Training Plan

(Attendance to) English Linguistics Advanced Research Seminar

Mandatory task starting from the 2019/2020 school year

Language: Given its international scope, the language used in the seminar will be primarly English.

Duration: 10 hours

Schedule: 2nd Semester

Attendance and participation control: A certificate of participation and appreciation is provided to students subject to their submission of a Seminar report written in English (up to 1000 words) to the Academic Committee. The report shall include the main aspects discussed in each talk of the Seminar and relate them, if relevant, to their PhD dissertation proposal. The submission of the summary will be recorded and attached to the student’s activity profile and be considered as part of the student’s annual monitoring report.

Description: The Seminar takes place yearly in the second semester of the PhD full-time schedule and it aims to help students acquire advanced research skills which are not part of the training period or are related with the research project to be undertaken. The Seminar comprises a number of lectures given by invited plenary speakers that are experts in their field of research within English Linguistics, such as cognitive linguistics, historical linguistics, pragmatics, translation, or corpus linguistics, among others. The lectures include a 45/50-min talk and 20 minutes for questions and discussion. The Seminar is timely advertised and has its own website that is updated every year, gathering information about the day’s programme and the speakers’ abstracts and biodata. Registration for the Seminar is free and open for those interested in advanced linguistics research, and attendance is compulsory for the PhD students in the Programme.
Outcome: Students will gain knowledge and access to advanced research strategies and resources. They will be able to independently use databases and computing resources available in the field of English Linguistics and related disciplines in order to build and disseminate personally developed knowledge.

Previous editions:

Dissertation Proposal Workshop

Mandatory task in the first year (starting from the 2019/2020 school year). Voluntary task in the following years.

Language: The language used in the seminar will be English.

Duration: 1-1.30 hours

Schedule: 2nd Semester

Attendance and participation control: A certificate of attendance will be provided to the first-year students participating in the Workshop. It will be attached to the student's activity profile and considered as part of the student’s annual monitoring report.

Description: First-year PhD students shall participate in the Dissertation Proposal Workshop designed by the Academic Committee as part of the PhD training plan. First-year PhD will elaborate a PowerPoint or Poster presentation describing their topic and research proposal. These are first submitted to Moodle, along with a video recording explaining their presentations, a week prior to the Workshop for faculty members and senior PhD students to watch. The day of the Workshop, first-year students will present their presentations briefly. Members of the faculty and senior PhD students shall attend and provide the students with suggestions, comments or advice to improve their proposals, such as aspects related to the organization and work schedule of each student, the main chapters and sub-issues to be addressed, the accurate identification and the statement of the problem, the selection of the conceptual framework, the research design or the data collection procedure, etc. An allocated faculty member will also provide each student with a more detailed and comprehensive feedback on the day.

Outcome: Students will be able to present in front of an audience a solid PhD dissertation proposal including a title, table of contents, abstract, statement of the problem and hypothesis, theoretical framework, literature review, methodology and potential work schedule. The feedback received will also help them improve their long dissertation proposals, to be submitted at the end of the first academic year after the Workshop.

Previous editions:

Book review

Optional task.

Language: English

Duration: 10 hours

Schedule: semester 3 or 4

Control: Presentation of an original literature review which meets all the requirements regarding content and formal style proper to an academic publication. (Approximately 2500-3000 words). The review will be signed by the tutor or supervisor, attached to the student's activity profile and be part of their annual monitoring report.

Description: Students shall write a critical book review related to their PhD dissertation proposal. It should describe why the work is interesting for specialist readers and show the knowledge in the field of study. Formal academic style shall be required, as well as clarity in the organization of ideas, expressive conciseness and requirements of all formal academic publications.

Outcome: Students will write a critical book review of their specialty and, together with their tutor/supervisor, they will look for appropriate channels of publication.

Oral contributions to Scientific Conferences

Optional task.

Language: English

Duration: 10 hours

Schedule: semester 4, 5 or 6

Control: Presentation of the presentation outline, which will be signed by the thesis supervisor and included in the student's activity profile. Certificate of participation in the corresponding Conference or Congresses.

Description: Students will present, in approximately 20 minutes, issues related to their research in Conferences, Forums or Scientific Congresses. They will be encouraged to participate in the English Linguistics Seminar which will be held every two years, with the participation of young researchers. Discussion of the research projects in an open, effective and plural environment will be promoted.

Outcome: Students will be able to present and defend topics related to their research field in Conferences, Forums or Scientific Congresses in an autonomous, clear and effective manner. This will help to further develop their knowledge in aspects which are relevant to the research project the PhD candidates will be developing; they will be able to exchange opinions and communicate with researchers from the same scientific field; they will gain experience in communicating their results to the scientific community and they will learn how to communicate partial or global results of their own research in scientific meetings.

Workshop design and delivery

Non-compulsory activity

Language: English

Duration: 8 hours

Schedule: 5th Semester

Evaluation: Participating students need to submit a draft work plan with distribution of topics and times as well as a scheme of qualitative evaluation of results to their supervisors or tutors. The document, signed by the student’s tutor/supervisor, will be included in the student’s activity record.

Description: This activity is designed for the 3rd year students. These students will organize and give workshop presentations aimed at the strengthening and consolidation of first-year students’ proposals. 3rd year students will actively contribute to shape up the following aspects of proposals: structure and outline, main chapters and related sub-topics; accurate identification of and clear approach to the problem under consieration; conceptual framework; investigation plan or process of data collection.

