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This work reports on a conference held by SUNCETT(University of Sunderland Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training) held in May 2009. The event, which involved keynotes from Professor Michael Fielding and Professor Frank Coffield, explored notions of collaborative practice between colleagues in the post compulsory sector. In drawing on the experiences of the many practitioners who attended the conference, the paper concludes that a more sustainable sector is possible where trust is nurtured; time, space, and designated places are provided for practitioners’ development; where open and frequent dialogue between colleagues, and staff and learners is established; and where a greater sense of a combined vision and shared values is created.

There is an academic acceptance that doctoral studies are a complex, multifaceted endeavour bound with the differing, emerging and contrasting identities of the students who undertake them. This article explores such journeys in the context of one of the most disruptive events to hit the higher educational sector worldwide: COVID-19. The study utilises data collected via an online forum established to collectively explore the challenges, the opportunities and the tensions in the lives of 12 students enrolled in a doctoral degree in an Australian higher education institution. Results indicate that the journey of such students pre-COVID-19 was characterised by a sense of liminality, agency and journey. COVID-19 exacerbated such feelings. The conclusion points to a need to enhance spaces of agency in the graduate research experience to reflect the multidimensionality of students' lives.