That’s a wrap! The end of 2019 and the start of a new decade

Photo by Bench Accounting on Unsplash

2019 has been another busy year for DoctoralWriting, just as it has been for our readers around the world. Recently we passed the 15,000 followers mark. We’ve published another 35 posts this year, with the following guest bloggers based in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa contributing to the conversation – thank you all!

International Conference on Developments in Doctoral Education and Training (ICDDET), Malahide, Ireland, April 8-9, 2019

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doctoral programs, ICDDET, structured training programs

By Cally Guerin

This post reports on the Fourth International Conference on Developments in Doctoral Education and Training (ICDDET) held in Malahide, Ireland on 8-9 April 2019. The theme for two days of intensive conversations was ‘Examining the impact of structured training programs’. While the conference was not specifically focused on doctoral writing as such, there was much that is of interest to any of us supporting doctoral writers. As motivations for undertaking a doctorate, the form of doctoral programs and the outcomes expected on completion continue to shift, there are accompanying changes required of doctoral writing.

Postgraduate Supervision Conference, Stellenbosch, March 26-29, 2019

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global scholar, postgraduate supervision, University of Stellenbosch

The 7th Postgraduate Supervision Conference (26-29 March), hosted by the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, takes research about supervision from strength to strength. This year the conference took “The Global Scholar: Implications for Postgraduate Studies and Supervision” as its theme. Focusing on the “global” led to rich and engaging presentations and discussions that explored a huge range of topics from the perspective of supervisors, postgraduates and administrators.

Wrapping up doctoral writing for 2018

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Best doctoral writing posts, Farewell 2018

It seems hard to believe we are coming to the end of our 6^th year of the Doctoral Writing blog.  From a small idea sparked at the Quality in Post Graduate Research (QPR) Conference in Adelaide, Australia, in April 2012, the blog has grown to having over 13,000 followers. We know many people who began reading the blog as doctoral students who now, as graduates and supervisors, recommend the blog to colleagues and new doctoral students. How time flies!

The blog represents an amazing community of doctoral writers and their supporters: supervisors, academic developers, academic language and writing developers, and increasingly we are being supported and connected to other communities via university library and graduate research websites.

Conference with a difference: EARLI SIG for “Researcher Education and Careers”

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EARLI SIG, research communication, researcher education and careers

By Cally Guerin

The European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) Special Interest Group for “Researcher Education and Careers” held its biennial conference on 30 Sept-2 Oct this year. The meeting took place at the University of Copenhagen, with Sophie Kobayashi (University of Copenhagen) and Søren Bengtsen (University of Aarhus) as wonderfully welcoming hosts for the event. The focus this time was: “Unpacking and exploring researcher communication: implications for inquiry into ECR experience.”

This relatively new SIG, coordinated by Kirsi Pyhältö, Montserrat Castelló and Anna Sala Bubaré, broke the traditional mould of conferences that focus on short presentations with little time for extended discussion between delegates.

The Academic Identities Conference 2018, Hiroshima, Japan

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Academic Identities Conference, conference report

By Claire Aitchison, Cally Guerin and Susan Carter

Following directly from the IDERN Conference we three editors were lucky enough to stay on and attend the International Academic Identities Conference which was convened by A/Professor Machi Sato of the Research Institute for Higher Education (RIHE) and hosted at Hiroshima University, 19-21 September.

Hiroshima Peace Park
Image by Cally Guerin

The location was a fitting reminder of the historical significance of Hiroshima for global peace, and the conference theme, ‘The Peaceful University: Aspirations for academic futures – compassion, generosity, imagination, and creation’ prompted a reconsideration of academic priorities and challenges.

The focus on identities fostered a wide range of theorisations and explorations of practices, hopes and aspirations for academic work and for students, including inspirational presentations for contesting the challenges arising. While there were relatively few presentations with a particular emphasis on academic or doctoral writing, it was remarkable how, despite significant cultural, historical and contextual differences, there was a common recognition of the impact of marketisation on our academic lives and options as writers.