Skills and Knowledge Self-assessment: Doctoral Researchers

INTRODUCTION This template is designed to help you evaluate your own skills and knowledge, identify what strengths you have, and what areas you may need to develop. You may find this particularly helpful to do at the early stages of your PhD, particularly if you have entered your PhD straight from a taught qualification, and have little experience outside of studying within a University. t is !ased around the skills categories defined in our "kills #uide for Doctoral $esearchers. You may therefore wish to have a copy to hand to refer to. %s well as the "kills #uide, you may wish to gather any additional supporting information availa!le to you regarding the skills required for your current role. t may !e helpful to use your pro&ect plan, and any other documents that outline what you are required to do i.e. tutorial plans, if you are teaching. HO DO I ST!RT" 'irst, it is important to do some preparatory work. There are many reasons why you might want to review what you know and what you can do( early on in your pro&ect when you need to ensure you have all the knowledge and skills necessary to complete your pro&ect) when you are preparing for a review meeting) at the end of * after your pro&ect, when you wish positively present your skills, knowledge and experience on paper as preparation for an interview.

'irstly, therefore, think of the purpose for doing your review. +ake some rough notes in the space !elow(

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h% am I doing a self-assessment"

You may then want to think a!out your experience to date and start to make rough notes a!out your own achievements. 'or example, you might wish to think a!out skills developed through the following( Previous research pro&ects, tasks, o!&ectives and goals you have completed. -hat you specifically did and*or what your role was in an activity. -hat you achieved and the impact of your work. -hat has gone well, what has gone not so well and what you.d like to change.

&$ '% e()erience to date: what ha*e I learnt and achie*ed"

+any people, when completing such a self/assessment, also like to consider what skills and knowledge they need for the next steps in the career, i.e. skills that may !e needed when applying for future potential &o! roles. You may wish to make notes on this too to help you complete the audit template.

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hat will I need to know, and -e a-le to do, for m% f.t.re career )lans"

CO'/01TIN2 TH1 S103-!SS1SS'1NT T1'/0!T1 1ow you have made some notes, it will !e much easier to complete the template. -e have headed up each area of the template under the headings in our skills guide. This is purely to give you some initial structure) you don.t have to have or show every skills area in the guide. Take some time to go through this audit and reflect on your skill areas. 'or each section, complete the following( 3or Skill !rea( -e have used headings from the "kills #uide, so there is not much to add here. -e would encourage you think though of any additional skills areas not covered, specifically any technical skills that are particularly relevant to you. You can add extra skills area headings at the end. 3or Skill Descri)tion( Use the "kills #uide and*or your supporting information to define each specific skill that you need in your research pro&ect and other activities in the University. %dd as many skills in each area as you think is necessary) &ust keep adding more rows to the ta!le. 3or 1*idence of Skill( $ecord activities, experiences or events you played a part in that shows your a!ility in each particular skill. t may !e you have already lots of experience in an area. t may !e you have &ust a small amount of experience or none at all 2i.e. for those areas you wish to develop in future3) that is fine. t is important that you think honestly and widely, and don.t &ust focus on skills you already have and do well. How I !m Doing: Try to define what level you think you are at 2i.e. doing really well, good !asic understanding*competence, needs improvement, etc.3 4e honest and !e careful not to underestimate yourself. !3T1R 4OU5R1 DON1 5opefully, if you have taken some time doing this, you will have a good written overview of skills you have developed and of the real !readth of skills you hold. -e hope you will find this a useful record to have. You may also find it useful to highlight areas that you would like to work on and develop. "kills that you feel you need to improve in and are important to your current research pro&ect should !e prioritised. You will want to check out our courses and events pages to see what development options are availa!le, and also look at self/study resources to help address knowledge gaps.

S103-!SS1SS'1NT T1'/0!T1 Skills, Knowledge 6 !ttri-.tes I need for m% research )ro7ect, other Uni*ersit% roles 8e$g$ )art-time t.toring9, and m% f.t.re career
1:!'/01 T1:T / this is &ust to show you what sort of ideas you might write

Skill !rea
Comm.nication and Dissemination /ersonal 6 Inter)ersonal

Descri)tion of S)ecific Skill

Demonstrate effective ver!al presentation skills

1*idence of skill
have presented my research at a num!er of small internal seminars) get nervous !eforehand, though feed!ack from other researchers has generally !een positive. aim to set some !asic 9to do. lists every day) aim to set !locks of time aside to work on specific tasks 2though doesn.t always happen:3

How I am doing
am doing 78) room for some improvement

+anage yourself, your time, and the priorities of your research pro&ect.

wish to improve

;0!NK T1'/0!T1 3OR 4OU TO CO'/01T1 -e would encourage you to complete this electronically so you can add*delete rows as appropriate.

Skill !rea
Research Skills

Descri)tion of S)ecific Skill

1*idence of skill

How I am doing

Skill !rea
/ersonal and Inter)ersonal

Descri)tion of S)ecific Skill

1*idence of skill

How I am doing

Skill !rea
Comm.nication and Dissemination

Descri)tion of S)ecific Skill

1*idence of skill

How I am doing

Skill !rea
'anagement

Descri)tion of S)ecific Skill

1*idence of skill

How I am doing

<

Skill !rea
Teaching and 0earning

Descri)tion of S)ecific Skill

1*idence of skill

How I am doing

Skill !rea
Commercialisation, Knowledge Transfer and 1(change

Descri)tion of S)ecific Skill

1*idence of skill

How I am doing

Skill !rea
Other Skill !rea 8com)lete as needed9

Descri)tion of S)ecific Skill

1*idence of skill

How I am doing

Notes

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