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 financial sustainability and doctoral capacity, standards and supervision, researcher support and participation, international recruitment and collaboration, and the relationship between doctoral training and wider research, skills and innovation priorities.
It will bring stakeholders and policymakers together to assess implementation of UKRI’s New Deal for Postgraduate Research and the developing framework for doctoral training. Delegates will consider questions around the sustainability of current funding arrangements, including the full cost of doctoral training and cost recovery, and the implications of increased researcher support and rising training costs for the number and distribution of funded places. Looking at the UKRI-led Statement of Expectations for Doctoral Training, attendees will discuss how its expectations can be met across different doctoral environments, and priorities for supporting effective and consistent practice in recruitment, supervision, researcher development and institutional accountability.
Further sessions will examine the doctoral experience and research culture, alongside continuing disparities in access, participation, progression and outcomes. Delegates will consider approaches to strengthening supervision and researcher support, what can be learned from examples of effective recruitment and training practice, and priorities for addressing financial and other barriers to postgraduate research. Approaches to translating commitments in the Government’s Women in Research Charter into funder and institutional practice will also be discussed, including support for parents, carers and flexible research careers.
The planned agenda will also examine international students undertaking PGR in the UK. Areas for discussion include implications of changes to immigration and sponsor-compliance requirements, the proposed International Student Levy and wider costs of studying and researching in the UK. Delegates will consider what is needed to maintain the UK’s attractiveness to international doctoral researchers and strengthen global research collaboration and mobility, including participation in Horizon Europe and preparations for the EU research programme that succeeds it from 2028.
The changing place of doctoral training within industrial strategy and R&I policy will be a further area for discussion. Delegates will assess implications of more targeted doctoral investment for broad-based provision, regional research capacity and disciplines outside designated priority areas, alongside the role of industry collaboration, research infrastructure and doctoral training in meeting strategic skills and workforce needs. They will also consider the impact of AI on research practice and doctoral training, as well as priorities for developing R&I capability in AI and other strategically important technologies.
Cost of doctoral training
The agenda will examine progress in implementing UKRI's New Deal for Postgraduate Research across providers of different sizes, and priorities for developing a sustainable funding model for postgraduate research, including the relationship between stipend and support levels, the full cost of doctoral training, cost recovery and doctoral capacity.
Areas for discussion include:
- policy & implementation: revised grant terms and conditions - student support - funded doctoral environments - institutional readiness and planning - UKRI's next update on the New Deal
- financial sustainability: stipend uplifts - minimum training fee - revised entitlements - the London weighting - institutional planning - programme design
- cost of doctoral training: PGR funding viability - full economic cost of doctoral training - high-cost provision and cost recovery - reliance on cross-subsidy
- capacity & cohort affordability: the balance between funded places and levels of support - implications for self-funded and non-UKRI funded researchers
- standards & accountability:
- Statement of Expectations for Doctoral Training - meeting expectations across doctoral environments
- supervisory standards - recruitment and training practice - feedback and complaints processes - institutional accountability
Supervision, researcher experience, widening participation & inclusion
Priorities for strengthening supervision, researcher support and research culture will be considered, including approaches to workload, recognition, belonging and wellbeing. Sessions will also examine continuing disparities in access, progression and outcomes, what can be learned from examples of effective recruitment and training practice, and priorities for widening participation and implementing EDI objectives across the doctoral lifecycle.
Areas for discussion include:
- supervision & research culture: workload management - supervisor development - belonging and recognition - consistency across disciplines and institutions
- researcher experience & support: wellbeing and support - addressing gaps for disabled researchers - cost-of-living pressures and hardship support - improving parity of outcomes
- access & participation: UK-domiciled participation - finance - outreach - targeted recruitment and support for underrepresented students - data and benchmarking on postgraduate access
- progression & retention: addressing drivers of unequal progression into doctoral study by socioeconomic background and ethnicity - support for underrepresented groups
- career pathways: links between undergraduate, master's and doctoral study - bridging programmes - placements and early exposure to research
- flexibility, women & caring responsibilities:
- support for parents and carers - family leave for researchers outside UKRI funding - part-time and flexible routes - improving support for mature researchers
- leadership opportunities - translating commitments in the Government's Women in Research Charter into funder and institutional practice
International recruitment, mobility & global collaboration
Delegates will assess priorities for maintaining and strengthening the UK's attractiveness to international doctoral researchers as immigration and compliance requirements tighten and recruitment and study costs rise. Discussion will also consider priorities for extending international research networks and mobility following the UK's association to Horizon Europe, and preparations for future collaboration from 2028.
Areas for discussion include:
- immigration & compliance changes:
- the Government's 2025 immigration white paper - new Basic Compliance Assessment thresholds and Red-Amber-Green sponsor ratings
- further tightening of the completion threshold from June 2027
- Graduate Route reductions from January 2027 - retained three-year route for doctoral graduates - progression from master's to PhD study
- cost & competitiveness:
- proposed International Student Levy from 2028 - calls for a PhD exemption
- visa and health surcharge costs - international researcher hardship - responsible student support
- global partnerships:
- Horizon Europe association - future UK participation in the EU research programme from 2028 - strengthening and extending international research networks
- 2026 International Education Strategy - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions - supervision networks
- international recruitment & provision: implications for recruitment markets - institutional planning - sustaining high-cost, specialist and strategically important research areas
Industrial strategy, regional research capacity & AI
Further sessions will assess the implications of the increasing use of targeted doctoral investment within the UK's wider industrial strategy and R&I priorities, including its relationship with broad-based provision, regional research capacity and capability in strategically important areas.
Areas for discussion include:
- targeted talent investment:
- doctoral landscape and focal awards - Doctoral Focal Award Plus - industry-linked studentships, placements and co-funding
- implications for domestic participation, regional research capacity, interdisciplinary collaboration - pathways into industry, innovation and wider public-service careers
- strategic skills development: public-service workforce needs - place-based growth and innovation - long-term workforce planning - knowledge exchange and commercialisation
- regional capacity & infrastructure: institutional partnerships and shared training - innovation clusters - research infrastructure outside the most funded regions - smaller, specialist and regional providers
- AI skills & workforce: UKRI's AI Research and Innovation Strategic Framework - industry co-designed doctoral routes - Centres for Doctoral Training - responsible and trustworthy AI capability
- AI utilisation & data: tools for research design, data management, methods training, assessment, thesis production and supervisory practice - academic integrity - ethical oversight - institutional or sector-wide guidance
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates.
