Finding Nemo: The importance of a research community for Doctoral researchers

IPDA England is aiming to provide a series as blogs over the summer from its IPDA England committee to outline the work that the committee is undertaking, and to encourage colleagues to engage with our work. Derek Boyle shared his reflections as an Early Careers Research, and how he works in a collaborative professional relationship with his supervisor, and peers, to enable him to move forward on his own professional learning journey. IPDA and IPDA England, is highly committed to support Early Careers Researchers as exemplified each year in our Annual Conference Programme’s Pre-Conference Event, and our numerous events, such as the Early Careers Researcher Celebration Event hosted by the University of Wolverhampton.

Nathan Douglas is reflecting on ‘finding your place in the doctoral community’ in his blog. Nathan is the IPDA England Vice Chair, leading on the Early Careers Researcher focus, and supported a range of events ranging from writing retreats to lightning conferences. Nathan can be found on X/Twitter leading on projects such as the 100 day writing challenge and using hashtags such as  #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter #phdvoice.

Dr. Lizana Oberholzer, IPDA IC Chair/ IPDA England Chair

Finding Nemo: The importance of a research community for Doctoral researchers

Finding your place in the Doctoral community can be a hard slog. Those new on their Doctoral programmes can feel like a ‘fish out of water’; not sure of which ‘tank’ to belong or even which species of fish they are! To continue the metaphor a bit further, those Doctoral students further into their programme can feel like a ‘fish in water’, but, the tank is huge and they are tiny. This is where every ‘fish’ needs a ‘school’.

Parking the extended metaphor to one side, this blog interrogates the importance of a research community for Doctoral researchers. The ‘becoming’ of a Doctor is one that incorporates identity conflicts and tensions (Leshem, 2020), which could be heightened if you are alone and isolated, with no real sense of who you are within the Doctoral community or opportunity to become part of one. Alternatively, you may be in a cohort with other Doctoral students, but you are the only researcher with expertise in the field that you are studying (Halliwell, 2024). Finding your ‘Nemo’ is important! (Sorry, metaphor again)!

I have been very blessed in my Doctoral journal to have found my ‘Nemo’. I achieved this in three main ways which I share with you now. Firstly, I have been, and continue to be, very active on Twitter (‘X’). Secondly, I have thrown myself feet first into opportunities that have been sent my way and thirdly, I have started to make my own path and take a lead on the development of my own Doctoral network.

1. The power of Twitter (‘X’)

Whilst Twitter can be a place to be taken with a pinch of salt, there is a wonderful group of Doctoral researchers and Early Career Researchers (ECRs) on there waiting to be found. In the early stages of your Doctoral career, establish yourself on Twitter by following Doctors, professors, researchers and ECRs in your field. Tweet widely using far-reaching hashtags such as #PhDVoice and #AcademicSupport. You’ll soon see researchers in the same boat as you to use as a sounding board, someone to query things with and someone to generally share experiences with. I am very grateful to my Twitter network, some of whom I have met in real life too!

2. Doctoral opportunities

Throughout my Doctoral career, I have (time willing) taken advantage of all of the opportunities that I have been given. To build up your research community, I recommend that you do the same. For example:

• Present at conferences: Talking about your work is always good practice, it gets your name out there and helps you to network. Some conferences are free, like the Warwick Educational Conference for Postgraduate Researchers. Other conferences are very affordable, like International Professional Development Association (IPDA)’s Lightning Conferences (see below).
• Present at your university: Your university will most likely run conferences too, and/or ask you to speak to ‘younger’ Doctoral researchers in years below you.
• Attend any and all talks organised by your university relevant to your studies. I have learnt so much from these and met many great people.
• Write blogs, which are less formal but still an outlet for your thoughts.

3. Take a lead

In the later stages of my Doctorate, I have begun to take a lead in my own Doctoral development. I joined the IPDA England Committee a few years ago. I have used this to run several online Researcher Retreats, design and host lightning conferences and think about the offer that IPDA can give to ECRs. All of this, of course, benefits others but is of a huge advantage to me too and builds my research community further. Take a look at our Events Calendar to see how you can get involved in IPDA.

In addition to IPDA, I became a reviewer for an educational journal.  I have found that reading others’ work is a genuine privilege and honour. Plus, it helps you ‘pitch’ where your work is at and see the common pitfalls and good practice in your field, which can then be taken back to your own writing habits.

Finally, going back to Twitter, I have founded a #100DaysOfEdD / #100DaysOfPhD community for two years in a row, which evolved into #52WeeksOfEdD / #52WeeksOfPhD. These hashtags kept me in touch with many students, and kept us all going in the process!

Whilst everyone’s Doctoral journeys will be a personal and subjective experience, I have found that using Twitter, grabbing as many opportunities as possible whilst studying and then taking a lead in the ‘twilight years’ of my study, have helped me grow a truly awesome research community. This has kept off feelings of isolation and loneliness and has had a big impact in getting my Thesis done. I’ve met new and interesting people, which has helped me enjoy my Thesis even more.

A big part of my community is IPDA, an extremely friendly bunch of people dedicated to ECR development. We run several sessions a year (free or very cheap!) specifically for Doctoral students and ECRs. So, do take a look at our website for more information. To become a member (starting at £30), click here.

Nathan Douglas (@Nathan_DHT_EdD) is one of two Vice Chairs for IPDA England. He is currently in his 7^th Year studying for an EdD at Birmingham City University. His Thesis explores the lived experiences of experienced primary school teachers working in England, with a particular focus on their professional identity and why they remain in the profession. Nathan aims to submit his Thesis in the Autumn of 2024.

References

• HALLIWELL, G. (2024). Why are our PhD journeys so lonely? https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/why-are-our-phd-journeys-so-lonely [Accessed 15th June 2024]
• LESHEM, S. (2020) Identity formations of doctoral students on the route to achieving their doctorate. Issues in Educational Research, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp.169 – 186. https://www.iier.org.au/iier30/leshem.pdf