Wednesday 7th October, 2-3pm, online

As this was our first session of the new academic year, we started by making space for newer PhD students to ask what they needed, while those further along reflected on what would have helped them at the beginning.

What we talked about:

• How to integrate theories and the practical elements of participatory research? One member shared how they had run something like a mini-lecture to explain the academic language, then opened it up for reflection: what resonates, and what feels relevant? This brought everyone in the room to the same starting point. We talked about the importance of giving up control, sharing power, and teaching and learning together.
• How to co-design qualitative research? Two members reflected that their work had been closer to an advisory panel than fully participatory, as their groups preferred to amend a drafted interview or focus group schedule rather than start from a blank page. A purely ground-up approach isn’t always right for the group you’re working with, and it’s important to be transparent about what is feasible in a PhD, especially if the research questions are already set.
• What do community members get from taking part in the research? We discussed flipping this question and asking people directly what they want to get from it. Payment is the ideal, but funding might not always allow this. Other options we discussed included:
  • Describing their involvement in a way they can use on a CV, or supporting the write-up of their participatory research experiences for a CV
  • A certificate of the skills they gained
  • Capacity-building, as some community members value gaining research skills
  • Framing co-produced research as a form of advocacy for their community, and explaining why it differs from mainstream research
  • Simply asking: for example, in one project, the young people wanted driving lessons because their transport was limited

Two mindset tips:

• There is no such thing as “perfect participatory research”. Within the constraints of a PhD, trying to involve community members at every stage can easily turn into a checkbox exercise. It may be more meaningful to ask community members which stages matter most to them, and to focus on embedding participatory values as far as we can.
• This work comes with a lot of emotions. Guilt about not doing it well enough, worry about making “mistakes”, and burnout are all common. Having a community of researchers to talk to openly about these, rather than brushing them under the carpet, is part of what this space is for.

We finished by reflecting on our journeys leading up to the PhD and what we would like to see from future network meetings.

Join our November session!

We meet online on the first Wednesday of each month, 2-3pm. Our next meeting is Wednesday 4th November, where Abbey Brunault, a PhD researcher at King’s College London, will share about their community-based co-design project, as well as their approach to research disseminating and collaborating with an artist!

Resources shared by members

On doing a participatory PhD

• Anderson, A.J. and Sankofa, N. (2025) ‘Preparing for participatory action research: Professional development to support education doctoral students’ critical reflexivity’, Educational Action Research, 34(1), pp. 123–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2025.2495684
• Beresford, C. et al. (2026) ‘Supporting participatory PhDs: A call to action’, Higher Education [Preprint]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-026-01776-1
• Dedotsi, S. and Panić, G. (2020) ‘Resisting within the neoliberalising academy: Reflections on doing transformative doctoral research’, Emotion, Space and Society, 35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2020.100657
• Felner, J.K. (2020) ‘”You Get a PhD and We Get a Few Hundred Bucks”: Mutual Benefits in Participatory Action Research?’, Health Education & Behavior, 47(4), pp. 549–555. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198120902763
• Klocker, N. (2012) ‘Doing Participatory Action Research and Doing a PhD: Words of Encouragement for Prospective Students’, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 36(1), pp. 149–163. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2011.589828
• Lambley, R. (2024) ‘The challenges of navigating participatory research: The perspective of a doctoral student who co-ordinates a team of researchers with lived experience of mental health challenges’, Educational Action Research, 33(1), pp. 143–152. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2024.2429444

Co-production, epistemic injustice, collaborative autoethnography

• Epistemic injustice and mental health research: A pragmatic approach to working with lived experience expertise (Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2023). Recommended for first years learning about epistemic injustice and co-producing knowledge.
• What “Coproduction” in Participatory Research Means From Participants’ Perspectives: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Inquiry. 

Methods books and tools

• Beyond Sticky Notes. One member’s favourite co-design methods book: it helped a lot with planning and shaping their project, and they wished they had read it earlier!
• Ann-Murray Brown. Helpful content and tools on monitoring, evaluation and learning.
• Dr Helen Kara’s work on creative methods, recommended by a member who attended one of her talks:
  • Creative Research Methods: A Practical Guide
  • Research Ethics in the Real World: Euro-Western and Indigenous Perspectives
  • Qualitative Research for Quantitative Researchers (SAGE)
  • She also founded the International Creative Research Methods Conference, the Journal of Creative Research Methods, and the Independent Research Ethics Committee