Business skills training

Business skills training offered by the University’s Institute for Academic Development is helping Harsh, from India, prepare for a career in business.

Finding support

When I finish my PhD I plan to get a job in industry, maybe a pharmaceutical company or a biotechnology company - not in R&D but more in business development.

There’s a lot of help available at Edinburgh if someone wants to pursue a career in industry or start their own business.

The Institute for Academic Development runs workshops throughout the year, giving you basic knowledge of business finance, business plans and team building.

Developing new skills

Last year I attended the Institute’s LEADER Summer School in Denmark.

It was really helpful because there were sessions on entrepreneurship and business, personality development, leadership and communication, and intellectual property and copyright.

We also learned how to communicate our research to the public.

Competitive edge

I think it’s always important to have additional skills because when you go for a job it’s not only your theoretical knowledge or how you work in the lab that counts, but how you communicate with others, or how you work in a team, so all this training really helps.

I think I’d be pretty competitive when applying for jobs because employers also look for what you do alongside your qualification, and I can demonstrate skills from these workshops and the other things I’ve done here.