Research Training Programme

The School of Public Health is committed to developing its students both professionally and personally and the Research Degree therefore offers a range of training courses. These are held locally at the St Mary Campus and complement those run by the Graduate School.

The School’s training can be grouped into 4 broad areas as outlined below:

Research Training accordion content

Each departments runs regular seminars and journal clubs which are an essential part of a student’s training. Students can attend those run in their own departments as well as sessions held at other School of Public Health Departments.

Annually, the School also hosts a Research Symposium which offers students the opportunity to present and review work amongst peers and academics from across the School.

Sessions run in the first term, October-December each academic year and cover a range of topics. These sessions are designed to provide students with more subject specific training and can be taken throughout the course of the degree, or at the most applicable stage in the programme. Current sessions include:

  • Developing a Proposal
  • How to Write a PhD
  • Publication and Research Paper Writing
  • Applying for Research Funding
  • Preparing for a Viva
  • Career Advice

These sessions are complimented by an induction event at the start of a student’s degree which provide the most vital training, for example sessions on Health and Safely, Library Usage or the PhD Process and Project Plan.

Research students can attend lectures run as part of the School Masters teaching to gain additional training. This is likely to be particularly useful for discipline-related training, for example on research paradigms and methods, data sources and management, statistics or data analysis. Students should discuss attending classes with their supervisors prior to registering an interest with the Course Administrator. 

Please note, due to increasing class sizes Research students are not usually allowed to attend practical sessions and may only be granted access to lecture slides if there is no space in lecture theatres.

In most cases, the supervisors will provide the basis of training and skills development throughout the degree. Much of the training will be day-to-day practice of the research and will relate specifically to the project being undertaken. Students are encouraged though, to keep an informal record of the training they receive in order to reflect on their skill development as they progress through the programme.

 

Further details on the training offered by the School can be found in the SPH Postgraduate Research Programme Handbook (PDF).