Podcast of the Month: Doctoral Dialogues – Research Beyond the Thesis
Our Podcast of the Month spotlight focuses on Series 5 of Doctoral Dialogues, a podcast produced by the University of Westminster Graduate School. Hosted by our producer Jamie Adam, the series places doctoral researchers and their academic journeys at the centre of the conversation.
Doctoral Dialogues Series 5
Across eight episodes, the podcast explores an extraordinary breadth of subjects – from virtual reality, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence to healthcare, environmental law, hidden histories, creative practice, and research culture.
Beyond just presenting findings, Doctoral Dialogues provides an insight into the researchers themselves – examining their personal motivations, practical challenges, and the human experiences that shape their work.
Out now – the opening episodes of Doctoral Dialogues
Ep 1. Mapping Flow States and Moving Infrastructures – with Su Jayaraman and Maritina Keleri
In the opening episode, Su Jayaraman (School of Architecture and Cities) and Maritina Keleri (School of Computer Science and Engineering) discuss how cutting-edge technologies intersect with human experience. Su explores digital transformation in aviation – such as biometric security and passenger apps – showing that while technology aims to boost airport resilience and sustainability, passenger awareness and regulatory compliance often lag behind. Complementing this, Maritina presents her practice-based study on virtual reality (VR) creative tools, combining clay sculpting comparisons, video observations, and biometric sensors (including EEG brain activity and heart rate variability) to measure how artists achieve a “flow state” in immersive digital spaces.
Ep 2. Redefining Rights, Accountability, and Ownership with Marie-France Nguo & Mark O’Neil
Episode 2 brings together Marie-France Nguo and Mark O’Neill from the School of Law to examine questions of governance, rights, and historical accountability. Marie-France critiques current anthropocentric Congolese law through the African philosophy of Ubuntu, arguing for the legal subjecthood of nature so it can be granted intrinsic rights and legal representation as a stakeholder in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Meanwhile, Mark draws on extensive archival research to investigate the history of football club ownership, discovering that over 75% of early owners were local working- and middle-class community members – a sharp contrast to modern billionaire ownership that helps inform contemporary fan perspectives on club governance.
Exploring Research Culture and the PhD Journey
A key theme running through both episodes is the open discussion around research culture and the practical realities of completing a doctorate.
Contributors reflect openly on the value of interdisciplinary collaboration, supportive supervisory relationships, and the importance of personal resilience. In Episode 2, Marie-France Nguo shares a moving personal account of navigating profound personal grief following the loss of her brother and mother during her studies, underscoring the necessity for a research culture that supports the whole individual: “We’re people first at the end of the day.”
Coming Up in Series 5
The remaining six episodes of Series 5 continue weekly through to November covering:
Episodes are released weekly from 23 September to 11 November.
How we can support you
Doctoral Dialogues demonstrates how higher education institutions can use audio to highlight postgraduate research, build community, and communicate complex academic work to wider audiences.
Research Podcasts provides podcast production and training for university graduate schools, research centres, and individual academics. If you would like to discuss an upcoming project, please contact our team to arrange a consultation.
