Cumberland Lodge’s annual ‘Life Beyond the PhD’ conference is a unique celebration of the postgraduate research culture in the UK. Now in its tenth year, the conference invites PhD students and early career researchers to share their experiences, take part in training, and explore the value of doctoral research in an inclusive and supportive environment.

Delegates participate in workshops on communication, grant and job application writing, and public engagement. The conference offers opportunities to share research and aspirations, to explore collaborative and interdisciplinary ways of working, and to present to a diverse, non expert audience.

The event demonstrates that PhDs have a value both inside and outside academia. Over the last 9 years over 400 students and early career researchers from 106 different Higher Education Institutions have participated in the annual ‘Life Beyond the PhD’ conference . Whatever the future holds, the support networks established by these events have proved to be invaluable.

• Dr Tom Cutterham, Lecturer in United States History, University of Birmingham
• Katie Hewitt, Careers Adviser and Freelance Trainer
• Professor Debra Humphris, Vice-Chancellor, University of Brighton
• Dr Cathy Jamieson, former Cumberland Lodge Scholar
  Dr Steve Joy, Freelance Learning & Development Specialist and Careers Adviser
• Dr Matt Mawer, Senior Research Officer, Commonwealth Scholarship Commission
• Dr Sarah Richardson, Associate Professor of History, University of Warwick
• Dr Neil Sadler, Lecturer in Translation and Interpreting, Queen’s University Belfast and former Cumberland Lodge Scholar
• Dr Shane Strachan, Writer and Researcher
• Dr Morgan White, author of Towards a Political Theory of the University: Public reason, democracy and higher education