Doctoral Skills Development Programme

"The UCL Doctoral Skills Development Programme (DSDP) is designed to help doctoral researchers develop skills for research, professional development and employment. The DSDP is mapped to the Researcher Development Framework. You should seek to develop across all sub-domains, depending on your self-assessment, taking advantage of a variety of activities across the programme. Doctoral researchers are expected to spend 10 days every year on skills development." — Professor David Bogle, Pro-Vice-Provost (Doctoral School & ECR Staff)

WriteFest Month

Boost your academic writing this November. Explore resources now!

Skills Evaluation Tool (SET)

Development planning workbook for you and your supervisors. Explore now.

Course Catalogue

Plan your development with the Course Catalogue. Download now

Researcher Development Framework (RDF)

Develop your understanding of essential skills through the RDF

Training Points

Find out how you can obtain training points through a variety of activities across UCL.

Cancellation Policy

Can't attend your training course? Find out how to cancel your place.

Inkpath

Navigating Inkpath? Check out our FAQ for Inkpath

Nature Masterclasses

Skills development for researchers to build skills, confidence and careers. Explore now

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Begin your skills development journey:

Complete your induction: Skills Development: Harness your potential for PhD success and beyond
Develop your understanding of essential skills: Researcher Development Framework (RDF)
Evaluate your skills: Skills Evaluation Tool (SET) - new for 2024/25!
Map out your development plan: Course Catalogue and Course Calendar
Book your selected sessions from the course collections below!

Engagement, Influence and Impact Domain

Engagement Influence and Impact

Networking and Collaboration | Presentation and Public Speaking | Entrpreneurship and Enterprise | Research Engagement and Impact | Teaching and Supervision | Writing and Publication

Knowledge and Intellectual Abilities Domain

Knowledge and Intellectual Abilities

Principles and Tools for Data Collection and Analysis | Principles and Tools for Literature Review | Research Methodologies and Analysis | Tools for Research Communication | Creativity in Research

Research Governance and Organisation Domain

Research Governance and Organisation

Copyright | Pillars of Open Science | Research Funding | Research Management

Personal Effectiveness Domain

Personal Effectiveness

Careers Within Academia | Careers Beyond Academia | The PhD Journey | Time Management | Wellbeing and Resilience

Contact Us

General Enquiries: rx.general@ucl.ac.uk

Further Information

Researcher Development Framework

The framework describes the knowledge, behaviour and attributes of successful researchers. For more information, please visit the Researcher Development Framework (RDF).

Vitae Researcher Development Framework Wheel

Course Catalogue

This catalogue provides an overview of researcher development courses for 2024/25 academic year. Courses have been arranged into helpful collections to assist you when navigating the development programmes.

Course Catalogues 2024/25 front page

You can also download the Course Catalogue as a word document. Download now: Course Catalogue (Word version)

Course Calendar

The Doctoral Researchers Course Calendar provides an overview of all the courses available in 2024/25 academic year.

Bloomsbury Postgraduate Skills Network (BSPN)

BPSN is a network of leading HE institutions, created by UCL to share best practice in skills training for doctoral researchers.

BPSN