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Doctoral Development Programme (DDP) introduction

The Doctoral Development Programme provides current postgraduate research (PGR) students at the University of Sheffield with a range of helpful short courses, workshops and tutorials focused specifically on all aspects of your research journey, including your final thesis submission and viva voce oral examination.

PGR DDP short courses

Each PGR DDP short course listed below consists of five weekly 1.5 hour sessions covering a specific topic. They additionally include a further optional 1 to 1 tutorial with your DDP language specialist tutor (bookable separately).

Each course is accompanied by a series of optional tasks designed to support what would be naturally produced as part of your PhD, and not as extra work.

Sign up for short courses is through My development and opens on 5 October 2026 for S1 and 1 February 2027 for S2 courses. Each short course runs once in each semester.

Available 2026/27 DDP short courses:

Writing your PhD thesis

This language and skills short course analyses the different chapters of a thesis using examples and highlights the lexical, grammatical and structural choices you can make as the author.

Attendees will be provided with training on:

• Developing logical argumentation
• Effectively using sources
• Writer’s voice
• Articulating criticality
• Appropriate academic style

Tutors on this course provide sessions which are interactive and provide opportunities for you to discuss ideas and receive detailed feedback on sections of your thesis.

This course is not recommended for newly registered PGR students.

Writing your PhD literature review

This short course provides postgraduate research students with training on:

• Commonly-used structures
• The theoretical basis on which to write a PhD literature review
• Developing logical argumentation
• Effectively using sources
• Writer’s voice
• Articulating criticality
• Appropriate academic style for a successful literature review

The course tutor will provide course attendees with the opportunity to analyse examples from ‘model’ reviews submitted to a wide range of departments and schools at the university.

Academic writing for STEM (Faculties of Engineering, Health, and Science)

This language and skills short course provides academic writing skills training for all PGR students in STEM faculties and schools to support the standard of written work required at doctoral level.

Attendees will be provided with training on academic writing analysis at word, paragraph and whole text level specifically for STEM disciplines.

Course tutors will also provide the opportunity to analyse appropriate STEM texts and models in order to apply this knowledge to your own writing.

You will have opportunities for personalised tutor feedback on the appropriacy and presentation of your academic language use and text structure on sections of your thesis.

Academic writing for HASS (Faculties of Social Sciences, and Arts and Humanities)

This language and skills short course provides academic writing skills training for all PGR students in HASS faculties and schools to support the standard of written work required at doctoral level.

Attendees will be provided with training on academic writing analysis at word, paragraph and whole text level specifically for Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) disciplines.

Course tutors will provide you with the opportunity to analyse appropriate HASS texts and models in order to apply this knowledge to your own writing.

You will have also be provided with opportunities for personalised tutor feedback on the appropriacy and presentation of your academic language use and text structure on sections of your thesis.

Speaking skills for researchers - Part 1

This language and skills short course provides academic speaking skills training for postgraduate research students to improve performance and increase your confidence in presenting your research and responding to others in a range of different academic contexts at doctoral level.

Attendees will be provided with academic speaking skills training on:

• Giving research presentations
• Interacting with supervisors

Engaging with examiners in the confirmation review.

This is a practical course, and the DDP language specialist tutors will provide attendees with opportunities to practise speaking both spontaneously and with preparation to build your confidence in communicating your research to different academic audiences.

There will also be multiple opportunities for you to prepare and deliver a short presentation with questions, which will each be followed by formative feedback from the tutor.

Speaking skills for researchers - Part 2

Part 2 of the 'Speaking skills for research' language and skills short course aims at building on the skills developed in 'Speaking skills for researchers - Part 1'. This course will additionally focus on engaging with examiners in the final viva.

Attendees will be provided with academic speaking skills training on:

• Giving presentations
• Interacting at academic conferences
• The final viva voce

This is a practical course, and the tutors will provide attendees with plenty of opportunity to practise speaking both spontaneously and with preparation. There will also be three opportunities for you to prepare and deliver a short presentation with questions, which will each be followed by formative feedback from the tutor.

It is recommended that students complete Speaking Skills for Researchers - Part 1 before signing up to this course.

It is recommended that you take two courses maximum in each semester.

You can only take these courses and sessions if you're a researcher in the Graduate School. They are not available to undergraduates and taught postgraduate students.

DDP short course registration

Registration for DDP short courses is available through , which you can access by logging in to MUSE .

PGR DDP workshops

DDP workshops provide postgraduate research (PGR) students with the opportunity to discuss, analyse and practice different linguistic and language related aspects of academic writing at doctoral level with specialist language tutors.

In 2026/27 a number of individual workshops will take place towards the end of each semester. These will be added to My Development once dates have been confirmed.

Workshop topics in 2026/27:

Thesis structures: making choices that work for you (Year 2+)

In this workshop you will analyse different thesis structure options, consider the most appropriate thesis structure options for your research and practise formulating an outline of your thesis.

Abstract writing

In this workshop you will analyse different thesis abstracts, determine the function of and the key elements required of a thesis abstract and practise formulating your thesis abstract.

Description, analysis and criticality in your writing

In this workshop you will differentiate between the different linguistic styles of PGR academic writing in a thesis and analyse the grammatical and lexical features of the different styles of academic writing in your thesis.

Confirmation Reviews

In this workshop you will analyse University of Sheffield confirmation reviews for:

• The key elements required for a confirmation review for your discipline
• Appropriate linguistic and structural considerations for your confirmation review
• Any draft plan for your confirmation review

AI and research

More details on this workshop will be added soon.

Specific times, dates and registration details for DDP workshops will be added to My Development and advertised through the PGR newsletter.

Registration will be open for each workshop until the day before it takes place (or until each workshop is fully booked).

DDP 1 to 1 tutorials

DDP language specialist tutors offer personalised 1 to 1 consultations to all postgraduate research (PGR) students at the University of Sheffield for either speaking or writing progression milestones.

These 45-minute online appointments are available during teaching weeks in the Autumn and Spring semesters each academic year.

DDP tutors can provide you with training and practice on:

• Answering viva questions
• Giving a viva presentation
• Any other aspects of participation in your final viva voce or your confirmation review
• Effective proofreading strategies
• Reviewing, editing and enhancing the overall quality of your academic writing

The tutor can also read and review your written work to consider ways in which you can improve a section of your thesis or review. 

Tutorials take place online, and are available for distance learners. These 1 to 1 sessions work best if you can share an abstract or chapter with the tutor in advance of the session.

1 to 1 tutorials are available whenever possible during the 30 teaching weeks throughout the Autumn and Spring semesters. A tutor will be allocated to your tutorial after booking.

If you need to cancel or if you have any problems booking, please contact l.newcombe@sheffield.ac.uk

DDP teaching staff

The teaching staff on these programmes are all English language teaching professionals, who have doctoral level academic qualifications in addition to RQF level 7 (MA / MSc or equivalent) TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) qualifications.

As English language and academic skill development specialists, the ELTC are able to provide expert language knowledge and academic skills training in order for all doctoral students to receive the support to enable the successful completion of their DDP and to become world class researchers.