Supporting Research & Enterprise

Our Research Computing and Data Science Programme, is developed with input from our Research Computing and Data Science Expert Panel.  The suite of workshops provides training in programming, software engineering, machine learning, statistical methods and data analysis.  These are key skills which postgraduates need to progress their research at College, and beyond in their future careers.

Our Research Integrity Programme, is delivered in partnership with colleagues in the Library.  It provides training for students on Copyright, Plagiarism Awareness and Intellectual Property.  It also provides training on research data management and research data plans.   There are also workshops delivered with our partners in CLCC which explore and critically analyse the ethics of scientific research, as well as the philosophy of science.

Our Research Impact Programme, is delivered in partnership with the Library, Engagement, the Enterprise Lab and the Policy Forum.  It provides students with strategies for creating impact from their research to benefit society and the economy.  We also sign-post students to provision available through the Enterprise Lab and work with Outreach for the delivery of training on communicating science for school aged audiences. 

PhD students at College contribute towards the teaching and supervision of undergraduate and Master’s students and this is an integral part of their research training at College.  Our GTA programme provides essential training in teaching, learning, assessment, feedback and supervision, supporting them to carry out their role effectively. 

Our workshop, “the power of diversity and inclusion in research,” examines the benefits of inclusive practice in research and innovation and how students’ identity can influence their viewpoint.  Our mandatory training for research supervisors, offered through Cornerstone, has the development of a healthy research environment at the heart of its training.

We recruit Student Programme Partners and GTAs who represent the diversity of the Imperial student community and draw on their experiences and knowledge to help shape our provision.

Our dedicated Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing pathway enables students to develop an essential awareness of, and have access to, tools in which to actively engage with their research, colleagues and environment in a positive and productive way.

The Graduate School’s new Postgraduate Development and Experience Committee has been established to advise on the development of professional skills training for the College’s postgraduate students and other provision to enhance the overall training experience at College.

Our future engagement with the College’s Researcher Development Committee’s External Advisory Board will provide opportunity to share best practice and to take advice on our provision from external stakeholders.

Through the CDT DTP Governance Committee, we will continue to strengthen links with CDT and DTP Directors to share best practice with respect to professional skills and continue to collaborate on the delivery of training to cohorts of students.

Student feedback on our provision and our scholarly activity will continue to inform our work, and we will take a research-led approach to the development, design and delivery of our provision.

Our Research Integrity, Research Communication and Research Computing and Data Science Programmes, provide students with skills to maintain the integrity of their work and understand the implications and applications of AI.  Our website will continue to signpost students to the College’s research ethics processes and guidance.

We support the College to develop strategic links with international partners through delivery of Global Fellows Programmes. 

Student Research Networks are a vehicle for cross-disciplinary learning and skill development, the provision of events, seminars and social activities.   We have recently collaborated with the Founder of the Food Student Research Network to provide support for the network and to help students connect with staff and peers researching in this area.  From 2023/24, we will be extending our support to the Vaccine and Drug Research Student Networks.  If this framework is successful, will explore further expansion of the network model to other research areas with a view to improving research and social connectedness.

The Graduate School currently signposts postgraduates to research seminars taking place across Imperial.  We recognise that visibility of this service needs to improve and we will embed this within our new communications plan and give prominent visibility on our website.  We are also exploring links with external organisations which connect researchers to free online seminars hosted across the globe.

Whilst we work with the Enterprise Lab to signpost students to existing training, we plan on strengthening training and provision in this area.  Further, we recognise that working with the Imperial Global Science Policy Forum will greatly benefit postgraduates and we will look to enhance our Research Impact Programme through collaboration with this group

We will continue to work with experts across College, and externally, to ensure that our Research Computing and Data Science programme offers the latest training in this fast-paced, evolving area.

Finally, several natural language processing AI models have come to prominence in recent months, such as generative AIs like ChatGPT. These models demonstrate a huge step forward in accessible AI which will develop substantially and quickly; likely growing to become something we use frequently in our everyday lives. The Graduate School will support the work of the College’s AI Working Group to ensure training and guidance is made available to support supervisors and research students.

We will continue to work with the International Relations Office to explore new ways to collaborate with the College’s international partners for the delivery of shared professional skills training for students.