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The ‘your first three years’ programme for newly appointed research active staff provides training in topics relevant to academic practice, including:

• induction - an introduction to University structures, key people and support for researchers
• good practice in grant writing
• managing projects, project finances and staff
• training for teaching 
• training for supervising research and research degree students

Using the Skills Training Programme courses, the Medical Sciences Division seeks to equip Graduate Research Students and Research Staff members with a comprehensive set of skills ensuring each researcher realises his/her maximum potential and thereby lay the foundations for a successful career in the sciences.

InfoPlus is an online resource for postgraduate students and researchers. It supports the use of Library resources by highlighting the range of services that the Library offers via a blend of e-learning tutorials and videos.

This event is arranged and delivered by DPhil students from the Medical Sciences Divison as part of the Medical Sciences Skills Training Programme. DPhil students are invited to register for event and if they wish to present submit an abstract. Twelve students are then selected to present at the event. Students are also invited to submit posters and prizes are given for the best talks and posters. The event concludes with a keynote speech followed by a drinks and capnapes reception. The event is partially funded by the Divisional Skills Training Programme and support from sponsors secured by the students organising the event. Sponsors of the event are invited to attend and exhibit at the event. http://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/dphilday

At Southampton a coordinated program of training is offered to help with the whole process of developing a thesis, which can be broadly summarized as: • The initial stage where information is managed and coaxed into a viable structure. • The “writing up”stage, where references are managed and challenging intellectual property aspects are tackled. • The final stage where the thesis is submitted electronically. This training is aimed at both PGRs and their supervisors.

In addition to a programme of inductions, traditional information skills classes and one-to-one sessions throughout the year, the History Librarian organises three learning events in the course of the academic year: Information Fair for Graduates and the Thesis Fair are opportunities for students to explore and discover in their own time and amongst 20+ stalls what primary sources (archives, books, databases) and useful IT tools are available to them and to connect with the relevant local experts and with other students. An experienced graduate contributes by presenting the Top Tips of a Survivor. The events are embedded in the academic curriculum and are followed up with specific information skills sessions relating to aspects of locating material, organising references and using databases effectively. Canapés with Clio (CwithC) invites academics to attend brief talks on various aspects of electronic resources followed by a sponsored buffet lunch. It is a chance for library staff to meet academics, update each other of projects and ask questions.

This day conference (13 May 2009) was intended as a contribution to the development of more open and research-informed dialogue about being a contract researcher and carrying out fixed-term research in a range of social science disciplines and in of institutions. In addition, it highlighted the role that social science reserach can play in mapping employment patterns in research and in illuminating the personal, professional and institutional issues surrounding fixed-term employment. It provided a forum to review existing evidence about fixed-term employment in research, from several angles: that of contract researchers themselves, and their career experiences and identities; that of institutions as employers; that of research governance; and that of the disciplines/ fields as a whole. The conference was convened by the Research Staff Forum of the Oxford University's Department of Education, chaired by Dr Alis Oancea, and supported by the Centre for Excellence in Preparing for Academic Practice and by the Social Sciences Division. Speakers included Jacqueline Allen-Collinson (University of Exeter), on occupational identity and the lived experience of undertaking contract research; David Mills (University of Oxford), on the demographic profile of social sciences; Lynn McAlpine (University of Oxford), on the next generation of social scientists; and Zoe Fowler (Independent consultant), on contract researchers, career development, and capacity building. Iain Cameron (Head of Careers, RCUK), Rebecca Nestor (Associate Director, Oxford Learning Institute), Matthew Smart (Divisional Officer, Oxford University Social Sciences Division), Justin Hutchence (University of Reading), and Elizabeth Oliver (University of Liverpool) acted as discussants. The conference was attended by key representatives of Oxford University and of other UK universities, including decision-makers and academic and support staff. In August 2009, the British Educational Research Association published a thematic issue of its newsletter, "Research Intelligence", which summarised the proceedings of the conference.