Step-by-Step Guide

To help students with their planning, we have drafted a rough timeline, spanning from the GUDTP induction to the submission of the placement report.

We are aware that individual circumstances vary and the following lists of tasks will not be of equal relevance to all students. 

Please discuss the duration and the timeline of your placement with your academic supervisor(s).

 

 

Recommended Task List:

☐ Attend the October GUDTP placements induction or any refresher available later in the year.

☐ Familiarise yourself with the GUDTP placement project plan and application form.

☐ Identify and attend professional orientation events. These might be organised by the GUDTP, the Careers and Employability services of your home university, or external providers.

☐ Scope out placement/internship schemes that interest you and note their recruitment timeline.

☐ Discuss your professional development needs, options, and timeline with your supervisor to schedule your placement around other academic responsibilities, like fieldwork, institutional visits, training, conferences, and assessments.

☐ Indicate your professional development priorities and any support you might need in your first on-course DNA, normally due in spring term.

☐ Decide whether you would like to set up a bespoke placement. If yes, prioritise attending the relevant training session offered by the GUDTP on a termly basis.

Local Support

Take some time to understand the kinds of professional development support available to you and how to access it, starting with the Careers and Employability services of your home institution.

Please note that significant part of their resources are open to all.

Brunel London Professional Development Centre

Open University Careers and Employability Service

University of Oxford Careers Service

 

 

 

 

Recommended Task List:

☐ Prepare/update your CV. We strongly advise you to make use of the CV-writing support available to you by the Careers and Employability service of your home institution and avoid using your academic CV for non-academic applications.

☐ Attend training and events that will increase your chances at securing a placement in your desired sector.

☐ Research your desired host organisation, their current projects and priorities.

☐ Once you have identified a placement, draft an initial placement budget to assess its feasibility. Please factor in any potential monetary and in-kind contributions by the host, as well as additional sources of funding that might be available to you.

☐ If the placement that you have identified involves overseas travel, check the FCDO Travel Advice AND the advice of your own/other government (for students of foreign or dual nationality).

☐ If you intend to set up a bespoke placement, please book a 1:1 meeting with the GUDTP Research in Practice and Placements Co-ordinator, Katerina Vavaliou, as early as possible and definitely before approaching the host. Please come to the meeting prepared.

Book your meeting

Preparatory work for bespoke placements

☐ read closely the guidelines to understand what placements would qualify for ESRC GUDTP support

☐ identify your primary contact in the host organisation and explore ways of introduction

☐ e-mail us a draft of your strawman proposal (a very simple, initial draft of what your placement could look like). You will use this to generate discussion and further ideas in conversation with the host. We strongly advise you to use the GUDTP project plan template to ensure that you have a comprehensive understanding of what needs to be agreed before the start of the placement

☐ prepare for a potential negotiation. Placements have to be mutually beneficial to you and the host. So, draft a list of what you have to gain from this placement, which of the potential activities/tasks/deliverables will be particularly valuable to you in the future, what you could offer in return, and identify where the value lies in your contribution to the host organisation.

☐ e-mail us a draft of the initial email you intend to send to the host. Please consider the advice on how to make speculative approaches here.

 

 

 

Recommended Task List: 

☐  Apply for/co-develop the placement with the host.

☐ Prepare the project plan and ask the host to sign it.

If this is a bespoke placement, or a placement considerably tailored to your interests, please factor in enough time to collaborate with the host on this. If you have been offered a placement through a placement/internship scheme, please use the original advertisement and any additional information you obtained during the selection process to complete the project plan, and then contact the host to seek any clarification still needed, as well as their signature.  

☐  Prepare your budget and any supporting evidence for cost estimates and comparisons to demonstrate value for money, e.g., screenshot of comparison website page. Please ensure your budget is comprehensive and your cost estimates are reasonable and realistic.

As students from the Open University need to make their bookings via ClickTravel (the University’s approved system), they should contact their school or faculty administration team to obtain an estimate of their travel and accommodation expenses.

☐  Consider other funding sources, especially for placements incurring costs beyond what the GUDP can support.

☐  Seek Departmental Risk Assessment Approval.

☐ Apply and acquire University Travel Insurance (required only in case of overseas travel).

☐ Confirm your supervisor’s support. Regardless of any previous conversations, please make sure to discuss with them your final plans. Upon receipt of your application the GUDTP will contact them independently to confirm their support.

☐ Apply for GUDTP support. If at the time of application there is any paperwork still pending, please explain the reasons for the delay by responding to question D5.

Approval

☐ You have not secured GUDTP support until you have received our formal letter of approval AND fulfilled any conditions specified in it. For instance, you might be asked undertake health and safety training. The GUDTP maintains the right to withdraw your support if you have not fulfilled any conditions of our offer by the start date of your placement.

☐ Claim the funds for your approved expenses following local practice at your home institution.

 

 

☐ Check your university mailbox to reply to any emails from the GUDTP and/or your academic supervisor(s). Even though during the placement you are not expected to work on your doctorate, maintaining frequent contact is part of our duty of care. We will contact you monthly and one week before the placement’s end date. At this point, we will also send you any feedback/assessment form that you will need to submit to the DTP one month after the completion of the placement.

☐ If you face any unexpected difficulties or have concerns that might affect your ability to follow the agreed project plan, please let us know ASAP.

Your first point of contact is Katerina Vavaliou at placements.gudtp@socsci.ox.ac.uk.

 

Required Tasks:

☐ Submit your placement report to the GUDTP.

☐ Expenses Reconciliation. Submit to the GUDTP (and if applicable, to your department) copies of the original receipts, with itemised costs of your expenditure corresponding to your application.

The above documents must be e-mailed to placements.gudtp@socsci.ox.ac.uk within one month from your last day on placement.

 

After your placement is complete,

☐ Make sure to maintain the connections that you have made during the placement.

☐ Consider celebrating your experience by giving us permission to publish your lay summary/impact statement on our website and reposting it on professional social media platforms, like LinkedIn.

☐ Consider sharing your experiences by contributing to our GUDTP training events and mentoring future applicants.

☐ Consider booking an appointment with a Careers Adviser in your home institution to discuss possible next steps and how to leverage your placement experience in future applications.