Training
Arts Faculty Postgraduate Research and Professional Training Programme
CADRE (the Centre for Arts Doctoral Research Excellence) is the Faculty of Arts doctoral training hub. As a PhD student in the Faculty you have automatic access to all CADRE events and resources. Year 1 students are expected to take part in the four week Introduction to Arts Doctoral Research programme. Students who are further on in their studies may wish to attend the more advanced sessions on offer. In particular, attendance at the four week Transition from Arts Doctoral Research programme is recommended for students in their penultimate and final year of study.
Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme
Researcher Development is helping you get the best out of Warwick from your time here; and most importantly getting the best from yourself.
Whether it is getting the tools to do the job, understanding concepts of research practice, getting yourself organised, keeping yourself and life on track; or taking time to listen and understand other people's research, the Researcher Development Programme is designed by you, for you. We use a Dynamic Development model which puts you in charge of your own learning, supports your creativity and curiosity and works to your strengths and needs.
Most of the online sessions are 60-90 minutes and are coaching and development focused where we may share knowledge and help you find the answers for yourselves.
Importantly, the delivery team are all active researchers, lecturers or both; and skilled facilitators.
We do not run webinars or seminars. The sessions are interactive and you are fully in charge of your own learning & development. For more information please visit the Doctoral College's website here.
ITS offers a range of workshops, which are free and available to staff and students at Warwick.
Learning a language from scratch, or brushing up on one you’ve studied before, may be necessary for your research. If it is, it’s important that this need is identified early in your doctoral career, so that training can be arranged in plenty of time. Raise the matter with your supervisor at the first meeting, if appropriate. The university’s Language Centre offers intensive language instruction in most modern languages at all levels. Greek and Latin are also available. There is a cost, but you may apply to the Head of Department for partial or full reimbursement. Please bear in mind, though, that funds are limited.
Individual Assessment
At your first meeting with your supervisor, you should discuss any possible training needs. If you need specialist training not covered by any of the programmes mentioned below (for instance, advanced bibliographical training for work with manuscript sources), please discuss this with the Director of Graduate Studies. Students’ training needs are assessed on an on-going basis throughout the year and also at the end of each year, at the Annual Research Review meeting.
Departmental Training
Students who do not already hold a Warwick MA, or have not completed relevant research training as part of another UK MA, are strongly advised to take the Research Methods section of the Department’s MA Foundation Module. This training provides a variety of research skills training sessions, an introduction to bibliographical description, library searching skills, and other methodological aspects of English literature. Please contact Dr Rochelle Sibley at rochelle.sibley@warwick.ac.uk if you are interested.
Warwick Portfolio
The Warwick Portfolio is an online space, hosted on the Start.Warwick platform, which enables you to access and maintain records of your own development whilst at Warwick. In common with other tabs hosted on Start.Warwick, you can build your own Portfolio, for instance adding gadgets for the skills programmes that you access the most and customizing content based on your needs.
Whether you want to make the most of the Professional Researcher Development tool or find out more about what your faculty is offering through its own dedicated training programme, the Portfolio will act as a portal for you to find out more about skills and development at Warwick. The Portfolio isn’t a course, or training programme; it’s a way of accessing and recording all the opportunities available to you as a postgraduate researcher.
Personal Development Plan (PDP)
PDP encourages you to reflect on and communicate your ideas more efficiently by exploring, systematically, the process of thinking and its connection with your course and your future career plans. It involves being able to think through your work, reflect upon it, rework and review certain aspects of it; it means taking stock of your abilities, experiences, qualities and skills, to create a plan for further study, work and life decisions. Each student is expected to set up his or her own PDP and to maintain it on an on-going basis. Your PDP can be in electronic format or on paper.