GRADskills

Key details: GRADskills is operated by IELLI for St Leonards College and supports the development of research postgraduate students to improve their research capability and widen their employability inside and outside of academia.

Booking not required

Audience

  • PG research

Programme information

GRADskills is a suite of workshops and activities designed specifically for research postgraduate students (i.e. PhD, MPhil), delivered by the International Education and Lifelong Learning Institute (IELLI) for St Leonard's Postgraduate College. GRADskills aim is to support the development of all research postgraduate students at the University of St Andrews, to improve their research capability and widen their employability inside and outside of academia. gradskills-pgr@st-andrews.ac.uk. 

Workshops are grouped into thematic bundles which roughly follow the trajectory of the research degree (first year, mid-way, final year). 

Further online or asynchronous resources can be found on the GRADskills webpages.

More information on Vitae's Researcher Development Framework (RDF) and how you can use this to plan your professional development can be found here.

Individual workshop booking links

Links below indicate an upcoming event. If a workshop title is not actively linked below, then dates for the current term have already passed and dates for the upcoming term have not yet been chosen. Further enquiries and last minute bookings (online bookings close the day before an event) should be directed to gradskills-pgr@st-andrews.ac.uk.

If you can no longer attend a workshop, please cancel your booking at least 2 working days in advance. Failure to do so may mean that future bookings are not approved. This PDMS intro video shows how to find, book and later print a certified training record.

 

Theme 1) Getting started

7 courses - these are all optional.

  • A language approach to unpacking exam questions
  • An introduction to Endnote
    • Thursday 26 February 2026
  • Creating Habits for Balance and Success in your PhD
  • Getting and staying organised for success
  • Postgraduate Researcher Welcome Event
    • Wednesday 15 April 2026
    • Wednesday 3 June 2026
  • Reading for research
  • Welcome event for taught postgraduates

Theme 2) Carrying out my research

5 courses - these are all optional.

Theme 3) Dealing with my data

5 courses - these are all optional.

Theme 4) Conferences, networking, and public engagement

2 courses - these are all optional.

Theme 5) Writing and publishing (in various media)

27 courses - these are all optional.

Theme 6) Teaching

8 courses - these are all optional.

  • Assessment and academic misconduct: an introduction (Arts)
  • Assessment and academic misconduct: an introduction (cross-faculty)
  • Assessment and academic misconduct: an introduction (Science)
  • Diversity in the workplace online training module
  • Student services: supporting students and teachers
  • Teaching at St Andrews: an introduction (Arts)
  • Teaching at St Andrews: an introduction (cross-faculty)
  • Teaching at St Andrews: an introduction (Science)

Theme 7) Finishing up: what's next?

7 courses - these are all optional.

Programme organiser

IELLI
Email: ielli@st-andrews.ac.uk