What skills can you develop as a PGR student?

>> MADDY HAYWOOD: As a masters student I was not able to do some of the same teaching opportunities that a PhD student does, but because I knew I wanted to develop that skill I sought it out. So I spoke with my supervisor and she allowed me to sit in on the 4th year classes that she was involved in, which were kind of discussion groups. And so being a voice in those groups and getting an opportunity to shadow her, and help lead those 4th years in their discussions and things like that.

>> XI LIN: I had several internships during my studies in pharmaceutical companies, and they're really looking for people who have a multicultural background. They're looking for someone that can communicate across cultures, and they're looking for people who are supportive. So St Andrews really gave me the chance to do the teamwork and have the chance to be a lab demonstrator in which I support other students for their success.

>> MADDY HAYWOOD: I would say that, particularly the communication and interpersonal skills have been a great asset in the role that I hold, so I'm able to easily converse with academics across the university, either through emails or face-to-face when I'm interacting with them at events. I've also developed the skills to lead the team that I'm leading, having sat through the meetings - whether it was the classes or the journal club - having that sense of how to lead a group of academics in a meeting was really helpful to where I'm at now.

>> XI LIN: I had to develop a lot in St Andrews, project management skills like trouble shooting the projects, time management and starting my project from the really beginning on my own, so it really developed me to become an independent researcher. And of course, for the writing skills I'm practicing a lot on writing scientific articles. It really equipped me well for the real publications, so when I graduate I will be much more confident to write a scientific article on my own. I'm not sure, because I'm only a masters degree [student] but I'm pretty sure if I do the PhD here I will be really great at it.

>> MADDY HAYWOOD: Yeah, there were the kind of obvious ones of developing research skills, working with data and doing field research, the more practical side of things with time management, managing a big project on my own for the first time, and then some more skills that I leaned into including leadership development, working on my teaching skills and working on my communication and interpersonal skills.

>> XI LIN: I would say, rather than the professional skills, trying to be responsible for other people on this planet, doing economics or science, whatever you're doing, you are being responsible to others. But other than that, we need to be careful about how we treat other people, how we communicate and how we support other people. Like teamwork! This is how the world is run! Rather than being really good at studying, be really nice to your friends. Make more friends. Enjoy your life!

>> ESTHER ZITTERL: I did a workshop on networking, and that is something that, you know, I've attended the odd academic conference, and it's crucial to learn how to engage with scholars in your field and how to approach them

>> ESTHER ZITTERL: I've attended a couple of workshops which were amazing, particularly the journal writing one, which was really cool because he had this sort of continuity. If I recall correctly it was a 12 week course, and it really gets you from start to finish, showing you what the process usually looks like when selecting a journal, preparing your argument, finding your sources, all of that, which is immensely helpful, particularly at the start of the PhD. There will be some people, of course, who have already published, who have already written articles - I haven't, for instance. There's a lot of lingo, and a lot of skills that you didn't need in your bachelors or masters, and this is all covered in this course.