1. Graduate School Professional Skills Development Professor David T Dexter Deputy Head Division of Brain Sciences & HDRC Section Rep

2. Importance of Professional Skills Development  Doctoral research is an intense/focussed period of research. Courses are designed to help at every step of the way.  Funders of doctoral programmes expect students to spend time on professional development.  The workshops and courses you attend will be on your transcript at completion

3. Course themes

4. College Requirements The College requires all doctoral students to meet the following minimum attendance requirements prior to the 9 month Early Stage Assessment (ESA): A minimum of 4 professional skills short courses & workshops plus the online Plagiarism Awareness course or the Imperial Residential Course and one other professional skills short course plus the online Plagiarism Awareness course. or one of the Graduate School’s international doctoral summer schools plus the online Plagiarism Awareness course. Encouraged to carry on doing courses throughout your doctoral training

5. Imperial Residential Course  This is a three day/two night residential course.  Venue Easthampstead Park Conference Centre (near Bracknell)  Working in small groups of 8 or less.  Topics include planning, project management, creativity in research, communication skills, group dynamics, networking and developing self-awareness.  Expenses covered by the Graduate School

6. International Doctoral Summer Schools Valuable opportunity of working in some of the world's leading research universities, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As part of the placement you will also undertake a professional skills course. This is aimed at enhancing both your personal and research effectiveness through topics including:  managing your research project  intercultural awareness and effective team working  succeeding in collaborative research  building successful working relationships  effective communication to reach different audiences  enhancing networking skills 2015 – MIT-IC Boston, USA; UCT-IC Cape Town, South Africa; KAIST-IC Daejeon, South Korea; Tsinghua-IC Easthampstead, UK

7. Cohort Building  Each student assigned to a cohort.  Assisting in information exchange…..  Improving interaction between student groups….  Help building a better research environment…  Providing opportunities for students to develop peer support networks…  Signposting resources….  Cohort activities  Funding for student and cohort leader lead activities

8. Additional Information Graduate School http://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/graduate-school/ Courses http://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/graduate- school/professional-skills/doctoral/ Cohort activity funding http://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/graduate- school/cohort-building/apply-for-funding/