Further Education Guidance

The City Doctoral College is here to support Doctoral Researchers, Early Career Researchers and Graduate Teaching Assistants with all aspects of research, training and ongoing professional development both academically or by enhancing the postgraduate research experience.

For Clerkenwell Campus Students

Working in close partnership with the academic schools, teams within Professional Services and the NUS, the Doctoral College aims to:

  • Work alongside colleagues such as The Students' Union to organise social and networking events and activities that help to build a strong, cohesive PGR community within the University by coordinating community events for you, including induction events for new starters.
  • Develop an alumni network to promote the enhancement of both doctoral researcher development and the doctoral research experience.
  • To guide and support your personal, professional and academic development for the duration of the postgraduate research degree via the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme, strengthening your existing training and development as provided by your school and department.

Student Feedback and representation

We are committed to improving our services to Doctoral Researchers and welcome you to give feedback on any aspect of our provision directly by email: doctoralcollege@city.ac.uk. In addition, we have created a Doctoral College team site, where you can get to know your fellow researchers in an informal setting. Please note that based on feedback, this site is for Doctoral Researchers and Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) based within City St George’s, University of London only.

For more formal feedback requests, you can contact your doctoral research representative within your School, Department or Research Centre, in addition to speaking with your supervisor. Further, if you are interested in becoming a Doctoral Research representative, we encourage you to speak to your supervisor.

You are also encouraged to provide feedback on our provision through the biannual Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES), developed by the Higher Education Academy, and through the Research Student Development Group facilitated by the Students' Union.

Academic Regulations for Postgraduate Research Degrees

For detailed information on our Academic Regulations for Postgraduate Research Degrees, you can access the City's Quality Manual, which includes research degree provision for admissions, progress and assessment.

Research and Progress (RaP)

Research and Progress (RaP) is the institutional-wide tool to record, monitor and report on doctoral supervision and research progress across the institution. It has been developed in collaboration with Manchester University.

Research and Progress aims to:

  • ensure research students are meeting with their supervisors regularly
  • enable research students to manage their own personal and professional development
  • ensure consistency of practice across City St George’s, University of London
  • enhance City St George’s research student community
  • ensure compliance with relevant policy
  • improve research degree qualification rates

All written records of supervision meetings are expected to be retained in Research and Progress; supervisors (including external supervisors) and Doctoral Researchers are asked to discuss and agree on their joint responsibility in maintaining these records.

External supervisors are advised to discuss the requirements of Research and Progress with the institution's member of the supervisory team. Please contact the School/Department Research Administrator initially if you are unable to access the facility.

Additional Guidance

Research Manager

We are pleased to confirm the launch of phase one of our new system for doctoral researchers – Research Manager. Research Manager is a web-based system that is used to monitor and manage our doctoral researchers’ progress throughout their studies, and will succeed RaP, our current student progress platform.

Research Manager is launching in three phases – the first of which is training and development (the second and third phases, which deal with issues relating to progression and exams, will be launching next year)

Doctoral Researchers should now use Research Manager to access the University’s comprehensive researcher development programme which has been carefully mapped against The Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF) and aims to meet your needs at different stages in your research. You will be able to search for, identify and register for development opportunities that are being led and delivered by both academic staff within City St George’s as well as colleagues within Professional Services Teams i.e. Learning Enhancement and Development (LEaD) and research support via Library Services. The system also provides a space for you to work with your supervisors to create your bespoke Training Needs Analysis.

For the moment, you should continue to use RaP for issues such as progression monitoring, writing supervision meeting reports, approving interruptions of study, etc. We will let you know when those processes transfer to Research Manager.

You can access Research Manager here and training guides and videos can be found here.

Additional Resources and Support for Doctoral Researchers and Staff

Library Services for Researchers

Learn how to access full-text e-resources, search online bibliographic databases and meet your subject and research librarians.

Research support from Library Services

Prepare Your Research Grant Application - Worktribe

  • URL: https://city-research.worktribe.com
  • How to access: web browser + a VPN connection
  • Credentials: City St George’s email/password
  • How to get an account: refer to Worktribe Access Request on the Service Portal
  • How to report issues: Log an Incident - stating ‘Worktribe’

Apply for Ethics Approval - Research Ethics Monitor

Share Your Research Datasets - Figshare

Conduct Online Surveys - Qualtrics

CareersHub for Doctoral Researchers

(Further information is available directly from the CareersHub website www.careershub.city.ac.uk)

The Careers and Employability team is available to City Doctoral PhD Students, who wish to improve their employability, by:

  • Preparing or reviewing academic CVs and related job application documents
  • Preparing or reviewing non-academic CVs, cover letters, personal statements, etc
  • Career choice and planning, including the pros and cons of academic and non-academic careers, moving into a career outside academia/positioning yourself for transitioning out of academia - possible career pathways, making choices, describing transferable skills, etc
  • Interview skills
  • In addition, if you are interested in understanding psychometric testing, and what that entails , this link has further information: https://careershub.city.ac.uk/students/workflows/detail/46
  • If as part of the recruitment process, you need to take assessments, we have resources to explain the types of assessments on this link: https://careershub.city.ac.uk/students/workflows/detail/48
  • The Careers Hub has a large variety of resources to support you in the above, which can be accessed on the following direct link:  https://careershub.city.ac.uk/s/resources)

