Techne

Inkpath: Logging Your Training

Inkpath is a platform designed specifically for PhD students to help you keep track of your training and skills development. Inkpath is designed to:

  • help you record your training and development activities easily
  • help you see which research skills you are developing
  • enables you to set goals relating to skills you would like to develop
  • register for many Techne training events
  • allows Techne to collect data that shapes our training programmes

All PhD students are asked to log their training and development activities. Your log will inform discussions with your supervisor, your institution may require you to submit copies, and most importantly it helps you to keep track of your own training and development throughout the course of your PhD. Inkpath allows you to do this in a quick and easy way that doesn’t involve completing lots of paperwork.

Techne also uses Inkpath to collect registrations for many of our training workshops and courses. When you attend the training, you will be given a code to scan/enter on Inkpath which will register your attendance at the event.

All Techne students are expected to use Inkpath as the primary way of logging training and development activities. If you started your PhD with Techne before Inkpath was widely used, we would encourage you to use Inkpath going forward but there is no need to retrospectively add previous training activities you may have logged in a different format.

Techne PhD student Anushka Tay researching at the Archive, Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. Photo by Alice Nelson.

Setting up an account

You can access Inkpath through the web, or by opening your mobile device’s app store and downloading the free Inkpath app from there.

Click on the “Choose your destination” dropdown and select “Techne” from the Organisation drop down list. 

You will need to read and confirm your acceptance of the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy before entering your University email address into the Email field and clicking “Next”.

Enter your First Name and Last Name and click “Register”.

You will instantly receive a message on the page notifying you that your account is ready, and receive an email with a one-time link to set your password.

Open your email client, click the link and set your password. Your password must be eight characters long with a mix of letters, numbers, symbols and a capital letter. Click “Set Password”

If you have previously registered to another organisation within Inkpath with the same email address, you will use the same email address and existing Inkpath password to log in. You will not receive a new password. If you are connected to more than one organisation you will see the option 'Switch Organisation' in the top right corner.

Inkpath ‘Skills’ and the Researcher Development Framework

The Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF) is recognised by Techne institutions as the framework which can be used by researchers at any stage in their careers to identify skills and strengths and plan their career development.  The RDF is organised around four main attributes:

  • Domain A: Knowledge and intellectual abilities
  • Domain B: Personal effectiveness
  • Domain C: Research governance and organisation
  • Domain D: Engagement, influence and impact

Please follow the link above for more information about these skills.

For every activity that you log in Inkpath, you can select up to three skills that the activity enabled you to develop. You can also search upcoming Techne training by skill to identify training in the areas you would like to focus your development in.

 

Training Needs Analysis

At the start of each academic year, Techne will collect information about your training needs and what training you plan to undertake. We use this information for AHRC reporting and to identify common training needs that Techne may be able to address over the coming year.

You need to complete a short ‘skills analysis’ questionnaire on Inkpath. You should complete it when you start your PhD and then update it at the beginning of each academic year, reassessing your training needs as you go along. The Training Needs Analysis is intended to facilitate discussions between a doctoral student and their supervisory team about their learning and development needs, so we recommend that you discuss this with your supervisor.

 

Inkpath – Frequently Asked Questions

What kinds of activities should I log?

You should add any activities that you think contribute to your PhD study, research, and professional development. You can find a list here that will give you an idea of the kind of activities we would like you to record, although it is not exhaustive so feel free to add anything you think relevant.

How much training should I do each year?

We don’t have a formal requirement for how much training you should undertake, but we recommend that 10 days per academic year is a good amount to aim for (or 5 for part-time students). We would count anything as 3 hours or less as half a day and anything longer than that as a whole day.

Can I add training not delivered by Techne to my Inkpath log?

Any training activities provided by Techne will be available on Inkpath for you to easily add to your log. You must also create your own activities to log any training or opportunities outside of Techne that contribute to your training and development – we anticipate that this will be the majority of what you log in Inkpath.

How often should I update my Inkpath log?

You should log your Inkpath activities on an ongoing basis. It is designed to be used quickly and easily to add activities as you go along, to save you having to do a year’s worth all at once when you get to the end of each academic year. If you do get behind, you should ensure that your profile is up to date at the end of each academic year in particular.

Can I export my Inkpath training log?

We are aware that often your supervisor or institution are likely to ask to see your training log. There is no need to keep a separate log as you can easily export your Inkpath records to send to others. Log into your account and click the ‘export activity’ button.

I missed the attendance code at a workshop I attended, how can I log the activity?

It is best to scan the code during the workshop itself if possible, however if you miss this or have difficulty at the same you can do this manually. Just go into Inkpath, find the relevant activity and mark it as ‘complete’. It is important that you always mark your attendance properly so that Techne knows how many people have attended each training course.

I’m having problems with Inkpath, who should I contact?
If your problem is a technical one, please contact the Inkpath help team. If your problem is about accessing Techne events or how we expect you to use Inkpath, please contact Techne.