ENJOY OUR CAREER-BUILDING ONLINE COURSE
If you’re an early career researcher or PhD student, you’ll be only too familiar with the pressures of developing your research career.
Drawing on more than 20 years’ experience, our online programme equips you to better manage any type of research – at whatever stage of your career – so you’re able to:
• Identify the key skills every research project/programme manager needs
• Understand which skills are most in demand – inside and outside of academia
• Explore the four core project management stages necessary for delivering research objectives on time and on budget
• Find out how to get up to speed on any project – at whatever stage you join it
• Learn which ‘buttons to press’ to help you convince potential funders your project will complete within your specified timeframe and resource limitations
• Identify the Top 10 Research Project Management Challenges that can affect any project plus tried and tested strategies for resolving them.
Use our simple tools and templates – at absolutely no extra cost – to:
• Identify project stakeholders and prioritize their needs
• Assess the impact of potential risks to your research and discover tried and tested strategies for overcoming the most common threats
• Identify what skills and resources your project needs to achieve its objectives
• Break your project into manageable tasks
• Work out how long it should take to complete any given project
• Identify the critical activities you’ll need to monitor closely to make sure you complete your research as planned.
- Eight modules and over 27 video lectures and tutorials
- Easy to use tools, templates and checklists
- After enrollment, you will have unlimited, ongoing access to this course – across any and all devices you own, plus FREE updates.
DON’T PUT YOUR CAREER ON HOLD. START TODAY!
COURSE START DATES
2024
19 August
7 October
2 December
2025
10 February
10 March
COURSE FEES
Early Bird Rate £197 (Standard Rate £297)
Doctoral Students £97
Who should take this course?
• Designed for early career researchers, PhD and Professional Doctorate students and anyone responsible for day-to-day management or coordination of research projects or programmes.
• Whether you’re putting together a research project proposal, getting ready to implement a project plan, working on your thesis or dissertation, figuring out how to budget, schedule tasks, manage time, work with colleagues, or co-ordinate a project or programme that is already underway, this course was designed with you in mind.
• Because every research project is unique, we focus on the principles, choices and strategies that apply regardless of project size, content or research methodology.
• The course is relevant to any research field; however, examples used reflect our experience in health care, social care, management, and social science.
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COURSE CURRICULUM
The course is divided into eight sections. Each section contains a series of lectures or tutorials, together with resources relevant to each topic, including tools, templates, examples and checklists.
Section 1: Course Overview
Overview of the course and why successful project management is so important for researchers.
Section 2: Getting Started
Definitions
Research Project Manager Skills
Research Project Management Lifecycle
Sections 3–6: Research Project Management Lifecycle
We walk you through the whole project management lifecycle in depth, right from the beginning, so you’ll know what issues to consider and the topics that should be addressed at each stage, including the different entry points a Research Project Manager may have and their potential impact.
Section 3: Scoping/Design
Setting Scope
Stakeholders
Roles/Responsibilities
Research Design/Proposal
Risk Management
Section 4: Planning
Introduction
Work Breakdown Structure
Network Analysis
Gantt Charts
Resources
Project Plans Revisited
Section 5: Implementation
Implementation
Monitoring Tools
Managing the Budget
Time Management
Communication
Leadership and Teamwork
Managing Problems
Section 6: Completion
Completion
Section 7: Top 10 Project Management Challenges (and what you can do about them)
Section 8: Further Resources
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What do our students say about the course?
“A practical overview of research project management tasks, tips and tricks with useful planning tools you can use immediately!”
- N. Knoble, Doctoral candidate
“This course covers everything you need to get started managing research. Tools, checklists and tips are very useful. I now have a way of monitoring projects that means I can focus on the most important tasks. Thanks!”
- D. T., Post-doctoral Fellow
By the end of the course you should be able to:
• Understand the essential principles of effective research project management
• Identify the key skills every research project manager needs and how they can benefit your career – inside and outside of academia
• Identify the resources a project needs to achieve its objectives on time and within budget
• Break any project into manageable tasks so you can monitor them effectively and efficiently
• Have tried and tested strategies at your fingertips to deal with the most frequently encountered challenges project managers face
• Consider how to communicate, lead and work as a team with project stakeholders, staff and colleagues
• Estimate how long it should take to complete any research project and the critical activities that can make or break it
• Use our research proposal/plan template to include the key ingredients potential funders look for to convince them your project will complete within time and resource limitations
• Use our simple but effective tools, templates and checklists to get your research project or programme off to a good start
• Understand the core stages of the project lifecycle, so you’ll be better prepared to manage any research project or programme for success.
What does the course not cover?
• We do not teach you how to use any particular proprietary project management software, e.g. Microsoft Project. Nor do we teach you how to use accounting software or systems.
What materials or software will I need before starting this course?
• You will need access to a computer with an internet connection to view the online course and watch the video tutorials.
• You will need only basic word processing and spreadsheet software and capabilities to use our tools, templates, and checklists.
START TODAY and give research project management the attention it deserves at the top of your career development agenda.
*Please note no refunds are available on this course due to immediate access to non-returnable course materials.