The research student experience: Lessons from PRES

This report summarises the findings of the first three years of PRES (the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey) (2007 to 2009), which reveal a great deal about how postgraduate research students view their experiences.

Section 1 - outlines the nature and development of PRES, comments on the representativeness of PRES results and summarises the other surveys and sources with which the PRES results are compared.

Section 2 summarises the findings from PRES about the overall research student experience, about students’ motivations and career intentions, and about their confidence about completing on schedule.

Section 3 explores key dimensions of the student experience, characterised through a series of thematic scales and the individual themes and questions from which they are constructed.

Section 4 draws together the main findings about the research student experience.