Introduction
In July and August 2021, Teaching Matters ran a series that showcased the Doctoral College, established in March 2020 to enhance the postgraduate research experience at The University of Edinburgh. Co-edited by Dr Fiona Philippi (Head of Doctoral Education at the Institute for Academic Development), the series featured nine blog posts and one podcast episode. In the first post, Fiona introduces the series with a brief background of the Doctoral College, explaining it as "a coordinating body, to bring people and ideas together", rather than a service. She delineates the series into two, inter-connecting themes: building community and how structures for postgraduate research are evolving and adapting to the changing nature of research. All the contributions in this series address these two themes, and, in doing so, highlight just some of the exciting and thought-provoking initiatives undertaken by staff and students at the University to support postgraduate researchers.
In this newsletter, you'll find five things that motivated us from producing this series, followed by our regular features: Collegiate Commentary, In case you missed it (ICYMI), and Coming soon at Teaching Matters! If you'd like to keep up with Teaching Matters, sign up to our Monthly Newsletter Mailing List.
Five things that motivated us from the 'Showcasing the Doctoral College' series
Motivation One
Community building is at its best when developed by students
In this series, the energy in which the Postgraduate Research (PGR) students write about their involvement in community building is palpable. There are strong feelings of ownership of these communities by the student body and of needing these communities to address a gap in their student lives. As Daniel Heathcote points out in his reflection on supporting and contributing to the University’s work on PGR Community Building:
PGR community building seems to be at its best when it develops organically: when PGRs identify a problem and take the initiative to organise a community building project to address it.
However, he does note that the move to online networking during Covid-19 has been less popular for students, and quite difficult to navigate at times. To counter this, and other obstacles to build community, Daniel suggests:
An annual or semesterly roundtable where PGR representatives from across the University could share their successes and failures in community building would be beneficial. During these roundtable discussions, PGR communities across the University could learn from one another [and] could also go some way to deconstruct insular cultures in the University and would develop networks that go beyond a school level.
Motivation Two
Although a PhD may be a solo journey, it need not be a lonely one
One of the most common emotional experiences reported by PhD students is one of loneliness and isolation due to working for long periods on one's own. However, in their blog post, Dr Harriet Harris and Dr Kitty Wheater promote the solace and comfort of joining a PhD book club. Through reading novels and autobiographies, PhD students from all disciplines across the university can come together to share the common pain and joys of doctoral research:
There are at least two remedies that you can apply for PhD loneliness and doubt: talking to other PhD students, who will show you that you are not alone in feeling as you do; and reading authors who capture in biographical, fictional or other literary forms just how it feels when another day goes by of not getting to your research... - Harriet and Kitty.
In her post, Aigli Raouna looks to the therapeutic nature of blogging to create a sense of belonging and shared experience for PGR students, specifically in the School of Health in Social Science. Research Bow was set up as blog for and from postgraduate research students, with the aim to "inspire our community reminding them to celebrate their small wins and reflect on their unavoidable obstacles by sharing their (our) experiences, initiatives, insights, and tips related to PhD life".
Motivation Three
"The unexamined life is not worth living": Self-reflection along the way helps the next generation of learners
The PhD journey is a minefield of opportunities for learning not only about the topic they are studying but also about their own professional development as a learner. Being able to document this learning and share it with others is helpful for all involved. One way to do this is share personal insights after having gone through a challenging experience, such as the viva process. In her post, Vive-ing La Viva: How to answer viva questions, Dr Jenny Scoles shares her top tips not on what to answer, but how you answer the examiners’ questions.
In a podcast episode, Dr Fiona Philippi chats to Professor Patrick Hadoke about his experiences of being a research supervisor. Patrick was one of the first in the UK to complete the UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) supervision recognition programme. This experience provided Patrick with, "an opportunity to reflect and review on my own experiences and practice and to analyse those experiences in the context of the wider community and the academic literature on supervision". Through such accredited courses, the next generation of PhD students will benefit from those further along the career path having taken some time to reflect:
I think self-reflection is a really important aspect of learning and development and the lack of time often means that that gets pushed into the background a bit. So I think the process did give me that opportunity to reflect on my own performance as a supervisor and it gave me a greater understanding of how I approach supervision, and it gave me the incentive as well to consider what worked well and what could be improved on in the context of research experience as a whole. - Patrick
Motivation Four
The traditional postgraduate landscape is changing - from the inside
We were inspired and motivated by the thread of activism and non-traditional approaches that percolated through the series blog posts. For example, in their post on Establishing a ‘ReproducibiliTea’ Open Science Journal Club at The University of Edinburgh, PhD students, Niamh MacSweeney and Laura Klinkhamer, discuss the open research movement through the lens of ReproducbiliTea - a grassroots journal club initiative originiating in Oxford. This university-wide journal club is open to all Edinburgh students, and aims to help "researchers establish local open research journal clubs to discuss ideas and issues about improving research (integrity), reproducibility, and the broader open research movement".
