THE FUTURE OF

DOCTORAL TRAINING
Dr Paul Spencer
PGR Environment Development
Manager, Bristol Doctoral College

@paulspencer42 thedigitaldoctorate.com

image credit: Park Street by paul spencer

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 "The product that the doctoral
researcher creates is not the

2003-
thesis vital though that is to
their subject area through the
creation of original knowledge

2004 no, the product of their study

is the development of
themselves"
- SIR GARETH ROBERTS
THE QUESTION?
What is a doctorate for?*

*still valid as a question in 2017 and beyond

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THE ENVIRONMENT
NOW
The context in which
postgraduate researchers
are operating now has
evolved considerably since
2004
open research engagement integrity
Changing model of Involving others in the A fundamentally different
publishing & data design & dissemination of environment to ensure
sharing research honesty, integrity and
transparency
Image credit: Open by Justin Marty on Flickr [CC BY-SA 2.0]
fullertonbotanic.com
 PROFESSIONALISM
Inching toward
postgraduate
researchers as
staff instead of
students (and
sometimes staff)?
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COHORT-BASED
DOCTORAL TRAINING
Becoming established in a variety
of structures, many focus on
interdisciplinary research and
draw on diversity of people and
expertise.
image credit: Diversity by Thomas Hawk on Flickr [CC BY-NC 2.0]
 INNOVATION IN RESEARCHER
DEVELOPMENT

We often present old

ideas as new!Will you
learn something from
this conference that
you could adapt?
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 SUPPORTING ACADEMIC WRITING
important because it is as much
about identity formation as it is
about knowledge production

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 CURATION COMMUNITY CAMERA
Expertise to put Creating Finding different
together resources opportunities ways to share both
that support your for interaction online and offline
PGRs

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 image credit: canva.com used under a standard licence

@paulspencer42 www.thedigitaldoctorate.com