meet Catherine

When Catherine began her MPhil at Cambridge, she expected it to be intense, but she wasn’t prepared for how lonely it would be.

She was one of only two students in her Masters programme (and the only female Postgraduate student in her Faculty!), conducting independent research, and living alone, on a shoe-string budget, in a city she barely knew. Outside of monthly supervisions, days would go by in the library without speaking to anyone. The academic isolation, combined with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, made it almost impossible to thrive academically or personally.

Later on, while teaching full time and exploring the idea of a PhD, Catherine found herself facing new struggles: she couldn’t find advice on part-time research, didn’t know how to make her research proposal stand out in a competitive funding landscape and there was no community to help her feel like she belonged. And worst of all? Every PhD student she asked to mentor her reminded her that doing a PhD would be “the loneliest 4 years” she would ever know.

She almost didn’t apply. But instead of giving up, Catherine started asking why postgraduate study feels so isolating, and why we accept it.

the problem

Postgraduate research culture is broken. Application processes still privilege those with financial security and academic connections. Teaching positions, postgraduate funding and post-PhD career opportunities are minimal and insecure, fuelling competition between students, rather than building community. And, despite the fact that peer support networks increasingly seem to be recognised as integral to undergraduate academic progression and development, postgraduate students are left to navigate complex systems alone, expected to produce leading research with no training, no mentoring and no community. To top it all off? Our friends are rising career ladders, getting married and buying homes. Is it any wonder we feel alone and behind?

Postgraduate study has become lonely by design. And the isolation is being shrugged-off by our academic institutions. Pushing through is heralded as some kind of rite of passage for a “worthy” academic scholar. Now we’re losing students showing world-leading research potential. It’s not because we can’t do the work. It’s because the system isn’t built to support us to thrive.

the solution

Catherine decided to set up The Lonely Postgrad Club to change that culture. This is a space for Postgraduate Students to connect with each other, socialise, and support each other. It also provides a forum for to share advice and to share resources. It’s a club for anyone who’s ever thought:

Is it just me?

Where do I find people who get it?

I’m not sure I can do this.

I don’t belong.

Why bother?

You’re not alone. We’re here, and we’re building the kind of research culture we all deserve: collaborative, kind and inclusive.