Student Support

Overview of support available to students

Student standing outside the Advice Place

Supervisory Team - should be your first point of contact for matters relating to academic and pastoral support. They are available to advise you about your choice of courses, to support you as you plan your programme of study, support you through the thesis process, and to help you to address personal problems affecting your academic work. It is your responsibility to inform your Supervisor immediately of any problems that are interfering with your coursework or progress.

Thesis Committee - act as both a monitor of progression and also of pastoral support. The Thesis Committee Chair and the External member of the Committee are both available to offer support and guidance from both an academic and pastoral point of view.

Precision Medicine Administrative Officers - for general day-to-day advice about any administrative aspects of the Programme. You should consider the Adminstrative Officers the first point of contact for anything you are not sure about.

Precision Medicine Programme Directors - are available to answer questions in relation to the programme as a whole, or issues you may have that you prefer not to discuss with your Supervisor.

Precision Medicine Student Representatives - are chosen at the beginning of the year and are members of the Student Staff Liaison Committee and the Academic Steering Committee. If you have an issue or concern about the organisation or content of the programme contact one the student representatives who can raise the issue with the relevant people.

Minutes of previous Staff Student Liaison Committes can he found here: SSLC Minutes

Student Wellbeing Service - The Student Wellbeing Service works collaboratively with colleagues across the University to provide proactive and reactive wellbeing support for students.

University Sources of Support

Service	Description
The Advice Place	The Advice Place is home to Edinburgh University Students' Association's professional advice team offering students free, impartial and confidential information on a range of matters, including academic support, accommodation advice, complaints, safety & crime, money and wellbeing.
Careers Service	The Careers Service provides information and advice for postgraduate students on career options, job search and application strategies and other support. Resources that you might find useful include: ‘Careers and Opportunities’ has useful resources and sources of support for helping you make the most of your time at Edinburgh: http://www.ed.ac.uk/students/careers Information and advice specifically for research students is available here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/careers/students/postgraduates/phd-students
Chaplaincy	The Chaplaincy is a University provision of pastoral and spiritual support for students and staff of all faiths and none. You don't have to be religious or spiritual to attend events at the Chaplaincy or use their services. Information on courses, drop-ins and events offered by The Chaplaincy team which have a focus on promoting wellbeing for students and staff at The University can be found here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/chaplaincy/wellbeing
Sport & Exercise	The University of Edinburgh’s superb sport and exercise facilities are ranked among the very best in the UK. Sport & Exercise caters to a diverse range of users from occasional exercisers to international athletes and is split into four distinct units; the Pleasance sports centre, FASIC physiotherapy, Peffermill playing fields and Firbush outdoor centre.
Student Counselling Service	Sometimes the pressures of study on top of an already busy life can bring unexpected stresses or other events happen in life which impact on your studies. The Counselling service offers counselling to help students work through their difficulty, understand themselves better and find ways of managing their situation. Other resources include; Togetherall is an online support network, available 24/7, guided by trained professionals. It is free to students of the University. You can also access clinical tests and a broad range of self-care resources. The Feeling Good App offers all students access to a mental skills training programme which teaches how to calm the mind and develop a positive mindset, enabling greater emotional resilience to deal more effectively with challenges of student life SilverCloud offers mental health treatment programmes based around Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Students have free access to complete interactive courses focused on depression, anxiety, stress and positive body image. Information about all of these can be found at: https://www.ed.ac.uk/students/health-wellbeing/wellbeing-services/self-help
Wellbeing Services	Whether you want to speak to someone or do some self-help, the Wellbeing Services are here to help point you in the direction of services and resources to look after your wellbeing. Some resources include; Wellbeing Outreach Calls – an opt in service for students to receive a call from a trained Mental Health mentor Wellbeing Outreach Calls \| The University of Edinburgh Wellbeing Walk-in Service – a 15 minute session on a first come-first served basis, based at the Health & Wellbeing centre that offers students, as above, a chat about how they are getting on and how to access more specialist support. Wellbeing walk-in service \| The University of Edinburgh The Wellbeing Services are not a replacement for the Student Counselling Service but are a great resource to be aware of and utilise if or when is necessary
Disability and Learning Support Service	The Student Disability Service provides support for students who have a health condition, disability or neurodiverse condition such as dyslexia or autism, which affects their studies. We can also provide support to students who experience a temporary injury that impacts on their academic work. The service can also help you to apply for non-means assessed allowances intended to cover the extra costs or expenses that you may incur while studying and which are a direct result of your disability.
University Health Service	During your time in Edinburgh, there may be occasions when you need to see a health care specialist such as a doctor, pharmacist, dentist or optician. A range of health and supporting services are provided by the University and throughout Edinburgh to help you feel your best.

See the A-Z of Student Services for the full list of all University Student Services available.

This article was published on 2024-09-24