Personal and Professional Development. The Imperial College Graduate School is proud to deliver award winning and sector leading professional development opportunities to postgraduate students.  Professional development is a key part of the educational experience at Imperial and the programme offers opportunity for postgraduates to develop attributes which are of most value to a broad range of employers and supports students to develop as world-class researchers. Doctoral level courses include research communication, research impact, research computing and data, professional business skills and much more.

Doctoral Level Academic Communication. The Imperial College Centre for Academic English (CfAE)  work with all Imperial academics, researchers and students to achieve effective STEMM communication. Doctoral students can attend courses in topics such as research communication and academic writing, technical speaking, communicating science effectively and speaking and listening.

Become a Graduate Teaching Assistant. Many research students are involved in assisting with tutorials, laboratories and workshops in support of both undergraduate and Master’s students. Working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) provides you with an opportunity to broaden your experience and develop further skills such as learning how to convey complex technical concepts and writing/communication.   It can also help improve your own technical abilities (both theoretical and practical), broaden your knowledge base and gain communication and task management experience. The Imperial Graduate School runs a bespoke GTA Programme with training and support.

Travelling abroad. Students have many opportunities to undertake research activities abroad during a PhD, such as presenting at an international conference, participating in a workshop or symposium, conducting field work, or collaborating with an international laboratory or research group. There are several funding routes to support these activities including the Departments Professor Milija Pavlovic Travel fund. Professor Pavlovic was an academic in the Department from 1978 to 2008 and this fund, which can support 2-3 students per year, was created by a generous donation by one of Professor Pavlovic’s former PhD students. The fund commemorates his legacy as an influential scholar and teacher who was passionate about engineering, travel and culture.  

Connect and Network. The College has a broad range of learning and development opportunities beyond the degree programme including lectures, Imperial Lates, the Imperial Festival, research seminars, and the 4Cs Science Communication andResearch as Art competitions to name a few. A taster of the events and activities you can take part in can be found at Imperial What's on and the Graduate School events pages.