Graduate School

Graduate School Development Programme (GSDP)

The Graduate School Development Programme gives you maximum flexibility to meet your development and training priorities to enable you to build the skills, abilities and intellectual qualities you need for your research programme and your longer-term career development. There is a range of face-to-face workshops as well as e-learning opportunities.

This programme is designed to meet the requirements of the Researcher Development Framework, endorsed by the UK Research Councils and is widely supported both within and outside of the University.

We have a dedicated online booking system (www.port.ac.uk/skillsforge).  View the step by step Skills Forge guide for both Research Students and Supervisors at Portsmouth University Graduate School.

Research Students Skills Forge Guide [Acrobat (.pdf) - Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:20:00 GMT]

Supervisors Skills Forge Guide [Acrobat (.pdf) - Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:24:00 GMT]

Some workshops are very popular and places are allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis so please book early to avoid disappointment. Once you have booked your place you are expected to attend. If you find that you are not able to meet your commitment to attend you must ensure that you cancel your booking using the Skills Forge system so that someone else can be offered the chance to attend. 

Full time doctoral students should undertake the equivalent of at least 10 days development activities each year and part-time doctoral students are expected to undertake the equivalent of at least five days. 

The Graduate School Development Programme comprises the following planning process, workshops, sessions and resources:

View the full Graduate School Development Programme brochure and wallplanner.

Graduate School Programme Brochure 2012-2013 [Acrobat (.pdf) - Wed, 18 Jul 2012 12:01:00 BST]

Graduate School Programme Poster [Acrobat (.pdf) - Wed, 18 Jul 2012 12:05:00 BST]

Skills Planning (PRaXis)

Initial PRaXiS plan

The Graduate School PRaXiS process has been designed to enable all research students to identify the key skills, abilities and attributes you need for your research and ongoing career and record your research and career skills achievements.

All students attend a PRaXiS planning workshop. These are organised twice yearly to meet the needs of students who register in October and February each year. During this workshop you will work with others to identify priority development areas and discuss alternative ways of meeting those needs. This will enable you to discuss your PRaXiS plan for the next 12 months with members of your supervisory team.

Your PRaXiS plan is recorded using the Skills Forge system and you will also use the Skills Forge system to book places at Graduate School Development Programme events and to keep track of your progress through the year. You must register with the Skills Forge system within one week of your initial registration onto your doctoral programme.

Annual PRaXiS review process

You will review your Professional Research Skills at least annually through the annual review process undertaken by all doctoral students. You must complete the annual review process in order to be eligible to progress to registration for each subsequent year of your programme.

At your annual review you will be required to list the GSDP events you have attended as well as other development processes you have undertaken. This information can be downloaded from the Skills Forge system. You will also agree a development plan for the forthcoming twelve months period with your first supervisor and use the Skills Forge system to initiate booking of appropriate events from the GSDP for the forthcoming year.

Research design workshops

An appropriate research design is fundamental to a successful PhD. There are three sets of workshops, at introductory, intermediate and specialist levels. These workshops will help you explore different approaches to your research or an opportunity to ‘refresh’ your thinking in ideas you may already be familiar with.

Research design 1

Workshops are at introductory level. You can use them as a way of exploring different approaches to your research or as an opportunity to ‘refresh’ areas that you may already be familiar with.

Principles of Research Design

Monday 29 October,  10-5 or Monday 4 March 10-5

Quantitative researchers toolkit

Tuesday 30 October, 2–5 or Tuesday 5 March, 10-1

Introduction to statistics (1)

Thursday 1 November, 10-1 or Tuesday 5 March, 2-5

Introduction to Statistics (2)

Friday 2 November, 10-1 or     Friday 8 March 10-1

Introduction to SPSS

Tuesday 30 October, 10-1 or Thursday 7 March, 10-1

Getting started with qualitative research and a 'whistle stop' tour of NVivo

 Wednesday 31 October, 2-5 or Wednesday 6 March, 2-5

Getting started with survey design

Wednesday 31 October, 10-1 or Wednesday 6 March, 10-1.

Researching the workplace

Thursday 1 November, 4.30-7.30 or Thursday 7 March 2-5

Research design 2

Workshops will help you to move forward with the implementation of your research design. They are also suitable for people who want to reinforce their expertise and knowledge.

Taking your research design forward

Monday 3 December, 2-5 or Monday 22 April, 2-5.

