PhD Candidates Research Articles

A Review of Maps in PhDs: Is Your Map Worth a Thousand Words?

ABSTRACT Maps are useful for providing location context and for graphically presenting spatial relationships. They are often used in PhD dissertations to show the location of a study area or to present scientific results. These maps have to tell their story without the PhD candidate being present. We searched for maps in 575 PhD dissertations, and reviewed 192 maps in 65 of these: 38% were created by PhD candidates, 48% were inserted and 14% were adapted from other sources. Maps prepared by PhD candidates had more design shortcomings than other maps. Nevertheless, the number of problems with maps from other sources suggests that guidelines for including them in a dissertation could be useful. Our results suggest that PhD candidates use GIS software to design maps, but that there is room for improvement to guide users towards appropriate design choices. The results will help to plan support services for PhD candidates at universities.

Relationship Between Anxiety and Self-care Behaviors in Iranian Medical Students During COVID-19 Epidemic

Background: The prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant psychological and health disorders in individuals, such as some health care behaviors disturbance and anxiety disorder. Objectives: This study aimed to assess Iranian medical students’ anxiety level and self-care behaviors during the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: The anonymous online questionnaire was applied to collect data, including three general sections on the socio-demographical characteristics, COVID-19 self-care behaviors, and coronavirus anxiety scale. Totally, 620 students of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences with access to the Internet were surveyed from May 23 to July 7, 2020. Results: The mean scores of self-care behaviors and anxiety levels were 56.71 ± 7.63 and 16.84 ± 3.75, respectively. The self-care behaviors were higher among female, married, and PhD candidates and infected students living in rural areas than other students (P < 0.05). The level of anxiety was significantly higher among male, single, and infected students living in metropolitan areas (P < 0.05). There was a significant negative relationship between self-care behaviors and anxiety levels (r = -0.922, P < 0.001). Conclusions: The finding showed suitable self-care behaviors and high anxiety levels in students. The universities should prepare a package of multi-dimensional interventions, such as designing comprehensive software to reduce anxiety and increase preventive behaviors, such as self-care behaviors in students.

Examining the Practices and Challenges of Distance Education of PhD Candidates in the Context of COVID-19

The distance education system is actively developing in the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sharp transition of PhD candidates to distance education caused difficulties in organising the educational process. The aim of this study was to analyse the methods of distance education for postgraduate students in the context of a COVID-19 pandemic. A survey of graduate students was conducted through specially- designed and semi-standardised interviews of focus groups of producers and consumers of educational services. The study showed that the process of adaptation of postgraduate students majoring in Physical Culture and Sports and Biology was much more difficult than in the major Educational, Pedagogical Sciences and Philology. The reasons for the problems of distance education of PhD candidates included the complexity of creating educational and methodological materials for distance learning; lack of a centralised system of certification and accreditation of electronic courses; insufficient motivation of teachers; shortage of teachers who could competently develop distance learning courses in higher education. The study identified opportunities to implement promising areas of online learning in the system of training of academic and teaching staff: retraining of a large proportion of the teaching staff, implementation of a system approach to the development of the online environment of educational institutions, development of skills and abilities to use educational content. Prospects for further research include the study of problems of violation of academic integrity by postgraduate students in the course of distance learning.

Writing Retreats Responding to the Needs of Doctoral Candidates Through Engagement with Academic Writing

During dissertation writing, PhD candidates face challenges engaging with academic writing, among other things, which leads to their participation in writing retreats with their peers. Developing a better understanding of PhD candidates’ needs to optimize engagement with writing is important for improving the overall doctoral experience and reduce attrition. We then conducted a qualitative longitudinal experimental study with PhD candidates from Canadian universities: 15 respondents who participated in a writing retreat and 15 respondents who never participated in such event. Based on our findings, this article presents a complementary perspective to the theoretical model of engagement with writing by Murray (2015). Thereon, we expand on the intersectionality of components (cognitive, physical, social) to illustrate the influence of structured writing activities. These intersections highlight the benefits of writing retreats to answer the needs of PhD candidates to engage with writing: planning dedicated writing periods, implementing effective work methods in environments enabling concentration, and engaging with collective writing activities. By way of supplementing the most recent literature on the subject, we suggest that the participation in structured writing retreats serves as a pedagogical benchmark for graduate programs to offer students comparable conditions in support of their writing requirements to enhance academic success.

