Doctoral College

Current Students

A world-class research hub, committed to a vibrant research culture and community, to sector-leading training and development, and to providing outstanding facilities and resources. 

We provide institution-wide support, training, and administration for all our postgraduate researchers. The Doctoral College works across all three Academic Faculties within the University as well as key Professional Services, to ensure that postgraduate researchers have an outstanding start to their research careers. 

Student Handbook

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Study spaces

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Research culture

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Training & development

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Health and wellbeing

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Financial help

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Absence reporting

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Welcome to the University of Exeter and our Doctoral College. At Exeter we strive to create a supportive, inclusive and vibrant research environment for our diverse community of postgraduate researchers (PGRs). Exeter is one of the fastest growing research-intensive universities in the UK, ranked 18th out of 134 universities in the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF).

PGRs are an integral part of our interdisciplinary academic community and our Strategy 2030 ambitions for delivering world-leading research to create healthier, greener and fairer societies. 

The Doctoral College aims to provide first-class support to postgraduate research students across our beautiful Streatham and St Lukes (Exeter) and Cornwall (Penryn) campuses. We assist the progress and development of all PGRs in our Faculties of Environment, Science and Economy, Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, and Health and Life Sciences. Our Doctoral College team brings together academics and professional services to support our PGRs from their initial applications, through their research and training, to the completion of their studies and future career plans both within and beyond academia. We are committed to building a dynamic and inclusive research culture to foster research innovation, inspire creativity and bring people together tackle local, national and global challenges, generating impactful and cutting-edge research. To do so, we aim to create a healthy and supportive research environment for our postgraduate students, with dedicated researcher development, international student, postgraduate support and postgraduate welfare teams. We’re proud that our performance in the national Postgraduate Research Experience Survey reflects this commitment, with overall satisfaction and wellbeing support results well ahead of sector benchmarks. We constantly strive to improve both the research opportunities and the support available to our PGRs, to help them achieve their research and career goals. We’re delighted that so many researchers from across the world choose to join our community and make Exeter or Cornwall their destination for postgraduate and doctoral study.

Read more from Professor Stacey Hynd

Professor Stacey Hynd

Dean of Postgraduate Research and of the Doctoral College

Useful links across the University

The Students Guild and The SU For those based on either Streatham or St Luke's the Guild is here to represent you, while those based in Penryn or Truro have the SU.
International support The International student support team provides advice to all international PGRs. We also have a dedicated PGR international student support webpage.
IT support A wide range of IT support is available to PGRs at the University of Exeter. Please contact the IT Helpdesk for general IT enquiries and visit the Digital Hub for expert advice on our digital tools.
Library The PGR LibGuide helps you to find out all about the Library services and support available to PGRs.
Networks There are a variety of Networks available to you as PGR, from support to academic to social.