Research and Professional Development Plan

Attendance at Structured PhD Induction is your first action in earning the 5 ECTS  awarded. The second requirement is to design and maintain a Research and Professional  Development Plan (RPDP). The following describes what is involved. You should begin to  develop this plan at your first meeting with your Supervisor, regularly reflect on your goals,  and revise as necessary throughout your period of study. This record of your development  should be made available for assessment if required. It is good practice to design a plan for your research and professional development.  As your research progresses, this plan will require revision. Your research questions may  change. Your research direction may change. You may discover a new archive or data-set.  Your research and professional development plan, then, is more like a log-book in which  you set your goals and reflect on your plans, decisions, revisions etc. At the beginning, this  helps you focus your research, identify the skills necessary for conducting your research,  plan your research around a manageable timeframe and structure your project. As your  work proceeds, your plan will help you keep a record of your progress and revise your  work programme. Your research plan is an ongoing commitment to the development of  your research project and to your development as an independent researcher. Modified and  reworked over the course of four years, it will provide a continuous record of your project.  An up-to-date RPDP will help you: produce progress reports; draft funding applications;  organise presentations on your work; structure and write your thesis. As a reflective  practitioner, developing key competencies, you will enhance your employability.  Your research plan should be compiled with your Supervisor and Graduate  Research Committee’s advice. Together, you should identify key tasks necessary for  conducting your research and agree the order in which they should be completed. Your  decisions as to which modules on the Structured PhD programme to elect in any given year  should be informed by your research plan. These modules are provided in order to support  your research; you should select those likeliest to progress and strengthen your project. You  should revisit your RPDP regularly and it should be integral to your module choices in  Years 2, 3, and 4.   Planning and reflecting on your professional development is equally beneficial. This  will help you identify the skills required for your present and future careers and plan your  acquisition of those skills. The Irish Universities Association has published a statement of the skills and attributes of a PhD graduate, under the headings: Research Skills and  Awareness; Ethics and Social Understanding; Communication Skills; Personal  Effectiveness/Development; Team-working and Leadership; Career Management;  Entrepreneurship and Innovation.  The ability to define and  describe the competencies that you have acquired is central to your employability. Your  selection of Generic/Transferable Skills modules provided in the Structured PhD  programme should be informed by your understanding of the transfer of skills to the  workplace. An up-to-date account of your professional development and skills will help  you: identify and develop the competencies important for your career; define the skills you  have acquired; build and write your CV; compete for employment opportunities.

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