Supporting the professional development of doctoral researches in UKCRIC institutions

Tim Yates, UKCRIC Communications, Marketing and Events Manager (UCL) | UKCRIC

2 min read21 June 2022 Partner content

Collaboration is at the heart of UKCRIC’s mission and skills development is one of UKCRIC’s priority activities. The Doctoral Skills Network was launched in December 2021 to allow UKCRIC to communicate directly with research students and staff, whilst supporting their professional development.

Since January 2022, The Doctoral Skills Network has run and collaborated on a wide range of events including UKCRIC webinars hosted by Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs), online communication skills training, Net Zero webinars with ERA and conferences hosted by CDTs. It has proved to be an extremely popular initiative and by June 2022, had hosted 17 events and attracted nearly 200 members. This highlights a desire from researchers to connect with like-minded postgraduates across the UK.

Aims of the Doctoral Skills Network:

Offer developmental opportunities to doctoral researchers based in UKCRIC institutions focusing on research in infrastructures and cities
Create a vibrant doctoral community and promote collaborations and ideas exchange
Support the development of research-minded leaders that can address national and international priorities
Coalesce the collective expertise and capabilities of the UKCRIC universities and partners in support of the activities of the doctoral network

"We are really proud of what has been achieved so far. The success of the Network demonstrates a willingness of the students to communicate, collaborate and network with each other across the UKCRIC institutions. We are currently exploring further sources of funding so that students and researchers can continue to benefit from the training and networking opportunities offered."

^{JENNY KNIGHT, UKCRIC SKILLS MANAGER, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON}

The UKCRIC Doctoral Skills Network was supported by a UKCRIC project grant (Sept 2021 to March 2022) and is part of the UKCRIC CDTs project that is investigating how UKCRIC can support University bids and win EPSRC funding for Centres for Doctoral Training across the UK.

For further information and to register please visit The Doctoral Skills Network page.