First Presentations Confirmed
The first wave of presentations have now been confirmed.
Annual Conference 2026
This international conference invites critical, creative and practice-informed contributions that explore the nature of postgraduate cultures. With a focus on community, collaboration and connection, we seek to foreground approaches that support thriving, inclusive and sustainable environments for postgraduates across diverse institutional and national contexts.
Background
While discussions relating to the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise in the UK have encouraged an increasing focus on People, Culture and Environment, including support for postgraduate researchers (PGRs), concerns for culture and community have pre-existed the REF and also resonate far beyond the UK. The European Commission’s policy agenda for researchers, and frameworks such as the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct, similarly highlight the need for fair, supportive and empowering research environments. In countries with emerging or uneven research infrastructures, questions of access, equity and resilience take on particular urgency.
Discussions around postgraduate taught (PGT) education increasingly emphasise the role of culture in shaping belonging, collaboration and learning. The intensive and time-limited structure of many programmes can make it difficult for students to build meaningful connections beyond the classroom, raising questions about how universities foster inclusive and supportive environments. These concerns are amplified by the volatility of PGT cohorts, where shifting patterns of participation alter size, nationality and demographic composition. In this context, the challenge is to identify opportunities for collaboration and connection across disciplines and levels of study, and to consider how institutions can best serve a diverse student body in ways that sustain both learning and belonging.
This conference aims to open space for dialogue across these contexts, recognising that strong postgraduate cultures are foundational to the health and future of research globally.
Conference Themes
- Co-creation – postgraduates as colleagues
- Building inclusive and equitable research communities
- Third space professionals (including practitioner-researchers, research-enabling staff and professional services colleagues) – interconnectedness across roles, remits and functions
- Wellbeing, belonging and mental health in postgraduate education
- Connecting to society and doctoral education for public good
- Learning environments for postgraduates and access to research culture in pedagogical spaces
- Innovations in supervision practices and pedagogies
- International and cross-cultural perspectives on postgraduate cultures
- Power and value of collaboration beyond the obvious: digital, hybrid and place-based communities of practice
- Hidden, under-described, and DIY postgraduate communities and cultures
- Improving the PGT transition into HE
Confirmed Presentations
A number of presentations for the conference have been confirmed. Click here to view the current list of confirmed presentations
The deadline for the second wave of submissions has now passed and the abstracts submitted are now being reviewed. Colleagues who have submitted an abstract will be informed of the outcome of the review in April.
Conference Venue
UKCGE are delighted that this year’s Annual Conference will be hosted by the University of Liverpool.
The conference will take place in the University’s Sherrington Building. Directions can be found here.
Accommodation
We have worked in collaboration with Liverpool Convention Bureau to set up a rate card with different hotels for the Conference. To view the card please click here.
PGR Day
The Conference will feature a pre-cursor event aimed at PGRs. Details are available here.
Booking Information
GENERAL: Bookings for the Annual Conference can be made below.
PGRs: Postgraduate researchers who wish to attend the Annual Conference, as well as the PGR day pre-cursor event, can do so by booking below. For more information about, or for bookings solely for the PGR day, details will be available soon.