In another post, Dr Isabel Fletcher, a Senior Research Fellow in Science, Technology and Innovation Studies, introduces the SHAPE-ID toolkit, which helps researchers navigate the more uncommon and tricky landscape of inter- and transdisciplinary research. This toolkit helps turn some of the riskiness of following such a research career path into an exciting endeavour, where early career researchers can "find great satisfaction in doing such research, which enables them to push the boundaries of their disciplines, learn from collaboration with others, and contribute to pressing societal challenges".
The toolkit includes curated resources, case studies, reflective tools, and interviews with experts. It covers topics ranging from understanding interdisciplinarity, developing the skills needed to bridge disciplinary divides, and developing an interdisciplinary career, through to supporting, funding, and evaluating collaborative research. - Isabel
In her post, Diane Gill, Head of Strategy and Operations at Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS), shows how research undertaken by Hannah Gormley during a PhD internship, contributed to creating an evidence base "to help make recommendations that would support SGSSS to develop effective policies and interventions to minimise barriers to participation both into and during postgraduate research study". This included taking a whole person approach to assess funding applications, which took into account the potential to flourish as well as academic and professional achievements.
Don’t be afraid to suggest the radical. We never expected our stakeholders to be prepared to remove the first class requirement or include ‘flourishing’ alongside academic achievement. Yet we found we were pushing against an open door.
Motivation Five
Covid-19 limitations are not necessarily a barrier to postgraduate learning
Sadly, the impact of Covid-19 affected many postgraduate students' research plans, with students rapidly having to change methodologies, rethink lab and field access for data collection, as well as extend their timelines and reassess their funding options. While respecting the concerns that this caused, the new way of living meant new ways of researching, which also bought new learning opportunities. This was evidenced in Layla Mathieson's blog post about her experience in the OPTIMA Centre for Doctoral Training. Layla and her peers were able to move their research online in partnership with Canon Medical Edinburgh through developing a Student-Led Independently Created Course (or SLICC). With some innovative discussions and collaboration, the students further developed their knowledge in the medical technology field at a time when they could not access the university labs. Perhaps, more importantly, they developed the ability to work collaboratively with a partner company.
It is often easy to forget when working on your own project in a PhD that there is a bigger picture, whereas this collaboration kept that in the forefront of our thinking at all times. It also improved our research capabilities, as during our PhD studies we are often looking for information in research journals and reading the work of highly regarded researchers. Whereas, in this project, the most important lessons on where things can be improved for patients was by reading the experiences of patients themselves.
Collegiate Commentary
with Dr Vincent Adams, Doctoral Development Manager and Senior Lecturer in Performing Arts and Higher Education at the University of Portsmouth
While Teaching Matters primarily showcases University of Edinburgh teaching and learning practice, our core values of collegiality and support extend beyond our institution, inviting a wider, international community to engage in Teaching Matters. In this feature, we ask colleagues from other Universities to provide a short commentary on ‘Five things...’, and share their own learning and teaching resource or output, which we can learn from.
Dr Vincent Adam's thoughts on 'Five things that motivated us from Teaching Matters' “Showcasing the Doctoral College" series'
This latest newsletter from Edinburgh and the student blogs are heart-warming and fascinating, and I’m sure will resonate with students and staff in every Doctoral College and Graduate School. Reading through the five motivations has enabled me to reflect on our own activities and crystallise the themes running through them. Writing from a seaside town, perhaps it’s not too much to say that I can now see these motivations running through our work with students in the last two years like ‘Portsmouth’ through a stick of rock. In the same way that the pandemic forced us to accelerate our ability to deliver effective online support and resources, it would also be true to say that it accelerated our co-creation with students; undoubtedly, Covid-19 has impacted hugely on research design, data collection and travel, but it has also been the mother of much invention and forged a closer working relationship between PGRs and our Graduate School.
