How do I complete my Development Needs Analysis form?
Your Development Needs Analysis (DNA) form should be completed as part of a discussion with your supervisors. Each of the four boxes corresponds to a domain of the Researcher Development Framework. The RDF outlines skills, behaviours and knowledge that researchers need.
Using the RDF diagram on the front of the form as a starting point, make notes in each box about the skills you need to develop. These notes could be a paragraph, a set of bullet points, or a diagram - whichever is most useful for you. It’s important to do this with your supervisors as they will be able to advise you on the kind of skills you need, especially at the beginning of your research.
At the back of the form is an action plan for you to make notes about how you will develop your skills. For example, if you’ve identified that you need to develop your statistics skills, you might choose to attend an Nvivo workshop. More information and downloadable copies of the forms can be found on the University Graduate School intranet pages.