Introduction ot case study research

Friday 7 December, 9.30-12.30 and Friday 26 April, 9.30-12.30

Designing ethical research and prepaaring for ethical review

Tuesday 4 December 2-5 or Tuesday 23 April, 2-5

Qualitative research skills

Thursday 6 December 10-5 or Thursday 25 April, 10-5

Action research, ethnolography and observation

Wednesday 4 December, 10-1 or Tuesday 23 April, 10-1

Introduction to critical and interpretive research perspectives:taking a hermeneutics approach

Wednesday 1 May, 10.30-12.30 and 1.30-3.30

Practical statistical testing and regression modelling

Friday 7 December, 1.30-4.30 or Friday 26 April, 1.30-4.30

Qualitative data analysis: hands-on introduction to NViro 9 Software

 Wednesday 5 December, 9.30-5

Research design 3

Workshops focus on analysis, ‘probing’ data and presenting your results. They are suitable for people who want to take forward their data presentation and analysis or to achieve a ‘refresher’ in order to prepare for the ‘writing up’ process.

Mixed Methods Workshop

Monday 10 September, 2-5 or Monday 18 March, 4.30-7.30 or Monday 9 September 2013 2-5

Analysing talk and text

Tuesday 19 March, 2-5

Making best use of SPSS

Monday 10 September, 10-1 or Wednesday 20 March, 4.30-730 or Thursday 12 September 2013 10-1

Introduction to multivariate statistics

Thurs 13 September, 4.30-7.30 or Tuesday 19 March 10, 10-1 or Tuesday 10 September, 4.30-7.30

Qualitative data analysis with NVivo 9

12 September, 9.30-5  or Wednesday 11 September, 9.30-5

Presenting quantitative data analysis

Thursday 13 September, 10-1 or Thursday 21 March, 2-5 or Friday 13 September 2013 10-1

Writing and reporting qualitative data analysis

Thursday 13 September, 2-5 or Thursday 21 March 10-1 or Friday 13 September, 2013 2-5

Writing and reporting a hermeneutics approach

Friday 14 September, 9.30-12.30 or 10 September 2013 9.30-12.30

Library skills workshops

Effective information searching and bibliographic and referencing skills are key components of a successful PhD process. Library skills workshops are provided throughout the academic year. Some are particularly suitable for the first stage of your research; you may also wish to ‘refresh’ your knowledge and skills. Some sessions are ‘discipline specific’ and others have more generic relevance.

Library searching skills for Business Researchers

Thursday 11 October, 1-3 or Thursday 14 February, 1-3

Library searching skills for HSS Researchers

Friday 12 October, 1-3 or Friday 15 February, 1-3

Library searching skills for Science Researchers

Friday 19 October, 1-3 or Friday 22 February, 1-3

Library searching skills for CCI researchers

Thursday 18 October, 1-3 or Thursday 21 February 1-3

Library searching skills for Technology researchers

Wednesday 17 October, 1-3 or Wednesday 20 Feb, 1-3

Managing your references with EndNote

Tuesday 20 November, 1-3 or Tuesday 30 April, 1-3

Managing your references with EndNote Web

Tuesday 13 November, 1-3 or Thursday 28 March, 1-3

Advanced Library Skills: keeping up to date easily

Tuesday 27 November, 1-3 or Thursday 2 May 1-3
Referencing and citation skills for your research degree

Tuesday 6 November, 10-1 or Wednesday 13 March 4.30-7.30

Web-based social networking opportunities for researchers

Tuesday 11 December, 1-3 or Tuesday 14 May, 1-3
Academic writing group

Friday 16 November, 1-3 or Friday 15 March, 1-3

Archival Research Week

Many research projects make use of publicly available data of many types.  The Archival Research Week workshops provide a way to ensure you answer your research questions in an effective way.  The workshops are for students in the early stage of their research programme who may need to use publicly available data sets or documents.

Introduction to archival research

Wednesday 23 January, 10-1

Using local archive facilities

Thursday 24 January, 10-1 

Accessing social science secondary data

Tuesday 22 January, 10-1 

Personal effectiveness

The GSDP also enables you to develop your skills in different areas such as: presentation skills, project managing your research, making use of advanced features of word for production of your thesis and a range of e-learning opportunities

Advanced MS Word features for your thesis

Thursday 13 December, 2-5 or Thursday 23 May, 4.30-7.30

Project managing your PhD

Wednesday 10 October 10-1 or Tuesday 16  October, 4.30-7.30 or wednesday 13 February 2-5

Presentation skills for research students

Monday  10 December, 2-5 or wednesday 8 May, 10-1

Making best use of powerpoint/prezi

Wednesday 16 January 2-5 or Thursday 9 May, 10-1

Approaching submission:managing time and stress

Thursday 8 November, 4.30-7.30 or Thursday 14 March, 2-5

Doctoral process workshops

These workshops focus on key stages of your doctoral programme.

