The curriculum hidden in different ways of doing

Kelly Preece’s article over on the Hidden Curriculum blog covers practical ways to support the development of criticality and independence, as you help PGRs to identify a structure for their thesis.

The hidden curriculum in doctoral education

Kelly Louise Preece is the Researcher Development Manager and Research and EDI Manager at the University of Exeter. You can find out more about Kelly on her website, or listen to her podcast Researchers, Development and the In-betweens on Apple Podcasts,Spotify,Amazon Music,Google PodcastsandStitcher!

When I started my role as Researcher Development Manager at the University of Exeter, I inherited a (prolific) collection of PowerPoint slides for training sessions on everything from conducting a literature review to writing an academic CV. Despite the prolific nature of these materials, I was struck by the vagueness inherent within them. This is in no way to criticise my colleagues and as I immersed myself in the resources I had inherited, I found so much that was useful, insightful, and important for postgraduate researchers.

All materials emphasised the need for researchers to take responsibility for their…

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Once a learner always a learner

Dr Ahmad Taha is a Research Associate in the Communication, Sensing, and Imaging Research Group as part of the James Watt School of Engineering at the University of Glasgow, and one of the first four UKCGE Recognised Associate Supervisors. Working with PhD students is probably one of the most enjoyable parts of my job as …

You can’t be what you can’t see

This is a guest post by Dr Josie Fullerton (@JosieNeuro) a Research Associate in the Institute of Cardiovascular & Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow, and one of the first four UKCGE Recognised Associate Supervisors. Personally, I love helping others with their research, whether it’s within the lab, with written work or oral presentations. …

Launching the Are You OK? supervisor toolkit

By Dr Kay Guccione I've been part of a fantastic research collaboration between the University of Glasgow, The University of Sheffield and Heriot Watt University. Our research has now completed and from our findings we have designed a toolkit for doctoral supervisors, that aims to enable good conversations around mental wellbeing and research degrees. Find …

To support PGR wellbeing, focus on building a strong relationship

This is a guest post by the University of Lincoln’s Dr Trish Jackman(@Trish_Jackman), Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology. Trish has authored two recent papers on mental health and wellbeing in doctoral researchers, and is Principal Investigator on the Getting Off to a Mentally Healthy Start in Doctoral Study project. The piece below coheres around …

Changing the shape of Doctoral Supervision Training at Coventry University

This is a guest post by Nikki Harkin, Assistant Lecturer – Research Capability & Development at Coventry University. Nikki delivers the Doctoral Supervision Programme at Coventry University. The 'winds of change' as we adapt supervisor training for the contemporary context Coventry University are host to around 800 PGRs across 13 Research Centres. In September 2020, …

The unplanned but supported part-time DPsych experience – how to foster belonging and becoming in part time doctoral students

Dr Lindsey Burns is the Director of the Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology at GCU. Dr Richard Golsworthy is the Director of the Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology at GCU, and Dr Paul McCarthy is the Director of the Professional Doctorate in Sport and Exercise Psychology at GCU. All three are HCPC registered Practitioner Psychologists and Chartered …

Is there an award for postdocs who supervise? Now there is!

By Dr Kay Guccione The pilot of the UKCGE Recognised Associate Supervisor Award has now launched! The Recognised Associate Supervisor Award is based on a the sector-approved UKCGE Good Supervisory Practice Framework, and provides guidance and a route to professional recognition for those early in their supervisory careers and those with informal supervisory roles. This …

Thesis Supervision: the educational value of postdocs in supporting research writing

By Dr Kay Guccione I delivered this presentation at the UCL Institute of Education Event on the 9th June: 'Doctoral education and its purposes: research training for a changing world' It focuses on how doctoral writers are supported to make progress, using outcome data from a thesis mentoring programme to understand the educational value postdocs …

Growing Professional Doctorate programmes – overcoming the challenges of supervision when your team is small

This is a guest post by Dr Dan Butcher (@Dan_ButcherOBU), Course Lead for the Professional Doctorate in Nursing at Oxford Brookes University, and supervisor for both PhDs and professional doctorates. Photo by Leon on Unsplash There are a number of subtle (and not so subtle) differences between PhD and Professional Doctorate programmes and the doctoral student experience is dependent on the …