Introduction

This special issue of Deusto Journal of European Studies includes some of the contributions presented during the International Congress “European Union-Asia Pacific dialogue; fostering synergies on global challenges”, held at the University of Deusto on April 22 and 23, 2021. This event took place within the framework of the activities of the Jean Monnet Network (EUNAP). This European project provides an academic platform to promote mutual knowledge, joint research and multidisciplinary debate on the relations between the European Union and the Asia Pacific region. During the second day of this International Congress, various PhD candidates and young researchers from both regions had the opportunity to present their contributions on the different challenges and perspectives that the interregional dialogue currently faces. This special issue includes five of these contributions made at this event.

Edukacija mentora i kvalitet doktorskih studija - trenutno stanje i budući izazovi

Supervision is a specific relationship, where an experienced senior researcher provides guidance, support, and advice to navigate a junior colleague through the barriers to becoming an independent researcher. While supervision is clearly a rewarding duty, it is also associated with a number of challenges. It is clear that supervision involves many responsibilities, which means that the supervisor needs to possess a certain set of skills. While many of these skills are learned in the direct interaction with PhD candidates, it would be beneficial if a more formal and structured training was offered to supervisors, especially at the beginning of their supervision careers, so as to avoid frequent mistakes in the supervisor-PhD candidate relationship. Hence, the idea is to shift from experience-based supervision to professionalization, believing that such an approach would reduce the risk of poor supervision. At present, many universities offer formal education of supervisors. The practice of organized education of supervisors at University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine started in 2019 with the aim of preparing future supervisors to establish productive and responsive relationships with PhD candidates. After a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a revised supervision course was organized in 2022. The survey conducted among the attendees of the two organized courses supported the need for better education of university teachers in terms of supervision skills and leading of PhD candidates. Indeed, considering the fact that PhD outcomes are largely dependent on the supervisor and the successful supervisor-PhD candidate relationship, supporting supervision through formal training and education may be an important step in improving PhD experience and outcomes for both supervisors and PhD candidates.

How to Establish Film Practice Research and Evidence Impact in the Greek Academic Environment?

Nowadays, there are two types of scholars teaching film courses at the Greek universities. The first one is the theoreticians with a background in film studies and a PhD in film theory, who approach their teaching methods strictly from a theoretical point of view. The second type of university teachers are practical filmmakers that come directly from the industry, most of them without a PhD or formal research experience. They approach their courses from a practical point of view sharing their experience from the industry. Greek Universities are exclusively public at the moment and fall under the Ministry of Education. The system is quite bureaucratic and difficult to adapt within and responds slowly, if at all to changes. PhD candidates are dealing almost exclusively with traditional theoretical PhDs. Over the past several years, the first art-based PhDs focusing upon performing arts or visual arts in the Greek academic environment were submitted. However, the field of film practice research is still brand new. At the same time, over the past decade the Ministry of Education established a new unit in Universities that will measure the quality of research and teaching entitled Quality Assurance Unit (MO.DI.P). MO.DI.P is an advisory body for the administration of the University which, through the coordination of procedures for internal and external evaluation of the academic units of the Institution, gathers information regarding the strong and weak points of a University. Within this framework it is really difficult for arts based or film-based research practitioners to prove the impact of their research to MO.DI.P. and to establish film practice research in general within the Greek academic environment. Since my background is on film practice and my PhD was undertaken in the United Kingdom, I am familiar with the ways that we can measure film practice impact in the academic environment. Establishing this culture in the Greek academic environment is quite difficult but at the same time it forges new paths and exciting opportunities for new art based and film-based research practitioners. This paper will focus on the ways that we can measure impact in film practice research, through examples from my own work. I will argue how I was able to measure the impact of my own films Flickering Souls Set Alight (2019) and A Quest for Eternity (2020) but also how to measure impact in more cross disciplinary research with examples of my participation as researcher in StoryLab (Skills Training for Democratised Film Industries) research lab. Finally, I will focus on the issues and the possibilities of establishing these new opportunities in the Greek academic environment and the solutions that this alternative path will be able to provide, not only to academia in Greece but to contemporary Greek filmmakers, too.

