Transferable skills

help or

hindrance?

Alison RodgerAlison Rodger• Director of EPSRC-funded Life Sciences Interface

Doctoral Training Centre at Warwick

• Biophysical chemist: biomacromolecule structure &

function; development of spectroscopic techniques

• Consultant for MScan; director of Dioptica Scientific Ltd.;

mother of 2; ‘jack of all trades & master of none’

• BSc (hons), PhD Sydney 1985

• Research Fellow, Newnham College, Cambridge

• Research Fellow, St Catherine’s, St Hilda’s, Oxford

• Warwick: since 1994

Why bother with Why bother with transferable skills?transferable skills?

• We can get on to a hobby horse about transferable/generic skills training but

• Does addressing it make Warwick (for me) a better place in terms of– Help students, PDRAs, academic staff?– Improve research productivity?– Help finances?– Enhance our reputation?– Help us sleep at night?– Improve career prospects?

External pressureExternal pressure

• It is increasingly being accepted that skills in STEM are central to driving innovation, creativity & competitiveness for the UK.

• BUT UK PhD has for a long time been felt (in some quarters) to be:

too narrow and not transferable to later life. to have insufficient graduate level training

and generic/transferable skills trainingUK PhDs not competitive in international job market

How we got startedHow we got started

• Proof by example: Grad schools, conferences, away days akways seemed to give my students a boost of energy

• Research councils: told us we should be giving our students transferable skills training (no accounting though)

• Over ‘the dead bodies’ of some colleagues: most of my colleagues are now at worst resigned but it is still perceived as a waste of time by many

EPSRC conceived DTCsEPSRC conceived DTCsEPSRC realized that research had to

change in academia, industry,

research centres Larger visions require larger teams Researchers need to be able to adopt new methods of working Nationally we needed to move towards quantitative/computational techniques Researchers have to work with people from other disciplines/cultures

EPSRC gave the freedom to work EPSRC gave the freedom to work out how (within constraints) …out how (within constraints) …• Call for DTCs (now CDTs): required transferable

skills• So if you wanted the money you promised to do it• DTC system also seemed to require inter

university interactions: we worked with IC on Team development, Science communication and Decision making & leadership. 1/year of PhD + student run conference.

The interface between Physical, Mathematical, Life Sciences

PhD Programme at Warwick provides the opportunity to combine the abilities and knowledge of several disciplines into one multidisciplinary research project, after an MSc in Mathematical biology and biophysical chemistry

We are challenged by…We are challenged by…

How does a 1 ng/10 μm bag of molecules end up being a thinking moving creative human being?

Yet an almost identical bag of molecules end up a cauliflower?

Or even a salmonella

• Young researcher targeted conferences• ‘Summer’ schools/ ‘winter’ workshops• Training courses including TS• Meetings• Seminars• Visiting lecturers – our

audience helps organisers!• Networking events• ‘Neutral’ territory+ of course teaching.

Warwick provided the MOAC centre for non-lab activities …..

Transferable skills: Transferable skills: why????why????

• To help students– to be a successful doctoral

researcher undertaking world leading research– to improve their research effectiveness– to be even more successful in their postdoctoral career.

To understand what they

know and how to use that to

maximum effect in their

project and beyond.

Cross-Disciplinary Science at the Cross-Disciplinary Science at the Warwick DTCsWarwick DTCs

We wrote in the same type of programme for Systems Biology & Complexity Science: informal/ad hoc approach too complicated to manage

We promised to train students for their future career as scientistswhile equipping them with skillsto manage their PhD.

(Students have the short-term goal of getting a PhD we have the long term goal of their future careers….)

The Postgraduate The Postgraduate Certificate in Transferable Certificate in Transferable

Skills in ScienceSkills in Sciencewww.warwick.ac.uk/go/pioneerswww.warwick.ac.uk/go/pioneers

Aims of certificateAims of certificate

• To help students– to be a successful doctoral researcher

undertaking world leading research– to improve your research effectiveness– to be even more successful in your

postdoctoral career– to understand what you know and how to

use that to maximum effect in your project and beyond.

Structure of the certificateStructure of the certificate

• For PhD students in Warwick Faculties of Science & Medicine • Usually 2 modules per year. Total

6 modules x 10 CATS each.• Standards and progress are

formally overseen by the Warwick

Interdisciplinary Science Committee (WISC). In practice students deal mainly with Departmental Directors of Graduate Studies.

The overall structureThe overall structure

The skills modulesThe skills modules• Skills 1-3 cover the basic skills

needed and used by science PhD

students. You collate (and maintain) a brief portfolio based

around your day-to-day research activities.

• Year 1 focuses on concerns and skills of graduates

starting out on independent research. Years 2 and 3

focus on skills and activities needed to develop and

complete a project and for a career after your PhD.

• Collate a brief portfolio – keep it up to date!

• Tasks signed off by supervisor or relevant academic.

Doctoral skills 1Doctoral skills 11. Starting Literature Review – 5 Research Papers2. Research Plan (including budget) (Keep changing it)3. Interim Research Report4. End of year Research Report5. Year 1 Research Poster or Seminar Review for General

Reader 6. Seminar Summaries 7. Poster Marking/Postgraduate Presentation Assessment8. Meeting Planning9. Web page

+ 3 other modules+ 3 other modulesYEAR 1: Team working and Networking: 3 day course

YEARS 2 & 3: Choose 2 ofScience Communication Decision-making and LeadershipResearch ethicsEnvisioning and enabling innovation TeachingEpistemology and psychology Scientific writing skillsProject managementBiometry: The application of statistics and mathematics in BiosciencesBioscience, Politics & Social Acceptability

Post doctoral researchers…Post doctoral researchers…Post doctoral researchers at an in-between stage in their

careers – exciting and insecure.We’ve developed a post doctoral certificate

to help them manage their careers:

Structured mentored programme

Advanced Researcher Skills 1Critical literature review; Research planning, reports;Attend a conference, present work, follow-up; Research seminar, report on the feedback and subsequent actions;Poster Marking/Presentation assessment; Review a paper;Review a grant proposal; Write a paper; Propose and manage a budget.

Advanced Researcher Skills 2Organising conference/workshop; visit external research group; Host a visiting researcher;

Supervise a project student; national society; Write a research proposal; Chair a meeting including establishing agenda

+ 4 options (or one for a PG Award)

Web pagesWeb pages

• For MOAC www.warwick.ac.uk/go/MOAC

• For Transferable skills for both PhD and post docs www.warwick.ac.uk/go/pioneers then choose the appropriate link

The leaders of tomorrow?????The leaders of tomorrow?????

Vision Communication Presentation

Networking

Practical skills

Theoretical analysis

Teaching

Focus