University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh is at the forefront of innovative education. We are a global leader in research, teaching and digital education, including offering more than 70 online degrees.

University of Edinburgh

A woman being interviewed in a panel

Viving la viva: how to answer viva questions

Preparing for a PhD viva can be stressful, but you can take steps to ensure you answer the examiners’ questions about your thesis well. Jenny Scoles provides tips

Jenny Scoles

The University of Edinburgh

Advice on drafting effective proposals for interdisciplinary research projects

All together now: how to write an interdisciplinary research proposal

Advice on drafting successful research proposals to secure support and funding for interdisciplinary projects, from three academics with experience developing research partnerships and collaborations

Catherine Healy, Catherine Lyall, Isabel Fletcher

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Edinburgh

Students studying at individual desks

Crafting an inclusive curriculum: how to write programme learning outcomes

Crafting an inclusive curriculum involves aligning learning outcomes with graduate attributes and using inclusive design principles, active verbs and established frameworks

Lizzy Garner-Foy

The University of Edinburgh

An early career researcher looking through a microscope in a lab

Empower ECRs to commercialise their research

Early career researchers face many barriers when it comes to translating their research into commercial success, be they a lack of time, being overlooked in favour of more established colleagues or simply not knowing where to start

Lysimachos Zografos

The University of Edinburgh

Multiracial group of young people

‘Strengthening institution-wide commitment to trans inclusion is more important than ever’

Guidance for museums, galleries and heritage has insight for universities as they prepare to bolster freedom of speech, write four academics

Suzanne MacLeod, Richard Sandell , Sharon Cowan, E-J Scott

University of Leicester, The University of Edinburgh, University of the Arts London

Podcast title card

THE podcast: microcredentials are knocking. Will higher education answer?

Tips from 10 years of Moocs at the University of Edinburgh and a call to arms to embrace technology for greater equity and financial sustainability

Melissa Highton, Michael D. Smith

The University of Edinburgh, Carnegie Mellon University

Student studying at her laptop

How Moocs helped a centuries-old institution change its ways

Moocs required us to rethink how to create open and free courses that would engage large numbers of learners. Over the years, we’ve adapted our services in response to lessons we’ve learned from our experiments, write Nikki Stuart and Lauren Johnston-Smith

Lauren Johnston-Smith, Nikki Stuart

The University of Edinburgh

People having a meeting at work in front of a laptop

Prepare for promotion: how to develop a strategy for success

How can you ensure you have the best chances of success when applying for a promotion? Here are some tips from careers consultant Eleanor Hennige

Eleanor Hennige

The University of Edinburgh

Woman taking online classes

Tips on making professional-looking, engaging videos for online courses

Making videos for online classes doesn’t have to be costly. Here are ways to make them look professional on a budget

Geoff Fortescue

The University of Edinburgh

Two women in a classroom talking

Trauma-informed approaches can help address bullying in higher education

Universities must take a compassionate, trauma-informed approach when tackling bullying in higher education, argues Glen Cousquer

Glen Cousquer

The University of Edinburgh

Three people in an office having a discussion

So what? Who cares? The skill of talking about impact

Darcey Gillie explains the importance of talking about impact in higher education and offers practical steps on how to do it

Darcey Gillie

The University of Edinburgh

Student in her bedroom sitting on the floor on her laptop listening to music

Sparking online joy: five ways to keep students engaged

Five guiding principles to use when designing and developing content for short online courses that will keep students engaged

Andrés Ordorica , Marcello Crolla, Lizzy Garner-Foy

The University of Edinburgh

A middle aged woman working at a laptop

Open educational resources to make lifelong learning accessible to all

How open educational resources can be created and managed to ensure courses and materials that support lifelong learning are accessible to all aspiring students at little or no cost

Fiona Buckland

The University of Edinburgh

Student learning via online instruction

Learning by doing: practical tips from a decade of making Moocs

Two online learning experts share lessons gained during a decade of developing and refining massive open online courses (Moocs)

Stuart Nicol , Fiona Buckland

The University of Edinburgh

A diverse group of people representing different potential students

Bring your learners to life through personas

Understanding your learners and their needs enables you to develop more engaging courses, and personas are a great tool to help you achieve this, as Andrés Ordorica explains

Andrés Ordorica

The University of Edinburgh

A woman working at her laptop in her kitchen

Free your content! A guide to creating sustainable open licensed media

A guide to creating teaching and learning materials as open educational resources that can be shared and reused by all

Lorna Campbell

The University of Edinburgh

A woman studying online

A look back over 10 years of Moocs

Lessons learned over a decade of developing and delivering massive open online courses (Moocs)

