We offer a comprehensive researcher development programme for postgraduate researchers (PGRs), supporting them to develop the skills, knowledge and attributes to excel in their research and future careers, whether within or beyond academia.
Our researcher development programme encompasses training workshops delivered by internal and external experts, immersive opportunities that allow PGRs to apply and reflect on their skills, as well as online resources accessed on demand, as often as you like. The programme is underpinned by the Vitae Researcher Development Framework, designed to support our PGRs' research and professional development at every stage of their studies.
PGR Researcher Development and the Vitae RDF
Our programme is now mapped to the Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF), revised in 2025, to help you as researchers plan, prioritise and track your own development.
The RDF sets out the knowledge, skills and behaviours of effective researchers at all career stages, recognising the contribution of researchers to society, economic and environmental change both within and beyond higher education. It is created by Vitae, a leader in researcher development, with input from researchers and practitioners across a range of career stages and sectors.
Our approach to PGR development
Development and training doesn’t begin and end with attending a workshop, or reading a particular resource. We encourage our research students to view their entire degree as a continual, holistic programme of development in which they are learning to be researchers in their chosen field, developing the skills needed to complete their research project and write their thesis, as well as developing a range of transferable professional and personal attributes that will be of use in whatever they decide to do next. Doing this means taking advantage of all the opportunities on offer, whether formal workshops and events or the informal reflections and learning that come from conversations in the lab or over coffee, and everything in between.