Why review PGR training and development?

UKRI’s recent New Deal for Postgraduate Researchers makes it clear that, together with producing original research, the primary outcome of our PGR programmes should be ‘Preparing students for the future,’ by which it is meant preparation of PGRs for a wide range of future careers in research, both inside and outside academia. Our PGRs tell us the same thing through the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey.

We want to prepare PGRs to be researchers in the broadest sense, able to draw on their academic training in their departments and disciplines; their experience of researcher development; and to identify and draw upon developed transferable skills.

The necessity for such training must be recognized by supervisors and departments, and incorporated explicitly into the design and delivery of PGR courses across the university.

We strongly believe that training opportunities are a key way that positive research cultures and vibrant PGR communities stretching across departmental boundaries can be built, to the mutual benefit of PGRs and the university as a whole.

Ambition

We want all our PGRs – regardless of source of funding – to be able to access a minimum level of training that equips them to meet their expectations and those of our funders.

We want our training to be inclusive and accessible, providing a mix of modes of delivery and recognition that meets different needs of our diverse PGR community

Our training should be provided when it is needed by the PGRs and hence accessible at different points in the PGR journey, not solely bunched into the first year of a PGR programme.

Recognising the expertise of different teams across the university, the offer should be collaborative in design, delivery and outreach (including external Warwick partners). Where appropriate, training offers provided to students at other levels of study, early career researchers and other categories of staff will be utilized in the interests of efficiencies and reinforcing PGRs sense of belonging to the wider university community.

We will provide a comprehensive training and development offer for all PGRs which is coherent as a whole and from the view of an individual PGR to navigate through. Our training offer will make different departmental responsibilities for different aspects of training largely invisible to the PGRs.

PGRs should be able to see from initial interest in applying to Warwick what is available and how it will help them through their research degree journey and beyond. Our training and development offering should be something that departments and supervisors can readily and enthusiastically promote to prospective PGRs to help attract the very best researchers to Warwick.