Melissa Highton

The University of Edinburgh

THE Campus webinar graphic

Campus webinar: Getting digital assessment right

A discussion of the strengths and limitations of digital assessment and how it can best be used in higher education

Christina Agvent , Letizia Gramaglia, James Lamb, Jonna Lee

Colorado State University Global , The University of Warwick, The University of Edinburgh, Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

PhD at university needs to be more practical

Bridging the gap: how to enhance PhD programmes for non-academic careers

As more PhD students express interest in non-academic career paths, it’s essential to evaluate the relevance of traditional PhD programmes for alternative opportunities

Dennis Relojo-Howell

The University of Edinburgh

Student working on a laptop outside

Don’t forget online learning in your university marketing

University marketing often focuses on the campus experience, so what should institutions do to make prospective students aware of their online course offering?

Ari Badlishah

The University of Edinburgh

A team of colleagues brainstorming ideas

How to run a marketing campaign in a devolved university

Advice on co-ordinating a university-wide marketing campaign in a large, devolved organisation

Heather MacBain

The University of Edinburgh

Robot looking through a microscope

AI text detectors: a stairway to heaven or hell?

The emergence of GPTZero, OpenAI’s text classifier and Turnitin’s AI detector bring a risk of over-reliance on AI classifiers. Are they a solution or a further problem to be solved?

Miguel de Carvalho

The University of Edinburgh

Image of someone picking up a plastic bottle from a beach

From personal to professional: incorporating sustainability into your university work

Practical advice for embedding sustainability issues into broader professional practice, taking lessons from teaching English language that are applicable across other disciplines

Peter Buckley

The University of Edinburgh

Students recording a video

Amplify the authentic student voice in university marketing

Any university can claim to be the best, but in the end, people will believe the students who study there. Here are tips on collaborating with students to create marketing content that amplifies their authentic voice

Ari Badlishah

The University of Edinburgh

THE Campus webinar graphic

Campus webinar: The keys to a successful academic career

Three female academics in Europe, the UK and Australia give their advice on how to land a promotion, networking for introverts, how much you should be publishing – and answering the question: ‘Should I quit?’

Sarah Ivory, Catherine Léglu, Kylie Message-Jones

Australian National University, University of Luxembourg, The University of Edinburgh

Image of people networking

Practice makes perfect and other networking tips for academics

The benefits of networking for academics and how to do it well, both in person and online, explained by Eleanor Hennige

Eleanor Hennige

The University of Edinburgh

Image showing multiple hands holding up CVs

How to write an academic CV: dos and dont's

What key information to include on your academic CV and how to present it, alongside some common mistakes to avoid, by Eleanor Hennige

Eleanor Hennige

The University of Edinburgh

Students working on a project together

The secrets of supporting successful student start-ups

Guidance to how universities can support student entrepreneurship and successful business creation, shared by John Lonsdale

John Lonsdale

The University of Edinburgh

Image of a woman using VR technology

Using immersive tech to enrich healthcare education

As virtual reality technology has become more affordable and user friendly, it opens opportunities to enhance teaching of clinical skills. Here’s how one team brings VR into the classroom

Chris McKenzie, Janet Skinner, Amy Poole

The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University

Commercialise PhDs

What I have learned on the journey towards commercialising my PhD

Engineering biologist Maggie Hicks shares what she has learned on her journey towards commercialising her PhD, with business partner and fellow PhD student Florentina Winkelmann

Maggie Hicks

The University of Edinburgh

Knocking down the house of policy impact in higher education

It’s high time we rethought policy impact

The frameworks currently in use for rewarding policy impact are peppered with problems and pitfalls – here’s how to fix them, says Christina Boswell

Christina Boswell

The University of Edinburgh

Assessment and feedback as a participatory dialogue

Assessment and feedback as an active dialogue between tutors and students

Seven steps towards enhancing assessment and feedback as a participatory, social process that supports deeper learning, by Neil Lent, Tina Harrison and Sabine Rolle

Neil Lent, Tina Harrison, Sabine Rolle

The University of Edinburgh

Alumni sharing knowledge

Bringing in alumni as guest tutors to teach and inspire students

Inviting alumni to contribute to a course can enrich the learning experience for current students. Ellie Devenish-Nelson and Sharron Ogle explain how

Ellie Devenish-Nelson , Sharron Ogle

The University of Edinburgh

Why getting a PhD is just like building a Lego duck

Why getting a PhD is like building a Lego duck

Ben Marder provides a fun exercise that can impart important wisdom to help lessen PhD students’ anxiety over their progress

Ben Marder

The University of Edinburgh

Woman holds magnifying glass over paper

Don’t be cruel: how to write a fair peer review report

Not every comment in a peer review report will be positive, but it is possible to highlight weaknesses and errors in a journal article while being constructive. After all, behind every manuscript are authors who have ploughed time and effort into the submission

