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The Project Support Assistant (PSA) model was introduced as a form of enhanced skills development, offering a work experience opportunity to current doctoral researchers. The PSAs gain experience of planning and implementing large scale events/conferences, as well as developing and honing their project management, communication, team working and inter-personal skills. It is important to ensure that the PSAs have a project manager that is familiar with the project and available for regular team meetings. Although the PSAs lead on the planning of the event, they do require a high level of support from the project manager.

Online induction package for First Year Doctoral Researchers. DR Essentials is a stand-alone online course placed on the self-registration area of WebCT . Doctoral Researchers can access it by adding it to their university online profiles. The course contains five separate modules covering key stages of the incipient doctoral research career. Each module combines content with a number of embedded talking heads that capture the views of Doctoral Researchers and Supervisors across the institution. At the end of each module there is a check list of tasks that should be completed. DR Essentials in its original version was developed at the University of Melbourne in Australia. The version used at the University of Birmingham has been developed by a team of experts from the Centre for Learning and Academic Development (CLAD) and the University Graduate School to meet the needs of researchers at Birmingham. The course is self-paced and users can dip into or work through in its entirety as they may need.

The Postgraduate Enterprise Summer School, now in its sixth year, is a week long course that has been designed to teach skills in enterprise and entrepreneurship to postgraduate students at the University of Birmingham. Topics covered include innovation, marketing, business planning, financing, commercialisation and presentation skills. By the end of the course participants will: develop a business idea from the concept stage to a fully fledged business proposition; know the steps required to set up their own business; be aware of the requirements to commercialise research in an academic environment; be able to work effectively in a team environment; and identify which role they are best suited to in a business team. The Entrepreneurship and Innovation team of the Careers and Employability Centre plans, runs and facilitates the week with some teaching input. The majority of training is delivered by other internal staff, external trainers and entrepreneurs. The University’s Business School hosts the event providing training rooms and IT suites. Being intensive, all lunches and refreshment breaks need to be catered and one evening dinner is provided, as an opportunity to network with successful entrepreneurs from the region. In recent years, use of software (SimVenture) and the internet, brainstorming tools (Ketso) and profiling tools (e.g. Belbin, eFACETS) have significantly enriched the programme.

An interdisciplinary initiative run by doctoral researchers to enrich their research environment, enhance their skills and facilitate exchange of ideas on Europe.

This is a 5-day residential, highly participative, fun and challenging event. Using a combination of outdoor activities, classroom sessions and guided individual and group reflection, participants explore their personal approach to team work, experience what makes teams successful and have the opportunity to share their experiences with a wide range of doctoral researchers. It is based at the University’s outdoor centre in the heart of the Lake District. The University of Birmingham is fortunate in having its own outdoor training centre in the Lake District. This includes fully trained and qualified staff and all specialist equipment. Facilitators skilled in group review and supporting reflection are vital to the success of this activity in order to help participants make connections with the experience and their situation “at home”. We have also found that at least one group tutor should be an experienced academic / researcher, in order to further contextualises the learning. 2 central University staff attend as group leaders, facilitate classroom based exercises and act as small group tutors as appropriate. Up to 4 small group tutors are required to facilitate exercises and group reviews. These are provided by the Centre as appropriate. Access to the on-line Belbin Team Profile tool is also required

The Talent Pool provides a unique opportunity for doctoral and post-doctoral researchers at all stages of their studies to engage with external organisations and develop into the next generation of academics, business consultants and entrepreneurs. The Talent Pool offers enterprise training that creates a network of students with various skills and ambitions who are able to make time for work experience, placements, internships, consultancy contracts or the chance to set up their own business, by understanding the important skills and strategies behind business ventures. The Talent Pool can be compared with other programmes that have been used at the University in previous years, such as Medici and SPEED.

Volunteering is an often-overlooked route to skills development. Working with the Guild of Students, the Graduate School promotes a range of volunteering options to enable postgraduates to develop a range of invaluable skills while also helping the local (and wider) community.