Development Needs Analysis

Self-reflection and review is a crucial part of the research process

Development Needs Analysis (DNA) provides a structured framework for you to reflect on your research-related training needs, your development as a researcher and the broader development of your personal and professional knowledge and skills. You are encouraged to consider your training needs and skills development at regular intervals during your doctoral journey, and to discuss these with your supervisor(s). The DNA process also provides an important mechanism for us to learn about training needs across our student cohorts and to consider how we might develop and evolve our training offer.

All WRDTP funded students are required to submit a DNA form on an annual basis. The set of questions for students who commenced their awards before August 2024 and after August 2024 are slightly different, due to the requirement for the latter cohort to undertake a Research in Practice placement.

Before completing the Google form for submission to the DTP, you are strongly encouraged to:

consult the Word version of the form, and read the FAQs below;
spend some time reflecting on your needs, skills and development, and explore available options for meeting identified training needs (where appropriate);
have a development-focussed discussion with your supervisor(s), and
complete and save your responses in the Word document for your future reference.

Please select the appropriate form from the options available below. The deadline for completion of your DNA in 2024/25 is Wednesday 15 January 2025.

Students whose WRDTP Studentship commenced before August 2024

DNA form - Word version - for drafting and saving: Download

DNA form - Google form - for submission to the WRDTP: Go to the Google form

Students whose WRDTP Studentship commenced after August 2024

DNA form - Word version - for drafting and saving: Download

DNA form - Google form - for submission to the WRDTP: Go to the Google form

DNA Information Sessions

Information sessions on the Development Needs Analysis are running in November 2024 (13 November, 1pm and 21 November 1pm for students; and 14 November, 2pm for supervisors). To book on to a session, please complete follow the links below:

DNA Information Session for students - booking form

DNA Information Session for supervisors - booking form

The student information session(s) will be recorded, and a recording of the presentation will be made available after the session has taken place. The Frequently Asked Questions will be further developed in response to questions raised at the information sessions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of the Development Needs Analysis?

The DNA form will provide you with the opportunity to reflect broadly on the skills, knowledge and values that you are developing as your PhD progresses. It should complement any training and development analysis process that your own university may have, giving you the chance to reflect more broadly on your development. Completion of this DNA is also a condition of your WRDTP funding.

The form is used in a number of ways. First, and most importantly, it should be used by you to reflect on your own development, and help you to consciously choose development opportunities that are most appropriate for you, including how to spend your Research Training Support Grant (RTSG) most appropriately. Second, it is used by the DTP to develop its own training provision, considering where training should be developed and evolve. Finally, it is used by the ESRC to ensure that the students it is funding are getting appropriate development opportunities as part of their PhD.

What do you mean by development?

Development can take a number of forms – it can be skills that you learn, knowledge you acquire, or values that grow or change over the course of your PhD. We encourage you to reflect on all aspects of your development as part of this DNA.

The Vitae Researcher Development Framework describes the knowledge, behaviours and attributes of successful researchers, and provides a useful starting-point for thinking about your development.

What training opportunities are available to me?

‘Formal’ training opportunities are available from your host institution, from the WRDTP, and from organisations across the UK research landscape (for example, the National Centre for Research Methods, the UK Data Service etc.). As part of the DNA process you are encouraged to explore what is available to you, and consider what might be most beneficial for your development.

In many cases, you may find that your home institution provides training that meets your needs. Links to relevant sources of information are provided below:

Training provided by the National Centre for Research Methods and the UK Data Service often evolves in response to demand/need. It is therefore worth signing up for email updates (where possible) and/or checking back on these sites periodically during your PhD.

If you cannot find a ‘formal’ training session/course that meets your needs, you should discuss this with your supervisor(s). It is possible that an alternative, ‘informal’ approach to training may be equally valuable (e.g. via reviewing relevant resources, and discussion with your peers/supervisors etc.).

How and when should I fill in the DNA?

You will have access to this DNA throughout your PhD, and the questions evolve slightly as you progress through the different stages of your PhD.

For students who commenced their awards before August 2024, reflection points are at 3 months, 12 months, 24 months and more than 30 months into your PhD (pro-rata for Part-Time students). For students who commenced their awards from September/October 2024, reflection points are at 3 months into your MA programme (for students in receipt of 1+3.5 year awards only), and 3 months, 12 months, 24 months and 36 months into the PhD (pro-rate for Part-Time students). These reflection points have been chosen to align broadly to key milestones in your PhD. At each stage, you are encouraged to reflect on your development in relation to the changing priorities and challenges of your PhD and, towards the end of your project, on your preparedness for life beyond the PhD.

If you are studying part time, or have taken periods of absence from your PhD, you should take this into account in terms of when you complete your DNA. For instance, a part time student would complete their “3-month” DNA 6 months into their studies.

You should reflect on the answers to the questions within the DNA form, and discuss them with your supervisors. You should consider your answers to any previous DNA rounds in your reflections. Please also use any training and development analysis process that your own university may have to help guide what you are doing – they should complement each other. It may make sense to complete this form alongside your university’s own process if the timings allow.

You may want to complete the questions initially in the Word document provided above , and you should save this document somewhere safe so that you can return to it later. However, please remember that you must also complete and submit the appropriate DNA Google form to the WRDTP, since that is how we know that you have engaged in the DNA process.

Each year, you will be reminded when the DNA submission window is open. Typically, you will be expected to complete and submit your DNA form between mid- November and mid-January.

What will happen to the data that I provide in these forms?

The information provided via the annual DNA process is used to assess the training needs of WRDTP-funded students, and the ways in which those training needs are being met. Information from submitted forms will be aggregated, shared with the WRDTP Training Group and/or the WRDTP Academic Quality Committee, and used to develop our training offer.

I started my PhD part-way through the academic year, which form should I complete?

You should fill in the form that best allows you to reflect on your development needs. For students that didn’t begin their PhD in Sept/Oct or whose funding end date has been adjusted due to a period of absence and/or additional funding (e.g. due to an Overseas Institutional Visit), we encourage you to select the most appropriate milestone point for you (i.e. 3, 12, 24 or 36 months).