Researcher development
While studying with us you will be part of a supportive and vibrant research community. Our supervisors are experienced researchers themselves and will provide expert guidance throughout your research degree.
Here in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences we have over 50 research staff working across our diverse range of research areas. During your time here you will work with one or more of our permanent members of research staff who will be on hand to offer you guidance and advice on all aspects of your work.
As we're a multidisciplinary school, we actively encourage joint supervision as this gives you access to a greater range of expertise to develop your skills and advance your knowledge of your subject area.
Graduate development
Within the Faculty, we have a dedicated graduate and researcher development team that provides support to our post-graduates and research staff. When you join our school you will be invited to complete a four-day induction course that will introduce you to the University and its staff and facilities. You will also be able to participate in the Graduate Development Training Programme, which will help you to enhance your transferrable skills and construct a development plan for your time in the Department.
Similar to this, we also offer a Researcher Development Programme; this programme will help you to enhance your CV, support to you to become and effective researcher and give you a competitive edge when entering industry or academia.
Alongside both of these programmes we offer one-to-one support and coaching sessions which are free to book onto.
Performance and development review
As a researcher in our school, you are starting your academic career with us and as such we offer you the same review and development opportunities as our other members of staff. Your performance and development review (PDR) is an opportunity to reflect on the work that you have done and set goals for the future, all with our support. PDRs are an important part of your work here, not only do they allow you to critically reflect on your work but they often form an important part of research councils' considerations for future funding. PDRs are arranged annually with your supervisor(s).
Training
We actively support our researchers in continuing their training and development. Through our training and development website, you can find information on all the training and development opportunities open to you. We use a mix of training courses held on-site and developed by the University and externally-run on-site and off-site training. There is also support available to complete the mandatory training when you join the University.
Some helpful training links include:
- IT systems;
- research skills (provided by the library);
- health and safety, data protection and diversity in the workplace.
Funding and careers
Our experienced staff will support you through your funding and fellowships applications by providing advice and helping you to gather the correct documentation to meet the requirements of the particular fund you are applying to. To find out more about each of the schemes on offer, please visit our funding pages or select from the list below.
- Research professional - research professional provides funding opportunities in every discipline, they also have a funding email alert service which is recommended that you sign up to.
- UK Research Office - this is the UK's leading information and advice service for European funding.
- EURAXESS UK - EURAXESS provides a database of international funding schemes for travel to conferences, research visits and fellowships among other things.
- SEES research fund - we have a small fund (usually no more than a few hundred pounds) that is available to post-doctoral researchers to support activities that promote new research initiatives that are not otherwise funded.
Once you have completed your research, we have a number of services that you can make use of when looking to take the next steps in your career. The University Careers Service organises the annual Pathways Event for post-graduate and research staff as well as offering a dedicated website to exploring academia as a career.
Other sources of support and information can be found on the following websites: