Frequently asked questions

We’re happy to answer your questions about the DTP, our courses and our activities.  Before you send a question, however, please check below to see whether we’ve already answered it for you.

We get a lot of email traffic to our address but will try to respond to your queries as soon as possible. If your question isn’t clarified below, you can reach us via liss-dtp@kcl.ac.uk

Search FAQs

Am I eligible to register for LISS DTP training courses?

We are open to PhD students using social science methodologies in their research who are also enrolled at King’s College LondonQueen Mary University of London, or Imperial College London. We ask interested students to complete our registration pagecommit to attending the courses onto which they enrol, and give us feedback on their experience once the course is over.

How do I register on LISS DTP training courses/programme?

You can enrol onto LISS training courses via an online course booking system, SkillsForge. We encourage all non-funded PhD students at KCL, QMUL or ICL who are interested in attending our training courses, to fill in LISS Affiliate Registration Form and become an affiliate student of LISS DTP before signing up for our courses.

All non-funded PhD Students at QMUL or ICL should visit Self Sign Up (kcl.ac.uk) to create an account to request access to SkillsForge. We check request regularly for approval. Once your access is approved, you will be able to log in as an external user to your SkillsForge account and register for LISS courses.

King’s College London doctoral students will be able to log into this system immediately, using your K number and password as for email. Students who are funded by the ESRC through LISS DTP will already have log in credentials and will not need to register as a LISS DTP Affiliate student for access.

LISS DTP training bookings work on a termly basis; only courses in the immediately upcoming/current term will be available for booking, i.e., during our autumn term (October- December), only autumn term courses will be open for booking. Exact dates/times/locations and required preparation for each course are usually accessible via detailed Course Outlines on the Training Programme webpage.

Termly bookings on SkillsForge open as follows in 2022/23 (exact dates TBA):

  • Autumn 2022 registration- from 23rd September 2022
  • Spring 2023 registration- from mid December 2022
  • Summer 2023 registration- from early April 2023

From Autumn 2022, we will introduce a cut-off date for signing up to LISS courses. For all our courses starting from October onwards, booking will usually close 2 working days before the start of the first session, or when the course reaches maximum capacity with a short waiting list.   

Registration is now on a first-come/ first-served basis.  However, we will  closely monitor ‘no-shows’ (students who book onto courses and then do not attend or cancel their place via the SkillsForge system). Failing to cancel your place in a timely fashion (i.e., a minimum of 48 hours ahead of the first session), failure to show up to courses you book onto and booking on excessive numbers of courses will result in individual students being barred from booking onto future DTP courses after a warning is issued.

Can I register for DTP training courses without being affiliated with LISS DTP or a Thematic Pathway?

While King’s College London doctoral students who are unaffiliated with or not funded by LISS DTP can book onto our courses via the SkillsForge booking system, we will prioritise King’s students who are affiliated with us when courses are oversubscribed. Queen Mary and Imperial College doctoral students who are not funded by LISS MUST register to become a LISS DTP Affiliate Student in order to receive access to the SkillsForge booking system for our courses.

How and/or where can I review the lecture slides / lecture recordings / readings lists?

All supporting documents for our courses are hosted on our ‘Training Resources’ page. The area is password protected, but the password is given to all LISS funded students as well as students who are registered with LISS DTP.

What are LISS DTP Thematic Pathways?

LISS DTP’s Thematic Pathways are designed to help foster interdisciplinary and inter-institutional activities across the three DTP partner universities. They’re a useful way of getting to know other PhD students outside your department who are working on similar research topics.

Each Pathway also has a budget to help its members plan and run events and activities around their research interests and training needs.  Academic Pathway Leads will provide some support and direction, but much of Pathway activity can be driven by its affiliated students.  You can select which Pathway best fits your interests when you register to join the DTP.

You can change your LISS DTP Pathway at any time by contacting us at liss-dtp@kcl.ac.uk. If you are a LISS-funded student you will require support from your supervisor and the Pathway Lead of your new Pathway. 

I want to book onto a LISS DTP course, but I know I'm going to miss some sessions. Should I still book?

If the DTP course you want to attend has multiple sessions, please DO NOT book onto it unless you can attend at least 75% of the sessions- ie. 3 out of 4 sessions on a 4 session course.  Otherwise you are potentially taking a space away from another student who could commit to attending a course in full.  Your attendance will be monitored via attendance sheets at each session.  Please inform the course convenor directly if you are going to miss a session of a course.

How do waiting lists for DTP courses work on the SkillsForge booking system?

LISS DTP runs a ‘one off/one on’ standard waiting list procedure once a course is fully subscribed.  We ask that you cancel your place via the SkillsForge system as quickly as possible if you find that you can no longer attend a course onto which you are booked.  If you are on a waiting list for a course and receive an offer of a place, please be aware that these offers are time sensitive.  You will need to click on a link in the email you receive in order to gain a space on the course or else your offer will expire and the place will be offered to the next student on the waiting list.

I didn't get a place on the DTP course I wanted to join or I couldn't make the dates. Will the course run again?

We anticipate that much of our DTP programmme will remain the same year-on-year, so if you cannot attend a course during one academic year, it will likely be repeated in the following year. As much as possible, course materials, audio or visual recordings of courses etc. will be available online for all LISS funded and affiliate students to access via our ‘Training Resources’ page.

How do I cancel my place on a LISS DTP course?

If you find you can no longer attend a DTP course you have a confirmed space on, it’s VERY important that you cancel as soon as possible to allow another student to have the space.  You can cancel using the Skills Forge system that you booked on.  You will need to log on as normal then visit the ‘my booking summary’ section.  Scroll down to find the course you would like to cancel and click ‘Details’.  Scroll down to the section marked ‘Booking status’.  From here, you should follow the ‘Click here to cancel your place’ link.  If you try to cancel less than 48 hours before the start of a course, Skills Forge will not allow you to complete your request.  Instead, you will need to email us at liss-dtp@kcl.ac.uk  This will then be counted as a ‘late cancellation’ and may effect your ability to get a place on future DTP courses, so please make every effort to cancel well in advance.

How can I change the Thematic Pathway with which I'm affiliated?

You can change your LISS DTP Pathway at any time by contacting us at liss-dtp@kcl.ac.uk. If you are a LISS-funded student you will require support from your supervisor and the Pathway Lead of your new Pathway. 

Can you help me with other courses I can view on SkillsForge, such as ones with course codes starting 'PGR', 'RS', 'LIB' etc.?

If you are an affiliate student from Queen Mary or Imperial College, only LISS DTP courses (those with codes starting LISS) will be available for you to book.

LISS funded students and other King’s College doctoral students will be able to access and book other courses via SkillsForge, but LISS DTP is only responsible for courses with codes starting LISS.

We only deal with LISS DTP courses that start with ‘LISS’ in the course code. For assistance with courses starting with ‘PGR’ and ‘RS’, email doctoraltraining@kcl.ac.uk For courses starting with ‘LIB’ and ‘ISS’ you need to contact King’s Library Services.

I have an idea for a LISS DTP course, workshop or reading group. Who do I talk to?

Please contact LISS DTP Manager, paula.sawyer@kcl.ac.uk to provide any ideas you have regarding new DTP programming.  We’re very open to suggestions and have a budget to make new, innovative event ideas happen.  If you would like to run your own event, we will need you to submit a short proposal (no more than 2 A4 pages) with some details about the proposed content of the training, the anticipated audience/participants for the training with consideration taken to all three institutions in the partnership and a short budget to indicate how required funds would be spent.  Proposals can be submitted to liss-dtp@kcl.ac.uk.