The university is one of only 21 national ESRC accredited Doctoral Training Centres which support postgraduate training to help ensure the flow of highly qualified people into research careers. The centre supports the doctoral training programme provided by the College of Social Sciences which aims to provide students with a solid foundation in a broad range of social science research methods as well as basic research skills.
Students will acquire a general overview of the philosophy of social research and understand how this informs research design, methods of data collection and analysis. They will also develop an ability to use a range of research methods, to communicate research findings effectively and an understanding of the potential use of and impact of their research within and beyond academia.
All full-time PhD students are required to attend the three core research training modules and to submit assignments for assessment. Part time students are not required to submit research module assignments although they may choose to do so.
The three core research modules are:
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Introduction to Social Science Research
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Research Design in Social Science
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Social Research Methods
Support and Development
As well as the support provided by your supervisor(s), the Midlands Graduate school webpages details support provided by the University of Birmingham in collaboration with the University of Nottingham and Warwick Social Sceinces Doctoral Training Centre.
The Careers and Employability Centre (CEC) within the university has dedicated career development resources for PGRs. In addition, the College of Social Sciences works closely with CEC to provide more tailored opportunities.
Facilities
All full-time postgraduate research students have access to their own workspace in the ‘Research Suite’ of rooms dedicated to research students, where there are computer and telephone facilities. They have access to the University’s libraries, including a dedicated education library and to the computer laboratories. There are other entitlements such as grants towards conference attendance and access t free photocopying and printing. Many research students work with supervisors in publishing articles and making their work public.