The University Staff Doctoral Programme (USDP) promotes collaborations that seek to increase the number of academics with PhDs in South African universities. To support this goal, the British Council issued a call for a collaboration development grant to allow for the hosting of scoping and development meetings to explore possible models for doctoral training.

The University of Johannesburg (UJ), the University of Zululand (UniZulu) and the University of Glasgow (UoG) were delighted to be awarded this collaboration development grant. After a rigorous selection process ten candidates from South African Universities were selected to study on this unique programme.

The model of supervision that has been established offers an opportunity for staff from the three institutions to jointly supervise a team of doctoral candidates. Based on collaborative principles the model moves away from “supervisor as expert” and moves towards a shared, collaborative approach to the studies. The final goal is to have the ten candidates complete their thesis and acquire a doctoral degree. An equally important goal is the capacity development of the supervisory teams that bring together a range of experts at different levels in their careers and across the three institutions to work alongside the staff who are pursuing their PhD.

In addition to the supervision teams the doctoral candidates will attend a series of Learning Academies throughout their years of study. These academies will allow candidates to hone and develop their research skills while meeting academics from across participating Universities. They also offer an important space for candidates to engage in peer support during what can a lonely journey of study. The Doctoral Programme starts on 8 June with candidates coming together to consider the foundations of PhD study. We look forward to embarking on this exciting journey with the candidates.

This work is supported by a grant, under the, Newton Fund University Staff Doctoral Programme (Phase 2). The grant is funded by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and co-funded by the participating universities and delivered by the British Council. For further information, please visit www.newtonfund.ac.uk