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Joining Imperial

As soon as you accept your offer you should start preparing to become part of the Imperial community.

There is lots of information you need to learn about Imperial, to make the most of your doctoral journey and here we’ll give you some key advice.

Early on, it is very important you are aware of all the aspects that you need to deal with when joining a postgraduate research programme at Imperial.

These are:

If you are an international student, you will need to apply for your student visa. The International Student Support Team will help and support you in the process.
There are on-demand Offer Holder webinars covering a variety of topics e.g. visa applications, accommodation, disability service and wellbeing.
The Centre for Academic English (CfAE) offers summer pre-sessional courses which help you learn the real academic language and skills that you need for successful research and study at Imperial. These courses are STEMM-focused and specifically designed for international Imperial PhD students. The CfAE offers a 6-week course for PGRs who hold a conditional offer and who need to improve their English language proficiency to meet the English language entry condition for their degree course. There is also a 3-week course, for students who wish to extend and enhance their academic skills in preparation for their studies. Both courses run in-person in South Kensington campus.
As a doctoral student, you might be transitioning from your Master’s into research communication, or you may have been in industry or out of academia for many years. Even if you have been actively communicating your research, you may need to develop higher-order communicative competence to meet Imperial doctoral expectations and fulfil your ambitions as a researcher.
To support this, the university has set up the Doctoral Academic Communication Requirement (DACR) so that all new doctoral students receive communication training and feedback as early as possible in their doctoral programme.