The University of Warwick has established an accredited Postgraduate Certificate in Transferable Skills in Science for doctoral researchers. The requirements of the certificate are designed to develop the key skills necessary for students to proceed to the next stage of a scientific career in academia, industry or other sectors. The skills required map onto those required for the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Chartered Chemist, Royal Society of Biology (RSB) Chartered Biologist and the Institute of Physics (IOP) Chartered Physicist qualification. This means that once you have successfully completed the PG Certificate in Transferable Skills in Science and you are a member of the RSC, RSB or IOP; you will be eligible to apply for chartered status in the future after completing one further year in Industry or as Postdoc (chartered status requires normally 4 years of experience in the relevant field, i.e. at least 1 year additional to the 3 years of PhD).

All doctoral students in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine at the University of Warwick are eligible to register on the programme.

3.Training and development activities

Postgraduate Certificate in Transferable Skills in Science (60 CATS) for Doctoral Researchers
The Postgraduate Certificate in Transferable Skills in Science for researchers is a 60 CATS certificate composed of a number of modules that help the scientist to identify and gain core skills for a career in science. The structure of the Certificate follows the schemes above.

Postgraduate Award in Transferable Skills in Science (30 CATS)
Students also have an option to take a Postgraduate Award in Transferable Skills in Science (30 CATS), usually composed of two Doctoral Skills modules and one optional module.

The main aims of the PGCTSS are

• To increase research effectiveness by developing research related skills
• To prepare researchers for future roles as senior scientists and team leaders
• To develop the skills to allow the researcher to exercise responsibility for, and leadership of, their postdoctoral research and exploring these skills in a variety of settings.

To complete the course the researcher is required to assemble a portfolio of evidence to indicate that each component of their selected modules has been completed.

4. Mentoring and support networks

Each programme student formally belongs to a Warwick Department or a CDT/DTP and as such belongs to the mentoring/support schemes available in their home department. As a minimum, each doctoral student has a supervisor and a two-member advisory panel. The Director of Graduate Studies in each department has an overview of training/activities of doctoral students in their Department.

5. Assessment procedures

Each module is assessed in a number of component parts as pass or fail. In the latter case a ‘resit’ is possible to ensure the researcher masters the skills and can describe their own competence. The Certificate has an examination board which includes an external examiner who reviews all submitted work and its assessment.

6. Quality Assurance

Each module is assessed pass or fail, all the module components must be passed. Each module component is assessed by the researcher supervisor and/or mentor who gives feedback and signs off when completed. The whole module is then assessed by the Director of Graduate Studies and signed off as Pass when all the components are completed satisfactorily. The Certificate has an examination board with the external examiner who reviews a substantial portion of the submitted portfolios (usually about 1/3) and reviews the assessment quality and consistency across the programme.

The quality assurance of PGCTSS programme occurs via the normal University of Warwick mechanisms for assuring quality of its degrees and qualifications. This includes periodic reviews and audits by the relevant Boards of Studies and an annual examination board meeting following a detailed audit of each cohort of students by the external examiner who is appointed by the University Senate following a recommendation from the accrediting body (RSC, 2015-19).

7. Scope of the accreditation

It is assumed that the doctoral researcher has successfully completed a PhD which has included aspects of technical and transferable skills training. The additional requirements of PGCTSS ensure the researcher achieves advanced competence both technically (though this is only assessed indirectly via assessment of communication, leadership, project management and reporting skills) and generically. The norm is that TCHA-F1PC will take three years to complete though in exceptional circumstances it could take shorter. Slower progression is also possible depending on the researcher’s mode of study (e.g. part-time) and source of funding. It is therefore anticipated that researchers who complete PGCTSS and are full members of the relevant learned society will gain Chartered status usually 1 year after completion of their PhD and submission of the PGCTSS portfolio (chartered status requires normally 4 years of experience in the relevant field, i.e. at least 1 year additional to the 3 years of PhD).

8. Management of the scheme

The scheme will be managed jointly by the RSB, RSC, IOP and the University of Warwick via the Chair and secretary of the Examination board who will maintain a list of researchers working towards F1PC. This will be communicated to the learned societies on request.

9. Role of the learned societies in the scheme

The learned societies will review TCHA-F1PC regularly to see whether it is still fit for purpose. This may be remotely, or by attendance at the examination board or informally by meeting with researchers engaged in the programme.