Results: 3rd year students will be able to demonstrate their ability to provide advice and guidance as well as share their experience with the new students, along with the ability to evaluate other candidates' dissertations in their early stages. This experience will be a starting point for their professional academic practice.

Conference organization UPCEL conferences (UCM Predoctoral Conference on Englisg Linguistics)

Non-compulsory activity

Language: English and Spanish

Duration: 10 hours

Schedule: 2nd semester

Evaluation: Submission of corresponding certificate

Description: Students are invited to participate in the organization of Conferences or Seminars on English Linguistics to be held every two years during the spring semester. Students will contribute to the promotion of the event, the invitation of visiting speakers; the right development of lectures; arrangements of venue and necessary equipment; the introduction of speakers; the ellaboration, distribution and collection of quality questionnaires; the handing out of certificates, etc.

Results: Students will be able to organize an Academic Event, decide on a coherent programme, manage unexpected issues, interact with invited speakers and participants and develop team-working skills.

Link to previous editions: Upcel2015, Upcel2017, Upcel2020, Upcel 2022, Upcel 2024, Upcel 2026

Attendance to Scientific Conferences

Optional task.

Languages: English, Spanish, other

Duration: duration of the specific event

Schedule: Semesters 1-6 / Semesters 1-10

Control: Certificate of attendance. The student's participation will be recorded in the student's activity profile.

Description: PhD-ENGLIN-UCM encourages the students' participation in Scientific Conferences.

Outcome: The student will gain access to new knowledge and scientific perspectives. They will be able to present issues concerning the development of their research in scientific forums and to show ideas or results.

About mobility

Attendance at Data Analysis and Career Development Sessions

Voluntary activity

Language: The language used in the sessions will be primarily English, due to its international profile.

Duration: 10-20 hours

Timeline: 1st Semester

Attendance and participation control: A certificate of attendance will be provided.

Description: The Data Analysis Appetisers are introductory micro-workshops designed for doctoral students to acquire, in a fast and practical manner, core competencies in linguistic data analysis, which are especially relevant for research in contemporary English linguistics. They consist of brief sessions focused on tools and methods of data analysis applied to linguistics (corpora, basic statistics, specialized software). They function as methodological "tastings": small pills that allow students to test techniques before delving deeper into them. Their goal is to enable the doctoral student to independently manage databases, computing resources, and quantitative methods, which the program considers essential for current research in English linguistics. On the other hand, the Career Development sessions are training seminars dedicated to guiding doctoral students in their career development outside the academic field, exploring career opportunities beyond the university (such as the linguistic industry, publishing, data analysis, and language technology). Their function is to ensure that the doctoral student not only develops a solid thesis but also a sustainable and competitive professional profile.

Outcomes: Students will acquire knowledge and proficiency in accessing the latest data compilation resources and exploring career paths outside of academia.

Previous editions:

Seminar on English Linguistics Tools Committed to Citizen Science

Voluntary activity

Language: English (and Spanish)

Duration: 10 hours of data management and 10 hours of English Linguistics outside the classroom.

Timeline: Any semester

Control: Delivery of the corresponding certificate(s).

Description: Students will participate in the Seminar either as a speaker—if they are advanced doctoral candidates—or as an active listener. It will consist of two blocks:
Data Management and Exchange.- Data management under the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). Raising awareness about the importance of publishing data derived from one's own research. Data localization and the reuse of data from other researchers. Typology of data repositories, open exchange formats, and data visualization. Ethical and legal aspects: Informed consent and informant anonymization. Web data scraping/collection. Compilation and dissemination of corpora. Structuring linguistic corpora that can be shared. Publishing, open access, and scientific ethics. Ethical and legal protocols on data protection and intellectual property. Authorship and collaboration, requirements for funding calls and scientific journals. Open-access journals in the field of English Linguistics. Open Linguistics. Research and visibility - Digital researcher profile (ORCID, Google Scholar, etc.).
English Linguistics in Diverse Contexts.- Shared knowledge: the public value of English Linguistics. English linguistics in professional sectors outside of academia (Taking English linguistics outside the academy). Identification of salient topics in English linguistics research that promote dialogue with society, inclusivity, commitment, and knowledge transfer. Communication and visibility. Dissemination formats and spaces: podcasts, videos, journalistic essays, social media, events. Potential receptive audiences. Communication tools: memes, metaphors, comparisons, and others.

Outcomes: Doctoral students will improve their academic and professional ability to make research knowledge and data freely and openly available. Likewise, they will refine techniques aimed at increasing the transparency and impact of their research work.

Additionally, the program promotes participation in open science and citizen science activities offered in other formats:
UCM Doctoral School: Through CV announcements, the program promotes attendance at cross-disciplinary activities offered by the UCM Doctoral School, such as those listed here: https://edoctorado.ucm.es/af-crpdtri and here: https://edoctorado.ucm.es/af-cpee. These have their own content and evaluation systems. The activities are advertised on the Doctoral School's website, including the link to register through the UCM Events website within the specified deadline. After verifying that applicants meet the requirements, student selection will be based on order of registration until all available slots are filled. The program also advertises similar activities promoted by universities outside of UCM, both Spanish and foreign.
Likewise, the program encourages student participation in competitions such as "3-Minute Thesis" (Tesis en 3 minutos) or UCM PhDay (https://edoctorado.ucm.es/noticias-y-eventos).