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
- Creating Habits for Balance and Success in your PhD
- Thursday 24 September 2026
- Monday 18 January 2027
- Getting and staying organised for success
- Postgraduate Researcher Welcome Event
- Wednesday 3 June 2026
- Monday 28 September 2026
- Monday 5 October 2026
- Monday 23 November 2026
- Reading for research
- Welcome event for taught postgraduates
- Tuesday 15 September 2026
- Monday 28 September 2026
Theme 2) Carrying out my research
5 courses - these are all optional.
- Finding funding during your PhD
- NVivo (day 1): Introducing the software and qualitative analysis
- NVivo (day 2): Advanced features and customising your approach
- Turning your PhD into a start-up
- Writing a lab report (Sciences)
Theme 3) Dealing with my data
5 courses - these are all optional.
- Data management plans: first-year review writing workshop
- Wednesday 3 March 2027
- Tuesday 23 March 2027
- Monday 5 April 2027
- Data management plans: starting from scratch
- Tuesday 24 November 2026
- Tuesday 16 February 2027
- Research data underpinning theses: requirements and submission process
- Tuesday 6 October 2026
- Monday 9 November 2026
- Monday 22 February 2027
- Thursday 22 April 2027
- Research data: how to store and effectively manage them
- Wednesday 18 November 2026
- Wednesday 17 February 2027
- Research data: why, when and how to publish them
- Monday 30 November 2026
- Tuesday 9 March 2027
Theme 4) Conferences, networking, and public engagement
2 courses - these are all optional.
- Finding funding during your PhD
- Writing conference abstracts, proposals and bios
- Thursday 25 February 2027
Theme 5) Writing and publishing (in various media)
27 courses - these are all optional.
- A language approach to unpacking exam questions
- An introduction to Endnote
- Constructing strong introductions and conclusions
- Monday 19 October 2026
- Wednesday 10 March 2027
- From Draft to Journal: Understanding the Publishing Process
- Monday 8 February 2027
- Fundamentals of writing
- Grant writing: writing for success
- Is my writing 'academic' enough?
- Language for introductions and conclusions
- Tuesday 6 October 2026
- Open Access Publishing for Postgraduates
- Thursday 19 November 2026
- Thursday 25 March 2027
- Paraphrasing, summarising and synthesising
- Reporting information from sources vs. author voice
- Write your journal article! Abstracting your article
- Write your journal article! Advancing your argument
- Write your journal article! Analysing your evidence
- Write your journal article! Crafting your claims for significance
- Write your journal article! Designing your plan for writing
- Write your journal article! Editing your sentences
- Write your journal article! Opening and concluding your article
- Write your journal article! Presenting your evidence
- Write your journal article! Refining your works cited
- Write your journal article! Selecting a journal
- Write your journal article! Sending your article!
- Write your journal article! Strengthening your structure
- Writing a lab report (Sciences)
- Writing a literature review in the Arts
- Writing conference abstracts, proposals and bios
- Thursday 25 February 2027
- Writing well: coherence, structure and argumentation
- Thursday 12 November 2026
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.
- CVs and job applications: getting onto the short-list
- Sunday 4 April 2027
- Fundraising your first postdoc
- Grant writing: writing for success
- HEA Associate Fellow Application workshop
- HEA Senior Fellow Application workshop
- How to submit your thesis: submitting your final Library copies
- Thursday 14 May 2026
- Thursday 22 October 2026
- Tuesday 4 May 2027
- Preparing for your Viva
- Wednesday 11 November 2026
- Thursday 4 March 2027
Programme organiser
IELLI
Email: ielli@st-andrews.ac.uk