The FINANCIAL — A new PhD Academy opened at LSE today provides doctoral students with a specially designed space that includes a common room, a teaching room and central services all in one location for the first time in the School’s 120-year history.
The PhD Academy, situated on the fourth floor of the Lionel Robbins Building, is designed by award-winning firm Architecture PLB to support the world-class supervision offered by the School’s academics, and places doctoral candidates at the heart of LSE’s research culture.
PhD Academy Director Professor Linda Mulcahy said the bespoke space will be a central point for professional development and advanced methodology training, career sessions and other events delivered by LSE experts.
“The PhD Academy aspires to be among the best international graduate schools. For the first time, PhD students will have access to the School’s central services in one place, equipping them with a range of advanced skills they can use within academia and beyond.”
The physical space is also complemented by a new website which is a central hub for the School’s doctoral candidates looking for information from one source.
LSE has around 900 PhD students enrolled at any one time, representing approximately 10 per cent of the School’s student body. Their research is showcased via LSE Theses Online and at other events including the School’s annual Research Festival.
Prior to 2007, LSE awarded its postgraduate degrees through the University of London but for the past eight years PhD students have been conferred their degrees by LSE.
Among its most well-known PhD graduates include philanthropist and business magnate George Soros; Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos; Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Anne Applebaum and writer David Levering Lewis; Labour politician Yvette Cooper; French economist Thomas Piketty; Nobel Prize-winning economists Christopher Pissarides and Sir Arthur Lewis; former Conservative Party MP Edwina Currie; broadcasters Heather Rabbatts and Kirsty Lang; and barrister Lord Grabiner QC.
Students will start using the PhD Academy from today, with teaching classes, a careers session, methodology drop-in surgery and a professional development workshop all scheduled in the next fortnight.
A formal launch of the PhD Academy will also be held on Tuesday 27 October.
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