In general, postgraduate student experience in the Humanities Division is very good. However, a common comment in PhD exit surveys and postgraduate opinion surveys is that students can feel isolated, and the journey of doing postgraduate research can be very solitary.
Programmes with a strong postgraduate culture tend to provide an enhanced student experience, with improved learning outcomes, as well as providing key skills and experiences that enable people to be ready for work beyond academia or further study.
The aim of this page is to provide information and resources for Programmes and Schools to tap into for ideas that might facilitate the development or enhancement of a postgraduate culture that works for their specific circumstances.
Over time, the links will be expanded, and developed. If you have resources you'd like to share by posting on this page, please contact adgs.humanities@otago.ac.nz
University of Otago resources
Research opportunities database
This database offers a means to advertise for areas in which you'd like to attract research postgraduate students. These need not be attached to funding, but rather provide a means to promote areas of graduate research that the programme would like to grow.
A range of information and resources for supervisors and students
- For supervisors – courses run in conjunction with the Higher Education Development Centre (HEDC):
- For Māori students
- Graduate Research School (GRS) events
- Support for students
- Researcher and postgraduate student development
Student Support through various services, groups and communities at Otago
- Support for Māori students including links to Te Huka Mātauraka/the Māori Centre, Te Roopū Māori/Māori Students Association and Kaiawhina in the Division of Humanities
- Support for Pacific students:
- Support for International Students
- Otago University Students Association (OUSA)
- OUSA Postgraduate Association
- Graduate Wellbeing Coach
Graduate student culture – research and examples
- Australian national study on postgraduate student experience
- Article by Leslie Blood on three ways to enhance student experience and success
- Mentoring at Duke Graduate School, USA
- University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada has some good information and examples in their Graduate Research School. See links on the left, particularly 'Promoting Excellence in Graduate Programmes' which directs you to a link on 'Graduate Ecosystems', the links on supervision, Indigenous inclusion and 'Enriching the Student Experience'.