The purpose of this module is for students to enhance their professional development through participation in a range of research-related activities including attendance at research seminars, journal clubs, conference presentation, membership of research related University committees (e.g. departmental research committees, research ethics committees).

This will be a student-centred module, guided by the research supervisory team. Students will maintain a portfolio of these activities, including documentation of the activities and reflective work reviewing the different experiences. This will be a student-centred module, guided by regular meetings with the research supervisory team. It will consist of a mix of the following activities: Research seminars and journal clubs: Students should attend at least 10 research seminars / presentations / journal club meetings. These should ideally be a mix of departmental staff and student presentations, and visiting speaker presentations. Attendance at departmental research seminars or visiting speaker programmes will require documentation from the speaker programme organiser, and the student will be expected to write a critical review of each speaker's presentation and include this in their portfolio. Students will normally be expected to undertake one local (UL department or faculty level) presentation during their Ph.D. Slides / notes from this should be included in their portfolio. Where these are available, students will be expected to attend and act as presenter at least once to journal clubs. Where this occurs, attendance should be recorded. Up to 5 of the 10 required attendances can be at journal clubs where available. Conferences: Students would also be expected to attend at least one research conference. They would be expected to write a full report on the conference(s). This should include a listing of all sessions attended, and a detailed synopsis of those that are most relevant. The report should also list important contacts made, and provide reflection of how the knowledge gained at the conference will be employed in the student's research project. Students would also normally be expected to present their own results to a research conference (or to a sponsor where results are embargoed for commercial reasons). The slides and notes from this should be included in the portfolio. Conference and journal refereeing: Where appropriate, students might also provide evidence of engagement in the journal review process; this might be as reviewer of a paper, or as an abstract reviewer for a conference. Submission of Portfolio: At the end of a module a portfolio documenting the above activities will be submitted to the Ph.D. supervisory team. The lead supervisor will sign to indicate approval, and the portfolio will be passed to the Ph.D. programme co-ordinator for final approval.

By the end of this module the student will be able to: Exhibit a wide knowledge of research outside that of their chosen research topic. Understand and reflect on research presentations, and be able to formulate questions on the presentations. Critically evaluate research papers, and be able to contribute to discussions on the relative impact and competency of published research. Present their own research effectively in different ways, including oral presentation in research seminars and conferences, and the preparation of poster presentations.

Develop and maintain a positive working relationship with supervisor and colleagues. Understand the impact and relevance of their own research.

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