Short Course Materials & Recordings [University of Bristol only]

To make our popular short course training materials more widely available, we are pleased to offer University of Bristol staff and postgraduate students access to course materials and recordings. Our comprehensive programme of Materials & Recordings (M&R) courses are ideal for self-paced learning, to dip into a new subject area or simply refresh your knowledge.

35 short courses are currently available as an M&R option. UoB staff and PGRs can self enrol at any point in the year for immediate access to course materials and recordings. Find out more below:

How does it work?

M&R courses are designed to be used for self-paced learning. You'll have access to teaching materials and recordings of live sessions to work through at your convenience.

Once you are registered on an M&R short course, you'll retain access for the foreseeable future. It is not necessary to sign up each academic year. The materials will be refreshed with updated content and new recordings after the live online course has taken place. You will receive an announcement to let you know when this has happened.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure that M&R courses contain all learning materials from the live course, we cannot guarantee that courses will be complete. There may be some materials which are omitted from the M&R version due to content restrictions or failures of recordings. Unless otherwise specified, M&R courses do not have any interactive sessions such as practicals or support from course tutors.

We recommend that you sign up to the full online version of a course if you wish to take part in practicals and interactive sessions.

Bookings

It is easy to book yourself onto an M&R short course. Simply review the list of available courses on the Bristol Medical School SharePoint site and use the links provided to self-enrol.

Whilst there are no mandatory prerequisites for M&R courses, to ensure the course is at the right level for you, and that you can fully benefit from online participation, we recommend that you review the individual course IT and knowledge prerequisites.

You may sign up at any point throughout the year and will receive immediate access within Blackboard.

Note: New courses in our programme will only be available as a M&R option once the live course has taken place:

Advanced Mendelian Randomization - will be available from February 2025
Introduction to Quantitative Bias Analysis - will be available from June 2025
Overview of Qualitative Review and Synthesis Methods - will be available from July 2025
Understanding Trusted Research Environments - will be available from March 2025

Availability & cost

M&R courses are offered free of charge to University of Bristol staff and research postgraduates. They do not use up any discounts from voucher pack allocations.

You can sign up to as many M&R courses as you like throughout the year and there is no competition for places.

Note: New courses in our programme will only be available as a M&R option once the live course has taken place:

FAQs

We have tried to answer as many frequently asked questions as possible. If you can't find the answer to your question, please contact us directly.

Are all short courses available as an M&R option?

For a full list of available M&R courses visit the Bristol Medical School SharePoint site.

The vast majority of our 2024-2025 programme of online courses are available as an M&R option. This includes Introduction to Network Meta-Analysis which is not running live in the 2024-2025 programme.

In some cases, courses are not suitable to convert to a M&R standalone course and other courses are pilots this academic year. The following courses will not run an M&R option this year:

Co-Design, Co-Production and Participatory Action Research
Inclusivity within Research Processes
Introduction to Data Collection in Research Studies
Introduction to Mixed-Methods Research to inform Public Health Policy
Introduction to Protocol Writing
Knowledge Mobilisation
Reproducible Health Data Science
Writing a Journal Article
Writing a Qualitative Paper

Note: New courses in our programme will only be available as a M&R option once the live course has taken place:

Are there limited places?

You can sign up to as many M&R courses as you please. Places are not restricted, and there is no competition for places.

Will booking an M&R course use up my voucher allocation?

M&R courses are offered free of charge to University of Bristol staff and Postgraduate research students. You will not need to use up any allowance from your voucher packs to gain access.

Are there any prerequisites to attend M&R courses?

How do I book?

It is easy to book yourself onto an M&R short course. Simply review the list of available courses on the Bristol Medical School SharePoint site and use the links provided to self-enrol.

You may sign up at any point throughout the year and will receive immediate access within Blackboard.

Note: New courses in our programme will only be available as a M&R option once the live course has taken place:

When will I gain access and for how long?

You may self-sign up to an M&R course at any point throughout the year and will receive immediate access within Blackboard.

Note: New courses in our programme will only be available as a M&R option once the live course has taken place:

How do I use the materials?

M&R courses are intended as a useful reference for self-paced learning, rather than as a substitute for attending a live interactive course. How you use the course is up to you, whether you work through the materials systematically or simply dip into the content you would like to review.

You have the option to join the course Viva Engage group (previously known as Yammer). This will allow you to join a community of other staff and PGRs registered on this course, to support one another with your learning.

Are there limits to the access provided?

Whilst every effort is made to ensure that M&R courses contain all learning materials from the live course, we cannot guarantee that courses are complete. There may be some materials which are omitted from the M&R version due to content restrictions or failures of recordings. In addition, we do not provide any recordings from break out rooms.

You will not have access to additional software that is sometimes made available on live courses (for example PositCloud).

Unless otherwise specified, M&R courses do not have any interactive sessions such as practicals or support from course tutors. We recommend that you sign up to the full online version of a course if you wish to take part in practicals and interactive sessions.

What support is available? Can I contact tutors?

M&R courses do not ordinarily have any live interactive sessions such as practicals or support from course tutors. They are intended to be standalone resources.

We recommend that you sign up to the full online version of a course if you wish to take part in practicals and interactive sessions.

Occasionally we may arrange a one off live Q&A session with course tutors. If this applies to a course you have signed up to, you will receive advance notification.

I’m on the waiting list for the full online course, should I sign up to the M&R course?

If your preference is to attend the complete live online course and fully benefit from interactive sessions, practicals and tutor contact, we recommend you retain a place on the waiting list in case a space becomes available.

Alongside this, you are welcome to also sign up to the M&R version of the course.

If I’m attending the full online course, do I also need to sign up for the M&R course?

If you attend the live online course you will retain access to the course materials and recordings for 3 months after completion. If you would like to retain access to materials and recordings beyond this 3 month period you are welcome to sign up to the M&R version.

Will I get a certificate?

M&R courses are designed to be used ad hoc and are not recognised for CPD or by attendance certification.

Materials & Recordings self-enrolment link

To ensure an M&R course is suitable for you, remember to review the course IT and knowledge prerequisites.

I think the best thing is the materials only versions available to PhD students, which has allowed me to brush up on skills I should have and save my course vouchers to learn new skills crucial to my degree. It also gives me the opportunity to learn outside of my area if I have the time, and make connections to other students and researchers within the department. I'm very glad that the resources remain on blackboard after the courses have run, and I think they're presented in a logical and easily accessible manner on blackboard.

Course feedback (May 2023)

A great way to manage the course in your own terms, in your own time. 100% recommended.

Medical School PhD student