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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.

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

The Short Introduction to Project Management is aimed at postgraduate researchers in the early stages of their research degree. It forms part of a portfolio of Project Management programmes of different lengths and levels of depth that postgraduate researchers can use to tailor their own development. Resources required are fairly basic - a training room with projection equipment and pen and paper for the interactive sections. The session is delivered by a single trainer.

Increasing size and complexity of research projects means increasing need for effective collaborations - across the ICR, with other academic organisations, and with Industry. This workshop will look at some of the key challenges and the practical steps needed to allow successful collaborations – whether at individual, team or Institute level.

Newcastle University Library aims to provide support for researchers at all stages of their research career, from taught postgraduates through to more experienced researchers. Provision is discipline specific, though based on a common framework and is targeted through the three Faculties: Science, Agriculture and Engineering (SAgE), Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) and Medical Sciences (FMS). Similarities and differences in provision are highlighted below. SAgE: Research PGs - The Library offers a programme of 8 IL workshops as an integral part of the Faculty Postgraduate Researcher Development Programme (PGRDP). Attendance at workshops earns credits and students must gain a minimum number of credits to progress in their research degree. The full programme is run in Oct/ Nov, with 5 repeat workshops in Feb and an intensive week in June. Content includes: Introduction to Library Services, Finding Research Information, Managing Information, Current awareness, Keeping up to date, Using the Internet and Web 2.0 tools, Writing for Publication, plus a series of discipline/ resource specific sessions. Taught PGs – a cut down version of the Postgraduate Researcher Training Programme (PGRTP) is offered to all Masters students at School level, where it can be more tailored to specific subjects. Research Staff – Core workshops from the PGRTP are run on a regular basis for staff from both SAgE and FMS. FMS: The Liaison Team for the Faculty of Medical Sciences run two ‘carousels’ of IL training for postgraduates and researchers. The first programme or carousel is intended for Postgraduate taught students and is delivered in the first two terms to provide comprehensive information literacy skills at an appropriate level. This is delivered in conjunction with the Graduate School. The sessions for research students and contract researchers aim to group necessary skills together in a programme which allows attendance at all or individual session in order to gain better skills which are required at research level. Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty: The PGRTP programme for HASS research postgraduates includes 4 x 2 hour sessions with Library staff, All students have to complete an assessment which is marked by library staff and must be passed in order to proceed on the programme. This exercise gives us an excellent insight into the progress of the students.

RefWorks for postgraduate researchers (a separate course on RefWorks is also offered for Academic staff and researchers. This is a 2.5 hour course for research postgraduates running 4 times in 2009/10 with over half the time being devoted to hands-on practice using a workbook.

MI512 Information Literacy: Tools for Research is a complete programme open to PhD students with six hands on workshops that develop students research skills incrementally. MI512 covers the basics of conducting library research from planning a literature search, improving internet searching skills, managing references and keeping up to date with new research. The weekly workshops build on each other to achieve a series of learning objectives by the end of the term.

Information literacy workshops for the research student community at Cardiff University are embedded into the central Graduate Centre’s Research Students Skills Development Programme to ensure a one-stop shop for postgraduate training.

Finding Research Information for Research postgraduates (a separate course with the same content is also offered for Academic staff and researchers). This is a 2.5 hour course for research postgraduates with over half the time being devoted to hands-on practice.

Copy right, not copycat - good academic practice when writing your thesis. This is a 2.5 hour course for research postgraduates. It allows participants to discuss what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it through correct citation. It also examines how to avoid breaching copyright law in PhD theses.