Research student training in Aberdeen

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The School of Law's own training programme

Each research student, upon commencement of their research degree, receives a copy of the Law School’s Information for Research Students Handbook. The Handbook sets out the practical and academic arrangements in place for research students.

All students receive training in core generic skills by attending the compulsory Core Skills for Research Students course, which commences in the first complete semester of the students' degree programme. The course is intended to develop the core skills necessary for students to complete a successful programme of research in law, to provide a forum where students may discuss reserach issues of common interest, and to prepare and assess students for progression to the advanced stages of their study. This comprises 6 two-hour seminars covering topics including: an introduction to being a research student in the Law School; information strategy and sources; the nature of a thesis; legal research methods; planning and time management; managing the student-supervisor relationship; writing skills; citation, referencing and plagiarism; and presentation skills. At the end of the course, a postgraduate research student conference takes place, at which all research students are required to give a presentation. Students who have completed the Core Skills course earlier in the year are required to present at the conference and then to submit a capstone paper for assessment. The course is compulsory for all students and must be followed on campus at Aberdeen.

Subject specific skills are developed in conjunction with the research student’s supervisory team: all students in the Law School have two supervisors. Research students are welcome to draw on the full range of expertise within the 40+ full-time academic staff of the Law School if they need subject specific advice outside the expertise of their supervisors. In addition, research students are generally welcome to take any of the taught courses offered by the Law School, subject to the number of students already registered for the course and the approval of the course co-ordinator.

Research student training is supported by the Director of the Research Student Training Programme, Dr Catherine Ng, and research students are encouraged to discuss with her as well as their supervisors any training needs they have that are not covered by the programmes presently on offer.

The Law School is part of a wider community for legal research training.  Aberdeen law researchers are invited through the Law School to attend external courses from time to time.  Invitations for these courses as well as for other training opportunities within the University (please see below) are circulated to research students and are posted on their internal website.  Funding for attending some of these courses may be available; information regarding funding opportunities is also posted on the internal website.

Other training opportunities within the University

In addition to the above, research students in law are welcome to take advantage of further research training opportunities offered elsewhere within the University of Aberdeen.

Every October, the College of Arts and Social Sciences (of which the Law School is part) runs information sessions for new research students, covering information about the University and the research degree process and allowing students studying within the College to get to know each other. The College also supports an annual postgraduate conference bringing together a range of different disciplines, including law: for more information, click here.

The University’s Skills for Research Excellence (SfRE) programme offers courses in a variety of generic skills. SfRE has been specially designed to offer research students training opportunities with the aim of helping them complete their project successfully and on-time, and of enhancing their employability once they graduate. For more information, click here.

The University of Aberdeen Language Centre offers language classes at a variety of levels and courses on Academic Writing and Communication Skills for students whose first language is not English. For details, click here.

The University of Aberdeen’s Directorate of Information Systems and Services offers courses in software packages including Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint and RefWorks. For details, click here.