Support at Imperial

PFDC provides a range of courses for early career researchers which can be found here.
As staff at Imperial, early career researchers are entitled to book a place on many courses offered to Imperial staff through other centres. More information is available at the websites below.

• Centre for Academic English
  The Centre for Academic English provides an extensive range of courses and workshops to develop the academic STEMM communication competence of all Imperial academics, researchers and students, both native and non-native speakers. For Imperial staff and researchers (including doctoral students), they provide training for external academic communication, including writing research papers for publication, presenting at conferences, writing grant applications and writing for the REF. International staff can access English language support for academic, social and professional purposes. The Centre offers general English courses, writing mechanics workshops, listening and speaking courses, and one-to-one consultations.
• Educational Development Unit (EDU)
  The EDU provides educational development for all who teach Imperial students. They offer a wide range of advice and training for staff involved in teaching.
• Learning and Development Centre (LDC)The LDC offers professional development courses and programmes for all staff at Imperial.
• Library
  The Library offers a wide range of services, such as access to online resources including journals, books and databases. The library can also offer advice on researching your subject, on using IT to assist your research and on open access publishing. 
• Scholarly Communication Team
  Based in Central Library, the Scholarly Communication Team helps the Imperial community to communicate and disseminate their research and academic work. They focus on open access, research data management and copyright. Providing courses, workshops and informal sessions to help increase the impact of your research. They also help staff to navigate the landscape of funder and publisher policies on open access and research data.
• Societal Engagement Team
  Updates, training, funding and opportunities to be involved in societal engagement.
• Statistical Advisory Service
  Advice and courses on research design and methodology, including clinical trials and training on SPSS, STATA, Matlab, and R. 

Imperial has a wealth of resources that you can access. Some examples include:

• Imperial HorizonsThe Forum is Imperial’s policy engagement programme. It connects Imperial researchers with policy-makers to discover new thinking on global challenges.
• Imperial Business Partners combines world-class research minds with business strategists and policymakers at the top of their game. 
• Imperial Consultants (ICON)
  ICON is a university-owned consultancy company that provides practical and innovative solutions for external organisations by facilitating access to the expertise, facilities and equipment based at Imperial. They also have a series of case studies to demonstrate how ICON helps researchers to create direct impact from their research while providing effective and innovative solutions for their clients.
• Imperial Business Partners (IBP)
  Early career researchers interested in gaining tutoring experience can apply to become a Global Challenges tutor for Imperial Horizons, an undergraduate co-curricular programme. Every autumn and spring term the Global Challenges programme recruits staff to assist with small group facilitation and project mentoring. No specific subject expertise or teaching experience is required and full training is given regarding the responsibilities of a Global Challenges tutor.
• Research Office
  Enterprise brings businesses, researcher and students together in a flourishing entrepreneurial ecosystem, which you can be part of.
• Research Governance and Integrity
  The Research Governance and Integrity Team (RGIT) exists to support the College and its researchers to meet the requirements of research regulatory governance and integrity ensuring that  Imperial fulfils the legal, ethical and scientific obligations of the healthcare research process.
• Enterprise
  The Research Office provides expert guidance on preparing a proposal, costing and pricing, managing projects, and more. Their funder specific ‘golden rules’ for applying for grants, as well as post-award ‘golden rules’ are a must-read before applying for grants.

As a member of staff, you can access a range of services that the College provides. Below is a list of some that may be relevant to you as a postdoc or fellow at Imperial.

• Accommodation and Housing
  • Staff accommodation – staff can find details of staff accommodation and application processes.
  • Housing information – Staff arriving at Imperial can find further information on housing on this web page (although it is designed for student use).
  • Support for incoming researchers to the UK - Euraxess UK

• Careers Service
  Postdocs and fellows are entitled to use the Imperial Careers Service and to visit the Careers Information Room which is situated on level 5 of the Sherfield Building, book an appointment with an adviser and browse the website for resources and events.

• Health and well-beingEarly Career Researchers and members of their family who live with them can obtain free confidential advice and counselling from Confidential Care.

• Communications and Public Affairs
  Support staff to share their research in order to engage and inspire audiences, advance the College's reputation, and create lasting connections for and with its community.  This includes the news and media team who are science writing and communications professionals who promote the work of Imperial and the findings and expertise of its researchers.
  
  

• Disability support
  Imperial is committed to providing dedicated support to its staff and students in order to ensure they maximise their potential and progress regardless of their disability. This webpage, from EDIC, outlines the support available at Imperial. 

• Equality and diversity
  The College has a dedicated Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Centre (EDIC) who is mandated to promote and embed all aspects of equality throughout the College’s communities. The Centre is just one part of a range of HR services at Imperial that offers individual support, guidance and advice on all equality strands, including age, disability, gender, gender identity, race, religious belief, sexual orientation, as well as harassment, bullying, victimisation and personal concerns.

• Confidential Care
• Imperial’s family-friendly policies include:
  • College facilities (e.g. nursing rooms)
  • Flexible working
  • Parental leave
  • Support networks

• Family-friendly policiesThis website includes information, advice, support and self-help guides on numerous topics such as:
  • Meditation, including classes available at South Kensington
  • Mental health, including a list of Mental Health First Aiders at the College
  • Resilience and stress, including a stress awareness tool

• Imperial 600
  The College’s network for LGBTQ+ staff, postgraduate students and their allies

• Mentoring
  Mentoring and coaching are available to all staff, and numerous mentoring schemes exist at the departmental level.
• Mentoring towards Chartered Chemist

  The Department of Chemistry provides support for postdocs and other staff members wanting to apply for Chartered Chemist (CChem) status with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC).

  This is done via the Membership & Accredited Recognition Scheme (MARS). While primarily designed to support professional development for postgraduate students it has now been expanded to support employees with a background in Chemistry.

  The programme involves being assigned a mentor who will help to identify required areas of professional development and support the collation of appropriate evidence, attendance at accredited Imperial College London training courses, and the drafting/revision of a portfolio of evidence. The programme allows a mentee to apply for the CChem designation after 2-3 years, depending on prior experience.

  The assessment process involves the submission of the portfolio of evidence which is then assessed via a 1-hour long interview with an RSC representative.If the MARS mentee is from the Faculty of Natural Sciences their membership fees will be reimbursed.To register on the Scheme you need to hold RSC membership (any level), complete a SharePoint registration form and contact the Senior mentor for an initial consultation.

• Occupational Health Service
  Early Career Researchers have access to specialist advisory and clinical services provided by the Occupational Health Service.

• Personal Review and Development Plan
  All postdocs and fellows should have an annual PRDP meeting with their principal investigator/sponsor. A dedicated form for early career researchers was designed in 2018 with the help of the PFDC Reps Network to ensure that the PRDP form and conversation focuses on their career development at Imperial.

• Study loan scheme
  All early career researchers can benefit from an interest-free loan to help with the costs of part-time study while employed by Imperial.

• Tuition fee remission scheme
  Staff members who register for a part-time postgraduate degree at Imperial may be eligible for a reduction in their tuition fee through the tuition fee remission scheme.