Teaching as a Postgraduate Research Student

Postgraduate research students are invaluable contributors to our undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and learning.  

You bring fresh perspectives, up-to-date research insight, and dynamic connections between research and learning. Participating in teaching offers a key opportunity to develop your communication, presentation and time-management skills, preparing you for a range of career options. 

Your School or Department play a vital role in fostering a supportive, equitable teaching environment, ensuring your research progress remains protected while giving you meaningful opportunities to gain teaching experience. 

Guidelines on Postgraduate Teaching Contributions

The Guidelines to support teaching provided by research students outline what the Graduate Studies Committee has agreed as an appropriate teaching experience for postgraduate research students. The guidelines have been developed to: 

• Promote transparency in how teaching opportunities are allocated to postgraduate research students 

• Ensure equal access to such opportunities for all research students 

• Safeguard the integrity of your postgraduate research progression 

Types of Teaching Activities 

Your School or Discipline must clearly define and categorise the range of duties expected for each student engaging in teaching activities. This guidance should be outlined in School handbooks and communicated to postgraduate students (e.g., by email or on the website). All teaching contributions should be remunerated and should not be mandatory. 

All teaching and learning opportunities offered to you as a Teaching Assistant or Demonstrator must have a clear pedagogical rationale, enhancing development of your multidimensional skillset and attainment of graduate attributes as outlined by the IUA Doctoral Skills Statement (2021). For more information, visit our Professional Development page for Research Students. 

Your School should also offer guidance on what kinds of teaching activities are appropriate within your School or Discipline for students to engage in.  

Below we have outlined some sample teaching activities that may be considered appropriate or not appropriate for students to engage in. These may vary by Schools or Discipline to reflect the nature of the opportunities that are valued within that area.  

1 The six hours do not need to be equally distributed across each week. 

Limits on Teaching

Your School must ensure that any opportunities for teaching do not endanger the prospect of you completing your programme within the time set by the University and funding agencies. 

In line with guidelines from funding agencies and the Revenue, students are permitted to engage in no more than 6 hours of teaching per week under the terms of their scholarship to qualify for the tax exemption. This amounts to no more than 150 teaching hours per teaching year. 

If you are a non-EU student, discuss your circumstances with your School’s contact person to ensure your teaching workload does not compromise your visa status.  

Allocation of Teaching Responsibilities

All postgraduate research students in Trinity College Dublin should have equal access to teaching opportunities within their School or Discipline, if they wish to participate. 

Your School or Discipline is responsible for clearly communicating the process in place for announcing and allocating teaching opportunities. This process should be transparent, with defined selection criteria and a designated staff member coordinating communication and allocation.  

Teaching opportunities should outline the role’s responsibilities, estimated time commitment (including class preparation, office hours and marking), and any skills required to teach on the module. They should also indicate the skills and experience you can expect to develop through the role.  

Training Opportunities for Graduate Teaching Assistants

Before you engage in teaching, your School or Discipline should offer a teaching induction and point you towards sources of training available in your School or Department, or centrally in College, if local training is not available. 

Academic Practice offers two 5 ECTS credit modules for Graduate Teaching Assistants, which may help enhance your pedagogical skills. There are also modules on tutoring, marking, equality, diversity, and inclusion, provided centrally in Schools.  

Payment for Teaching Supports

Your School must clearly define rates for:  

• Teaching or demonstrating work 

• Rates for marking 

• Number of expected hours per activity 

It should be also clarified what aspects of teaching are covered in the hourly reimbursement. 

Trinity Rates for Occasional Work are available on the HR website: https://www.tcd.ie/hr/assets/pdf/occasional- lecturer-rates.pdf); 

Postgraduate research students who provide teaching  can request access to itemised payslips via the CORE portal. To do so, students should contact HR directly at hr@tcd.ie.  

Recognition for Providing Teaching Supports

Your teaching contribution should be recorded and formally recognised.  

1. The Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies administers the annual Trinity Teaching Award for Postgraduate Students, which recognises and rewards the exceptional contributions that many postgraduate research students make to the teaching and learning activities of Schools. Each School can nominate up to three Teaching Assistant / Demonstrators for consideration by the panel.  
2. The Trinity Certificate of Teaching Contributions  is a self-declaration of your teaching hours, validated by either a module coordinator or the Head of School. Please note that you are responsible for providing the required details and obtaining the signatures. 

Contact Person to Discuss Concerns

Your School or Discipline should provide a contact person to discuss any concerns related to teaching opportunities or your experience of teaching. This should include information about how students can access support if they experience any difficulties while teaching on a module. 

If you have any questions please contact the Administrative Officer in Graduate Studies or check for answers on our FAQ page.