Sin Wang Chong, Shannon Mason

The University of Edinburgh, Nagasaki University

An image representing good conduct online

Digital citizenship: creating safe and inclusive online learning spaces

Digital citizenship, or the ability to use and connect via technology responsibly, is now a vital life skill that educators must foster among students. Vicki Madden explains how to start by creating respectful online environments

Victoria Madden

The University of Edinburgh

A group of school children learning about recycling

Tips for creating open access digital courses focused on tackling the climate crisis

Tips on how to develop, design and deliver open access digital education resources to help educate wider audiences about the climate crisis, by Erika Warnatzsch

Erika Warnatzsch

The University of Edinburgh

Social media can make you sad, so here's how to battle the LinkedIn

Does seeing others’ success on LinkedIn make you unhappy?

LinkedIn can help you find a job and promote yourself, but it may also leave you questioning your own career trajectory – here’s how to combat the social media blues

Laura Lavertu, Sebastian Oliver

The University of Edinburgh

Podcast discussing building resilience and protecting well-being among university staff and students

THE podcast: lessons from leading HE through two years of pandemic upheaval

Two higher education leaders reflect on what they have learnt in the two years since the pandemic struck

Peter Mathieson, Anant Agarwal

The University of Edinburgh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

How to address breakout room anxiety: advice for teaching academics

Four ways to address breakout room anxiety

Ari Badlishah draws on her recent experience completing a master’s degree largely online to offer advice on how educators can help minimise students’ anxiety about virtual breakout rooms

Ari Badlishah

The University of Edinburgh

Advice on taking a trauma sensitive approach to teaching

A trauma-sensitive approach to teaching and learning

A four-step framework for taking a trauma-sensitive approach to teaching in universities, explained by Kitty Wheater

Kitty Wheater

The University of Edinburgh

Meritocracy in higher education is not fit for purpose with minorities of all stripes finding an unsafe environment

Meritocracy in the academy isn’t fit for purpose – but we can fix it

Institutions need to think about who they’re picking and foster both literacy and competence around minority issues as the first steps to a true meritocracy

rashné limki

The University of Edinburgh

Advice on developing a course portfolio that meets workplace demand for upskilling

Pivoting university course offerings to upskill the workforce

Teresa Ironside outlines how universities can develop their course portfolio to meet changing workplace skills demands and deliver education to a wider range of learners

Teresa Ironside

The University of Edinburgh

Advice on developing online courses using ABC Learning Design as your framework

Easy as ABC: design an online course in 90 minutes

Want to create an online course but not sure where to start? Lizzy Garner-Foy shares tips on how to create engaging online learning using a quick, easy method: ABC Learning Design.

Lizzy Garner-Foy

The University of Edinburgh

Social media influencer or blogger present and review recording or streaming vlog

How to start an academic YouTube channel: tips from a psychology YouTuber

YouTube is a wide-open opportunity for university teachers and researchers to share their knowledge with a broader audience, says Dennis Relojo-Howell

Dennis Relojo-Howell

The University of Edinburgh

Advice on developing research informed strategies to widen participation in higher education

Widening access to postgraduate studies: from research to strategy to action

Providing equitable access into and through higher education is a constant battle, especially in postgraduate research, but barriers can be addressed when evidence is connected to action, as Diane Gill explains

Diane Gill

The University of Edinburgh

Advice on teaching the basics of critical thinking to students who are new to the concept

How to teach critical thinking to beginners

Sarah Ivory explains how she teaches critical thinking through application rather than theory, tasking students with applying three core elements of the process in their regular classes

Sarah Ivory

The University of Edinburgh

Advice for taking your university teaching out of the lecture theatre or classroom

Bringing learning to life: nine tips for teaching in outdoor places and spaces

David A. G. Clarke reflects on his experience of teaching in outdoor spaces and provides valuable tips on how to take higher education outside the classroom

David A. G. Clarke

The University of Edinburgh

Advice on looking to the wider research community for resources and training to upskill your research team

Core data science skills: filling the gaps with community developed workshops

The scientific research apprenticeship model lacks training in core data science skills. Community-developed workshops delivered by academic peers can help to fill this gap, Alison Meynert and Edward Wallace explain

Alison Meynert , Edward Wallace

The University of Edinburgh

New rules for lecture subtitles and transcripts are creating huge amounts of extra work for time-poor academics

New rules on lecture transcripts give academics an impossible choice

Higher education leaders must engage on new transcription requirements post-pandemic to ensure academics don’t have to choose between inclusion or increased workload

Emily Nordmann, Wilhelmiina Toivo , Rachel O’Neill

University of Glasgow, The University of Edinburgh