School of Law

Career Development for PGR students

Postgraduate research (PGR) students are at the heart of the Research Group. The group’s mission is to bring together academic researchers within the School of Law who share an interest in Commercial Law. As part of that mission, the group strives to provide PGR students doing research in this area with a safe and stimulating environment where they can grow and develop as researchers.

To achieve that mission, every year members of the Research Group organise several activities that aim to support PGR students in the development of the necessary skills to pursue a successful professional career after they graduate, be it in academia or beyond. These include, among others:

• Career events that aim to expose PGR students to a wide range of careers in academia and beyond to inform their career choices, and to support them in orienting their postgraduate studies in a way that will enhance their employability in their preferred careers.
• A yearly Colloquium, where PGR students present their ongoing doctoral work and receive feedback from other PGR students. This provides PGR students with an opportunity to hone their oral presentation skills and their critical analysis skills.
• Regular research seminars with guest speakers from other universities, where PGR students can enhance their self-confidence and further develop their critical analysis skills by engaging with the research of more senior academic researchers. These events also give PGR students the opportunity to expand their academic network.
• A Reading group, where PGR students come together to discuss relevant pieces of research. The Reading Group provides students with the opportunity to further enhance their analytical skills and to expand their knowledge beyond the narrow topic of their doctoral dissertation into related areas of law. The Reading Group also provides an opportunity for PGR students to learn from and about each other’s work, and to meet regularly, which helps to nurture the sense of a PGR community.

Our PGR students are active participants in all events. Some PGR students also volunteer to support, or even lead, the organisation of the Research Group’s events, which gives students the opportunity to develop organisational skills. The academic members of the group are very supportive of PGR students’ involvement in the organisation of the group’s activities and engage with PGR students regularly in order to seek their input for the group’s events and to encourage the development of students’ own ideas.