Arts, Design & Media postgraduate researcher community
The PGR Studio facilitates a critical mass of activity and information about postgraduate research student (PGR) provision at the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media (ADM), Birmingham City University.
The PGR Studio is a creative, collaborative and practice-based space of doctoral training excellence that resonates across all academic Schools and disciplines in ADM. A studio can be an artists’ studio, a design studio, a recording studio, a rehearsal studio or a writing studio.
The PGR Studio aims to enhance the Arts, Design & Media PGR community and experience by supporting PGRs throughout their doctoral journey, as well as routes into and out of PhD study. We seek to promote generative spaces of new thinking and the cross-fertilisation of ideas through innovative professional and career development. Our workshops, training, social events and other activities are all run in partnership with our PGRs for our PGRs.
The PGR Studio is made up of a staff and PGR team
The PGR Studio is made up of staff and PhD student team.
Our PGRs
Academics Anonymous: On Connectedness
“Everything is connected, even the parts we don’t like, especially the parts we don’t like.” ― Julian Barnes, A History of the World in 10½ Chapters. Starting a PhD in the midst of a pandemic has been slightly challenging. Can I lay the blame on my grandmother and my...
Viva 60-second interview: Dr Joanna Jarvis
Hi Joanna, congratulations on passing your viva! How does it feel?! It’s a huge relief and very pleasing What was your PhD title? Performance of the self in the theatre of the elite. The King’s Theatre, 1760-1789: The opera house as a political and social nexus...
My Brilliant Club story by Simeon Shtebunaev
My Brilliant Club Story PhD title: "Youth’s perceptions towards the planning of the future ‘smart city’ in Europe." Scholars Programme course title: ‘ Can you plan the Future ‘Smart City’? How long have you worked as a PhD Tutor with The Brilliant Club? I...
Workshops, training, events and support for and in partnership with our PGRs.
Inside//Out PhD Festival
Inside//Out is our mid-year festival of PhD research that takes place every January. ADM postgraduate researchers at all stages are invited to join the festival line-up and present/discuss/exhibit/perform their research ... all in 5 minutes! . The festival offers a...
Pastoral & Academic Support
Undertaking a PhD is an extremely rewarding experience, however there are inevitably times in the PhD journey that are challenging and affect both the student experience and wellbeing. These might relate to pastoral issues such as mental health, disability, financial...
PhD Mentoring
The ADM PhD Mentoring scheme facilitates interdisciplinary mentoring partnerships between PGRs at different stages of their doctoral journey and between current and completed PGRs with mutual concerns across Arts, Design & Media. It aims to ... Provide informal...
PGR Studio Conference
The PGR Studio's annual conference takes place every Summer and is an inclusive yet experimental space for our PGRs to present research in progress to peers. It also provides an opportunity for PGRs to be involved in different elements of the conference from...
Researcher Development Fund
The PGR Studio Researcher Development Fund enables Arts, Design & Media PhD students to apply for funding to organise and facilitate development initiatives. These initiatives could take the form of workshops, events, training or social activities. They should...
The Brilliant Club
The Brilliant Club is an award-winning charity that recruits, trains and pays doctoral and post-doctoral researchers to deliver programmes of university-style teaching to small tutorial groups of high-performing pupils in schools that serve disadvantaged communities....


Faculty of Arts, Design & Media Birmingham City University, The Parkside Building, 5 Cardigan Street, Birmingham, B4 7BD
Enhancing the PGR community and experience