Every year Vitae runs a national programme of courses and events for doctoral researchers and research staff. These courses are open to all researchers and have previously been funded by the Research Councils as part of the Vitae programme.
The Research Councils continue to fund Vitae, but the new contract, from January 2013, does not include central funding of places on GRADschools or other courses.
Research organisations are expected to encourage and support researchers in developing their career options and that the provision of professional and transferable skills will form a fundamental part of doctoral training. Universities have flexibility in the use of research training grants and are expected to draw on these to cover the costs of providing professional development opportunities appropriate for the individual postgraduate researchers whose training is funded through that grant. In June RCUK unveiled its Statement of Expectations for Doctoral Training, which sets out common principles for the support of all Research Council-funded students.
Vitae continue to provide a programme of high quality courses for postgraduate researchers and research staff and can advise on costs, which will vary with length and type of course. More information is available at www.vitae.ac.uk/courses. There is also a range of resources developed by and for researchers, most of which are freely available through the Vitae website.
- A dedicated researchers’ portal with information, news and opportunities (www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers)
- Labour market and careers information, including surveys and research www.vitae.ac.uk/lmi
- Resources on managing a career within or outside academia www.vitae.ac.uk/careers
- Information and advice for supervisors and principal investigators www.vitae.ac.uk/pi
- Career stories and statistics on employment destinations www.vitae.ac.uk/wdrd
- Researcher booklets on creativity, work-life balance, public engagement, information literacy, leadership and career management www.vitae.ac.uk/researcherbooklets
- RDF Planner, online app for managing your career www.vitae.ac.uk/rdfplanner
