Courses FAQs

1. What happens if I have to cancel?
2. Can I attend if I am a taught postgraduate student?
3. Can I attend only one day of a course?
4. Are courses free?
5. Is lunch included and will there be options to suit me?
6. Can I just turn up on the day?
7. My supervisor won't let me take time out to attend courses...
8. How do I book?
9. Where will it take place?
10.  What if I want to attend a course that's run in a different Graduate School?

 
1.  What happens if I have to cancel?
Our workshops are very expensive to run and often highly oversubscribed. If at any stage you find you cannot make it, let us know by cancelling your space on the online booking form and we can allocate your place to another student. 

If you fail to attend without letting us know we will contact you to ask for a reason why and may also inform your department. For the Glasgow Local Grad School or residential courses, your School may be charged a fee if you fail to give at least 2 weeks notice or provide an explanation for why you are cancelling.  We realise that people can be ill or facing last minute emergencies but being too busy with your PhD is not an acceptable excuse for not showing up or cancelling the day before.

Researchers who fail to show up on three occasions will not be allocated places for future courses.

2.  Can I attend if I am a taught postgraduate student?
Not usually, due to both funding restrictions and the fact that these courses have been designed with postgraduate researchers in mind.  However, there may be similar courses being run by your Graduate School that are more relevant for you.  The Making an Impact events are open to PGT students however and we'd love to see you there.

3.  Can I attend only one day of a multi-day course?
No.  Courses flow from one day to the next and often contain significant amounts of groupwork so it's very disruptive to have someone only there part of the time.  

4.  Are courses free?
Yes, to University of Glasgow Postdoctoral or Postgraduate Researchers.

5.  Is lunch included and will there be options to suit me?
Where lunch is included we will tell you in the course booking confirmation. We always have vegetarian options but if you have any other requirements please let us know when you book and we’ll do our best to cater for them. 

6.  Can I just turn up on the day?
Unfortunately not as a lot of effort goes into planning them in advanced, based on group numbers etc.  Some courses also involve advance preparation which you won't have had a chance to do.  If the course is oversubscribed we will keep a waiting list and try to fill in any last minute cancellations.

7.  My supervisor wont let me take time out to attend courses...
Both the University and the Research Councils expect that you will spend at least two weeks a year taking part in activities that help you to develop transferable skills so your supervisor has a responsibility to make sure you have the chance to take part in training.

However, it might be that they think this course isn't very relevant to you (or that you're already fantastic at this particular skill) so we would encourage you to discuss it with them.  As an added bonus, if the courses are making you more effective as a researcher your supervisor should be pleased!

8.  How do I book or cancel a place on a training course?
Through our online booking form.  You will need to login using your normal university GUID and password and can then select the courses you wish to book. You can use this to manage your bookings / cancellations as well as register interest in past courses. It wont let me you cancel your place within 48hr prior to the course taking place.  Instead, you would have to email the course provider (either your Graduate School or Elizabeth Adams, depending on what course it is) with an explanation of why you are cancelling at such short notice.

9.  Where will it take place?
We will inform you of the course location when your place is confirmed.  While we make every effort to put up signs, we know from experience that some rooms in the University can be difficult to find.  If you are unfamiliar with the venue, you should give yourself an extra 10 minutes to find it and take a copy of the university map.

10. What if I want to attend a course that is running in a different Graduate School?
Before you login to the course booking form you'll be able to see all the courses available across the University.  If you see something that's of interest in another Graduate School we may be able to negotiate a space for you on this course.  Please email Elizabeth Adams if this is the case.