Care as symbolic exile: The diversity work of Slovak gender studies scholars

In recent years, science has become a battlefield where the lines of the gendered world order are being negotiated. This negotiation cannot be understood without examining the epistemic communities of gender studies – their members, practices, conditions, and the power relations within which they operate. This study aims to enrich the research on gender and feminist scholarship from the perspective of a country with a weak degree of institutionalisation of gender studies. It focuses on the experiences of PhD candidates and early career scholars of social sciences in Slovakia, as narrated in two focus group discussions. We argue that the combination of fragmentation in gender-oriented epistemic communities and the competitiveness of neoliberalised academia pushes junior gender studies scholars to experience isolation, a self-imposed or forced symbolic exile within their institutions and academic communities. However, while the symbolic exile is a space of exclusion, it also is a space of care – for oneself, for others, for one’s institution. The study conceptualises these practices of care as ‘diversity work’ and examines them as both initiatives of individual scholars and invisible everyday labour that maintains the presence of gender-oriented scholarship in an academic environment marked by limited institutionalisation of gender studies.

Recenzje/Reviews

In permanently introducing this new section to our periodical, we wish to call the reader’s attention to a unique approach we are consciously taking. In a desire to identify impending foci in our field, we have invited the youngest of our colleagues – MA and PhD candidates in social work – to act as our reviewers. Furthermore, considering the vast multitude of scholarly articles published annually, we have asked our students to primarily focus on this segment which is more likely to reflect the most recent findings. That said, we have not set a strict date range in the hope that our reviewers will freely discover or recover studies which might have been overlooked heretofore. H. Robinson, B. MacDonald, E. Broadbent (2014). The Role of Healthcare Robots for Older People at Home: A Review. “International Journal of Social Robotics”, 6: 575–591. Reviewed by Karina Melnyk J.H. Jönsson (2019). Servants of a ‘Sinking Titanic’ or Actors of Change? Contested Identities of Social Workers in Sweden. “European Journal of Social Work”, 22: 2: 212–224. Reviewed by Stefan Strobl M. Newcomb, J. Burton, N. Edwards, Z. Hazelwood (2015). How Jung’s Concept of the Wounded Healer Can Guide Learning and Teaching in Social Work and Human Services. “Advances in Social Work & Welfare Education”, 2 (17): 55–69. Reviewed by Anna Szargiej

Study Engagement and Burnout of the PhD Candidates in Medicine: A Person-Centered Approach.

This study focused on exploring individual variations in doctoral candidates’ well-being, in terms of experienced research engagement and burnout by using a person-centered approach. In addition, the associations between well-being profiles and gender, country of origin, study status (full-time or part-time), research group status and drop-out intentions were explored. The participants were 692 PhD candidates in the field of medicine. Latent profile analysis was employed to identify the well-being profiles. Four distinct profiles were identified: high engagement–low burnout, high engagement–moderate burnout, moderate engagement–moderate burnout, and moderate engagement–high burnout. Working in a clinical unit or hospital and working in a research group seemed to be related to increased engagement and reduced risk for suffering burnout, while the intentions to quit one’s doctoral studies were more frequently reported in profiles with moderate levels of engagement. The findings imply that although a significant number of PhD candidates in medicine had an increased risk for developing burnout, for most of the PhD candidates research education is an engaging experience.

COVID-19 Lockdown-Related Changes in Mood, Health and Academic Functioning.

