1. Research Student Development Programme and the ePortfolio Dr. Richy Hetherington

2. Training and Development - history

3. National Changes Number of research students has increased Full time academic positions have not Data from http://www.hesa.ac.uk & Vitae HEI full time Academic staff 99/00 113,790 13/14 128,170 2010 26% Doctoral Graduates work in HE research 6 months after graduation,19% after 3.5 years

4. A changing employer environment  Competency Frameworks  Appraisal and feedback  Performance Management  Self Assessment

5. Roberts Report 2002 “Many employers do not initially pay those with PhDs any more than they would a new graduate, viewing the training (particularly in transferable skills) that PhD students receive as inadequate preparation for careers in business R&D.” “Institutions are not adapting quickly enough to the needs of industry”

6. Research council Joint Skills statement (A)Research Skills and Techniques: validate problems, critical thinking, a knowledge of recent advances (B) Research Environment: broad understanding of context,. confidentiality, ethics commercial exploitation of research (C) Research Management: effective project management (D) Personal Effectiveness: self-discipline, motivation, and thoroughness (E) Communication Skills: promoting the public understanding (F) Networking and Teamworking: In the institution and the wider research community (G) Career Management: Commitment to continued professional development

7. Researcher Development Framework RDF Headings A1 Knowledge base A2 Cognitive abilities A3 Creativity B1 Personal qualities B2 Self management B3 Professional & career development C1 Professional conduct C2 Research management C3 Finance, funding & resources D1 Working with others D2 Communication & dissemination D3 Engagement & impact

8. Now a Requirement  Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) requirement for all UK research degrees  Funders BBSRC, MRC have skills requirements  National and International competition to provide good quality training (part of the prospectus)

9. Development Programme Goals  Helping researchers be more effective  Aiding timely progression and thesis completion  Improving research outcomes & therefore academic career prospects  Develop researchers’ broad range of skills so options outside of research are available  Improve confidence in skills gained and their use in a variety of roles

10. Research Student Development Programme

11. Electronic booking system  Appropriate staffing  Monitoring  Evaluation  Accommodate Changes  Additions

12. Development Programme Timetable  In total over 100 hours of training development offered each year  Excluding safety training first year Phd has 5 compulsory sessions totalling 7.5 hours  There is one compulsory sessions per year, a professional approach is expected  RCUK expects students to undertake 2 weeks (80 hours) a year on skills development

13. Selection of Evaluation Results Academic Year Average good/very good Average poor/very poor Overall average (out of 5) Total sessions run Total attended sessions each year Total evaluations 11/1285%3%4.38528141111 12/1384%1%4.3 99 26041094 13/1490%2%4.4 167 37431985 14/15 (March 15)92%0%4.4 137 27121571

14. Wider View Postgraduate conference FameLab 3 Minute Thesis Demonstrating and leading seminars Biotechnology YES Research Seminars Institute training Internships (PIPS)

15. The ePortfolio

16. eProgression instructions

17. Blog integrated with “My Skills”

18. Record meetings Students add attendees

19. Self Assessment/PDP

20. 2011 PRES Results for FMS students  How important are opportunities available for me to further develop my research skills 1% not important, 94% important  How important are opportunities to develop a range of transferable skills 3% not important, 82% important

21. Development programme Impacts  Timely progression and degree completion  Good research outcomes (fewer thesis corrections, more publications)  More public engagement and publicity for the research  Building confidence: 97% said ‘Recording your Research’ session improved their awareness in project & time management

22. Good News

23. More Good News

24. Summary  Supervisors have a responsibility to support researcher student’s development  Development programme and ePortfolio are there to help with this and to support student’s research activity  Benefits supervisors and the institution as well as the research students