Research Training Provision
Here you will find a summary of training opportunities provided for MPhil/PhD students provided both across SOAS and at other institutions.
Table of Contents
- Academic Development Directorate
- Arts and Humanities Faculty
- Languages and Cultures Faculty
- Law and Social Sciences Faculty
- Careers Service
- Bloomsbury Postgraduate Skills Network
- Doctoral Training Centres and other opportunities
- Library & IT
- IFCELS
Academic Development Directorate
- Research Skills Trainer/Coordinator: Yenn Lee
- Courses/Workshops for research students
- All-in-one MPhil Training Day
- MPhil Core Chapter Writing
- Writing and Editing a PhD Thesis
- Literature Review
- Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis (Term 2)
- Academic Teaching Development, accredited by HEA
- GTA Training Course
- Professional Development to Higher Education Programme
- Study Skills workshops for all students
- One-to-one tutorials by appointment
Arts & Humanities Faculty
Department-specific training:
Anthropology & Sociology
- Research Tutor: Stephen Hughes
- Mandatory for MPhils: the Research Training Seminar and Research Methods
- MA Media Production Skills course doubles as an MPhil training option
- Further information: degree page and degree handbook
History
- Research Tutor: Konrad Hirschler
- Mandatory for MPhils: the Methodology Seminar for 2 terms (Mon 9-11), the Regional Research Seminar, and one Generic Research Skills seminar
- Further information: degree page and degree handbook
History of Art & Archaeology
- Research Tutor: Elizabeth Moore
- The Research Skills Course for MPhils in Term 1
- Research Seminars & Events
- Further information: degree page
Media & Film Studies
- Research Tutor: Annabelle Sreberny
- Weekly research training seminars for MPhils on Mon 5-7
- Weekly research seminars on Wed 5-7 (schedule available online)
- Methods course for MAs and MPhils on Wed 3-5
- Further information: degree page
Music
- Research Tutor: Richard Widdess
- Research training course on alternate Tue at 5:15
- Public research seminars in the other weeks
- Research students allowed to attend master’s Analysing World Music in Term 2
- Further information: degree page
Study of Religions
- Research Tutor: Catherine Hezser
- MPhil Research Writing Workshop throughout the year
- 3rd-year PhD students give presentations to the Research Student Seminar
- All research students invited to the Departmental Seminar
- All research students urged to attend MA Methods and Theory course
- Further information: degree page
Languages & Cultures Faculty
Faculty-wide training:
- Mandatory research training seminars on Tue 5-7 (except for Linguistics students)
Department-specific training:
Africa
- Research Tutor: Kai Easton
- 2 termly seminars and 1 mini-conference in the course of an academic year (in collaboration with Research Tutor Amina Yaqin)
- Students encouraged to attend research training in the Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies (CCLPS) as well as seminars and conferences in and beyond the School
- Further information: degree page
China and Inner Asia
- Research Tutor: Xiaoning Lu
- Mandatory Postgraduate Research Training Seminar on Tuesdays 5-7pm
- PhD students give presentations to the Department Research Seminar and all research students are invited
- All research students encouraged to attend seminars organised by the Centre of Chinese Studies
- Further information: degree page
Cultural, Literary & Postcolonial Studies
- Research Tutor: Stephen Dodd
- The CCLPS MPhil/PhD Research Training Seminar on Wed 1-3pm in Terms 1 and 2 – i.e. MPhil training on alternate Wed and PhD students’ Critical Forum in the other weeks
- Further information: degree page
Japan & Korea
- Research Tutor: Anders Karlsson
- Faculty-wide training provided
- Further information: degree page
Linguistics
- Research Tutor: Peter Austin
- MPhil Research Training Seminars on Wed 3-5
- Further information: degree page
Near & Middle East
- Research Tutor: Marlé Hammond
- Faculty-wide training provided
- Further information: degree page
South Asia
- Research Tutor: Amina Yaqin
- Faculty-wide training provided
- Further information: degree page
South East Asia
- Research Tutor: Amina Yaqin
- Faculty-wide training provided
- Further information: degree page
Law & Social Sciences Faculty
Faculty-wide training:
- Mandatory ethics training (also offered to Bloomsbury DTC)
- Ethics and safety in fieldwork
- Ethics of representation and archival work
