Online training resources

The GRADskills Programme is a suite of workshops, networking events and activities specifically designed for research postgraduate students. However, we realise that you will not always be able to attend face-to-face workshops and events. For that reason, in order to give you access to development opportunities at a time and place that suit you, we have a range of online training courses and other resources available.

The University is an organisational member of Vitae, so you have free access to Vitae’s researcher development materials.#

Research Skills (Epigeum courses)

Epigeum is a leading provider of online training programmes for higher education.  They create new programmes by getting academics from a consortium of universities to develop the content, thereby ensuring that it is relevant and fit-for-purpose.

The Research Skills Toolkit is an extensive suite of 18 modules on different research skills, such as working with your supervisor, project management, research methods, getting published, and much more.

Request access to the Research Skills Toolkit through GRADskills.

Learning and Writing Centre

As a postgraduate student, you have access to the Learning and Writing Centre. The Learning and Writing Centre in IELLI is the inclusive student hub to access the resources developed to help you thrive in your studies. Here you can access St Andrews’ study skills, academic language, and numeracy support.

You can also book one-to-one study skills sessions with tutors via this link.

Support for academic writing skills can be accessed through the Postgraduate Academic Writing Skills: Foundations course on Moodle. This series of short videos aims to build confidence in the key areas of academic writing, from crafting an effective introduction to finding your argument and editing your work. Though aimed primarily at Postgraduate Masters students, this resource is still a useful primer for anyone looking to refresh or improve their approach to academic writing.

The Academic English Service (AES) also provides online resources to help you develop your English language and communication skills. The EAP toolkit contains more than 100 lessons which you can access by self-enrolling yourself on the course’s Moodle homepage.

GRADskills Moodle course

The GRADskills Resources course in Moodle (the University’s Virtual Learning Environment) contains a range of materials such as:

• Videos on working effectively with your supervisor and preparing for the viva.
• Links to a wide range of other free, online resources such as the Research Data Management course MANTRA.
• Presentations and handouts from some of the face-to-face workshops (if the presenter permits).

To access the GRADskills Resources Moodle course, go to Moodle web page and click the ‘Self enrol’ button. You only need to do that once – after that, you would just login to Moodle or MySaint as normal and it will appear on your Dashboard.  If you have any problems please email [email protected].

UKRIO webinars

The UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) YouTube channel hosts an archive of past webinars.  These short sessions explore a variety of issues related to Research Integrity including Publication Ethics and Authorship, Research Data, Research Ethics, and Consent.

Upcoming webinars are open to all and free to attend.  You can register for these at the UKRIO website.

Podcasts

15 minutes to Develop your Research Career – created by Taylor & Francis in collaboration with Vitae, this podcast explores practical professional development tips for early career researchers with contributions from experts working in academic and non-academic roles.

Researchers, Development and the In-Betweens – an interview based podcase which examines a wide variety of topics related to postgraduate and early career researchers. Episodes cover areas such as viva preparation, publishing, and burn out as well as exploring a range of researcher experiences.

Researcher Development Audio – from Cambridge University, this podcast discusses key themes surrounding personal and pofessional development of researchers from working with your supervisor to wellbeing topics such as resilience and imposter syndrome.

Career Management for Academic Researchers (online course)

Career Management for Researchers is a bespoke online course developed by specialist researcher careers consultants at the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Sheffield. It has been designed for PhD students and research staff who are exploring their career options and preparing for the next stage in their career, whether in academia or beyond. It is a 4 part/week course designed to address key career issues pertinent to researchers. Each week the course content provides a range of articles, videos, reflective activities, exercises and discussion topics. Researchers are encouraged to set aside 3 hours to complete all of the content available each week. 

Course themes

Week 1 – Making career plans and identifying what you want

Week 2 – Exploring career options beyond academia

Week 3 – Careers in Higher Education – research, teaching and professional services roles

Week 4 – Job search, CVs, applications and interviews within and beyond HE.

Designed as a 4 part course to be completed over 4 weeks, you can access it individually and work on it at your own pace.