The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns were accompanied by an abrupt transition from face-to-face education to online education. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic functioning and mood in Dutch pharmacy students and PhD candidates. A total of n = 341 participants completed an online survey including questions on mood and academic functioning, assessed retrospectively for before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, during COVID-19 lockdown, significantly more time was spent on academic activities, and study grades/output significantly improved. However, the overall effects were of small magnitude, and there was great variability among students, reporting either improved, unchanged or poorer academic functioning. Compared to before COVID-19, the lockdown periods were associated with significantly increased levels of stress, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and loneliness, and a significant reduction in optimism and happiness. Significant negative correlations were found between ‘performance quality’ and stress, ‘performance quality’ and fatigue, ‘study grades/output’ and stress, and between ‘study grades/output’ and fatigue. Correlations of mood and items related to academic interactions were not statistically significant. Differential effects were seen when the data was analyzed according to sex, living situation, and ethnicity, revealing that women, students living alone, and those with a migration background reported that COVID-19 lockdowns had greater negative mood effects and a more negative impact on academic functioning. Poorer sleep quality and reduced quality of life were significantly associated with reduced mood, as well as reduced academic performance quality and role satisfaction. Regression analysis revealed that being young and not having a non-Western migration background were predictors of improved performance quality. However, only being young was a significant predictor of improved study grades/output during the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased levels of stress and fatigue were significant predictors of both reduced performance quality and poorer study grades/output during the COVID-19 pandemic. In conclusion, for the sample as a whole, the transition to online education during the COVID-19 lockdown was judged as having significant positive effects on academic performance. The lockdown periods were associated with significantly reduced mood and reduced social interactions. It should be taken into account that about one third of students reported academic functioning to be poorer during the COVID-19 pandemic. This represents a substantial group of students who require more attention and guidance to make a successful transition to online education and cope with lockdown-associated stress and fatigue.

COVID-19 Lockdown Effects on Academic Functioning, Mood, and Health Correlates: Data from Dutch Pharmacy Students, PhD Candidates and Postdocs

Mixed results have been published on the impact of the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its associated lockdown periods on academic functioning, mood, and health correlates such as alcohol consumption. Whereas a number of students report an impaired academic performance and increased alcohol intake during lockdown periods, other students report no change or an improvement in academic functioning and a reduced alcohol consumption. This data descriptor article describes the dataset of a study investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic functioning. To investigate this, an online survey was conducted among Dutch pharmacy students, PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers (postdocs) of Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey assessed possible changes in self-reported academic functioning, mood and health correlates such as alcohol consumption, perceived immune functioning and sleep quality. Retrospective assessments were made for four periods, including (1) the year 2019 (the period before COVID-19), (2) the first lockdown period (15 March–11 May 2020), (3) summer 2020 (no lockdown) and (4) the second lockdown (November 2020–April 2021). This article describes the content of the survey and corresponding dataset. The survey had a response rate of 24.3% and was completed by 345 participants.

Doctoral writing and remote supervision: What the literature tells us

ABSTRACT Remote supervision of doctoral writers became the norm in 2020 when university campuses around the world suddenly closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For some supervisors the rapid move to online supervision signalled a radical shift in their approach to working with PhD candidates, but for others it has been a smooth extension of their existing supervisory practices. By bringing together scholarly works and selected grey literature on remote supervision of doctoral writing, this paper explores how we might understand best practices for developing doctoral writing at a distance.

Preliminary Evaluation of Applicants to Master's Programs in Speech-Language Pathology Using Vignettes and Criteria From a Holistic Review Process.