- Quantitative Methods course for MPhil students from all faculties
Department-specific training:
Development Studies
- Research Tutor: Carlos Oya
- Mandatory PG Research Training Seminar (a structured methodology course) on Tue 3-5
- Further information: degree page and degree handbook
Economics
- Research Tutor: Ben Fine
- Research Students Seminar
- Further information: degree page
International Development Pathway
(shared between Development Studies and Economics)
- Compulsory LIDC seminar series
- Compulsory departmental PG research training of either Development Studies or Economics
- Its own additional training course Battlefields of Methods: compulsory for MSc Research for International Development students and strongly recommended for other MPhil/PhD students
- Further information: degree page
Financial & Management Studies
- Research Tutor: Ciaran Driver
- Students take various Quantitative Methods courses at MSc level
- Individual tuition on Advanced Topics in Finance & Management and two research forums
- Further information: degree page and degree handbook
Gender Studies
- Research Tutor: Gina Heathcote
- Methodologies & Methods seminars in Terms 1, 2 & 3
- Gender Studies Seminar Series
- Further information: degree page
Global Studies
- Research Tutor: Dan Plesch
- Two one-term courses provided by CISD:
- Specialised training on research methods for Global Studies
- Generic training on the philosophy and methods of social sciences research
- Further training provided on a case-by-case basis with departmental and faculty input
- Further information: degree page
Law
- Research Tutor: Philippe Cullet
- Research Methods in Law [PG Research Training Seminar]
- Further information: degree page and student information guide
Politics & International Studies
- Research Tutor: Matthew Nelson
- Politics MPhil Methods on Thu 3-5 in Term 1, MPhil Research Seminar in Term 2, and Politics MPhil Conference in Term 3
- Further information: degree page and degree handbook
Careers Service
- Careers Consultant (PhD and Early Career Researchers): Jana Dankovicova
- One-to-one 30-minute consultations – career planning, CVs and applications, mock interviews, etc.
- ECR Workshops in 2012/13 include:
- Academic career planning
- Non-academic CVs and applications
- Job interview skills
- Networking skills
Presentation skills - Managing time and professional relationships
- Creating impact with one’s research
- Raising one’s profile with social media
- Social enterprise
- Consultancy work
- Many events with employers and alumni
- Further information: Early Career Researchers
Bloomsbury Postgraduate Skills Network
- Variety of training courses for research students across different institutions
- Participating institutions:
- University College London
- Birkbeck
- Institute of Education
- London School of Economics
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- School of Advanced Study
- SOAS
- Royal Veterinary College
- The BPSN reserves the right to charge a cancellation fee of £50 where a student does not attend a course without giving 2 working days' notice.
- Place can be limited so book early
- Further information: BPSN website
Doctoral Training Centres and other opportunities
- Bloomsbury DTC for the Social Sciences
- Institute of Education, Birkbeck, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and SOAS
- Advanced training courses on research methods and data analysis techniques
- e.g. Data reduction and latent variable models, critical discourse analysis, the use of comparative methods
- Free for our DTC and ESRC-funded students and £30 per day for other students
- Information on Research Methods Training Courses and Events held at other Higher Education institutions (including other DTCs) aggregated at National Centre for Research Methods
Library & IT
- Training for using library resources
- Research Support Coordinator: Huei-Lan Liu
- Subject librarians (and their blog)
- One-to-one or small group training can be arranged
- IT Workshops
- Topics covered in Term 1: MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, Photoshop & Scanning, and Zotero
- Training for printer/photocopier use also offered at the beginning of the term
IFCELS
- In-sessional Academic English Support for international students at all levels
- Relevant courses include:
- Research Reading
- Preparing and Writing Dissertations (for a taught programme)
- Grammar Improvement
- Seminar Skills
- One-to-one support available but places limited
- Further information: IFCELS
