A research degree is a very individual experience, more so than an undergraduate degree. While the overarching structure will be identical or similar across the university, individual research projects, research interactions and assessment interactions will differ. This environment can provide a rich learning experience for student cohorts discussing their experiences.

Undertaking a research degree is part of a training, professional and personal development process, which will be life-long. There will be little or no set timetable of lectures and there are no formal term dates. Research degrees can start at any time of the academic year, although the majority of Imperial students tend to commence their studies in October. You will acquire a high degree of self-management, which will be required for you to succeed in managing your day, your research, your degree and its requirements.

A research degree has an exciting scope for collaborations and working as a team and as such, learning or enhancing your communication and people management skills. It is highly creative and can be more unpredictable than an undergraduate degree. A research degree is not simply about collecting results or data but also querying these and discussing them with others. Learning is continuous and poor experimental results can form part of research learning and success. Unlike a typical classroom experience of an undergraduate degree, a research degree will empower you to drive your own learning experience and expand your knowledge in a variety of ways.