Postgraduate and early career

Extra funding will be prioritised for those in final year or those with ongoing support needs, with other students urged to adapt their projects to existing deadlines

THE’s new Careers Clinic series brings together the great and the good of higher education to answer a burning careers question

Bleak economic outlook is swaying PhD candidates towards a university career despite sector difficulties, indicates a survey of UK research students

Those who make the loudest noises about equality can be among the most myopic about the evils of academic inbreeding, says Bruce Macfarlane

Sydney PhD graduate reflects on how his surprise disability gave rise to an academic career and better prospects for fellow sufferers

Civilised adults should not have to demonstrate that they can stand up to bullying before being offered a job, says an anonymous academic 

Many early career researchers saw their working hours fall, but one in nine scientists worked 60 hours a week, says Vitae study

Students and academics doubt government directive will shift long-standing power dynamic

No matter how hard they work, thousands will be dumped out of the labour market during the pandemic, say Harry Pettit and Alexandra Dales

Today is World Mental Health Day, and Matthew Flinders argues that although changes in individual behaviour can help, systemic change is really needed to ease the mental health burden on academics

Women on fixed-term contracts twice as likely to have moved forward or delayed plans to start a family compared with permanently employed

Urgent action is needed to help doctoral candidates whose research has been halted by Covid-related travel bans, says Lorena Gazzotti

Several institutions will not be enrolling doctoral students in autumn 2021 because of the pandemic

Figures from latest Education at a Glance report show low share of women among international doctoral students    

Pilot scheme to promote diversity in doctoral study will also include anonymisation of applications

Studying for a master’s or PhD does not necessarily lead to higher earnings, UK study finds

The normalisation of burning out should no longer be accepted, say academics who have experienced it, particularly with coronavirus exacerbating the problem

Job security, research funding and work-life balance for young academics have all been worsened by the pandemic, say four academics  

Latest Education at a Glance report says that impact of pandemic on international recruitment is about more than fee income 

Study finds economics PhD students who sought extra comments and seminar presentations published in higher impact journals   

Experts see move to allow applicants from beyond Europe to apply for UKRI funding as a key plank of the UK’s post-Brexit research base

Strength of supervision more important than prior ability in determining doctoral performance, Australian study indicates

Survey finds that rates of depression and anxiety more common among low-income, female, ethnic minority, LGBTQ and arts students

Assessing doctoral candidates’ published papers instead would teach more useful skills and improve morale, says Noam Schimmel

Fees are likely to have been set before the Covid-19 crisis, but the change could help university finances if student numbers fall  

Early-career and female researchers experience the greatest mental health toll, Australian surveys find

Administrators must stop asking faculty of colour to do more than our fair share and then punishing us for it, says Josh Hiller

Short-term financial squeeze could litter sector with aborted projects and careers, report warns

The Research Australia report has exposed the fault lines in health research funding, says Ross Coppel 

National Science Foundation’s new emphasis in postgraduate funding seen as backsliding on diversity

Managers must acknowledge that supervising some types of doctoral candidates is more labour-intensive, say Roger Watson and David Thompson

Australian expert highlights evidence indicating that good grades do not necessarily translate into success in doctoral training

Falling staff-student ratios and low quality in some graduate programmes are prompting concern that more will mean worse, says Zhang Ruomei

UKRI says research organisations will have ‘greater financial incentive’ to invest in supporting scholars

Physical events are not going away but they must open up and embrace the best of the digital world, says Jim Woodgett

Aspirants are convinced they can succeed against the odds because they have always succeeded in the past, analysis of ‘quit lit’ suggests

Incentives draw students wary of Covid-19 and overseas visa hassles 

Most doctoral candidates show ‘clear preference’ for academic career despite high exit levels from sector, finds Higher Education Policy Institute study

As online teaching increases, cutting casualised and short-term staff will cost more down the line, conference hears

Young scholars’ lack of reputation and digital prominence risks seeing them excluded from online conferences, says Scott Rich

The ability for PhD students to research previous students’ experience with particular examiners could reduce bad practice 

Declarations of solidarity lay bare the feudalistic mentality of even the most radical leftist scholars, who speak for the beleaguered masses from the cover of their academic nobility, says Scott Thomas Gibson

Erin Hatton draws on an ‘odious comparison’ to illuminate the extraordinary powers coaches and supervisors can wield over their students

Report shows heavier burden for UK students compared with other parts of Europe, with the country’s research funding boost ‘a chance to reform PhD education’

Briefing note from UKCGE shows drop-off in numbers at PhD level compared to undergraduate

Increasing numbers of postgraduates appears to be a win-win, with graduates seeking refuge from a poor job market and universities able to make up for lost income, but there are concerns over the quality of those being considered

Doctoral graduates’ occupation of Higher Education Ministry will do little by itself to solve a structural problem, says Kenneth Nsah

Support for early career scholars must be explored to avoid research being damaged in the long term, experts warn

Responses to survey of junior research staff and PhD students suggest majority have major concerns about their future as they deal with stresses of working under lockdown

It is time for those most vulnerable to huddle together in solidarity, says Tian An Wong

The lockdown is affecting not only final-year students. Without a blanket funding extension, many others will suffer and drop out, says Ross Goldstone

Virtually all modern university courses end with a request for feedback. But are students’ reactions even useful for improving future course design, never mind assessing lecturers? Seven academics discuss their experiences

Funding bodies should reconsider case-by-case assessments to minimise bureaucracy and student distress, say researchers

Finding writing partners online can impose some productive accountability, says Alice Kelly

Graduate students had been seeking help with high housing costs

PhD students seen as being particularly at risk, in wake of murder of Giulio Regeni and detention of Matthew Hedges

Parting shot the privilege of the established, as precariously employed academics choose less risky departures, says anthropologist

Impersonating the Messiah is apparently a necessity for funding success – but it’s hell, says Piers Kelly

Australian researchers fear wasting weeks writing potentially pointless applications

Analysis of 10 years of data identifies sea change in research-intensive universities’ profiles