Training and Development

Three students sat around a table in a classroom chatting together

At Salford we are passionate about providing inclusive and accessible training opportunities for our postgraduate students, to enable you to develop professionally and personally during your studies. 

COMPASS

Our Community Model for Postgraduate Achievement, Skills and Future Success (COMPASS) is a training programme designed to support and guide researchers through their research journey by providing an extensive range of development activities which:

  • Build confidence, capability and encourage collaborations through bespoke cohort based and community driven training
  • Develop the skills needed for effective research
  • Provide transferable skills to enhance employability
  • Support thesis writing and the submission process
  • Expose students to the wider professional research environment through conferences and dissemination.

The COMPASS programme is continually reviewed and enhanced to fit around student's core research activity and is tailored to specific researcher requirements.

How the COMPASS training programme complements research activity

Focused

The training is focused on postgraduate researcher development and the specific needs of researchers. All of our training sessions are delivered from a dedicated training room, via a hybrid model to enable engagement both online and in person. Our cohort model provides opportunities for researchers across Schools to meet other researchers, exchange ideas and take the time to focus on your professional development.

Informative

The programme guides you through some of the essential and important information related to your PGR programme and training development. Our cohort induction sessions are complemented with a wide variety of activities across a range of relevant topics to help you engage with a training programme tailored for your own needs. Part time and distance learners have access to online interactive asynchronous material which can be accessed at any time. Our comprehensive resources therefore provide:

  • Training that’s on demand, when and where you need it
  • Flexible learning that can be used to help you decide if further training and one-to-one support is needed
  • Open and accessible materials that will signpost you to further or related resources to continue your development.

Timely

The schedule of training is reviewed and refreshed each academic year and designed to coincide with and support your researcher journey.

The cohort-based training sessions are planned to take place in three-monthly cycles to complement the points of registration/re-registration and help you to navigate the progress milestones at these critical times.

Researcher development sessions that are focused on a particular theme such as research skills, communication or thesis development are also repeated multiple times throughout the year to support engagement.

We also offer an extensive range of online support, available at any time, as well as face to face workshops and one to one support.

Contact us

For more information on our PGR student training opportunities, please contact the Researcher Development team at researcher@salford.ac.uk