The Graduate and Researcher College have a limited number of spaces available on the below on-demand courses. These are designed for individuals to learn at their own pace and in their own time. For access to any of the below courses, please email skills@kent.ac.uk. Please note this opportunity is only available to PGRs at the University of Kent.
Build your own website in a day
Enrol by: 14/02/2026
Description: A website is an effective way to communicate your research, make it visible to a larger audience and summarise your research activities in one central online location. You may wish to create a website for yourself, for a research group, for a specific project, for a teaching topic or any other reason – this short course will enable you to do that. This course is designed for researchers working in universities and institutes who would like to build a website that they can edit and update on their own. It is very practical – at the end you will have a functional website that you can manage, expand and update whenever you like. This course will walk you through how to build a free website on the WordPress platform step by step; it does not include any programming at all, you can do everything using the WordPress interface. A website can act as a central hub to explain your research, list your publications and preprints, link to your collaborators, blog, provide teaching insights and much more; building a website is a fun, creative activity and a useful transferable skill to acquire.
An introduction to R
Enrol by: 01/10/2026
Description: We live in a data intensive world and it is becoming increasingly important to learn and understand software tools for handling data. The volume of data being produced is increasing rapidly and researchers frequently need to collate, analyse and visualise their data in order to prepare it for publication. This course will introduce you to R, one of the most powerful statistical software tools available today. The R software is completely free to use and it has an active global community, it is also one of the most widely used programs for statistics and graphics in scientific research, with tens of thousands of published papers citing R every year. This suite of three short courses is designed to introduce beginners to the R software. We encourage you to complete all courses in the series but you are also welcome to finish only the courses.
Generative AI & the researcher: strategies, insights & practical uses
Enrol by: 01/10/2026
Description: This bitesize introductory course, designed for researchers, aims to demystify the rapidly evolving area of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) tools, and provides a practical insight into how these tools can be integrated into the research process. There has been an explosion of Gen AI tools since 2022, many of which are specifically tailored to researchers, and this technological leap has provided both exciting new opportunities and challenges in the world of research. The course begins with an introduction to Gen AI and emphasises the ethical considerations, limitations and responsibilities associated with using these tools, before moving on to describe a variety of tools and how they can be used for research. Participants will be shown how they can harness the power of these tools to support their own projects, including how to find and compare key references, draft document outlines, explore novel ideas, suggest methodologies, plan projects, analyse and visualise data, writing assistance and more.
Your professional profile & networking
Enrol by: 01/10/2026
Description: Building and maintaining a professional network, both offline and online, is a key requirement for all researchers and an effective network can have a very positive effect on your career, whether it is in academic research or beyond. In addition, taking the time to ensure that your professional profile presents you, your skills, experience, values and interests in the way that you would like to be perceived by others is worth the effort. This course focusses on how to establish and build a network both online and offline, and how to design a unique networking strategy that works for you. Participants will be encouraged to consider their digital profile, who they want to engage with and how networking can support their career plans and goals. They will also have the opportunity to complete a survey that will reveal what networking “phase” they are currently in.The course is designed specifically for researchers and encourages networking within and beyond academia.
Intellectual Property Essentials
Enrol by: 01/10/2026
Description: Novel intellectual property (IP) is created regularly by researchers in universities and it is becoming increasingly important for both staff and students to equip themselves with elementary knowledge of the subject. An awareness of IP can be useful, so that every researcher is aware of how to protect, distribute and manage the outputs of their research, ranging from articles and datasets to teaching materials and slide decks. In addition, knowledge of IP and basic legal considerations can be useful when reusing the work of others and understanding what can and cannot be shared online.