities to enhance these skills.
You will each be assigned a feedback supervisor who will provide comments and guidance on these tasks where appropriate.
Physics Doctoral Skills training has several compulsory components:
- Essential Training (e.g. Health and Safety, Research Integrity etc)
- Progress Monitoring (e.g. progress reports, literature reviews)
- Doctoral Skills Modules (1 per year)
- Attendance at research seminars and Physics department colloquia
and several optional components:
- Postgraduate Certificate in Transferable Skills - optional
- Doctoral College Researcher Development Courses - optional
- Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy - optional
See also the specific regulations for each year of the course.
Doctoral Skills Modules
Doctoral Skills Modules 1, 2, 3 and 4 are a set of research-related transferrable skills tasks that have been tailored for Physics PG students. They are intended to map to the three Doctoral Skills Modules of the Postgraduate Certificate in Transferable Skills (see below), although the latter is currently being revised.
You will find brief descriptions of some of the tasks, the submission deadlines and reviewer information in the following link: Submission Deadlines and Important Dates.
The tasks are best completed throughout the year as they arise naturally in the course of a PhD. You might consider setting a monthly task of updating what skill tasks you can on Moodle and your CV.
Research Seminars and Colloquia
Seminar attendance helps broaden your understanding of the discipline and place your own research into wider contexts, either in your research area or Physics more generally.
The Physics Department hosts research colloquia (a one hour lecture and questions) every two weeks in the Autumn and Spring terms. Attendance at Physics Colloquia is required of all postgraduate research students. These are designed to be accessible to students in all areas of Physics, and are one of the very rare times that all members of the department are encouraged to come together in a research-focussed context.You will be informed of upcoming colloquia by email.
Rare exceptions to the attendance requirements may apply (e.g. if travelling for research, unwell or with significant caring responsibilities) but attendance should be the norm, regardless of whether other members of your research groups also plan to attend.
Most research clusters (e.g. Theory, Astro etc) will also have a weekly research seminar (presentation from a visiting or local speaker with questions) specific to their research area. All students are expected to attend at least one weekly research seminar, and should identify with their supervisor which is most appropriate. In some research areas sub-cluster level meetings and research group meetings may also be deemed compulsory at the discretion of the supervisor.
You should keep a log of seminars and colloquia attended, and aim to keep brief notes on these talks, some of which may be expanded into reviews for Doctoral Skills Module tasks.
Optional Additional Training
Postgraduate Certificate in Transferable Skills
The Postgraduate Certificate in Transferable Skills (PGCTS) is a qualification accredited by the Institute of PhysicsLink opens in a new window.
We strongly encourage all Physics students to consider registering for the PGCTS which aims to help you to become a successful doctoral researcher.
The activities that you complete for the PGCTS can be used towards the Physics Doctoral Skills requirements where appropriate. Please contact if you are unsure.
Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy
Those of you teaching may wish to apply for an Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). This is an internationally recognised professional accreditation which is highly regarded by employers in the education sector, and is used as a condition for appointment or promotion in some jobs. It also provides formal recognition of your personal development and skills in the higher education sector.
Please contact Tom Hase if you would like to discuss the steps needed.
Doctoral College Researcher Development Courses
The Doctoral College offer plenty of information about researcher development opportunities in the university including various levels of complete development programmes and communities of practice which some students might find helpful.