All Zoology postgraduate students are supervised by at least one member of academic staff who is an expert in the student's field of study. Supervisors support students in developing an independent and novel project in their field of interest, and are there to give advice, encouragement and constructive criticism.  Students are also allocated two advisers who will help to assess their progress, as well as offer suggestions and advice during their PhD.

The regularity with which postgraduate students meet with their supervisor varies throughout the year but meetings are likely to be more frequent to start with, during the planning stages, and during the writing-up phase. On average, students meet with their supervisors every 1-2 weeks.  All students should have the opportunity to seek formal feedback from their supervisor, and supervisors should have the opportunity to give such feedback.

You may wish to refer to the Code of Practice for Research Students for more information on the University's expectations regarding supervision.

There is a wide range of talks and seminars available in the Department and elsewhere in Cambridge. Many research groups within the Department run weekly seminars which you should attend and can contribute to. There are also departmental seminars with guest speakers from other institutions or departments. This is a chance to meet with leading researchers in your area and get together with other postgraduate students.

In addition to the Departmental seminar series, we offer some seminars and events specifically for our postgraduate students:

Scientific Ethics Seminar Series: The biennial Scientific Ethics course is designed to give research students the chance to confront and discuss ethical issues they will face as professional scientists. Such a course is felt to be necessary in view of the sensitivity of society to the perceived misbehaviour of scientists, the complex relationship between scientific issues and society and the increasing pressure on scientists in a competitive environment.

Zoo Grad Tea Talks: As a postgraduate student in Zoology you will be required to give a talk to your peers. This is a seminar series run by and for postgraduate students. Students present their work to a friendly audience, composed of students and postdocs.

Zoology Postgraduate Symposium: The postgraduate students organise a biennial one-day symposium, where students can give a talk or present a poster, and in this way practice their presentation skills. 

Statistics for Zoologists course: This optional series of lectures and practical's delivers statistics training to students in Zoology at the beginning of their studies here.