Skillsforge News

Connected Systems Are Not Necessarily Integrated Systems

Most universities rely on multiple applications to support postgraduate research management. Admissions, supervision, progression, researcher development and examination may each involve different systems. Modern integration technologies make it possible for... Read more

Your University May Be Unique. Its PGR Problems Aren’t.

Or why different doctoral regulations don't always require different software Universities are rightly proud of their individuality. Their doctoral regulations reflect academic traditions, institutional governance, disciplinary requirements and years of... Read more

When Scale Changes the Problem: rethinking PGR management in universities

Universities have not ignored the complexity of postgraduate research management. Quite the opposite. Many have invested substantial time, money and institutional knowledge in solving it. What is interesting is how... Read more

Buy, Borrow or Build? A key question in university technology decisions

When a university needs new technology capability, the options often appear straightforward. It can Buy a specialist product. It can Borrow capability from something already within the institutional technology estate.... Read more

The Swiss Army Knife Problem: when “it can do PGR” isn’t enough

Universities rarely set out to create a Swiss Army knife. It tends to happen gradually. A student record system acquires another workflow. A research information system gains a postgraduate module.... Read more

2,880 possibilities. How many should the user see?

Postgraduate research management is complicated. In our previous white paper, Why PGR Management Is Deceptively Difficult, we used a deliberately simple model to illustrate how quickly that complexity can multiply.... Read more

When Less Is More: What Mature PGR Software Learns to Leave Out

One of the strangest things about mature software is that it can look less sophisticated than immature software. Fewer fields. Fewer options. Fewer things to configure. Simpler dashboards. Fewer decisions... Read more

SkillsForge goes live at City St George’s, University of London  

SkillsForge is delighted to announce the successful go-live of its postgraduate researcher management platform at City St George’s, University of London. The implementation provides City St George’s with a dedicated... Read more

Why PGR Management Is Different

At first glance, postgraduate research management can look like a collection of relatively straightforward processes. Annual review. Progression. An interruption. An extension. A change of supervisor. Thesis submission. Examination. Taken... Read more

You don’t have to replace everything to improve the doctoral journey

Universities are under pressure to improve the postgraduate researcher experience while, at the same time, operating within increasingly constrained budgets. That can create an uncomfortable choice. If the systems supporting... Read more