Loughborough Doctoral College

Training and events

Student looking at the Learn VLE on a monitor in a learning pod

Development programme

We offer a variety of development activities and workshops.

If you are a Doctoral Researcher, you can register for training and events via the Doctoral College Development Portal – you will be able to login to a "student account" using your University username and password. 

If you are a member of research staff at the University you can also join Doctoral College training, but you will need to manually register for an "Research Staff" account via the Development Portal and wait for this to be approved. You will then be free to sign up to events as appropriate to you.

You can access workshop resources, including online workshops and events, via our Learn site for Doctoral Researchers.

Note: Training and events in London are now being opened to Loughborough-registered students on a case-by-case basis.  If you wish to be able to view and attend Doctoral College events on the London campus then please email doctoralcollege@lboro.ac.uk with your reasons.

Information on our development programme:

Doctoral Researchers at Loughborough University and Loughborough University London are expected to engage in wider developmental activities beyond the focussed scope of their specific research topic. The ultimate goal of this is to create well-rounded, resilient and employable researchers who are able to adapt to shifting job market requirements. 

Doctoral Researcher developmental opportunities fall into several broad categories:

  • Formal training workshops and courses, such as those delivered by the Doctoral College and other Professional Services.
  • Participation in University-wide events, such as the Annual Research Conference.
  • Participation in School or Department events, such as a seminar series or a journal club.
  • Undertaking typical doctoral activities that are not specific to the topic of research, such as publishing research and attending an international conference.
  • Participation in the activities of the Institute of Advanced Studies and the Advanced Research Methods Institute.

All training opportunities identified in this document have been mapped directly onto the Researcher Development Framework (RDF) developed by Vitae (the UK’s national organisation for researcher development).

To engage with targeted development, all Doctoral Researchers are expected to periodically consult the RDF; they should also work with their supervisory team to identify their current skills, abilities and set future development targets.

The Doctoral College offers a comprehensive programme of training opportunities to support the professional development and employability of Doctoral Researchers. This programme is delivered by University staff from across the Professional Services, often with input from academic staff and external experts.

The range of Doctoral College workshops available to Doctoral Researchers can be found below in the “Doctoral College Workshop and Development Activities” (pdf file), arranged by suggested stage of enrolment:

  • Foundation (equivalent to year one of a full-time doctorate, or Part R1).
  • Consolidation (equivalent to year two of a full-time doctorate, or Part R2).
  • Transition (equivalent to year three and beyond of a full-time doctorate, or Part R3).

Please note that these stages are given as a guide only, and suitability will depend upon a Doctoral Researcher’s existing level of competence in that skill/ability. Specialist courses are also provided for those Doctoral Researchers undertaking activities such as teaching or statistical analysis.

In addition to those opportunities listed in the table, other events and workshops take place throughout the year; these are normally announced via the Doctoral College Bulletin.

PDF iconDoctoral College Workshop and Development Activities

A training record should be kept of all developmental activities undertaken, this will be submitted as part of a Doctoral Researcher’s annual progress report. Doctoral Researchers are expected to spend 30 days during the course of their doctorate on developing transferable skills and abilities; this may be weighted more towards the start of the degree. The amount of time claimed should reflect the learning time of the activity. Six hours of attendance at workshops is considered equivalent to a full day of development. Three days attendance at a conference would be taken as three days. Repeating familiar activities where no advancement in learning can be evidenced should not be counted as skills development; for example, attending School research seminars would normally only contribute to a maximum of one day’s development in an academic year.

Any Doctoral College courses booked through the Learn booking system prior to May 3rd 2019 will have been automatically added to your Learn training record (accessible here). Courses booked and attended after that date will be visible on the Doctoral College Development Portal. You should also keep track of wider training and development activities you have undertaken on your own development record (this may be compulsory in some Schools), which can be done using the form below:

Doctoral Researcher Development Record

There are numerous opportunities for Doctoral Researchers to get involved in the teaching of undergraduate students at Loughborough University. Doctoral Researchers who wish to teach are required to first undertake the “Essential Teaching Skills” course. The course consists of an online component (Part A), hosted on Learn, followed by four face-to-face workshops. To complete the course, participants must finish parts A, B, C and D. You can access Essential Teaching Skills through the Doctoral College page on Learn, whilst the live sessions can be booked via the Doctoral College Development Portal.