There is something deeply hopeful about watching someone else reach the end while you are still standing near the beginning. Their graduation does not promise that your own journey will be easy or predictable, but it reminds you that the end is possible. Someone else once stood where you are standing now, unsure of how they would make it through, and somehow, they kept going.
There is something oddly comforting about finding yourself in a room full of other postgraduate students and realising that the academic world is much larger than your own desk, your own department, and your own very dramatic reading list.
I am thankful to be here. I know what this opportunity means. But knowing the weight of the opportunity does not remove the ache of the sacrifice. People often see the achievement, but they do not always see what it costs.
From Advocacy to Mobilisation to Organising What mechanisms are there for doctoral students to advocate, challenge, collectivise, and take agency both within and beyond the structures of higher education? How might we better take agency, use our advocacy, and form networks of solidarity and support? On 12 May 2026, we gathered at the University of … Continue reading Building Community Through the SGSAH Doctoral Researcher Committee
Doing a PhD is not just about locking yourself away with books, notes, deadlines, and a document that refuses to behave. Some of the real learning happens when you leave the desk, enter the room, listen to other people’s work, and realise that your research is part of a much bigger conversation. This blog is a reminder to show up, sign up, pay attention, and make the most of the spaces that help shape you into the researcher you are becoming.
Doing a PhD in the Arts and Humanities in 2026 is more than an intellectual exercise—it is an emotional, spiritual, and structural negotiation. This reflective guide explores how to stay grounded, think critically, protect your wellbeing, and develop your voice while navigating doctoral research.
Dr Sarah Mackay and Dr Emily Munro, returning guest bloggers, share their forthcoming exhibition at the National Library of Scotland, researching the nation's relationship with wet weather.
Guest bloggers Cicely Farrer and Alison Scott reflect on their event, Creative Citizenship in the Archives, co-organised with the SGSAH KE Hub Citizenship, Culture & Ethics (CCE).
Guest blogger Ludovic Brunot extends academic research into irredentism in Italy, a 19th-century nationalist movement geared towards 'redeeming' Italian-speaking regions from foreign domination, through his review of the 2025 film, Fiume o morte!
Guest blogger and 2026 British Council Venice Fellow Kialy Tihngang dives into their research relating to Blackness, queerness, and Britishness in film and moving image.
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