During the delivery of European projects DITANET, LA3NET and oPAC which were all coordinated from the Cockcroft Institute a novel complementary skills training programme was developed by Prof. Carsten Welsch. Training in transferable skills that complement the technical research activities of post graduate researchers improves their professionalism and is essential for enhancing their employability. Following this successful implementation the approach was adopted as part of best practice for PGR training by the University. With further interest in the programme generated following presentations given at the national HEA Learning and Teaching Conference last year a workshop was organised by the EU Project TEAM to disseminate this approach as best practice. The workshop entitled ‘Enhancing the employability skills of postgraduate researchers (PGRs)’ was held on the 11th June at the Cockcroft Institute attracting delegates from all over the country.
The aim of the workshop was to stimulate thought and discussion about improving the effectiveness of PGR skills training by making it more relevant for the researchers undergoing the training. The context of the requirements of employers for candidates with broad skills training was presented by Prof. Carsten Welsch who was joined by Dr. Richard Hinchcliffe and Dr. David Joss of the University of Liverpool’s PGR Development Team to discuss aspects of the development of the programme that they all had been involved with. Cockcroft members Dr. Rosa Letizia (Lancaster University), Dr. Rob Ashworth and Rita Galan (Liverpool) also gave presentations about the content of the programme while the perspective of researchers from the receiving end of the training was given by Blaine Lomberg (Liverpool) and Dr. Adam Jeff (CERN) who are both active in experimental work ongoing at the Cockcroft. . The HEA was represented by Dr. Paul Yates.
In the final session contributions from delegates were encouraged and different aspects of PGR training were discussed in order to identify recommendations for best practice. This built on the lively informal discussions that had developed during the coffee and lunch breaks. A special thanks to Helen Williams for ensuring that the day ran smoothly to create an atmosphere conducive to the active participation of delegates.
