Historically, one of the main reasons for the establishment of the Methodology Institute was the identification by the Economic and Social Research Council of a 'methods gap' in the training of research students and the publication by the ESRC of guidelines for PhD programmes in the social sciences. Among the stipulated requirements was a set of research skills for each discipline. Given the considerable overlap in these research skills across departments, the Methodology Institute was established to meet some of these needs efficiently.
Research students are welcome to attend any of the Institute's courses|. They should check their departmental requirements with their research tutors or supervisors, and information on courses|.