PhD, postgraduate and early career

One-off payments to those in need also among multimillion-pound package of support

PhD students with encouraging mums and dads less likely to be plagued by feelings of inferiority, survey suggests

‘Short horizons’ of grant-givers holding back early career researchers from disadvantaged backgrounds, says Glasgow principal

Survey of Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting attendees shows even those tipped for glory feel insecure and underdeveloped

Demand and quality questioned by businesses and universities as reforms leave majority of STEM courses at full length

The standardised test is graduate schools’ ideal measurement tool for the personality traits they seek in applicants, says John Gomez

New wave of funding schemes aims to counter ‘parachute research’ and brain drain

Median age at degree completion shrinks, although share of field’s graduates with job commitment does too, American Academy of Arts and Sciences finds

Huge study by Colorado researchers finds one in eight academics studied for their PhD at just five institutions

Riham Sheble claims she had to battle Warwick for study extensions

Government accused of moving goalposts over pre-election messaging, with social sciences and business master’s also set to lose out

First postgraduate students start at new HKUST campus, signalling beginning of huge changes in the area

Academics debate whether spike in interest is down to draft dodging or career reckonings prompted by upheaval

Salma al-Shehab given 34-year sentence over critical posts on Twitter

‘Under the radar’ practice of charging students to secure their places a sign of ‘increasingly deregulated admissions process’, says Jo Grady

Karl Andersson has long attracted controversy over his interest in sexually suggestive images of teenage boys, so did university investigate this?

University hopes to build more diverse faculty by enriching PhD process with skills typically acquired in prolonged postdoc slog

‘Wanking is not a research method; it is just wanking,’ says professor, as doctoral candidate chronicles how he ‘enjoyed’ provocative cartoon images of boys

While many early career academics are preoccupied with job security, the factor that most correlates with job satisfaction is a helpful boss

Post-92s and private universities more likely to offer incoming students the option of when they begin their course while Russell Group stick to traditional autumn start

Institution’s party chief dismissed in controversy over lecturers sent overseas to get doctoral qualifications

Giving adjuncts biweekly payments, internal status for permanent vacancies and tenure on promotion would all help, say Lisa Carver and Samantha King

Doctoral training centre sorry for email suggesting doctoral students work in fields and sell cosmetics to make ends meet

The doctorate must remain an apprenticeship. Better to cut PhD students’ teaching load by hiring more teaching staff, says Ruth Machen

Royal Netherlands Academy says extra funding and time cannot ‘truly compensate’ those who began their research careers in lockdown

Australia the biggest loser, universities warn, as protracted delays shepherd PhD applicants elsewhere

Large-scale study finds younger, female supervisors are more likely to produce PhD graduates who publish successfully

Even before Covid led to so many job losses among casual and fixed-term academic staff, mass insecurity was increasingly being recognised as a blight on the sector. But is there any realistic prospect of permanent contracts all round? Ben Upton examines the cases of Germany and the Netherlands

Copenhagen doctoral candidate Maria Toft explains how her campaign has led to sector-wide calls for research reform in Denmark

Manchester vice-president urges funders to address ‘low’ stipends but warns change in employment status would mean fewer studentships

New approach ‘a great outcome’ for those fearing impacts of the ‘most bone-headed idea ever’

While some fields have been exempted from a contentious imposition on international doctoral students, sector still fears overkill

European doctoral body says funders must recognise that current financial support is often insufficient for PhD researchers

Peking and Tsinghua join drive to smooth journey from undergraduate to postgraduate studies

Researchers suggest universities should do more to help researchers adapt after time overseas

UK has lost market share to research rivals despite taking on many more self-funded Chinese doctoral students, report finds

Meeting the continent’s need for more doctoral graduates is hampered by a lack of resources and qualified supervisors, says Teklu Abate Bekele

Experts say fleeting effect of amending Germany’s fixed-term contract law shows need for wider career reforms

PhD student says her legal defeat raises important questions about duty of care owed to students who face harassment

La Trobe prolongs blackout on Russell Street bomber Craig Minogue’s dissertation, citing concerns over ‘identifying material’

The King’s College London president says universities are ‘not in any way toxic places’

Population declines and employment shifts key factors, but universities also seen ignoring non-teaching career pathways

Multiple small grants from trusts and charities can lend research projects credibility, opening bigger doors down the line, says Sophia Labadi

The University of Leeds vice-chancellor discusses why UK higher education should go Dutch and the national scandal that drew her to academia

Academics call for rethink of latest Australian security intervention

Demonstrators push back against ‘exploitation’ of those struggling at the bottom of a sector seen as increasingly casualised

Funded postgraduates could face real-terms pay cut running to four figures this autumn as UK stipends fail to keep pace with inflation

Warning that trend has much wider implications for the UK system than missing individual expertise  

Study finds that staff welcome better work-life balance but still face barriers

University educators must not be blind to other life goals – like building a savings account, says Brent Lucia 

Authorities to debate changes to master’s and PhD enrolment systems

First randomised controlled trials of doctoral writing classes find major improvements in researcher confidence and study habits

Proportion of leavers going overseas for further courses on a downward trend that predates pandemic

Scholars and PhD students voice frustration at lack of concrete plans in consultation on ‘new deal’ for postgraduate researchers

Around one in 12 postgraduate researchers would publish fraudulent results if it helped them get ahead, says study

And research job opportunities are booming outside universities, AI-fuelled study finds

2022 winner brews up a fungi-based love story with a lot of help from his friends

Undergraduate institutions should instil innovative thinking and research skills to prepare future PhD students, scholars say

The Bourne films had it right. ‘Look at us. Look at what they make you give,’ says Donald Earl Collins

Retracted support for star professor demonstrates deep persistence of faculty attitudes that perpetuate harassment, plaintiffs claim