Skills & training
Formal Training
Your academic supervisors will provide the personalised training you need to develop your thesis and enhance your research skills. However, we provide numerous additional research and training opportunities at King’s. For instance, in your first year, you will undertake a series of assessed courses that are relevant to your project and run by specialists. These will be crucial to your path through the programme. At College level, there is a formal researcher development programme. King’s also leads a nationally funded Doctoral Training Partnership with Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London – the London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (LISS-DTP) – which provides a range of additional training courses and events.
Preparing to teach
Our “preparing to teach” course is a valuable training opportunity that we expect every PhD student to take. If you complete this course successfully, you’ll then have the opportunity to run seminars, give lectures and assess coursework for undergraduate students. And you’ll be paid to teach, so it can help towards your living costs. If your goal is to take an academic post after you graduate, you’ll find it reassuring to know that many of our faculty members are King’s PhD alumni. We think this alone shows our confidence in the quality of our graduates. However, teaching is a useful development opportunity for all kinds of careers, as it demands that you command your discipline, improve a whole host of communication skills and refine your problem solving.
Supporting you
At King’s, we know that success doesn’t depend on academic performance alone. To contribute to your field, you need to be resilient, creative and innovative. So, we encourage you to use our career and researcher development services to conquer your weaknesses.
The King’s Centre for Doctoral Studies has specialist careers advisers dedicated to supporting PhD students. We also run skills sessions and hold career fairs and boost your employability. Our funding for international conferences also gives you the chance to present your research findings to the world’s best in your field, get your name known and join academic networks linked to your subject.
My PhD has been instrumental in providing rigorous training and practice in various research methods that I utilise regularly whilst the experience of articulating a unique contribution to knowledge through my PhD remains invaluable when crafting and presenting research insights... Completing my PhD at King’s was particularly beneficial in terms of providing access to unparalleled expertise in my field of study and creating an excellent professional and collegial network during my studies and thereafter.