Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference

By Emma Cripps, Researcher Developer and Doctoral Researcher (EdD), University of Portsmouth, UK

As an institution, like many others within the UK (Smith McGloin, 2021), we require our postgraduate researchers (PGRs) to undertake a minimum amount of training and development activity during each year of their registration. When I joined my University’s centralised Doctoral College in early 2019 I was tasked with ensuring that our part-time PGRs, approximately 48% of our PGRs at the time (HESA, 2019), had access to high quality online training and development resources. Fast-forward seven years, and whilst online provision is still a significant part of my job role, the opportunities we provide, and who we provide these for, has changed significantly. Almost 61% of our PGRs are now completing their research degree part-time, and 6.5% via distance learning (HESA, 2024). As a Doctoral College, we now offer our generic researcher development (Carter and Laurs, 2014), community and research culture activities through a variety of modes and across a range of different times.

What is postgraduate researcher development for?

Published in 2002, the Roberts Report recommended, at a minimum, two weeks of dedicated transferable and generic skills training for full-time PGRs to support the development of the skills needed for a variety of careers (Gilbert et al., 2004). The Roberts Report also suggested that PGRs need to be supported to understand the value in participating in this type of development. Despite institutional efforts since the publication of the Roberts Report to enhance the PGR experience through researcher development (Reeves, 2022), it continues to be viewed by some PGRs and supervisors as a wate of time or distracting from the research project (Sonesson et al., 2023; Thouaille, 2017).

Whilst the development and acquisition of skills and knowledge through generic researcher development is documented (see for example the review paper by Bromley and Warnock, 2021), its value beyond this has received little attention within the UK. Influenced by the work of Karen Gravett, I have been exploring postgraduate researcher development, and my own practice as a researcher developer, from a relational pedagogy perspective.

Researcher development as a relational experience

With a focus on supporting and delivering researcher development in a range of formats, I have connected with PGRs through a variety of modes, in a multitude of different spaces. Wanting to understand more about these situated experiences, I have engaged with Karen Gravett’s work on relational pedagogies, which positions the importance of connections, relationships and mattering within higher education.

Employing posthumanist and sociomaterial theories in her thinking, Gravett’s (2023) conceptualisation of relational pedagogy considers the entangled web of relations of bodies, objects and spaces, and attending to what might matter. Throughout Gravett’s work, matter is “both who matters – who should be considered and valued – and matter as a material substance and force” (para. 8). My ongoing exploration of the web of relations within postgraduate researcher development has allowed me to think differently about who and what might matter within postgraduate research education. This includes my own experiences, and the findings from a small-scale research project that formed part of my Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD).

Responses to a qualitative survey, completed by 51 doctoral researchers at different stages of their research degree, offered some initial insights into the relational experiences of doctoral researchers when engaging with generic development opportunities offered by their institution’s Graduate School. One theme developed during the analysis of the survey responses highlighted the value of these opportunities for doctoral researchers to connect with other PGRs.

Responses from both full-time and part-time doctoral researchers indicated that writing retreats in particular offer opportunities for connecting with others, which for one participant was important to them due to “feeling rather isolated on my programme of study” (Professional Doctorate, PT, 3^rd year). This finding may suggest changes in the perceived value of writing retreats, as previous research found that just over a quarter of Arts and Humanities doctoral and early career researchers perceived writing retreats as not worth their time (Thouaille, 2017). Another similar response demonstrates the importance of generic researcher development consistently offering a space for connection: “by engaging with different opportunities… I feel much more connected with other students at the University. It is really important to me to be able to meet other people, learn about their research” (PhD, FT, 2^nd year).

What could this mean for researcher developers?

At a time when the researcher development community has expressed challenges in engaging researchers in development opportunities (Vitae, 2025), and the wellbeing and mental health of postgraduate researchers is in need of greater support (Gordon, 2025), a broader perspective of the value of generic researcher development may be needed. Working with Karen Gravett’s relational pedagogies has helped me to consider how meaningful connections can be prioritised within the situated spaces of generic researcher development. However, it is not just the connections between PGRs that are important; researcher developers and facilitators of development activities are also entangled within this web of relations. The following quote, feedback from a doctoral researcher at my institution, embodies Gravett’s relational pedagogies and its importance within researcher development.

“[Staff] running the sessions are so understanding of our circumstances because the reality of doing a PhD at this phase of life is that the children do occasionally appear in my office or I’m dialling into the meeting with a biscuit and a coffee in hand having missed dinner, and this is always seen as a sign of our commitment to attending rather than a lack of dedication” (Sarah, PT PhD, quoted in Van Laar and Cripps, 2025).

Attending to the wider web of relations – the bodies, objects and spaces – of researcher development may enable these opportunities to support meaningful connections and relationships between all who are involved. However, a greater understanding of the diverse situations and experiences of postgraduate researchers is needed to enable us to think differently (Gravett, 2023) about the value of researcher development. As a researcher developer I continue to explore, through theory and practice, how researcher development can offer value beyond skill acquisition, where meaningful connections can occur and PGRs and researcher developers can feel that they matter.