Broadening, Skills and Teaching Training
Broadening Training
All DPhil students are required to undertake 'broadening' training. (Note: CDT students should see their own course pages for details of their training programmes.) Courses should be designed to broaden your knowledge and understanding of the Mathematical Sciences as a whole. They should, by definition, not be directly related to the topic of your dissertation. If you started in or after October 2020 you must undertake 68 hours of broadening courses during your DPhil studies.
Skills Training and Career Development
Developing research, subject specific, personal and professional expertise is crucial to the success of your future career. The skills and experience that got you to where you are now will not necessarily be sufficient to get you to where you want to go next, and so it is important that you continue to develop both depth and breadth of your expertise. The importance of skills training has been recognised by stakeholders such as the Research Councils and UKRI.
The Department and wider University offer a range of training provision which covers research, academic and transferable career skills. Students are expected to take responsibility for shaping their own training, supported by their supervisor. Details of courses available and further information can be found at https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/members/students/postgraduate-courses/doctor-philosophy/skills-training.
Training in Teaching
To have had some teaching experience is likely to benefit your career, especially if you intend to continue in academia, where academic jobs increasingly expect some teaching experience, but also more generally as it should help you to develop your communication skills.