The Doctoral Academy provides support for Postgraduate Research programmes across the Faculty of Humanities and across all aspects.

Recruitment and Admissions (including scholarships)
HUMS.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk

Progression & Welfare (including Research Training Programme and Thesis Examination)
HUMS.doctoralacademy.support@manchester.ac.uk

Experience (including Induction, PGR reps and Communications)
HUMS.doctoralacademy@manchester.ac.uk (general queries can also be sent to this address)

Funding (including stipend administration)
HUMS.doctoralacademy.funding@manchester.ac.uk

The team is located in the Ellen Wilkinson building (Ground Floor, C Block) and can also be contacted on +44 (0)161 275 1200.

Please contact the Doctoral Academy if you have questions about the programme or processes, or have any concerns regarding the PGRs you supervise.

The PGR Programme Handbook is updated each year and is a key resource for PGRs and supervisors. This also contains a comprehensive Research Training Programme handbook, including details of Course Units and assessment processes. 

The guidance and links on this page may be helpful to you as you support your PGR through to successful thesis submission.

Colleagues from across the University have been working with the Manchester Doctoral Strategy Group (MDCSG) to develop an online Postgraduate Researcher Supervisor Toolkit. 

Recognising the wide-ranging, demanding and complex set of roles involved in research supervision, the toolkit builds on the UK Council for Graduate Education’s supervisory framework. The toolkit aims to support supervisors in meeting their responsibilities and contribute to creating a positive and supportive environment for all PGRs.

Following feedback from supervisors the toolkit has been refreshed and updated and now includes the recording of the recent Hugh Kearns Research Supervision Masterclass along with resources such as the first 100 days. An additional section on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion guides supervisors on how ensure all aspects of their supervision is inclusive. Advice on how to identify signs of stress has been added to the student support and wellbeing section.

PGR supervisors are encouraged to access and use the toolkit and to provide feedback to ensure the resource continues to be useful and relevant.

Staff Learning and Development provide a number of workshops that seek to support the development of skills for supervisors, such as “Coaching and mentoring skills for supervisors”.

https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/staff-learning-and-development/

You can find the AMBS PGR Supervision Policy here.

You can find the Completion Support Guidance for Staff here.

The University has developed two online training resources to help staff to support PGRs. The first resource is aimed at all staff who are in contact with students as part of their work, it will help you to support students’ wellbeing from the initial point of contact with a student in need: 

• Supporting Students at The University of Manchester
• Online training from the University's Counselling and Mental Health service is also available here for all colleagues

Please find further resources below:

• Wellbeing and Mental Health PGR Email 28 October 2020
• Supporting PGR Wellbeing and Mental Health – Resources for Supervisors
• A guide to Supporting your PGR during Coronavirus
• Mental health and wellbeing resources
• The PGR Supervisors Toolkit which contains a section on support and wellbeing, including the wellbeing and mental health flowchart for supervisors

Two online training modules are now available for PGR supervisors as outlined below.

Supporting PGR Mental Health and Wellbeing for PGR Supervisors - An overview of mental health within the context of postgraduate research and guidance how supervisors can identify, respond to and support PGRs in distress.

Case Studies for PGR Supervision in the Context of Mental Health Difficulties - Case studies are used to examine the process of PGR supervision when a supervisee is experiencing difficulties. 

Please follow the link to the Recruitment and Admissions StaffNet site for information on:

• Admissions (including evaluation process, ethics guidance, and PGR fee and stipend levels)
• Funding (including deadlines and allocation procedures for UoM schemes, CSC, ESRC, AHRC, EPSRC)
• Advertising supervisor-led projects
• Recruiting visiting PGRs
• Recruiting split-site PGRs

A new and brief eProg supervisor guide is now available online on Humanities StaffNet and in PDF. 

It is important that all required milestones are completed, with a particular emphasis on progression milestones where supervisors are required to act.  In addition, there is a monthly obligation on supervisors to complete the Attendance and Engagement milestones for their supervisees, every month for PhD and every two months for DBA.  This formal requirement is to confirm whether or not your PGR student has been actively engaging in their programme and been in regular attendance/regular communication in the past month.

You will be required to use eProg if you:

• Supervise PGR students
• Are going to be involved as an Independent Reviewer in their Annual Review
• Are going to be involved as an Internal Examiner or Independent Chair for their thesis examination

The best way to access eProg is through the new version of My Manchester – simply click on the ‘Go to staff view’ purple button.  Accessing it this way will enable you to see the ‘My Research Students’ option.

It is your responsibility to complete attendance and engagement milestones within eProg. The University expects a compliance rate of 100% and if for any reason you are unable to oblige with this request, please raise this with Prof. Lloyd Harris, PGR Programme Director.

By obliging with such requests, it will avoid further follow-up requests. Cases where milestones are not acknowledged will be escalated within the School. 

The University-wide system requires supervisors to meet regularly with PGRs and to record this within eProg at least once a month to ensure their PGRs’ attendance milestones are kept up to date.

Find the full link to the eprog submission to examination staff guide here. 

Thomas Schleicher, Academic lead for AMBS PGR Ethics, holds workshop sessions for first year PGRs at key stages throughout the year, discussing the importance of Ethics in research and the process for seeking Ethical approval. 

