We offer tailored, one-to-one support to our Scholars from application to graduation, including meetings to focus on your skills development, weekly group surgeries to discuss any programme-related topics, and individual slots to talk about any issues or concerns.
Are you worried about starting a university degree, perhaps because it's been some time or because this would be your first university experience? Our programme is specifically for those who have been out of formal education for at least 3 years, because we value the skills and experience you have acquired through work and other projects. Our first core course, An Introduction to Research Methods and Responsible Innovation, aims to help our Scholars return to study and research and get up to speed with doctoral requirements.
Our Scholars say:
It's been a fantastic beginning to the course, Gabriella and the Team have really guided us through returning to study and research and I feel more confident now. The Annotated Bibliography & Academic Writing sessions have been really informative and make me feel better prepared for working towards the EngD.
It's been a fantastic beginning to the course, Gabriella and the Team have really guided us through returning to study and research and I feel more confident now.
The Annotated Bibliography & Academic Writing sessions have been really informative and make me feel better prepared for working towards the EngD.
Our Team is strongly committed to equality and diversity, and aims to play an active role in Queen Mary's mission to create and nurture a truly inclusive environment.
While on the programme, you will have access to additional funding from our Research and Training Support Grant as well as carers' funding, should you need support with carers' responsibilites while on a conference or placement.
Below is some information on support mechanisms in place at Queen Mary University. If you have any queries, or would like more information about flexible options or support available, please email us on dce-cdt@qmul.ac.uk.
Our Centre has strong links with all support services at QMUL, such as the Disability & Dyslexia and the Advice & Counselling Services.
Below is more information about some of the support available at QMUL:
Support for students with caring responsibilities
Support for students with children
Support for students with a disability or long-term health conditions; also, check out this useful document called: Considerations for Disabled Applicants to Postgraduate Study by the Disabled Students' Commission and ask us any questions you may have.
Queen Mary University of London has collaborated with the organisation AccessAble (formally DisabledGo) to create a comprehensive set of access guides for all the university's physical locations, covering all our campuses.
Support and resources for BAME students, including career support
Faiths at QMUL
Support and resources for LGBTQ+ students
Queen Mary is part of Stonewall Diversity Champion programme, which helps employers and service providers to promote equality for LGBTQ+ people, and is committed to creating an environment where trans people can be themselves and are treated with kindness, dignity and respect.
We recognise that trans applicants may face additional issues when applying and may have concerns about disclosing their status. Trans applicants are encouraged to seek support and advice. If you are concerned about contacting a generic email address (for example, the Admissions team), you can contact our CDT Manager in the first instance: g.caminotto@qmul.ac.uk.
There are a lot of websites and Twitter accounts you can look at for tips, advice, and supporting communities. We've put together a list of some of the most useful below.
Vitae - supporting Researcher development
Student Minds offers peer support and a range of resources.
Working-class academics, also on Twitter: (@AcademicsClass)
Minorities in STEM: UK Network promoting & supporting ethnic minority individuals studying & working in sci, tech, engineering & maths. Also on Twitter: @MinoritySTEM
Black British in STEM: Connecting Black Students, Graduates and Professionals to career opportunities in STEM. Also on Twitter: @BB_STEM
Vanguard STEM: online platform and community that centers the experiences of women of color, girls of color and non-binary people of color in STEM. Also on Twitter @VanguardSTEM
Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers, also on Twitter @AFBE_UK
ResearcHers Code, supporting cis & trans women & non-binary people in Tech for Research. Also on Twitter @ResearcHersCode
Women's Engineering Society
POC Squared - Putting People of Colour Into The Equation; also on Twitter:@pocsquared
Leading Routes: Leading Routes is a pioneering initiative that aims to prepare the next generation of Black academics.
Equal engineers, also on Twitter: @EqualEngineers
UPSIGN: UK Pakistan Science and Innovation Global Network, also on Twitter: @UPSIGN_Network
LGBTQ+ STEM: Improving LGBTQ+ visibility in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Also on Twitter: @LGBTSTEM
Lesbians Who Tech & Allies: a global community of 100K+ LGBTQ women, trans and nonbinary folks, queer women of color, and allies in tech. Also on Twitter: @lesbiantech
Queer Engineer Also on Twitter @QueerEngineers
The STEM Village: @TheSTEMvillage
Pride in STEM. Also on Twitter: @PrideinSTEM
Black in AI. Also on Twitter: @black_in_ai
BAME women in Engineering: @BAMEWIE1
Black Women in Science: @BWiSNetwork
The PhD Voice: @PhD Voice
African-Caribbean Research Collective: @ACRC_UK
Open Academics: @OpenAcademics
The FAQs below are about our programme and the support provided. For application-related FAQs, please see our applications page.
If you have any queries that are not addressed by the FAQs below, or would like more information about flexible options or support available, please email us: dce-cdt@qmul.ac.uk.
Those undertaking a research degree at a UK university can be referred to in a variety of ways. You may have heard of PhD students, doctoral students, doctoral researchers, doctoral candidates, postgraduate researchers (PGRs) and so on.
We use the word Scholar for those enrolled on our programme because we recognise that:
Once you are enrolled however, you will find that quite a lot of the time people will conflate all research degrees and those who do them into the label of 'PhD student', which can be confusing sometimes.
The Engineering Doctorate (or EngD) is a level 8 qualification (see page 30), exactly like a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy). Check out our training programme page to understand what makes our programme an Engineering Doctorate.