1. Collaboration Across The 1992 Divide : The Postgraduate Research Student Experience
Cynthia Sam Nicholas Freestone
University of Oxford Kingston University

2. What about postgraduate research experiences?
HEA STEM CONFERENCE 2012 proceedings
What about postgraduate research experiences?
(Freestone et al., 2012)

3. Randomly selected PhD students in
the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing
Kingston University
Semi-Structured interviews
Field notes
Only Kingston University
Kingston University and a
collaborating institution
(usually pre-1992)
Questionnaires

4. Views of Kingston Ph.D students attending 2 institutions
“Good opportunity to learn new techniques”
How does your research experience
at the collaborative institution compare to Kingston University?
“All equipment needed were in the same lab”
(unlike in KU)
The collaborating institution “…has more dedicated researchers”..
“It was a very nice experience and I learnt from it.. I was working in another laboratory..”
“Travelling was a bit of a hassle..” (between KU and collaborative institutions)

6. Ph.D students attending only Kingston University
Some pros and cons
“ I like the laid back
and relaxed atmosphere”
Lab was “not well equipped”
“ ..familiarity”
“I want to come in to work on
weekends but access is restricted”
“…problems with lab space”

7. Advantages of being at a collaborating institution
More specialised laboratories
More exposure and support from
experts in the field of research
More opportunities to learn novel
research techniques
Enhances employability prospects

8. Disadvantages of being at a collaborating institution
Distance to travel between institutions
More formal and less relaxed feeling

9. Ph.D students benefit immensely from collaboration across institutions
Concluding remarks
Ph.D students benefit immensely from collaboration across institutions
Flexible access to the lab
Advanced cutting-edge
research
Dissemination of ideas
Exposure to new skills
and ideas
Networking

10. Academic Development Centre Kingston University Kingston University Students Union All the Ph.D students who participated in this project