Each colonist was trained to basic military robotics. Then, each colonist was sent to the library. A timer was started, and when each colonist got to 950/1000, the timer was stopped. This was done so that each colonist's relative training time could be found and fairly compared.

TLDR: The lower the number, the faster the learner.

The best colonists for training in order are:

• Mr Zhang
  
  
• Nikolai
  
• Barbara
  
  
• Dean
  
  
• Venus
  
• Vasilios
  
  
• Charles
  
• Hoshi
  
• Kita
  
  
• Greg
  
• Babette
  
• Ashia
  
  
• Stig
  
• Slim
  
• Daisy
  
• Bhoomi
  
  
• Tami
  
• Candy
  
• Nailer
  
  
• Billybob

NOTE: This list does NOT take into account a colonist's needs. For example, Slim and Daisy have equal training time, but Daisy will complete her training faster since Slim requires more entertainment and sleep overall.

For more in-depth information about a colonist's needs, please consult this guide:

https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1790699214

The amount of time spent learning at the library is further modified by how difficult the training programme is. A programme's difficulty is determined by its cost when using a training pod.

For example, 'Cleaning' is a very cheap programme, at only 300 credits, and is therefore easy to learn.
By contrast, 'Cybernetics' costs 2400 credits, and is therefore much harder to learn.

As far as I can tell, the difference in difficulty is linear. This means that a programme costing 1200 credits would take twice as long to learn than a programme costing 600 credits.

To clarify, let's say Nikolai and Barbara are having a race to see who can study the fastest. Both learn skills equally quickly, but Nikolai is learning how to use the laser (600 credits at the training pod), while Barbara is learning how to clean (300 credits at the training pod).

When Barbara is finished, Nikolai will be at the halfway mark. (Assuming both start learning at the same time, and have no interruptions.)


Below is a grid of all the available skills, and their cost at the training pod:



Remember, the lower the number, the quicker the learning time.

Using the information gathered, we can factor in the approximate learning times for each skill. Below is a list of each colonist, and their approximate learning times for each skill cost in seconds.




A full day in space colony takes 120 seconds. Each hour lasts 5 seconds. You can use this information to calculate roughly how long a library training programme will last.

Divide the above result by 120 to find the approximate number of in-game days the programme will last.

On fast-forward mode, a full day takes only 10 seconds, which is more than 10 times as fast. I'd recommend this feature for extremely slow learners, such as Billybob.

There's a very useful glitch in the game, which allows you to get an extra training programme for free at the library.

• First, send your colonist to the training pod in any skill.
  
• Once the training programme has finished, send them to the library.
  
• The computer will ask you whether you want to continue the current training programme. Click continue.
  
• The colonist will then go to the library, and will again begin learning the skill you sent them to the training pod for.
  
• No additional training programmes will be consumed (although you will still have to wait for the colonist at the library).

This glitch is invaluable for campaigns where you have a limited amount of training programmes.