In the last 18 months particularly, PGR student initiatives have been at the heart of community building at Portsmouth. Shortly before the first lockdown in March 2020, two of our PGR Reps approached me with an idea to set up a new meeting for all their colleagues across the faculties. They had a genuine appetite for interdisciplinary discussion and breaking down subject barriers, and recognised that each department was providing events and resources that would be of interest to PGRs across the University. Their motivations very much resonated with the open research movement and the belief that collaborative approaches to national and global issues are not only desirable but necessary. Moreover, they saw opportunities for strengthening the student voice through inter-faculty communication. During lockdown, the Super Rep Group (SRG) emerged from this initiative and is now a regular forum providing a conduit between faculty Reps and our Graduate School Management Board (GSMB). The SRG now meets four times a year to recommend the items that need raising at GSMB, and regularly forms inter-faculty subgroups to focus on topics such as ease of access to information, wellbeing and the organisation of our Festival of Doctoral Research. Clear enhancements have resulted, all from student action. And there’s altruism: the students know that some of the things they set in motion will be for the next generation of PGRs, and they approach them passionately.
Realising that you are not the only person experiencing problems or negative feelings is of enormous value, and many of our online events have borne out the old saying that a problem shared is a problem halved. This can happen in the discussions in any session, but our students asked us to create an online space simply for undirected chat, and the weekly Stay in Touch meetings developed last August. This forum supported students forced into isolation by lockdown, but also had the unanticipated outcome that previously remote PGRs living in other parts of the country suddenly had a way of meeting up with their peers. Often, the discussion is free-wheeling with no subject off-limits, but participants can suggest themes and questions, and people often screen share their research and creative activities. Much mutual support has been given, and the group has been a great comfort on occasion for those struggling with complex and stressful situations. The meetings have also led to the forging of new friendships, some of which have developed into joyful meetings in the real world now the restrictions have lifted.
The forum offered the chance to share the different challenges brought about by the lockdown such as home-schooling and the stress of supporting family from afar. One particularly creative session even allowed us to create a poem of our feelings from lockdown which was really memorable. - Kay McCrann, Art and Design PhD Researcher
One of the most exhilarating events in the last year was the Festival of Doctoral Research, and PGR students came into their own again in contributing to the organisation and design of the event for the first time. Initially, we wondered how an online version would compare with the live conference of previous years, but in fact the event saw an increase of over 50% in audience numbers, again highlighting the increased accessibility that online events afford. PGRs hosted the entire event, including introductions, interviews and Q&A panels, and we provided an online gallery to showcase the competition entries and PGR presenters on the programme. Contributions came in fairly evenly from the five faculties, and the interdisciplinarity of the programme was highlighted by students in their feedback as exposure to new ideas and ways of working inspired creative and critical thought. Like all institutions, we are now contemplating how we can return to a programme of live events with the social benefits of physical togetherness, without losing the advantages that have emerged online. We need to do both and, however we manage it, the future will be more inclusive.
I hope the five motivations run clearly through these reflections like the words in that stick of rock I mentioned at the beginning. The resilience, flexibility and imagination of PGRs in recent times has needed to be and has been extraordinary, but quite apart from the pandemic, the appetite for collaboration in research and general interaction continues to strengthen the PGR community and reveal new ways of working.
About: Dr Vincent Adams is the Doctoral Development Manager and a Senior Lecturer in Performing Arts and Higher Education at the University of Portsmouth. Having returned to postgraduate research as a mature student, he fervently believes in engaging the student voice and designing events and enhancements through co-creation. His background in creative writing and performing arts practice and teaching informs his approach to learning, and current research explores audience response to pastiche historical dialogue in new drama.
In case you missed it (ICYMI)
Extra posts
Sowing seeds and cultivating abundance mindsets, a post by Dr Glen Cousquer, which tells us about the practice of switching from a scarcity to abundance mindset to become more embodied and compassionate learners.
A new OER Policy for the University, by Lorna Campbell, which walks us through the University’s new Open Education Resources (OER) Policy.
WriteFest 2021
This annual event, established as a way to support academic writing, will run during November 2021 with the aim of bringing people together to raise awareness and celebrate academic writing.
This years’ WriteFest will include morning and afternoon writing retreats and writing hours, writing workshops, online resources and guides to support you with your writing. We will be blogging and sharing writing tips on twitter via the hashtag #AcWriFest21.
For further information about the festival, the programme of events and booking links visit: https://edin.ac/2Se1Lvc
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November and December's Learning and Teaching Enhancement theme will feature book reviews of current Learning and Teaching publications, and how they have inspired or challenged our authors' thinking and practice.
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