The document also makes explicit how a strategy for doctoral education is influenced by and works with UCL's other central strategies, for example the Research Strategy, Global Engagement Strategy and Innovation & Enterprise Strategy 2016-2021, all under the auspices of UCL 2034, the overarching institutional strategy for UCL.
Research Staff Development Strategy
The Doctoral School also oversees the development and implementation of UCL's strategy for postdoctoral research staff. The strategy outlines the vision for supporting the development of research staff in their current roles, and how we seek to prepare staff for their future careers in research roles globally.
Research Staff Development Strategy
Faculty Doctoral Strategies
Each Faculty at UCL also provides a strategy for its own doctoral cohort, addressing the realities of doctoral research in their disciplines and articulating the distinctiveness of the Faculty's doctoral training environment. An executive summary of each Faculty's Strategy can be found below, together with examples of good/best practice.
* Currently being prepared
The Annual Doctoral Planning Process
The Doctoral School is tasked with ensuring the alignment of individual Faculty Strategies for their doctoral cohorts with UCL 2034 and the institutional level Doctoral Strategy above. An annual Doctoral Planning Process has been instituted to manage this, and sees reports submitted by the Faculty Deans commenting on and providing evidence of how the Faculties' strategies align with the central strategies. The reports specifically ask Faculties to reflect on their current position and to detail their plans for future strategic direction, operations and enhancements. The reports include a basket of key performance indicators and assist in ensuring alignment to UCL's research strategy and maximising good practice in provision for doctoral students.
The Doctoral Planning Process is overseen by the Researcher Training Strategy Committee which provides the Faculty with detailed feedback on their plans, and meets individually with each Faculty Graduate Tutor and Faculty Manager to discuss issues that arise and to assist them in their implementation of advances and enhancements for the future. The Doctoral Training Strategy Committee is chaired by the Pro-Vice-Provost of the Doctoral School and features senior academic staff membership from each of UCL's four Schools, senior staff from the Doctoral School and the Office of the Vice-Provost Research, and research student representation.
The Doctoral Training Strategy Committee's role is also to monitor reports from UCL DTP/CDTs, as well as hosting meetings of the Directors of these programmes to share best strategic and operational practice and encourage cross-disciplinary fertilisation of ideas and developments. The committee also monitors research student related service provision by key UCL Professional Services Departments (for example, UCL Arena Centre, ISD, HR, Careers, Student and Registry Services).
The Doctoral Training Strategy Committee also provides a forum for discussing the internal and external context in which UCL's doctoral provision sits to ensure that UCL is responsive to national and international developments. UCL's input via various national and international bodies (for example Vitae, LERU, House of Lords Select Committees) also ensures that UCL has direct input into leading thinking around doctoral education.
