Business school is growing its own lecturers.

SEVEN PhD students from Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University have become the first in the UK to successfully complete its pioneering Graduate Tutors Scheme.

The three-year scheme has allowed them to combine a PhD alongside a postgraduate certificate in academic and professional learning (PCAPL) teaching qualification, while lecturing undergraduates for six to eight hours a week. They are paid a lecturer's salary and have their PhD fees covered for the duration of the programme. All have now been taken on as full-time academic staff at the Business School's new pounds 70m home at City Campus East.

Professor Richard Slack, who was manager in charge of the programme when it was launched in 2005, says the scheme has been very successful in developing those talented We individuals who have the potential to become academic staff. was such a academic training

He said: "We realised that there was never really such a thing as an academic training programme but you get a lot of very bright and capable individuals graduating. So our idea was to effectively grow our own academics.

"At the end of the three years, they would go through a formal interview process and we would look to try to retain them as full-time members of staff. It's in our interests in order to secure their long-term career here as it's a substantial investment from the Business School."

The graduate tutors are led by a principal lecturer who ensures that their research and understanding of requirements for effective learning and teaching is thorough, as well as guiding them in academic career training and development. Twenty-four other academics are involved in running the programme.

The scheme includes coaching support to develop management skills and bespoke training from staff buddies. There is a one-week intensive international research methodology programme to train, network, present, peer review and develop research.

The research interests of the group reflect the underlying subject areas of research across the school. These include strategic management and international business, accounting and finance, organisation and human resources management, marketing, supply chain management and leadership.

The graduate tutors have already earned acclaim for their research, having presented referred papers at the British Academy of Management, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Professional Standards Conference, the British Academy of Marketing and the 29th Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneur Conference.

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Now the programme has a new director, Philip Shrives, and a further seven graduate tutors have since been recruited on to the programme.

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The graduate tutors scheme has been so successful that other Northumbria University schools are following in the Business School's footsteps and setting up similar schemes. Discussions are also under way with other universities, such as Oxford Brookes, to disseminate good practice.

One of the seven graduating, Dr David Hart, now holds the position of lecturer in marketing within Newcastle Business School and will also act as a year tutor offering guidance to the current crop of graduate tutors based on his experience as one of the original cohort.

David, from Newcastle, said: "Being on the graduate tutor scheme at Newcastle Business School has been a fantastic opportunity for myself and the rest of the group."

For more information on Newcastle Business School, call [phone] or visit www.newcastlebusinessschool.co.ukWe realised there was never really such a thing as an academic training programme

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PIONEERS The graduate tutors from Newcastle Business School who graduated yesterday.