Postgraduate skills and research week 2026 highlights

This year’s postgraduate skills and research week took place online from Monday 9 to Thursday 12 March 2026.

Our annual postgraduate skills and research week provides the opportunity for staff, students and the public to explore cutting-edge research with our multidisciplinary community, and to develop key practical skills.

Research Lead Dr Louise Grant was delighted by the wide interest the four day free online event held in March 2026 attracted, with around 370 individuals joining us from 70+ countries. Louise shared “It was inspiring to see so many of our students and alumni share their innovative research. There were amazing discussions led by our faculty exploring grounded theory, scenic understanding, ontology and epistemology, the free association narrative interview method and ethnographic methods of participant observation. It was also a highlight to hear from Dr Guilaine Kinouani (Director at Race Reflections) speak on ‘research as decolonial work: Afroanalytics as methodology’, I’m already looking forward to next year!” 

Wednesday featured our research conference and we heard from several students and alumni about their research, creating space for though-provoking discussions. Research topics included:

• Akansha Arora: Making sense of change from the middle: lived experience in postcolonial organisational contexts
• Amandeep Hothi: The role-in-the-mind: A psycho-social exploration of the experiences, challenges, and pressures South Asian women leaders face, in the context of leading inclusion and diversity organisational change
• Antonia Ogundayisi: Anti-racist practice, leadership and research
• Dr Charae Allen-Delpratt: What counts as knowledge? Epistemology, power and anti-racist research in Educational Psychology
• Jenni Guthrie: Building epistemic justice through method: Neuroinclusive focus groups
• Jenny Price: ‘It just feels unnatural being here’: autistic secondary students’ sensory experiences
• Dr Maddie Tait: Vulnerability and power: autoethnography as a practice-near research method
• Mariam Kelekun: To dream, to play or to become psychotic. How racism may have a contribution (with intro by Will Parkinson)
• Shaista Afzal: Entanglement’s risks and rewards: exploring the experiences of women social workers who are mothers
• Tassaree-Jaja Wilson: When research makes a difference: Educational Psychologists’ experiences of racial equity work

Participants also had opportunity to develop various foundational skills in sessions led by our professional services team including conducting a literature search, critical appraisal skills, using artificial intelligence in education and research, assistive technologies for studying, navigating the hidden curriculum in UK Higher Education, writing with integrity, and understanding academic conduct processes.

Rebecca Bouckley, Student Support and Engagement Manager, said “Creating an exceptional educational environment tailored to student needs is key for us at the Tavistock, and providing these skills development sessions is part of that offer. We were really pleased to invite interested members of the public to join us and thoroughly enjoyed the insightful discussions.”

Throughout the week our faculty shared their practical research expertise to support participants with planning and writing their thesis, preparing for viva, writing ethics applications and research proposals, and doing qualitative research with children and young people. We ended the week with a well-attended mini online writing retreat which helped those wanting to publish, or were writing essays and dissertations, to get motivated and leave with some words on the page.

We are exceptionally proud and grateful for all the expertise held by our course and professional service teams, students, and alumni, and extend thanks to the speakers who shared their research and skills with us. It was great to see so many members of the public interested in our work, seeing participants from health, therapeutic, and academic professions from across the globe.

We hope to see you all again next year.