About the Doctoral Academy
What is the Doctoral Academy?
The Doctoral Academy is a specialist unit within Aberystwyth University with responsibility for guiding Postgraduate Research students (PGRs) through their studies. Our aim is to support PGRs by delivering research and professional development training and fostering relationships within the broader Aberystwyth University research community. We want to make sure students get the research skills they need to complete their degree and the professional skills they need to work in a range of research orientated roles.
Why do I need research training?
Research is a practice and all good researchers will continue to develop their skills through regular, reflective and proactive professional development. While most students recognise the need for research training within their specific research field, they sometimes struggle to understand why we encourage training in areas outside their immediate discipline – such as training in ethics, presentation skills and memo writing. The answer is threefold.
First, professional research environments are increasingly made-up of interdisciplinary teams and involve regular collaboration across academic, policy and business domains. This means that even if you are an expert in a particular subfield, you will need to communicate with researchers and practitioners from a range of different backgrounds and expertise. Thus, understanding research practice as a whole is critical. This is why, for example, understanding issues around research ethics beyond your own immediate field of enquiry is crucial.
Second, as a professional researcher you need to be adaptable to professional settings both within and outside academia. Indeed, while positions in academic research may be shrinking, research in the private sector, state sector and non-profit sector may be growing. Our aim is to ensure that PhD students have the skills to be competitive in a multitude of varied and fast-changing professional environments.
Finally, like many institutions, Aberystwyth University is a signatory of the Researcher Development Concordat, an agreement between different professional and academic stakeholders to improve the employability of researchers within the UK. The Concordat recommends that full-time PhD students complete a minimum of 70 hours research training per year (pro rata for those studying part-time). This means that roughly 4% of research time is devoted to training.
What kind of training does the Doctoral Academy provide?
Our training is divided into three broad areas: core, specialist and professional.
Core training includes skills which are applicable to all researchers, whether in STEM subjects, the social sciences or the arts and humanities. This includes a basic understanding of research design (in different traditions), ethical research, literature reviews, digital skills, etc.
Specialist training is bespoke and targeted to your specific research needs. This includes qualitative and quantitative methods but also specific research techniques, programming skills, as well as skills in research communication.
Professional trainings focus on your capacity to work effectively in a multitude of employment settings. They include teamwork, grant writing, conference organisation and networking.
In addition, we take account of relevant training guidelines from a range of professional bodies including the Vitae Research Development Framework.
How do I do research training?
The Doctoral Academy takes a wide-ranging approach to the delivery of training. This means we encourage you to develop your skills through an array of experiences and providers. While some of your training will be delivered through formal in-house teaching in the University, other training formats including hands-on experiences such as conferences, placements and other research activities, are positively encouraged and recognised. There are also an excellent range of training opportunities delivered through national providers, professional societies and other accredited bodies that we encourage you to explore. In short, the landscape of training provision is wide and deep. For more information on the kinds of training you can access, please visit the Training page.
How do I get started?
Our research training is built around our Development Needs Analysis (DNA) process. The DNA is essentially a structured questionnaire we ask you to fill out through a conversation with your supervisors that puts you in control of identifying your specific areas of training need. While it is true that we have pre-identified some training provision as ‘core’ (meaning essential for all researchers), the majority of your training will be bespoke and fitted to your project and professional goals.
Where is the Doctoral Academy?
The Doctoral Academy is based in office D26 in Hugh Owen Building.