Skip to main content

Skills Courses

Skills Courses

Short course on Communication Skills (UDUR – led)

2-day residential school where researchers, via experiential learning, can hone their communication, team-working and problem-solving skills. This will contribute to the individual development of Fellows but also enhance the cohesion of the network and so we propose to run this in the first year of the network, partly as a team-building exercise.

Short course on Enterprise Skills (UDUR – led)

4-day residential school in which researchers will develop the essential skills to establish a successful enterprise. As part of this the Fellows will develop a business plan, where real business ideas are developed with a team of mentors. This will include issues of business formation, IP, business planning, financial management, creative thinking, and marketing.

Short course on Dealing with the media (UDUR – led)

A key part of a modern scientist’s role is to communicate and disseminate their findings through a range of media, including print and broadcast. In this 2-day course, Fellows will be introduced to dealing with the media in a supportive environment. Instructors will provide seminars and discussion groups on how the media works, the time constraints involved, the different ways of writing within print media, and the construction of broadcast media reports. The participants will write a press release, on the topic of their own work; and gain practice in radio and TV interviews. This course will run before the annual workshop in year 3 when Fellows will be at a critical stage in their projects, and more likely to start to interact with media outlets.

Short course on Scientific Writing (UDUR – led)

This will be a 3-day course on writing scientific papers, and the various pitfalls. Participants will provide samples of their own writing, receive feedback as well as assessing their peers. The workshop can incorporate elements of scientific writing for those whom English is not their first language.