The Taught Programme

Our taught programme addresses interdisciplinary and transferable skills via six core training themes:

• Ubiquitous Technologies provides a thorough understanding of underlying navigation, positioning, interface and advanced computing technologies.
• Human-centred design covers user-centred design methods including requirements elicitation and evaluation techniques.
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship enables students to understand the interactions between different stakeholders when developing technology for the digital economy and to develop innovative approaches to knowledge transfer. 
• Societal Issues and Policy allows students to deal with the issues of privacy, anonymity, identity and risk in the context of policy, intellectual property and economic and social systems.
• Research Methods and Tools develops the core skills essential for PhD study including industrial and conference presentations and research management skills. 
• Training Projects provide students with an integrated experience of analysis and synthesis of literature, self-directed study, applications of ubiquitous technology to innovative designs, and working within multi-disciplinary teams.

Each student will construct and follow their own personal pathway through these themes that enables them to develop from their own individual starting point into a rounded interdisciplinary researcher.

We recognise that PhD students are highly able individuals who have already successfully passed through at least one degree programme and who are therefore very capable of self-directed study. Moreover, we appreciate that many students will be eager to push on with research-focused practical activities from the beginning of their programme. We will therefore tailor and mix different modes of delivery to suit the capabilities and motivations of talented PhD students including: day or half-day seminars with significant student-led presentation and discussion; short-fat modules delivered in blocks; a summer school; and extensive research- and practice-based activities including a feasibility project and the preparation of a PhD proposal.