Training and development

The Doctoral College at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) is committed to making sure that all students working towards research degrees are given access to the tools they need to enable them to conduct their research to the highest possible standards, and to develop as successful, independent researchers.

Our flexible training programmes, tailored to the needs of different students, have been designed to meet and exceed the exacting requirements of the UK Research Councils, and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. They ensure you will leave QMUL equipped to further your chosen career whether in research or other fields, within or beyond academia.

You do not have to pay additional fees for our research training courses.

Research training at QMUL is provided through four main routes:

1. Your School or Institute – providing key research training in, for example, the methods and techniques you need to conduct your research, with many also offering a range of bespoke researcher development training courses tailored to your discipline (for example, on publishing in your chosen field).
2. Research Council Doctoral Training Centres and Doctoral Training Partnerships – providing specialist and often highly advanced research training courses, many in conjunction with partner universities (for example, UCL; King's College London; Goldsmith's, University of London; Birkbeck, University of London; Brunel University London and Royal Holloway, University of London).
3. QMUL's Centre for Academic and Professional Development - providing a carefully designed researcher development programme (covering skills such as applying for funding, ethical review, presentation skills, or working in teams) tailored to the different needs of Year 1, 2 and 3 students.  
4. The Doctoral College – providing events and activities designed to further develop your research skills, foster conversations and collaborations between our research students and staff, and promote a cohesive and supportive PhD community with, for example; cohort training days organised around Academic Networking, Public Engagement, and Employment for Year 1, 2 and 3 students.

In the rare cases where our students require specialist, advanced training not available at QMUL, students may apply to the Doctoral College's Postgraduate Research Fund – providing in excess of £100,000 additional financial support to QMUL's PhD students annually – to help meet the costs of such training.

For more information please visit the Doctoral College training pages.