Support for PGRs and extension due to COVID-19: message from Postgraduate Research Team

We want to thank all PGRs for their patience in waiting for this announcement on funded extensions – we appreciate this is a very stressful and difficult time, and for many of you, the pandemic has meant that  your research and training plan has not progressed as you expected. We know that many of you have been able to follow our advice and adapt your research plans. However, we are aware that, due to the circumstances of some PGRs, this might not be possible. UKRI have now announced how they intend to support PGRs who have been unable to adapt and adjust their research projects and, as promised in the summer, the University has also considered what financial support can be offered to PGRs funded through other sources.

Funded extensions

UKRI have confirmed that they will make limited additional funding available to support UKRI-funded PGRs on a needs-priority basis. Funded extensions, of up to three months, are to be made available to those who have been unable to mitigate delays due to COVID-19 or adjust their research project, and have a funding end date beyond 1 April 2021. In line with UKRI guidelines priority will be given to those with a funding end date before 30 September 2021 and those with ongoing support needs (for example, disabled PGRs, those with a long-term illness, those who are neurodivergent or those who have caring responsibilities). We will work with UKRI Programme Directors to implement this. Please note that PGRs who have already received a funded extension for COVID-related reasons and those who started their programme after 1 March 2020 are not eligible to apply.

The University will extend the same approach to PGRs in receipt of a stipend processed by the University who are also in the priority groups identified by UKRI and where the funder is unable to financially support an extension period.  The University will cover extensions up to UKRI standard stipend rates. This provision does not include those who have been previously granted extension(s) due to COVID and those who started their programme after 1 March 2020.

Those who need a further extension period may apply for more time, but funding is limited to the circumstances outlined above. Full details and updated FAQs on the application process will be available shortly.

Other support

The University will also waive the submission pending fee for all PGRs with a programme end date between 1 March 2020 and 30 September 2021 (before any COVID-related extension was applied), regardless of their funding source. If you meet the end date criteria and your submission pending application is approved, then the fee will be waived automatically.

We are extending the waiver of tuition fees for self-funded PGRs. Any self-funded PGR granted an extension within the new timeframe detailed above will have their tuition fees automatically waived for the extension period.

If you receive your stipend or living costs directly from a sponsor (rather than the University), you must check if they will pay for additional costs during any potential extension. The University is not able to fund living costs in these circumstances.

Any PGR facing financial hardship can apply for support with living costs via the University’s Living Cost Support Fund or the PGR COVID-19 Hardship Fund.

Further information about specific circumstances is available in our PGR frequently asked questions.

Further information

As ever, if you have any questions or wish to discuss anything in this email please first go to your supervisor or local PGR support team. Our PGR FAQs page will be updated to include this new information.

We will also hold an open meeting on 26 November 4-5pm, which all PGRs are invited to attend. Members of Manchester Doctoral College will discuss and answer your questions on funding, extensions and other issues currently affecting PGRs. You can now register online for the open meeting.

Colette Fagan (Vice President Research)

Melissa Westwood (Associate Vice President Research)

Jeffrey Penny (Associate Dean for Postgraduate Research, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health)

Sarah Heath (Associate Dean for Postgraduate Research, Faculty of Science and Engineering)

Sue Heath (Associate Dean for Postgraduate Research, Faculty of Humanities)

In circumstances where a PGR student has depleted their Doctoral Research Support Allowance, they may approach the Doctoral Academy with a request for Exceptional Support Funding. The Exceptional Support Fund is only intended for use by PGR students who have exhausted their DRSA allowance but require further funding support to attend conferences, expand fieldwork or complete essential training.

The Exceptional Support Fund can be used for travel, accommodation and fee costs associated with:

• Presentation (NB: not merely attendance) at conferences
• Attendance at summer schools or advanced research training courses
• Contribution to the costs of fieldwork
• Contribution to the costs of data collection

Normally, a maximum of £800 will be awarded on the Exceptional Funding scheme in support of the activities noted above. Normally, PGR students can only apply once per academic year to the Exceptional Funding scheme, and all costs should be incurred in the relevant financial year (i.e. before the end of July).

Revisions to the Faculty TA policy have now been made and it is important to note that Sub-pending TAs who wish to do between 90-180 hours will require approval from their supervisors (or the PGR director if the supervisors are coordinating the units requiring teaching).

Sub-pending TAs who wish to go above 180 hours require approval from the school PGR director which will take them to the upper limit of 250 hours for the year. This 250 maximum is aligned with the previous limit agreed with AMBS.

Find out more in this guidance document.

Further details should be directed to either Adrien Querbes, TA Coordinator or Michelle Kipling.

We are keen to work with our colleagues in the marketing team to promote PGRs’ successes. If you have a story to share, please do let us know and contact HUMS.doctoralacademy@manchester.ac.uk 

* Mandatory courses for staff involved in research and supervising postgraduate researchers

The University of Manchester Supervision Policy for Postgraduate Research Degrees (October 2022)

Research integrity

All staff whose job involves research are required to take the concise course on Research Integrity provided by Epigeum. For more information, please see:

https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/rbe/ethics-integrity/research-integrity/

Ethics / data management

The key resource for information and guidance on Research Ethics for PGR students, as well as academic staff, is available at: https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/rbe/ethics-integrity/ethics/

The ‘Application Preparation’ section is particularly helpful and includes guidance on Data Management.

Export control*

Any staff involved in research at any level should complete the export control course. Supervisors who take the training should discuss it with their postgraduate researchers and ensure that they also complete the course. For more information on export controls, including the export control policy and any required training, please visit the Export Controls page provided by the Office of Compliance and Risk.