The Doctoral Values Project

About the Project

The Doctoral Values Project was created to amplify the voices of Warwick’s postgraduate researchers (PGRs) and place their lived experiences at the centre of institutional thinking. Over 40 PGRs from more than 16 departments took part in student-led focus groups, sharing their challenges, hopes, and what they value most about the postgraduate journey.

Through these conversations, five core Doctoral Values were co-defined – reflecting the priorities and experiences that matter most to our PGRs. These values serve as a shared framework for shaping a better postgraduate experience.

By placing co-creation at its heart, this project aims to ensure that Warwick’s evolving research environment genuinely reflects and responds to its researcher community.

Naturally, supervision emerged as one of the most influential aspects of the PGR experience.

Many shared stories of empowering, respectful mentorship that fostered confidence, growth, and a sense of belonging. These positive relationships highlighted the transformative potential of good supervision.

Some PGRs described challenges with their supervision which underscored the need for better support and training for supervisors. These experiences revealed how crucial it is to establish clarity, mutual respect, and open dialogue from the outset.

At its best, supervision is a space for trust, care, and academic flourishing. To ensure this becomes the norm, we must embrace a cultural shift—one that prioritizes empathy, transparency, and shared accountability across the research community.

Compassion in supervision isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity.

This value recognises that doing a PhD is more than producing a thesis – it’s an evolving journey of identity, confidence, and transformation. PGRs spoke of learning not only within their subject, but through trial, error, and emotional struggle. Many entered with high expectations - “I thought I’d have publications in my first year” - and learned to accept non- linear progress.

There were calls for honesty from the outset: to acknowledge how hard the journey can be, and that not knowing is part of the process. Growth includes gaining resilience, building new skills, and redefining what success means - especially when facing rejection, imposter feelings, or shifting career paths.

This value invites a culture that nurtures growth as it happens.

PGRs make vital contributions to research, teaching, mentoring, and leadership— and there is a desire for this impact to be consistently recognised. Many PGRs have found powerful ways to amplify their voices by: organising conferences, mentoring peers, and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration.

These experiences show that when PGRs are given opportunities to lead, they thrive. True empowerment means not only creating opportunities, but also celebrating contributions—through visibility in newsletters, acknowledgement in teaching, and meaningful involvement in shaping departmental life.

PGRs want to be seen and valued—not just as students, but as essential members of the academic community. By embracing a culture of recognition and inclusion, we can ensure that every researcher feels supported and appreciated.

Participants consistently highlighted the importance of wellbeing and holistic support— especially for those managing disability, parenthood, bereavement, cultural adjustment, or financial hardship.

This value challenges institutions to acknowledge the whole person behind the research. Support should be embedded, proactive, and inclusive of varying life circumstances – including international students navigating new systems, working parents juggling time, and part-time researchers managing limited access to resources.

To support the PG researcher is to see them fully—not just as students, but as people with lives, struggles, and dreams.

Visualising the Values: Art by a PGR, for PGRs