Training Overview

Overview of training events, events calendar and how to register.

The EastBio programme is designed to provide training for students with diverse backgrounds, skills and experiences with a set of training to enhance student understanding in bioscience, biomedical, mathematical and physical sciences, enabling students to draw on a range of technologies, skillsets and approaches to address complex biological questions.

This is combined with a set of core training events and activities, and training in transferable, professional and enterprising skills, open to all our student cohorts.

Our training programme has been restructured for our 2025 cohort onwards. Previous cohorts should check their handbook for training requirements.

The core programme runs in Years 1 and 2, and is designed to help you develop these crucial skills. To be successful in your future career you will also be developing a range of personal skills, such as effective communication, initiative, project management skills and resilience. In Years 3 and 4, the focus is on your research so attending training is optional, although there will be cohort building and professional skills training available to you. Part-time students and students with deferred start dates or other arrangements should discuss their training plans with their supervisors and confirm these plans with the local academic representative.

The EastBio Training Programme is comprised of a number of elements including:

Please check the above webpages for specific external training events.

EastBio Training Calendar 2026/27

This training is for current EastBio students ONLY. Do not register if you are not a current EastBio student.

Details will be published after the EastBio Induction 7-8th October 2026.

You should register for all training to intend to attend via the Eventbrite links below by 31 October 2026. You can cancel your registration via Eventbrite, please note our cancellation policy.

Some training events have limited spaces, and will be available on a first come first served basis.

TitleDateLocationTypeLink
EastBio Induction & Training Days 20267&8-Oct-2026Stirling Court Hotel, University of StirlingCohort buildingRegister here
Introduction to Policymaking11-Nov-2026OnlineProfessional skills - policy, enterprise & industry skillstbc
Dealing with Data24-Nov-2026OnlineCore research skillsRegister here
Neurodiversity Awareness03-Dec-2026OnlineEDI & wellbeingRegister here
Mediation Skills for Student Representatives11-Dec-2026OnlineEDI & wellbeingLink sent to student reps
Mental Health First Aid Training15-Jan-2027University of DundeeEDI & wellbeingLink sent to student reps
Advanced Imaging22-Jan-2027University of DundeeLife sciences methodsRegister here
Mapping and Modelling Your Biological Pathway01-Feb-2027University of DundeeLife sciences methodsRegister here
CASE Placements Q&A02-Feb-2027OnlinePlacementsMeeting invite
PIPS Placements Q&A03-Feb-2027OnlinePlacementsMeeting invite
Science Communication08-Mar-2027OnlineProfessional skills - transferableRegister here
Communicating Your Science15-Mar-2027The Stand Comedy Club, EdinburghProfessional skills - transferableRegister here
Proteomics & Mass Spectrometry23-Mar-2027Moredun Research Institute, EdinburghLife sciences methodsRegister here
Designing and Delivering Events for Public Engagement12-Apr-2027OnlineProfessional Skills - Public Engagementtbc
Where Do You Draw the Line19-Apr-2027OnlineEDI & wellbeingRegister here
Careers in Bioscience28-Apr-2027OnlineProfessional skills - policy, enterprise & industry skillstbc
Making the Most of Your Final Year11-May-2027OnlineDTP3Register here
Professional Development Mentoring Workshop07-Jun-2027OnlineProfessional skills - transferabletbc
EastBio Symposium 202724&25-Jun-2027John McIntyre Conference Centre, University of EdinburghCohort buildingtbc
Post-Placements Day6-Sep-2026in-person tbcProfessional skills - transferabletbc
     
     

SRUC hosted training:

Thesis and Time Management

Microsoft Word for Long Documents

Getting to Grips with R: A Four-Week Asynchronous Workshop

Exploratory vs. Confirmatory Research: Choosing Your Approach 

Making Sense of Complex Data: An Introduction to Multivariate Analysis 

Cause and Effect: An Introduction to Causal Inference for PhD Researchers

11-Nov-2026

 

9-Dec-2026

 

13-Jan to 3-Feb-2027

 

15-Jan-2027

 

29-Jan-2027

 

12-Feb-2027 

Online

 

Online

 

Online

 

SRUC Edinburgh

 

SRUC Edinburgh

 

SRUC Edinburgh

Professional skills - transferable

Core research skills

 

Core research skills

 

Core research skills

 

Core research skills

 

Core research skills

Visit website for more info

To register email: PG.Research@sruc.ac.uk 

EastBio has access to 5 places per workshop.

IBioIC hosted training: 

Careers Beyond Research

Chemical Engineering for Biotech

Careers Day

 

03-Feb-2027

27&28-July-2027

29-July-2027

 

 

Year 4 students

Professional skills - policy, enterprise & industry skills

IBioIC Careers Day

for more information contact eastbio@ed.ac.uk
Available through the Doctoral Landscape Training Network (DLTN). These courses are regularly updated.Various  Details can be found at https://dltn.web.ox.ac.uk/
     

External training will be advertised on the website and newsletter when information becomes available.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the training information in these pages is accurate and up to date. However, our training courses are subject to ongoing development this could entail amendments to, rescheduling or cancellation of advertised courses and activities.

EastBio reserves the right to make changes at any time, providing as much notice to affected students as possible.

Should you notice any inaccuracies in our pages, please email EastBio. 

To help you to plan and keep track of the training offered by EastBio, partner institutions and by external organisations, we provide an online form for students to record their Professional Development Record. There is no formal deadline for submitting your Professional Development Record but you may find it particularly useful to complete this form ahead of any formal progress review that is held locally (e.g. annual review, progress meeting). We ask that you keep updating it with specific details as you proceed through your PhD. You can find the online form here: https://forms.office.com/e/fbzMMUF2qZ, and an offline pdf here:

We are accountable for our programme delivery to our funder and partners, and monitor its impact based on factors such as attendance, cohort-building, student engagement and benefits. 

We provide a degree of flexibility acknowledging the effect on students of multiple stressors and clashing work commitments. We will make sure that students who cannot attend mandatory training at default times will be offered alternative options, or the opportunity to attend at a later date.

If you have any concerns about training you are expected to do or if you need to cancel your registration, please do as soon as possible and no later than 2 weeks in advance (unless for an emergency). However, if you cancel too close to the training or without emailing us the reason, EastBio will seek to retrieve expenditure (venue hire, external trainer fees, facility use fees, training licences, etc.).

After notification, EastBio will deduct an amount proportional to the event’s real cost from student RTSG in the following cases:

  • No-show
  • Cancellation between 1 week and 1 day before the event takes place (including Eventbrite cancellation)
  • Notification of cancellation without a legitimate reason

The financial penalty depends on the specific event planned but will range between £100/day to £300 for 2-day residential events (e.g. symposia).


EastBio general enquiries

University of Edinburgh

Contact details

This article was published on