NTU Doctoral

About NTU Doctoral

Who are we?

NTU Doctoral is responsible for providing doctoral candidates with training and development, facilitating the doctoral research community, and managing research degrees governance to not only ensure consistency in the doctoral experience across all academic Schools and programmes but to provide our PGR with a thriving research culture that values innovation, responsible research, and wellbeing.

NTU Doctoral is a part of the Directorate of Research Culture and Environment, and we are responsible for ensuring doctoral candidates are part of the wider NTU research community. We work alongside colleagues across the university, such as Researcher Development and the Open Research team, to offer a broad spectrum of doctoral education opportunities, resources, and support.

What do we do?

NTU Doctoral is our dedicated PGR team, and our three core areas are Doctoral Education and Development, Research Community, and Governance. You can learn more about each area below, but some of the key things we offer are:

• The Doctoral Education, Training and Development programme
• Supervisor training
• Supporting Doctoral Training Programmes
• Research Community events
• Doctoral Communications
• PGR Networks
• Doctoral Governance and Regulations
• Complaints and Appeals

Other support

For support with degree management, the PGR Dashboard, or other matters such as Thesis Submission, you can contact the PGR Administration team in Academic Registry at PGR.DoctoralAdmin@ntu.ac.uk. For support with everything from managing your NTU Smart Card to fee payments, you can visit the Ask NTU Hubs, email enquiries@ntu.ac.uk or phone 0115 848 2999.

For circumstances relating to your academic School – such as teaching, workspaces and equipment, and appointment of supervisors – you can contact your Director of Doctoral Programmes (details below).

Doctoral Education

Doctoral Education includes everything from the specialised knowledge a PGR gains during the course of their doctoral research, to the development of professional skills such as public speaking and the ability to be an engaged, responsible researcher regardless of discipline.

We provide the Doctoral Education, Training and Development programme (DETD), a discipline-agnostic series of workshops and seminars to support all NTU PGR at the various stages of their doctoral degree. Developed and facilitated by Dr Sherran Clarence, Senior Lecturer in Doctoral Education and Development, the DETD Programme runs annually and includes both in-person and online sessions on everything from submitting your Project Approval to research methods and analysis.

If you would like to discuss your doctoral development, have concerns about your progress, or would like guidance on your development needs you can request a 1-to-1 meeting with Sherran.

Community

NTU Doctoral is responsible for facilitating an interdisciplinary doctoral research community that connects candidates across campuses, schools and modes of study. Each term we provide a series of community-based events, which span from research-sharing focused sessions like Works in Progress to social gatherings focused on connection and wellbeing. As part of our Community offer we also run the annual NTU Doctoral Conference, where PGRs can present their work to their peers, and the NTU PGR Event Fund, which awards funding for PGR led events.

NTU Doctoral provides regular communications and updates for PGR by email, the PGR Community Board and via our social media channels. Our Instagram provides updates on events and socials, as well as sharing posts from PGR and other NTU accounts, and our LinkedIn group is dedicated to highlighting and celebrating the successes of our community.

The community and culture aspect of our doctoral offer is managed by Dr Lauren Nixon. If you would like to discuss developing your researcher profile, for support on communicating your research or recruiting participants, or would like guidance on your development needs you can request a 1-to-1 meeting with Lauren.

Governance

A less visible but crucial part of our remit is the governance and regulations relating to research degrees at NTU. NTU Doctoral works with colleagues in Academic Registry and the Academic Schools to ensure that all doctoral candidates receive fair, equitable treatment according to the regulations as part of the University Research Degrees Progression Boards and the University Research Degrees Committee.

You can also find a full overview of all guidance and conditions for doctoral study in the Research Degrees Handbook. You will also find links to the relevant policies and guidance for various processes throughout the Doctoral Hub, but all policies are stored in the Document Library.

NTU Doctoral and the Academic Schools

NTU Doctoral works alongside the Academic Schools on everything from progression and monitoring points, providing doctoral development and community, and research degrees governance, your academic School is responsible for any subject-specific training, providing resources (if available) and support within the School.

Each school had a Director of Doctoral Programmes (DDP), who oversees the doctoral candidates and supervisors within their School, creates a research environment, and sits on the School Research Degrees Committee. If you want to discuss a challenge your facing with your project, enquire about discipline specific training or funding opportunities, seek advice on navigating the supervisory relationship etc., then your DDP is there to support you.

The Directors of Doctoral Programmes are:

• School of Arts and Humanities – Gill Allwood
• School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment – Ana Souto
• School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences – Richard Yarnell
• Nottingham School of Art & Design – Kevin Hunt
• Nottingham Business School – Chunping Liu
• Nottingham Law School – Helen Hall
• School of Social Sciences – Verity Aiken
• School of Science and Technology – Cleveland Barnett