Little is known about how others evaluate applicants to master's programs in speech-language pathology along criteria used during holistic review despite more programs adopting holistic review. This knowledge gap limits our understanding of whether holistic admissions may offer a more equitable pathway to entering speech-language pathology. This study investigated how faculty and PhD students evaluated applicants to master's speech-language pathology programs along criteria used during holistic review. We administered a survey online through a Qualtrics platform. Respondents (N = 66) were faculty and PhD candidates in U.S. speech-language-hearing departments. Survey blocks included demographics, professional background, and vignettes. Vignettes featured profiles of applicants to master's programs in speech-language pathology. Vignettes systematically varied in the indicators of applicant criteria, which were specified at low, moderate, or high levels or not specified. After reading each vignette, respondents rated the applicant and indicated their admissions decision. Analysis included descriptives. Relative to an applicant who was at a high level for all indicators except cultural and linguistic diversity, respondents ranked applicants who varied in their indicators of criteria levels lower. Respondents were also less likely to make an explicit "accept" decision (vs. "waitlist" or "reject") for this latter group of applicants. Even when implementing criteria used during holistic review, applicants who vary from a "high-achieving" stereotype may still face barriers to entry. Future work is needed to understand the precise nature of how holistic admissions review may play out in actual practice and help increase diversity in the profession.

Reasonable adjustments? Disabled research higher degree students’ strategies for managing their candidature in an Australian university

The number of disabled research higher degree (RHD) candidates in Australia and other countries is slowly increasing. However, little research has examined the experiences and perspectives of disabled RHD candidates. To address this gap, we conducted interviews with six disabled PhD candidates at an Australian university, aiming to understand the experiences and challenges of undertaking postgraduate study while living with disability. We present participants’ experiences of seeking – and commonly being refused – ‘reasonable adjustments’. Our findings invert the expectations of institutional adjustment, highlighting instead the constant adjustments made by the participants: temporal adjustments, workspace and equipment adjustments, supervision adjustments and emotion and body adjustments. We argue that these adjustments are necessitated by, and often reinforce, ableist assumptions about normative academic practices, assumptions that reward those who can conform and punish disabled candidates even as they work to adjust to institutional demands. Points of interest Disabled PhD candidates in this study were often denied reasonable adjustments or accommodations over their course of candidature. The denial of reasonable adjustments was distressing and impacted upon the PhD candidates’ understandings of their research ability and sense of belonging at their university. In the absence of institutional ajustments, the PhD candidates in this study had to make adjustments to their use of time, where and how they worked, their supervisory relationships and their expectations of their bodies and emotions. For the PhD candidates in this study, adjustments often came at high financial, time, professional and social costs. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles may offer a more effective framework for making research higher degrees programmes more accessible and welcoming for people living with disability.

Practice PhD toolkit

ABSTRACT This article provides an account of the practice PhD in art and the nature of the debates surrounding its development and status. Primarily, the article is aimed at prospective and current PhD candidates (as well as supervisors), offering a critical approach to shaping and championing practice research. In helping to define the practice PhD, the article distinguishes between projects and practice and provides a reference to key debates. A catalogue of articles from Journal of Visual Art Practice is included in an appendix as part of wider encouragement for candidates to be critically informed about practice research and to help develop a literature review. The article ends with 8 practical steps for pursuing the practice PhD.

1450Exeperiential Note on Enhancing Epidemiological Studies through Supervision of Postgraduate Research on Scaffolded Thesis-by-Publication

Abstract Focus of Presentation Most researchers are based in universities, and their research performance site is often metropolitan and urban cities. The effect is that scope of epidemiological studies has largely been without keen interest at the primary healthcare level. A pathway that this could have been addressed is teaching-research nexus in students’ research supervision. Hence in 2013, a research program was started and focused in primary health promotion. The program involved novel application of a known idea, whereby students do scaffold thesis-by-publication. Over the years, observations of students’ behaviour regarding the program are being made. This report narrates 7 years’ experience from Nigeria. Findings In the 7 years, 44 research students (3 PhDs, 20 Masters and 21 Hons) have passed through the program. Among the 21 Hons, 1 has volunteered to remain a collaborator and ‘unpaid’ Research Assistant in the program. Currently, 11 PhD candidates including 8/20 (40%) Masters’ degree graduates who are scaling up their work. In the year 2020, 4 of the PhD candidates have gone on to epidemiological study as well as primary healthcare performance evaluation of their local government areas in terms of public health problem of research interest. All students expressed being motivated by the publications. Conclusions/Implications Taking research students through thesis-by-publication journey is one approach to advance epidemiological studies. Making the students do the work on their own community advances health promotion, outreach to rural areas and primary health perspectives. Key messages Teaching-research nexus buoyed with thesis-by-publication can advance teaching and communication of epidemiology.

