This paper reports findings from Australian research into student, academic and administrative staff understandings of the role and efficacy of periodic progress reports designed to monitor the progress of higher-degree-by-research candidates. Major findings are that confusion of the purpose and ultimate audience of these reports is linked to less…

This article begins the work of examining what kind of doctoral experiences positively influence researcher development, and what other attributes may contribute to a successful research career. It reports preliminary findings from the analysis of survey responses by a sample of successful mid-career researchers. Positive doctoral experiences and…

This paper is concerned with how research candidate becoming is situated within the contemporary higher education policy context and in investigating alternatives. The idea for the paper arises out of a simple observation: that the Doctorate is a degree in philosophy. What does this observation have to offer for understanding research candidate…