Preparing for your major review

Wednesday 24 October, 10-1 or Wednesday 27 March, 4.30-7.30

Preparing for your doctoral viva voce examination

Thursday 10 January, 10-1 or Tuesday 4 June, 2-5

Writing and revising your thesis

Tuesday 23 October, 10-1 or Tuesday 26 February, 4.30-7.30 or Wednesday 8 May, 2-5

Ethics showcase 1: research involving people as 'research subjects'

Tuesday 12 March, 2-5

Ethics showcase 2: research associated with health care and treatment issues

Tuesday 26 March, 2-5

Communicating your ideas workshops

Communicating your ideas in appropriate ways to different audiences is a vital skill in research. These workshops help you develop your communication skills, in writing, in poster form and through presentations and through effective networking.

Conference skills

Tuesday 7 May 10-5

Preparing an effective poster presentation

Friday 10 May, 9.30-12.30

Critical reading and writing

Wednesday 28 November, 2-5 or  Friday 10 May, 1.30-4.30

Writing and revising your thesis

Tuesday 23 October, 10-1 or Tuesday 26 February, 4.30-7.30 or Wednesday 8 May 2-5

Making best use of powerpoint/prezi

Wednesday 16 January, 2-5 or Thursday 9 May,10-1

Introduction to writing the literature review

Thursday 17 January, 2-5 or Thursday 9 May, 2-5

Presentaion skills for research students

Monday 10 December, 2-5 or wednesday 8 May 10-1

Engagement and Impact

As research students proceed they need to learn how to get support for their work and how to share and disseminate their findings and conclusions.

Writing a journal article, book chapter or research monograph

Tuesday 29 January, 10-1

Getting your research into the media

Thursday 29 November, 10-1

Attracting commercial research sponsors

Thursday 28 February, 2-5

Getting published in print

Thursday 15 November, 10-1

Getting published on the web

Monday 22 April, 9-12

Writing a funding application

Tuesday 21 May, 10-1

Getting funded for further research

Thursday 16 May, 2-5

Career development workshops

Career development workshops
These workshops will help you develop important job search and career-orientated skills.

Career options and career planning in the sciences and technology

Monday 17 June, 10-1

Career options and career planning  in the creative and cultural industries, humanities and scoial sciences

Monday 17 June, 2-5

Myers Briggs Indicator and its use in career development

Tuesday 18 June, 10-1

Effective job searching

Wednesday 219June, 10-1

Developing an effective application form or CV

Thursday 20 June, 10-1

Interview skills

Thursday 20 June, 2-5

Capitalising on the enterprise culture

Friday 21 June, 9.30-12.30

Epigeum on-line learning resources

You can access these e-learning units at any time.

  • Introduction to Research Skills
  • Intellectual Property in the Research Context
  • Getting Published  in the Arts
  • Getting Published in the Sciences
  • Ethics 1 – Good Research Practice
  • Ethics 2 – Working with Human Subjects
  • Project Management in the Research Context
  • Career Planning in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Career Planning in the Sciences
  • Managing your Research Supervisor or Principal Investigator
  • Selecting a Conference, Presenting and Networking
  • Research Methods in the Arts and Humanities
  • Research Methods in the Social Sciences
  • Research Methods in the Sciences
  • Research Methods in Literature Review
  • Entrepreneurial Motivation
  • Opportunity Recognition, Creation and Evaluation
  • Entrepreneurial Resources

 

How to access Research Skills online

The Research Skills Online resources can be viewed in the skills@portsmouth victory site. Once in this site, click on the ‘Research’ section and then ‘Epigeum Resources’ to view all 14 units. All students and staff have automatic access to this site.
If you don’t already have access to the skills@portsmouth you can self-register by following this procedure:


1) Go to www.port.ac.uk/victory 
2) Click on Course List
3) Click on Central Services
4) Click on Academic Skills
5) Click on Academic Skills
6) Expand Skills@Portsmouth
7) Click the small person icon
8) Enter your username and password and click on Register


Please be aware, to use all the features of these resources, you will need Javascript enabled in your browser and Flash Player 8 or higher installed on your machine.

If you have any problems accessing the resources, please contact elearn@port.ac.uk.