PhD Stage
Information about years 2-4 of the CDT programme.
Following the MSc by Research year, you will spend three years working on a PhD research project, under the guidance of your primary supervisor and one or more co-supervisors.
Compulsory Milestones for PhD Students
During your PhD years, you are required to follow the PhD regulations set out by the School of Informatics, College and University.
You are expected to deposit your Data Management Plan on the online DMP portal in month 4-5 of your 1st PhD year.
Writing a DMP will help you improve your data management practices and ascertain how to organise and publish your code & data so that it is maximally accessible. It is useful for others as it allows them to more easily reproduce and build on your research. It is also useful to you, or future you, as it makes it easier to get back into things e.g. after a longer paper review period, or just a break.
The University’s Research Data Service can provide support on preparing a DMP, as well as a variety of other services, tools and training to help you effectively manage and share data produced or re-used in your research project.
Training sessions on research data management and DMP are held in the CDT every year. Slides for last year’s session can be accessed here.
Every year you will have a formal annual review meeting with your supervisory team and an external chair and will be required to complete an online annual review form:
Annual progression reviews provide a formal record of how the research project and thesis are going and recognition of your achievements. They also offer a structured opportunity to discuss your professional development and career aims, and identify any training needs.
Whilst they are part of a formal University monitoring process and confirm your formal progression into next year of the PhD, their main objective is to ensure you receive enough support in your studies and make plans for the next stages of your research and training.
(1) Prepare an annual review report detailing your PhD progress to date.
Any specific requirements for the content should be agreed with your supervisory team. Here are general guidelines on what an annual report in Informatics usually contains, with some examples.
- The CDT has one extra requirement: the report must include a section on responsible research and innovation in relation to your PhD project. See more information on preparing the RRI section:
(2) Complete the online annual review form. See guidance on completing the form here. Don’t forget to attach the report document to the form.
Please note the information provided in the annual review form will be visible to Academic and Administrative staff on your student EUCLID record. Any information that you don't want to be viewed here should be communicated another way to the relevant people by email or in person.
(3) The primary supervisor will convene a review panel consisting of the supervisory team and at least one independent member.
Normally the review will begin with an oral presentation by the student, briefly outlining what is in the report, which the reviewers are expected to have read beforehand. This will be followed by questions and discussion.
There should then be a private discussion among the panel members, to agree on what feedback and recommendations should be given. The panel will provide written feedback to the student.
The independent member of the panel must also meet with the student without the supervisors present for the student to discuss their take on her progress so far and to provide an opportunity for the student to raise any issues they wish confidentially.
If the panel identifies concerns about your progress following the review, then it can recommend several different ways forward: see information on possible outcomes here.
- If there are additional annual review arrangements in your lab or institute, such as presentation to the lab, you should follow those as well, to ensure alignment with your team.
(4) After the review meeting, the primary supervisor and assistant supervisor(s) complete their part of the online annual review form.
(5) The form will be returned to you, so that you can review your supervisors’ comments and add any final notes if needed.
After that, the form will be passed on to the CDT and IGS Postgraduate Director for final sign-off.
The annual review process must be completed by the end of month 12 of each PhD year. If you think you will have to go beyond the 12-month deadline please let us know.
Further information:
- Year timelines: IGS guidance on annual review and other PhD activities by year
- Annual review: guidance on completing the online annual review forms for students and supervisors
Other responsibilities
As CDT students, you have a number of specific responsibilities set out by our funding body, UKRI, which are particularly relevant in your PhD years:
PhD Training
Throughout your PhD years, you will be expected to complete bespoke training courses organised by the CDT and continue taking part in all CDT-related events and other activities. You will also be expected to undertake public engagement activities to raise public awareness and interest in your research domain.
See the CDT Calendar for up-to-date schedule of CDT training activities and seminars.
In addition to CDT-organised activities, there is a wide variety of workshops, training and other events offered by different University services.
The IAD offers a range of training and support for researchers completing a PhD:
- skills training courses and events for doctoral researchers
- advice and training suggestions aimed at different stages of your PhD
- Information and advice on how to plan your career and develop the skills you will need now and in the future
… and many, many others. See IAD website for full list of available courses and other support on offer:
The Doctoral College supports and enhances the postgraduate research student experience in a number of different ways:
- By bringing together staff from across the University who work with PGR students to work collaboratively and share practice
- By coordinating training, support, events and opportunities for PGRs
- By representing postgraduate research at University–level committees and groups
- By supporting and enhancing PGR student representation structures and voice
Training
The IAD offers a wide variety of workshops on public engagement and communication skills throughout the year:
Toolkits and Guidance
- Outreach & Public Engagement – School of Informatics support pages
- National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement
- Beltane public engagement network - Online Toolbox
- Best Practice for community engagement – Edinburgh Local advice
Opportunities
- CSE Public Engagement mailing list – regular newsletter highlighting upcoming public engagement opportunities
- Public Engagement activities at CSE
- Widening Participating projects at UoE – get involved
- Engagement with local communities for UoE students and staff
- I’m A Scientist Get Me Out Of Here
- STEM Ambassador programme
EI is the University’s commercialisation service. They offer a range of events, courses and support for students interested in improving their business skills and developing their startup ideas.
The University runs a self-enrolment Introduction to Research Integrity course on Learn, open to staff and students, which is collection of short videos and materials on common integrity issues researchers might encounter. To access this, log on to Learn via the MyEd portal and search for the course "Research Integrity" within the self-enrolment options.
There is also Global Research Ethics and Integrity online course (GREIM). The programme is a joint project of members of Universitas 21, an international network of universities in 12 countries, which seeks to engage postgraduate students in considerations of ethical issues in a global context.
MANTRA is a self-paced online course covering the essentials of research data management. It is designed for doctoral students and other researchers. The course is open access and hosted online by the University Data Library.
See also:
- CDT Student Calendar which links to CDT-organised activities and external events that might be of interest to you