Research Student Development Programme and the ePortfolio

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

2. Training and Development - history

3. National Changes HEI full time Academic staff 99/00 113,790 11/12 117,845 2010 26% Doctoral Graduates work in HE research 6 months after graduation, 19% after 3.5 years Data from http://www.hesa.ac.uk & Vitae Number of research students has increased Full time academic positions have not

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 • 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

8. Now a Requirement • Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) requirement for all UK research degrees • Funders expectations 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

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