Induction has historically often been conceived of primarily in terms of informing students about the nature of the institution they have recently joined, principally its history, geography, structures, policies, procedures and regulations.  While this remains an important purpose, it can be argued that, in an evolving mass graduate education system where students come from very diverse backgrounds and may have very limited previous experience of research itself or of working within a research environment, induction should have a wider range of functions.  It is this perspective which informs the new SRHE series Guide to Induction of Postgraduate Research Students which was launched at this event. The seminar consisted of a mixture of short presentations, individual and group activities, that looked at four key questions:

• What should be the key purposes of induction in the 21st century?
• What should induction programmes cover in terms of generic content?
• How should induction cater for the needs of an increasingly diverse student body?
• How should induction be evaluated?

Presented by: Drs Elena Martin, Lowry McComb (from the Graduate School Training Team) and Dr Stan Taylor (of the Academic Staff Development Office of Durham University).