Months 1-3

The distinctive features of the first term of training include:

Three day residential field course

This will be run by staff from across the DTP and will build on current training courses in Oxford.  Amongst other things, students will be trained in field safety and risk assessment, experimental design, data collection, statistical analysis, evaluation strategies and complementary data sources, relevant to the full range of student interests.  Field course measurements will form the datasets that students will work on in the "toolkits" part of the course in the first term, culminating in group presentations to the cohort at the end of term.

Development of a common skills toolkit 

This will be achieved through a series of core cross-cohort courses including: Scientific Data Analysis; Errors and Statistics; Scientific Programming and Code Management; Fieldwork Planning and Measurement Techniques; Experimental Design; Environmental Problem Solving (real world problems delivered jointly with partners).  

Research and Transferable Skills.

This will include: Oxford's libraries and bibliographic tools; Project design and management; Hyothesis development and researchethics; Science and communication; Reading, writing and presenting; Media; Proposal writing.  These elements will be delivered in workshops, 2 afternoons per week for 8 weeks.

Seminar and Discussion Groups

These groups, alongside smaller weekly jouranl club reading groups will expose students to the Grand Challenges in Environmental Research.  The Grand Challenge seminars will be short and provocative, and focus on a major theme.  Topics might include Critical Resources, Climate Feedbacks, Critical Interfaces, Risk, Geoengineering.  They will be presented by researchers and Partners enjoining students from the beginning to consider their research in terms of the real-world context in which research is carried out.

A Termly Public Lecture Programme

Entitled the Linacre Lectures, these will focus on a timely and important topic and be given by high profile speakers from policy, government, business of science.  They will involve an afternoon of preparatory small group discussion for the cohort.  Active engagement from the DTP students will be encouraged during the co-ordination of the lecture programme.

Alongside this training programme students will be developing their research proposal.

 

 

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