Well-being among PhD candidates.

The aim of the pilot study was to demonstrate that PhD students declare lower psychological well-being, and more often complain about psychosomatic symptomsand illnesses compared to individuals who did not continue education after university. A total of 270 participants were involved in the study: 135 PhD students (mean age = 30.03 years) and 135 control individuals (mean age = 30.13 years) who did not continue education beyond their master's degree. The following methods were used: a sociodemographic survey taking into account a list of illnesses and psychosomatic symptoms, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and the SPP-25. The results were calculated using ANOVA. The results show a significantly higher severity of the following: somatic symptoms (F = 12.913; p < 0.001), anxiety and insomnia (F =19.769;p < 0.001), behavioral disorders (F =8.782;p = 0.003), symptoms of depression (F = 8.560; p = 0.004) among PhD students when compared with individuals who chose not to continue education. The results suggest that PhD students demonstrate a significantly lower level of general mental well-being, a higher level of behavioral disorders, somatic symptoms, anxiety and sleep problems, as well as depressive symptoms - compared to individuals who did not continue education after achieving a master's degree.

‘Fail early and fail fast’: the value of group supervision for doctoral candidates

ABSTRACT This part-reflective, part-conceptual article focuses on the issue of supervision models and the need to move away from the dominance of the traditional master-apprentice model which continues to persist in many social sciences and humanities contexts. Drawing on communities of practice theory, I critically reflect on my own PhD supervision experience in Australia in relation to my current South African context in order to highlight how varying forms of a group model of supervision can enhance the doctoral experience by creating more opportunities for PhD candidates to engage in social learning. Furthermore, the article discusses some of the challenges associated with maintaining group coherence in a community of practice due to the fundamentally social nature of knowledge and the associated contestations around the legitimacy of knowledge and ways of knowing and the effect this has on a community. The article concludes with a suggestion of how this challenge can be mitigated through the creation of smaller, theory-based research ‘clusters’ within larger doctoral programmes.

Eight Years of Collaboration on Biosafety and Biosecurity Issues Between Kazakhstan and Germany as Part of the German Biosecurity Programme and the G7 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction

In 2013, the German Federal Foreign Office launched the German Biosecurity Programme with the aim to minimise risks associated with biological substances and pathogens. In this context, the German-Kazakh Network for Biosafety and Biosecurity was established in 2013 and constitutes a successful collaboration between Kazakh and German biomedical organisations, under the co-management of the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology (IMB), and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Ever since then, a network of scientists, stake holders and policymakers has been established, aiming to work on highly pathogenic, potential biological warfare agents with the focus on biosafety and biosecurity, surveillance, detection and diagnostics, networking and awareness raising of these agents in Kazakhstan. Over the past 8 years, the project members trained four PhD candidates, organised over 30 workshops and trainings with more than 250 participants and conducted more than 5,000 PCR assays and 5,000 serological analyses for surveillance. A great success was the description of new endemic areas for Orthohantaviruses, the mixture of two Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus genetic clusters, new foci and genetic information on tick-borne encephalitis virus and rickettsiae in Kazakh oblasts. The latter even led to the description of two new genogroups. Furthermore, joint contributions to international conferences were made. In this report, we summarise the evolution of the German-Kazakh Network for Biosafety and Biosecurity and critically reflect on the strengths and possible weaknesses. We were able to establish a viable network of biosafety and biosecurity shareholders and to accomplish the aims of the German Biosecurity Programme to lower biosecurity risks by increased awareness, improved detection and diagnostic methods and surveillance. Further, we reflect on forthcoming aspects to lead this interstate endeavour into a sustainable future.