PhD Day in Portogruaro: More Than Just Research

PPhD Day took place in Portogruaro as a training event for doctoral students, bringing together PhD candidates, lecturers, and researchers from the Universities of Padua and Trieste, alongside Prof. Howard from the University of Oxford and Prof. Giulia Messina Dahlberg from the University of Gothenburg. Through keynote lectures, group work, thematic roundtables, and open discussions, the event created an opportunity to reflect collectively on the practical and intellectual challenges of doctoral research.

The day opened with remarks from Prof. Juliana Raffaghelli, Prof. Paolo Sorzio, and Prof. Caterina Bembich, who welcomed participants and emphasised the importance of community within doctoral education. Prof. Raffaghelli highlighted the value of dialogue between students at different stages of their academic journey. The opening remarks also referred to the refurbishment of university spaces in Padua as an opportunity to rethink how academic environments are experienced and shared. Finally, the reference to Mortari’s idea that “we must take care of our being through the care of the mind” connected the discussion to broader themes of awareness, care, and responsibility in research.

One of the central moments of the day was the keynote lecture by Prof. Howard, dedicated to co-design in research. Drawing on projects developed throughout his academic career, he traced the path that led him to adopt a co-design approach, emphasising the value of knowledge constructed collaboratively with schools, communities, and stakeholders. His lecture showed how involving different actors in research can produce work that is more closely connected to the needs of educational and social contexts. Reflecting on transformations within international academic research, Prof. Howard also highlighted the growing importance of interdisciplinarity, methodological dialogue, and collaboration across institutions and cultures.
Participants were then divided into two groups: one for first-year PhD students and another for second- and third-year students. In the first group, discussions focused on defining research questions that were both theoretically solid and relevant to real educational contexts, highlighting the importance of stakeholder involvement and the value of unexpected or negative data. The second group reflected on the practical challenges of conducting research, including limited time and resources, supervisor feedback, and the need to adapt projects to emerging data. The discussion also highlighted the tension between the initial ambitions of a project and what can realistically be achieved during a PhD programme. In both groups, participants emphasised the importance of making research and data accessible to wider communities.

The day concluded with a roundtable chaired by Prof. Sorzio and involving Prof. Bembich, Prof. Raffaghelli, Prof. Trevisan, and Prof. Ius. The first question invited speakers to reflect on what they were taking away from the event. Their responses returned to themes already raised during the group discussions, particularly the tension between the goals of educational research and the constraints of institutional realities. The speakers also stressed the importance of keeping the “what,” “who,” and “why” of research aligned: what is being studied, for whom, and with what purpose. Another recurring idea was the need to “stay in the discomfort zone” when engaging with unfamiliar contexts, perspectives, and questions.
The second part of the roundtable focused on future methodological challenges. A key theme was the relationship between artificial intelligence and human creativity, described as “a dance between what we can draw from artificial intelligence and what remains human creativity.” The discussion explored how researchers can benefit from new tools without losing interpretation, imagination, and critical judgement. Participants also reflected on the risk of “epistemic flattening,” in which complex phenomena are reduced to overly simple explanations, and reaffirmed the importance of reliability, validity, credibility, and a solid “chain of evidence” in research. Finally, the discussion addressed positionality and the need for researchers to critically recognise the perspectives and filters through which knowledge is produced and interpreted.

Many participants described the day as not only a learning experience but also a moment of personal reflection on their own research journeys. The organisation of the event was made possible through the work of Giorgia Todeschin, Gabriela Bravo Vargas, Sarah Schmidt, and Annamaria Mattioni, with the support of Prof. Sorzio, Prof. Bembich, and the PhD programme coordinator, Prof. Raffaghelli.

Rather than providing definitive answers, PhD Day created a space for dialogue, critical reflection, and collaboration. Participants left with a stronger awareness that educational research is a collective and evolving process, shaped by shared experiences, questions, and different perspectives, emphasising the importance of an academic community that remains reflective, open, and engaged.

Written by Annamaria Mattioni