Get Ready, Set, Go: The Doctoral Research Journey and Top Tips Workshop

Joining CYGNA fostered belonging, empowered collaboration, and enriched my personal and academic growth.

[I would like to thank Orthodoxia Kyriacou, Patricia Kokot-Blamey and Xinran Wang for their support, comradeship and sense of fun. Susanna Menis.]

Joining CYGNA helped me to connect with people. This is something that I have never found easy. However, I have drawn much comfort from the sense of belonging I have experienced (unusual for a loner like me). CYGNA reflects a special sense of sisterhood, which, once I overcame my initial apprehension, felt safe and empowering. I see CYGNA as a two-way-commitment; while it is a hub for support, CYGNA must also feed from the interaction between members.

Still, I did not think about collaborating academically with CYGNA members, not least because few members coincide with my academic discipline. And yet, at the October 2024 regular meeting, I realised that collaboration could take many forms. This is when the penny dropped: being a PhD Lead gives me the pretext to invite guest speakers because the programme lends itself to this. Also, a two-way collaboration could be evidenced in promotion applications, such as engagement with research mentoring roles, subject expertise, esteem through guest speaking, etc. And this is where it all started.

The Workshop Get Ready, Set, Go

The workshop Get Ready, Set, Go reflected my need to provide a starting point for the school’s new research students. Being fresh on the role, I reached out to CYGNA members. The response was heartwarming. After careful consideration and planning, the expertise and personal experiences of Orthodoxia Kyriacou, Patricia Kokot-Blamey and Xinran Wang drove the direction of the workshop; this aimed at:

  • Gaining insights into choosing a research topic that aligns with personal and career interests.
  • Exploring the structure of a PhD and learning techniques for organising reading and building a compelling theoretical framework.
  • Discovering strategies for resilience, handling setbacks, and maintaining balance.

The two-hour workshop was attended (online) by 23 people, a mix of aspiring and current research students. The feedback received from the survey suggests that the workshop left a positive impact on the audience:

It is always insightful to hear different perspectives from different academics about the doctoral journey as the experiences are so diverse! I learned a new way of narrowing the subject. Key piece: our individual perspectives are unique and do not forget that.

Upon reflecting on what was their biggest takeaway from this workshop, attendees responded:

Be true to yourself…

The PhD journey could be a bumpy road, but it is well worth it.

Great to have some pointers in terms of structure/frameworks…

It has helped me realise the need to enjoy the journey.

What I learnt from this collaboration:

  • Having a plan: I did not have a plan; I just had a need and an idea. I didn’t know how many collaborators I should have or what the session would cover. The eventual plan was tailored to the availability of Orthodoxia, Patrizia, and Xinran. Timing, lengths of each talk, and themes followed harmonically, as if by some form of magic! This approach worked in this instance, but I suspect a greater sense of planning could be useful for more complex collaborations.  
  • Choosing collaborators: I was unsure what to expect when emailing over 400 CYGNA members. Replays ranged from expressing support for the initiative to expressing interest in collaborating. I received about seven expressions of interest, which was enough.
  • Listening to advice: I contacted Xinran following a recommendation made by a senior CYGNA member. The sense of networking came to life in this instance, and I am happy I acted on this advice.  
  • Advertising: attendance was the one thing that I was concerned about. The workshop was aimed at my school’s PGR community, but I only had two new students. I therefore extended the invitation to CYGNA’s PhDs and PhDs of CYGNA members. Still, I did not think this was enough. I then invited the school’s Master's students as future research applicants. A few days before the event, however, I found out that I could post the invitation through the University’s PGR announcements, which was very effective.
  • Survey: I created a survey to distribute at the end of the session to gather data and quotes for this blog. The survey only had six questions (two of which were demographic). Evaluating the attendees' responses, I feel that future surveys might be more effective if the other four questions are reduced to two, aiming to focus on data produced by this cue: will you be doing anything differently as a result of what you have learned at the workshop today?

In sum

Once I overcame my initial apprehension to connect with others, I discovered the immense value of collaboration within CYGNA’s supportive academic community. CYGNA fosters a unique sense of belonging and empowerment, where I feel that individual growth and mutual commitment go hand in hand. Through this network, I realised the potential for academic collaboration, even across disciplines, which has enriched my personal and professional development. CYGNA has not only helped me grow but also highlighted the power of shared expertise and mutual support.

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