Graduate Schools at Imperial College recognised for their support of final year PhD students

Programme to help students make the transition from PhD to their next step wins accolade at the Times Higher Education Awards - News

Thursday 6 November 2008
By Naomi Weston

A scheme which helps final year PhD students at Imperial College London to complete their research and move on to the next phase of their career has been recognised at the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards 2008 last month.

Organised by the Graduate Schools, the ‘Your PhD: Finish Up & Move On’ (FUMO) programme won the award in the Outstanding Support for Early Careers Researchers category.

This is the second time the Graduate Schools have won at the THE Awards. In 2006 they won in the same category for the development of an innovative three-day residential course for first year PhD students called the Research Skills Development course, which was designed to help researchers start their PhD.

The Graduate Schools are divided into the Graduate School of Life Sciences and Medicine and the Graduate School of Engineering and Physical Sciences. The Graduate Schools offer workshops and lectures to enhance postgraduate training and promote the exchange of ideas across disciplines.

FUMO is a two day non-residential interactive course, providing third year PhD students with guidance for successfully completing their PhD and helping them with the transition into their next step, be it further research, teaching or working in industry or other options.

The FUMO course covers a range of topics including guiding students through structuring their PhD thesis, managing the writing, and preparing for the PhD Viva. For helping them move on, many of the topics were developed based on surveys of employer perceptions and in consultation with the Careers Advisory Service and the Business Development Unit at the College.

The course focuses on leadership skills and the students work in teams to carry out construction projects

The practical exercises on the course involve working in teams to develop and present business plans for an idea related to their research. The course also focuses on leadership skills and the students work in teams to carry out a construction project using lego bricks and appoint one person in each team to act as leader for the group.

Elaine Walsh, Course Director of FUMO said: “This is a relatively new programme. After the first pilot in 2006 we worked closely with colleagues and alumni to develop the course to its current form. Our participants are very busy with their research so we pack in as many valuable elements as possible into two days.”

She added: “We are grateful to the alumni of the College who attend part of the course giving students an insight into choices made by recent PhD graduates.”

The course runs twice each academic term and around 24 students attend each two-day course from across the College.

Bea Choi, a PhD student from the Faculty of Medicine attended the course this year. She said: “The FUMO course is very insightful, for both those choosing to stay in academia as well as leaving it. It is informative, practical and fun. Everyone was very approachable and very generous with their time, which helps in getting the most out of the course. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would recommend this course to all PhD students.”

FUMO is funded by ‘Roberts Funding’, which funds skills training and career development support for PhD students and early career research staff. The funding stream was set up following the Sir Gareth Roberts Review in 2002, which looked at the supply of science and engineering skills in the UK and was commissioned as part of the Government's productivity and innovation strategy.

Professor Bernard Morley, Director of the Graduate School for Life Sciences and Medicine said: “We are delighted to win this award for the second time in three years. It is very much a team effort with substantial contributions from both Graduate Schools. This national recognition for the quality and breadth of our transferable skills training programme consolidates the reputation of Imperial College at the forefront of developing our students as individuals and preparing them for a wide range of future careers.”

The Times Higher Education Awards are now in their fourth year and the ceremony recognised the ground-breaking work undertaken by UK higher education institutions. Over 130 institutions submitted entries for the 18 categories which included Best Student Experience, University of the Year, Outstanding Student Financial Support Package, Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community, Marketing Initiative of the Year and Outstanding Support for Disabled Students. They took place on Thursday 23 October 2008.

For more information on the Graduate Schools please see: www3.imperial.ac.uk/graduateschools