Current students

Research skills training

The University has recently revised its arrangements for ensuring that all PGR students are able to fulfill their needs for and entitlement to research skills training.

All UEL students engaged in programmes of postgraduate research (MPhil/PhD etc) are provided with a range of opportunities for acquiring the professional and research-methods related skills that they may need for successful completion of their research programme.

The aims of postgraduate research programmes are both to complete a substantive piece of research and develop a high level of research expertise.

Such provision is available at two levels:

For methodological skills specific to their academic discipline, their needs are to be addressed by the school which hosts their study

For generic research and transferable skills, the Graduate School provides a full range of expert-led complete study modules and specialist workshops. The former modules form part of the UEL Masters in Research programme that takes learning about generic research skills to an advanced level. Access to excellent on-line studying opportunities is also provided

All students must take responsibility for:

• Completing and regularly updating an assessment of their needs for research skills development
• Composing and fulfilling an annual programme of relevant research skills development

Supervisors of such students are required to help and ensure that students:

• make valid and reliable assessments of their developmental needs
• compose and fulfill sound research skills developmental plans

The following documents set out these arrangements in more detail and also provide tools for enabling students to understand how to conduct developmental needs analysis and compose sound developmental plans.

UEL MPhil-PhD Training Programme

Skills Training Plan

Researcher Development Statement

A full listing of workshops currently available to students through the Graduate School is provided here. This list currently excludes generic and interdisciplinary research skills workshops which will be added shortly. Any enquiries about the content of specific workshops should be addressed to Caroline Dunmore.

As part of their agreed annual research skills development plans, PGR students are also entitled to register to attend modules from the UEL University-wide MRes programme,either on an attendance-only basis or certificated by assessment. Details of these have been passed to school research degrees leaders and administrators to pass on to new and existing MPhil/PhD students.

Module GSM 011 runs every semester to provide an introduction to essential research skills whilst 4 other interdisciplinary modules run in alternate semesters to provide access to advanced research methods.

Module GSM 013 which focusses on research aiming to evaluate (impact,effectiveness or quality) will be running on tuesdays from 1600 to 1900 from September to December 2012

Module GSM 016 which deals wit how to collect and analyse qualitative data will be running at the same times onwednesdays

GSM 012 which covers survey research design/implementation and GSM 005 which covers quantitative data analysis are both running in Semester B 2012/2013.

GSM 005 may also possible be available in Semester A but no decision has finally been taken on this

To register please contact c.lake@uel.ac.uk

Arrangements can also be made to register to attend individual sessions forming part of these modules

Specifications of all the modules available on this programme can be found under the MRes Programme heading in the Graduate School Document Library.

For new PGR students, module GSM 011 (Essential Research Skills ) is particularly recommended as it provides essential preparation for thesis title registration which has to be completed early in the MPhil/PhD study programme. To register, please contact c.lake@uel.ac.uk

For RDP workshops, modules or module sessions, PGR students are able to claim credits towards their annual minimum requirement of 10(5 for part-time students) PGR research skills developmental credits. The credit awarded ranges from 5 credits for completingand passing a GSM module to 0.25 credits for registered attendance at 1 session on any M-level module or 1 2-hour workshop.

Auditing of GSM modules is not possible. Students who register to attend but not to take the assessment can obtain an attendance certificate.

Support to students

All newly-enrolling postgraduate research students should have been contacted by their school research degrees administrator and offered a chance to attend a short workshop in September or October this year during which they will be enabled to understand these arrangements. Any new student who has not received such an invitation should contact Paul Kiff at p.kiff@uel.ac.uk.

The workshop dates now available are as follows:

Part-time students : 24th September 1630 (location will be notified to those booking to attend)

Full-time students:25th September 1130 (location is Graduate School, room EB 143 Docklands)

All other postgraduate research students at UEL (most of whom will have experienced a previous set of research skills development arrangements) should expect to have been invited to attend a school-based workshop in which the application of these new arrangements will be explained to them. If such an opportunity has not been made available, the School Research Degrees Leader should be contacted for details of when the next session is being run.

Only for existing and newly-enrolling students who are based mainly overseas, separate familiarisation opportunities will be made available.

Relevant staff in the Graduate School can be contacted at any time for advice on any aspect of these arrangements. (Paul Kiff and Caroline Dunmore)

 

---

UEL HOMESEARCH