How to build value into the doctorate: ideas for PhD supervisors

PhD graduates make valuable contributions to society and its organisations. But what ofthe value of the doctorate to the graduates themselves? Kay Guccione and Billy Bryan questioned how graduates, as individuals, experience benefit from their doctorate and how they perceive its value. Findings reveal that graduates do consider their doctorate to have been worth it – in ways beyond the skills accrued or the intrinsic worth of holding the qualification, such as the friendships, colleagues, and networks they established, or the positive impact on their views of themselves and their identities as people in a globally connected world. Supervisors are understandably mindful of reconciling timely completion of the research project with the freedom to explore and engage more widely but there are a number of pointers that may help to frame an allied approach to value-building in the doctorate

A beginner’s guide to supervising a PhD researcher

This beginner’s guide to supervision has been created for anyone who supports postgraduate researchers (PGRs) with any aspect of their research or the completion of their degree. The supervision of PGRs is a complex and time-consuming job, with a high degree of responsibility. Good supervision is a key component of PGR success and is vital to the health of our research as a nation as well as the health of our individual researchers. In the recent research literature, supervision has been shown to impact on PhD completion time, retention of students, their success, their perceptions of the value of the PhD, their mental health and well-being and their career choice. In acknowledgement, the UKRI statement of Expectations for Postgraduate Training states that “Research Organisations are expected to provide excellent standards of supervision, management and mentoring…” and the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency states that therefore “Supervisors should be provided with sufficient time, support and opportunities to develop and maintain their supervisory practice”. Noting that “supervisors represent the most important external influence in the learning and development that occurs in students’ training” the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s Committee on Education details interpersonal responsibilities of the supervisor that cover the need to work as partners, see the student as a whole person, be aware of power imbalance and develop strategies for the resolution of relationship difficulties, as well as giving academic and career support

Histone arginine methylation in cocaine action in the nucleus accumbens

Repeated cocaine exposure regulates transcriptional regulation within the nucleus accumbens (NAc), and epigenetic mechanisms - such as histone acetylation and methylation on Lys residues - have been linked to these lasting actions of cocaine. In contrast to Lys methylation, the role of histone Arg (R) methylation remains underexplored in addiction models. Here we show that protein-R-methyltransferase-6 (PRMT6) and its associated histone mark, asymmetric dimethylation of R2 on histone H3 (H3R2me2a), are decreased in the NAc of mice and rats after repeated cocaine exposure, including self-administration, and in the NAc of cocaine-addicted humans. Such PRMT6 down-regulation occurs selectively in NAc medium spiny neurons (MSNs) expressing dopamine D2 receptors (D2-MSNs), with opposite regulation occurring in D1-MSNs, and serves to protect against cocaine-induced addictive-like behavioral abnormalities. Using ChIP-seq, we identified Src kinase signaling inhibitor 1 (Srcin1; also referred to as p140Cap) as a key gene target for reduced H3R2me2a binding, and found that consequent Srcin1 induction in the NAc decreases Src signaling, cocaine reward, and the motiv ation to self-administer cocaine. Taken together, these findings suggest that suppression of Src signaling in NAc D2-MSNs, via PRMT6 and H3R2me2a down-regulation, functions as a homeostatic brake to restrain cocaine action, and provide novel candidates for the development of treatments for cocaine addiction. Keywords: histone arginine (R) methylation; drug addiction; medium spiny neurons; ChIP-seq; Sr

Aren’t they all leaving anyway? What's the value of mentoring early career research staff?

This case study documents the founding principles, structures, processes, outcomes and impact of a university-wide ECR mentoring programme – the Researcher Mentoring Programme (RMP). The programme was designed with the career landscape and professional development needs of ECRs at its core, and engages and develops academic staff as mentors

More than lucky? Exploring self-leadership in the development and articulation of research independence

This report presents findings from a research study designed to enquire into early career researcher experiences of gaining a research fellowship award within the UK higher education academic career pathway

Trust Me! Building and breaking professional trust in doctoral student-supervisor relationships

This report presents findings from a research study looking at perceptions of trust in doctoral supervision relationships. It views academic supervisors in the context of their role as leaders and enablers of trust within their research environments and higher education institutions

What does a Thesis Mentor do? And how can we support them to do it well?

No abstract available

Foreword: when our postgraduate researchers choose to teach, we should show their value

The doctoral experience is characterised by uncertainty, and the need to make choices in an unknown territory (Albertyn and Bennet, 2021). Beginning with the setting of a novel research question to which the answer is by its nature unknown, it is from the outset a process of unique discovery. This necessarily involves a steep learning curve in which postgraduate researchers must, at speed, assimilate both the disciplinary knowhow required to engage in the processes of research as a robust practice, and at the same time become familiar with a vast and growing range of existing research so that they may communicate how their study adds meaning to the sum of knowledge to date. Further, they must learn to get the ‘job of research done’, learning how to operate within a large organisation, to navigate systems, to teach, collaborate, and innovate. Along the journey they must become familiar with the markers of career progress and esteem and build the foundations of a career as what Pitt and Mewburn (2016) call an ‘academic super-hero’: a multi-talented, always ready and available worker. An exciting time certainly, but without time for reflective sensemaking and a clear framework for how to gradually succeed with these weighty challenges, this can be experienced as an overwhelming responsibility, rather than an exciting opportunity for discovery and growth