Our community
The Doctoral Academy community is a broad one, encompassing postgraduate research students and their supervisors, as well as the staff who support them.
There are approximately 2,000 active postgraduate research students at the University, with 500 new postgraduate research students joining each year.
The majority of our postgraduate research students are full-time students who begin their degrees in October, January, April or July. However, we also have a number of part-time and distance students who are able to access customised workshops.
The world of academia can be harsh and isolating, but the Doctoral Academy is an oasis where PhD students from different academic backgrounds can come together.
Friary House
The Doctoral Academy space in Friary House offers a facility which is exclusive to the postgraduate research student and staff community, creating a hub for interdisciplinary networking. Conveniently situated close to Cardiff City Centre and its many amenities, the Doctoral Academy offers modern and well-equipped facilities to support postgraduate research students.
Facilities include:
- Three seminar rooms for meetings, focus groups, training or conferences.
- Breakout and social space, available to meet or work, 24-hour access.
- A quiet room for contemplation, meditation and personal prayer.
- A printer which is linked to both I-Print and Web Print.
- A kitchen with hot water and microwave.
- An IT Suite with 20 PCs.
Researchers’ Room
The Researchers’ Room is a dedicated space for postgraduate research students who are writing up their theses. The room comprises 40 individual desks; each allocated student receives access to a networked computer and lockable storage, as well as a shared kitchen with amenities and social space, and printing facilities.
Getting involved
We provide a variety of opportunities for our postgraduate researchers to become involved in their wider research community.
Interdisciplinary events
Our programme of interdisciplinary events and activities allows students to build their research networks, appreciate alternative approaches and find commonalities with researchers outside their immediate research area.
Doctoral Academy Champions
We work hard to showcase our postgraduate research students’ achievements at the Doctoral Academy, and one of the ways that we do this is by recruiting Doctoral Academy Champions. Champions are current researchers who are engaged in research, innovation, engagement and/or teaching. We work with Champions to engage the postgraduate community and ensure as many researchers as possible benefit from our programme. We love to share our researchers’ success stories as well as their challenges and how we can help tackle them.
Doctoral Academy blog
All our postgraduate research students are invited to contribute to the Doctoral Academy blog, to share their research and their PhD journeys. Contributing to the blog is a great opportunity for researchers to practise their communication and public engagement skills, and to get published. It also gives students the chance to discover and engage with each other by sharing their Twitter handles and contact details or striking up a conversation in the comments section.
