TO BE PUBLISHED February 2027
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This conference will examine priorities for the future of postgraduate research in the UK. Areas for discussion include researcher support, financial sustainability, widening participation and maintaining the quality of PGR provision amid changes to funding, policy and research priorities.
It will bring stakeholders and policymakers together to discuss implementation and implications of revised expectations for supervision, training grants and institutional support, alongside the impact of successive stipend uplifts and rising training costs on doctoral capacity, in the context of UKRI’s New Deal for Postgraduate Research. Delegates will consider what these changes mean for the sustainability of PGR provision, the experience of postgraduate researchers, and priorities for addressing uneven outcomes across the sector.
Discussion is also expected on UKRI's Statement of Expectations for Doctoral Training and its good practice principles in recruitment and training at doctoral level, including approaches to supervisory development, support and accountability, and how institutions can address growing evidence of pressure within doctoral supervision and research culture.
The planned agenda will examine international students undertaking PGR in the UK light of the Government’s 2025 white paper Restoring control over the immigration system, the 2026 International Education Strategy, the UK’s ongoing work to strengthen global research partnerships, participation in Horizon Europe and the terms of any association to its successor programme from 2028. Discussion will assess implications of changes to immigration and compliance requirements - including tighter student sponsor metrics in force since June 2026 and reduction of the Graduate Route to 18 months for bachelor's and master's graduates applying from January 2027 - for institutional planning, international recruitment and the attractiveness of the UK for postgraduate study and research.
Further sessions will explore how PGR is being repositioned within the UK’s wider industrial strategy and innovation priorities, including the role of doctoral training in building capacity in strategically important areas and technologies. Delegates will consider the increasing prominence of doctoral landscape awards, doctoral focal awards, targeted talent investments and industry-linked doctoral provision. Discussion will also assess the impact of these developments on the balance between broad-based doctoral provision and more strategically focused training, and what this means for domestic participation, regional research capacity, interdisciplinary collaboration and pathways into industry, innovation and wider public-service careers.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- policy and implementation:
- UKRI’s New Deal for Postgraduate Research - grant terms and conditions - student support - equality and inclusion - funded doctoral environments
- consistency across providers - supervisory standards - recruitment and training practice - feedback and complaints processes - institutional accountability
- financial sustainability:
- stipend uplifts - minimum training fee - revised entitlements - institutional planning - programme design - doctoral capacity and cohort affordability
- PGR funding viability - cost recovery - full economic cost of doctoral training - high-cost provision - the balance between funded places and levels of support
- supervision, researcher experience and support:
- supervision and research culture - development, workload, recognition and consistency across disciplines and institutions
- postgraduate researcher experiences - belonging and wellbeing - disability support - progression and retention - improving parity of outcomes
- international recruitment, mobility and collaboration:
- immigration and compliance changes - student sponsor metrics - Red-Amber-Green sponsor monitoring - Graduate Route reductions from January 2027
- Horizon Europe association and global partnerships - international recruitment, doctoral environments, supervision networks
- widening participation and domestic pathways:
- UK-domiciled participation - finance - outreach - progression routes - targeted recruitment and support for underrepresented students
- pathways into research careers - links between undergraduate, master’s and doctoral study - bridging programmes - part-time and flexible routes
- placements and early exposure to research opportunities
- industrial strategy, strategic skills and careers:
- national priorities - strategic technologies - public-service needs - long-term workforce planning
- targeted talent investments - doctoral landscape awards - doctoral focal awards - industry-linked studentships, placements
- knowledge exchange and commercialisation
- regional research capacity and infrastructure:
- doctoral provision and research capability - supervisory capacity - institutional partnerships - research infrastructure outside the most heavily funded regions
- PGR and place-based growth - innovation clusters - infrastructure access - interdisciplinary training - smaller, specialist and regional providers
- AI, data and digital transformation:
- tools for research design, data management, methods training, assessment, thesis production and supervisory practice
- responsible AI use - academic integrity - ethical oversight - transparency - capability-building - institutional or sector-wide guidance
