Research Training
Primary practical research-skill training is provided by supervisors, often helped by designated post-docs. Over 35% of our research groups are engaged in interdisciplinary research and students are encouraged to extend their technical skills via these collaborating groups. In addition, all students attend courses in generic skills and in the following:
[1] Thematic training. Seminar courses and journal clubs focused around current literature. These foster interaction between students in different laboratories, expand knowledge and develop critical skills. Students also attend internal and cross-departmental seminar series related to each theme.
[2] Cross-disciplinary training. Courses encompass Cores Skills in areas such as Mathematics & Modelling in Biology (introducing & evaluating different mathematical approaches); Fluorescence & EM imaging (instrument design, technical innovation, biological application; organised with Chemical Engineering); Statistics & Experimental Design (an introduction to statistical analysis).
Local seminar series (e.g. Cambridge Computational Biology Inst.), workshops (e.g. SciComp@cam) and local meetings (e.g. Physics of Living Matter) provide further opportunities for cross-disciplinary training as well as Graduate School Courses (e.g. Bioinformatics, Systems Biology) and other programmes (e.g. Biochem. & Mol. Biology in the Post-Genomic Era).
[3] Ethics, Outreach & Enterprise. There is good provision in these core skills areas from Graduate School and associated institutions; e.g. Cambridge Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL, Judge Business School) offer an Entrepreneurship Module (4 x 1.5h) and Enterprise Tuesdays (changing ideas into business launches); outreach opportunities include Rising Stars programme and Science Week. In addition, our students attend an ethics discussion course (8 weekly sessions)- Professional ethics to GMOs.
[4] Transferrable skills training. We are part of the Graduate School of Life Sciences, which provides a framework for training in Generic and Transferable Skills. Students are required to achieve a total of 60 "credits" in Transferable Skills Training (TST) over the course of their PhD, where one credit is equivalent to a half-day's training. TST credits may be achieved by means of: i) formal course attendance, ii) as an integral part of the research training and monitoring programme, and iii) via voluntary activities such as teaching undergraduates, or participation in Science Week.