Personal Development and Employability

Grow personally and professionally at Newcastle

It takes more than academic knowledge to succeed as a researcher. To reach your potential, it’s essential to develop your personal qualities and transferable skills too.

Cultivating your creativity, ability to engage the public, team working and time management isn’t just important for your doctorate. These skills will also set you up to achieve your career goals.

Whether you’re headed for academia or elsewhere, your future employers will have high expectations. They'll want you to show advanced skills beyond an in-depth knowledge of your field.

Boost your performance and career prospects

We've aligned all workshops and activities in your Doctoral College programme with the Researcher Development Framework (RDF). 

This means they’re designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge to carry out outstanding research. By honing essential transferable skills, they’ll help maximise your career development too. 

Pick and choose activities that meet your specific needs to create your tailored personal development programme.

How to plan your personal development

Step one: Carry out a skills audit

Go to the Training Needs Analysis (TNA) section in NU Reflect via the Progress tab. Here you’ll find a skills audit tutorial to guide you through the process. Your task is to assess where you are right now against the Researcher Development Framework.

Take this step early in your research degree programme. Be sure to involve your supervisory team, who can give you expert advice on priority skills.

Step two: Choose the best workshops, activities and events to meet your needs

Found some gaps in your skillset? The TNA section of the ePortfolio will suggest upcoming activities to help you develop the skills you need.