Lastly, I if you wish to make an appointment on our careers system CareersHub, for either a 20 minute CV appointments, please follow this link https://careershub.city.ac.uk/students/appointments/app/topic/50?siteId=1

Otherwise, 40 minute careers guidance appointments are also available: https://careershub.city.ac.uk/students/appointments/app/topic/76?siteId=1

Mental Health and Wellbeing Support for Doctoral Researchers

Feeling low, stressed, or lacking motivation on a short-term basis is a normal part of the Doctoral Researcher journey. Gaining a PhD is a huge milestone and achievement, but it can also be an isolating and exhausting experience. Common anxiety symptoms can range from an inability to concentrate, procrastination or a sense of dread with an increased inability to sleep. If however these low mental health periods become more prominent and increase in severity i.e. a prolonged feeling of sadness, ‘brain-fog', or life starts to feel empty, try not to ignore these feelings, even though they may appear scary and overwhelming. We take the mental health and wellbeing of our Doctoral Researchers seriously, and support is available at City St George’s to help you manage these emotions alongside your PhD programme.

The City, Student Counselling Team are offering confidential 30-minute online meetings in order to help you determine what support and resources you might wish to utilise, for example potentially having in-house counselling with a therapist. Further information on services available to you is available on the Student Counselling Team site (Link above).

In addition, The Student Academic Development and Student Wellbeing Team have a dedicated Moodle site which lists available services for Doctoral Researchers such as The Student Health Service, to academic and study skills support. In addition, the Wellbeing@City MS Team site is an online community of special interest groups ranging from The City Cycling Community, Develop@City as well as a Remote Working resource, all open to both Doctoral Researchers and Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs). Finally, as part of the Researcher Development Programme, the Doctoral College also has a collection of mental health and well-being courses which you can study at your own pace.

With so many different avenues of supports across the university, it might feel overwhelming to know where to begin. With this in mind, the Doctoral College has a dedicated member of staff to help you navigate, sign-post and ensure you get access to the support you need. Please contact the Doctoral College, if you would like to discuss further.

Additional resources can be found here:

Anxiety

Anxiety is experienced by everybody in different ways. For some, they become restless with an increase in heart rate or sweating. For others, there is a feeling of unease, panic attacks might be frequent or an overwhelming sense of fatigue. Not being able to pinpoint the exact cause can also add to the frustration and fear. Whether you have generalised anxiety, social anxiety or a specific phobia or concern, the following services are available at City St George’s to help manage this. Please ensure that you have registered with a GP before you contact the Student counselling service.

The Student Counselling or Mental Health Team

Togetherall (formally Big White Wall)

Togetherall is an online community of peer-to-peer support, in addition to providing you with a variety of self-help resources and short online courses, you can also join an online community via peer-to-peer support groups. Select the option 'I'm with a University' and enter your City St George’s university email address, you will then be prompted to create an anonymous name to be used throughout the site.

Depression

In its mildest form, depression can mean feeling low and lethargic or feeling miserable about life, but it doesn't prevent you from getting on with your day or completing tasks that you might need to finish. However, if the moods start interfering with your plans, the feelings of sadness are persistent or you find yourself withdrawing from family, friends or activities you once enjoyed, it could be a sign that you have depression. Speak to family, friends or contact the Student Counselling team, who can help you get the support you need. In addition, the following resources can also be useful:

The Student Counselling or Mental Health Team

NHS Moodzone has a useful self-assessment and diagnostics tool, as well as real-life stories to help you understand how you might be feeling.

Mind - for Better Mental Health has a really good overview of depression, and the different types of depression and well as providing guidance on treatment plans, self-care as well as resources for friends and family.

Relationships

If you are experiencing distressing issues in your close relationships with either friends, family or partner and you are unsure who to speak to, please contact the City St George’s Student Counselling team or the following organisations will be able to help:

The Student Counselling or Mental Health Team

Relate is UK's largest provider of relationship support and has helped people of all ages, backgrounds, sexual orientations and gender identities to strengthen their relationships. There is a free anonymous 24/7 confidential counselling service, which you can access either on live chat, text, email or via zoom. In addition, therapists are on hand to talk through concerns about domestic violence, sexual abuse or how to help manage difficult relationships. For Doctoral Researcher estranged from family, the organisation Stand Alone is a fantastic resource, which offers group support.

Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs)

For Doctoral Researchers who are GTAs, in addition to all the resources discussed above, you are also able to utilise services and support from the City St George’s, Care First programme. You can find a schedule of weekly webinars and activities listed in the staff hub pages under HR. However, Care First are currently also communicating the weekly offerings on the dedicated 'Wellbeing@City MS Team Site (under the Mental Health Channel).

Merging City and St George’s Resources

As we bring together resources for City (Clerkenwell) and St George’s (Tooting) students, some content may be specific to one campus and not the other. For the most relevant information, try using specific keywords or exploring content related to your department. If you need help, our support teams are available to guide you.

Clerkenwell students can contact campus.news@citystgeorges.ac.uk
Tooting students can contact studentlifecentre@sgul.ac.uk.