Graduate Research School
Training Needs Analysis
Training Needs Analysis
Each new research student must complete a formal Training Needs Analysis (TNA) using the TNA Form in consultation with his/her Director of Studies at the beginning of his/her research degree.
The aims of this initial Training Needs Analysis are:
(a) to identify the relevant skills and knowledge you have developed in your academic and/or professional life to date and how you have developed the skills/knowledge (Section 1 of the form)
(b) to identify the skills/knowledge you will need to develop and/or acquire in order to complete your research degree and to become an effective researcher (Section 2 of the form)
(c) to identify what training is required in order to develop/acquire the additional skills/knowledge (Section 2 of the form)
Each research students should subsequently revisit this analysis on an annual basis (most sensibly to coincide with Annual Monitoring (RDB7)). In revisiting the TNA, the aim is:
(a) to identify the relevant skills and knowledge you have developed/acquired in the previous year and how you have developed them, i.e. you can simply add this information to Section 1 of the previous year’s TNA
(b) to identify the skills/knowledge you still need to develop and/or acquire in order to complete your research degree and to become an effective researcher, i.e. revise section 2 in light of the training you have undertaken and in light of further reflection on your training needs
(c) to identify what training is required in order to develop/acquire the additional skills/knowledge
To help you think about your training needs, we have organised the TNA form around Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework (RDF). Vitae’s RDF is a tool to assist researchers in thinking about their personal, professional and career development. The RDF identifies the characteristics of excellent researchers which are expressed as ‘descriptors’ organised into four domains and twelve sub-domains, encompassing the knowledge, intellectual abilities, techniques and professional standards to do research, as well as the personal qualities, knowledge and skills to work with others and ensure the wider impact of research.
You will be supported to make the most effective use of the RDF in analysing and planning your training needs through the Research Training Programme. For a useful overview of the RDF click here (pdf).