Campbell Reid, Research Fellow in Researcher Professional Development

1. One size of training does not fit all: Strathclyde's flexible approach to effectively embedding transferable skills within doctoral training structures Campbell Reid, Research Fellow in Researcher Professional Development

2. Session overview Embedding transferable skills in the Strathclyde PhD: • Background and rationale • Overview of our approach • Challenges of change

3. A bit about Strathclyde: • Founded in 1796 • Tradition of ‘useful learning’ • Approximately 22,000 students • Scotland’s 3rd largest University • 52% Female / 48% Male • International Technological University • THE Awards UK Entrepreneurial University of the Year 2013 • THE Awards UK University of the Year 2012

4. over 1200 PGRs and 500 research staff across four Faculties

5. Strathclyde’s RD journey in a UK context (2003 – 2011/12) 2002 ROBERTS’ REPORT SET FOR SUCCESS

6. The Researcher Development Programme (RDP) provides comprehensive professional and personal development training and opportunities to support Strathclyde’s vibrant early career research community • RDP provides over 100 transferable skills-related training opportunities each year including: • workshops • seminars • challenges • residential & collaborative programmes • e-learning • 1:1 training sessions • resources, including publications and videos • career management tools Programme shortlisted in 2011 & 2012 for Outstanding Support for Early Career Researchers

7. So, what is Strathclyde’s revolutionary approach to embedding transferable skills in the PhD? Aunique approach to the training of postgraduate research students (PGRs) which aims to differentiate Strathclyde doctoral graduates in an increasingly competitive employment market

8. Internal and external drivers Funder Expectations Employer Expectations Professional competencies Internal Motivation

9. How was the PG Certificate developed? Dec 2011 Taskforce formed, comprised of Vice Deans, professional services staff and researchers 2012 Proposal to Senate recommending formalisation of researcher development arrangements across all Faculties 2011-12 Mapping of provision across the University at all levels to the Researcher Development Framework/Statement Winter 2012 Implementation group of Vice Deans, academics, PS staff and researchers created and an action plan is developed Spring 2013 Senate approve PG Certificate in RPD and the embedding of processes within PGR monitoring processes Autumn 2013 PG Cert is officially launched 1 October following robust roll-out over summer

10. Structure of the PG Certificate RD905 Researcher Professional Development Elective (10 credits) • RD901 Researcher Knowledge and Intellectual Abilities • (20 credits) • RD904 Researcher Engagement, Influence and Impact • (10 credits) • RD903 • Research Governance and Organisation • (10 credits) • RD902 Researcher Personal Effectiveness • (10 credits) Strathclyde PG Certificate RPD Vitae RDF Framework

11. What makes it different? Q. How do students accumulate credits towards each class? A. This is key to the flexibility of the whole system!

12. Types of provision • The process of mapping all training opportunities (activities) within the University to the RDF also involved categorising them to 3 levels of ‘provider’: • Department • Faculty • University (i.e., Researcher Development Programme) • The flexibility comes from the fourth level of provision: • Developmental

13. Experiential learning Developmental activities cover any experiential learning opportunities and can be internal or external One size does not fit all, and developmental activities allow the PG Certificate to be unique for each student This requires a conceptual shift in how incorporate experiential learning Students, and supervisors, must think ‘outside the box’ and approach each student’s experiences individually

14. Applying experiential learning to the PG Certificate • To understand how a developmental activity can contribute to the PG Certificate, answer the following questions: • What are the primary learning outcomes of the activity? • Which domain of the RDF do the learning outcomes map to, therefore which PG Certificate class? • How do the learning outcomes of the activity meet the learning outcomes of the PG Certificate class? • How can the learning from the activity be applied to the immediate research, but also future situations and career goals? • How much time was spent on the activity (10 hours = 1 credit)

15. PG Certificate: Pathway to success Stage 6: annual review Stage 7: approved class returned to Pegasus Stage 1: register for 5 container classes on Pegasus Stage 8: credits appear on transcript at viva Stage 2: plan professional development activities Stage 5: submit assessment for completed class Stage 4: record activity and upload evidence PG Certificate awarded at viva Stage 3: book and attend activities

16. P G C E R T I F I C A T E R P D

17. Challenges the award creates • Change invariably creates conflict • Academic culture change and buy-in • Student engagement and understanding • Continuing students • Part-time/remote students • Consistency, recording and monitoring (QA) • Dual awarding at the Viva • Resource as numbers increase (capacity)

18. Our continuous improvement plan • Review provision to ensure relevance (Summer 2014) • Development of resources/materials (Summer 2014) • Embedding PDP (2014/15) • Systems refinement (2014/15) • Quality monitoring(ongoing) • Tracking project and evaluation (ongoing) • Student and supervisor awareness and engagement • Engaging with employers and professional bodies

19. Visit http://www.strath.ac.uk/rdpfor more info or email pgrcredits-enquiry@strath.ac.uk Questions? (and hopefully some answers…) Follow us onand like us on