NINE DTP funding is available for our awards holders to create a personalised training experience. Candidates can attend our programme of events, apply for small grants to attend and engage in external training opportunities, or even create or propose events of their own devising.
Define your research training programme
Create a personalised research training experience
NINE DTP award-holders have the opportunity to create and shape their own training experience during their PhD.
We offer a rich and diverse set of training opportunities through the DTP. Training is offered through a number of different modes:
- NINE DTP Autumn Conference and Summer School. These are typically 3-4 day events, offered in November and June respectively, on one or more of the NINE DTP campuses and bring together all of the NINE DTP students from the seven partner institutions for a comprehensive programme covering everything from conceptual questions in the social sciences to strategies for professional development. All costs for attendance by NINE DTP students are covered by the DTP
- Short courses on personal and professional development and research communication. NINE DTP works with outside experts to teach short (usually 2-4-hour) courses on a range of topics that our research postgraduates have recognised as meeting professional needs. Most of these courses are taught in online or hybrid format, so they’re easily accessible to students from across the DTP. Some of the topics covered in recent years include:
- Time Management
- Networking
- Building confidence and resilience
- Preparing your CV
- Preparing for academic and non-academic interviews
- Presentation Skills
- Developing podcasts
- Writing for non-academic audiences
- Influencing policy
- Achieving impact
- Learning to work collaboratively (this is a 6-part course that is required for students in collaborative PhD programmes and optional for others)
- Multi-day specialised courses led by NINE DTP academic staff. These are courses on topics that cut across pathway specialisations. They are typically taught in-person and run for 1-3 days. In-person attendance by NINE DTP students is covered by the DTP. On a space available basis, students from beyond the DTP or its institutions may be able to attend for a fee. Some of the courses offered in recent years include:
- Writing Across Boundaries
- Visual Methodologies
- International Fieldwork in Development Contexts
- Participatory Action Research
If you don’t see what you’re looking for on the NINE DTP calendar, there are three other sources you should explore:
RTSG
Use your RTSG to attend external research training events, conferences and workshops
Find out moreInternships and Placements
Internships and Placements may form an integral part of your training experience
Find out moreStudent Led or Suggested Events
Create or Suggest your ideas for new research-related Training Events
NINE DTP welcomes suggestions from our award-holders around the kind of events they would like to see run. We are particularly keen to encourage and support student-led events.
These events can be for internal or external audiences, for DTP students or the wider PGR community.
All award-holders are invited to submit applications for funding to run their own events, or to recruit trainers to lead training courses. Simply complete this form and submit it to the DTP at least two months in advance of the events expected date.
Student-led Events
Submit an application to seek funding to support a student-led training event
Download formDevelopment Needs Analysis
- Knowledge and Intellectual Abilities
- Professional Effectiveness
- Research Governance and Organisation
- Engagement, Influence and Impact
The outcomes of this exercise are analysed on an institutional, pathway and overall DTP level, with the NINE DTP Director reporting the findings to the Academic Quality Committee. The ESRC also review individual responses, to ensure the exercise is being completed effectively and the training needs of our students are being identified and addressed appropriately within our remit.
We encourage our award-holders to engage with the process, and to use it to shape their own research training experience in conjunction with their supervisors.