by Carys Meehan
23/04/2026
From the 15th to 17th of April, almost four hundred delegates from local and international universities attended the biennial Quality in Postgraduate Research Conference, held at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide. Over the course of the three days, and representing every facet of postgraduate research, these delegates participated in a range of fora dedicated to the continued development, improvement, and recognition of postgraduate research.
Through a myriad of plenary sessions, presentations, posters, discussion panels, and roundtables, and through the lens of this year’s theme, “Transforming Graduate Research for the Future”, academics, professional support staff, industry experts, PhD supervisors, and HDR students sat together to explore some of the foremost wicked problems of current postgraduate research, including generative AI, sustainability in research practices, the importance of positive supervisory relationships (and how to navigate the difficult moments), and how to convey the relevance of this research to outsiders. “How do we explain to those outside that the idea of the ‘ivory tower’ is a myth, when the average PhD student is 37 and living below the poverty line? And how can we help others understand that their research matters?” were two such recurring topics of discussion.
As a PhD student and volunteer at the Conference, I was afforded the opportunity to attend, along with a number of other HDR students from across Flinders and Adelaide Universities. For some of us, it was our first academic conference, while others were more familiar with the general flow of proceedings. The topic of our own supervisors’ supervision, however, was new to us all, and provided a fascinating glimpse into the behind-the-scenes chaos – and passion – of research careers. It also enabled a much better understanding of the development of postgraduate research as a field worthy of attention in its own right, as well as the importance of nurturing an ecosystem of supportive research. Without these, as Professor Louise Sharpe discussed in her opening keynote speech ‘Future-proofing the PhD’, the future of postgraduate research is anything but guaranteed.
The Conference continued in this vein over the next three days, with equally animated presenters from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya, Japan, China, Papua New Guinea and the UK reiterating the significant roles that collaboration and academic community play, both in individual researchers’ lives and in postgraduate research as a whole. The importance of personal community and language were also emphasised, with the experiences of First Nations and international students from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Papua New Guinea highlighted across different educational scenarios, further identifying potential gaps in accessibility and support. However, despite the sometimes problematic data presented, the atmosphere throughout these presentations was always positive, yet with a quiet determination to fight for better: better stipends, better supports, better supervisor training, better recognition for postgraduate researchers, and their – our – work.
This was my main takeaway from the 2026 QPR Conference: that, as fearful as we may be to ask for feedback from our supervisors, they are neither truly alone in their supervision, nor are they against us. They are working behind the scenes with amazing teams of academics and professionals for us to succeed.
Professor Alistair McCulloch’s own creation and organisation of this Conference was itself a testament to this sentiment: a quiet, dedicated support for others, so that they may continue along this path and, in turn, support others through their own postgraduate research journeys. To paraphrase one presenter: “the thesis isn’t the deliverable; the deliverable is the expert at the end of the thesis”.