HUMAN DOCTORAL DEVELOPMENT
Put the human being back into doctoral education.
A doctorate is not only a thesis. It is supervision, progress, well-being, money, work, visas, culture, family and, eventually, completion. We help PhD and DBA researchers progress as whole human beings.
Led by Dr Saud Taj, who has supervised 800+ dissertations and 25+ doctoral researchers.
SITUATIONS WE RECOGNIZE
You're not the only one.
Your supervisor returned your chapter with 63 comments. You opened it once and haven't looked at it since.
Your visa limits you to 20 hours of work a week, your funding ends in March, and your family back home thinks you're nearly finished.
You run a department of 40 people by day, and at 11pm you're trying to explain your methodology to a supervisor half your age.
What we work on
Supervision and feedback 路 Writing and sustainable progress 路 Well-being and doctoral identity 路 Language, culture and unwritten norms 路 Life as an international researcher 路 Work, money and family 路 Viva, corrections and life after the doctorate
For DBA researchers
You are a senior professional becoming a researcher, turning workplace problems into research questions while carrying a demanding job and a family. That is a different doctorate, and it deserves support built for it.
WAYS IN
Start where you are.
FREE GUIDE
The 63 Comments
A 5-step guide to the supervisor feedback you've been avoiding.
Get the guideSELF-PACED COURSE 路 COMING SOON
Your Doctorate, Your Life
Make progress without burning out. Free for Human First Community members.
See membership1:1
PhD/DBA mentoring with Dr Saud Taj
For doctoral researchers who are stuck: feedback, supervision, progress, or the life around the doctorate.
InquireFREE 路 FROM MARCH 2027
Doctorate Together
Weekly virtual co-working with PhD and DBA researchers around the world. Live workshop: Your Doctorate, Your Life, Wednesday 31 March 2027.
CommunityFOR SUPERVISORS AND DOCTORAL SCHOOLS
Supervision is leadership.
Supervisors exercise power, set expectations, give difficult feedback and shape psychological safety. Our supervisor development work helps doctoral schools build stronger supervision cultures.
For Institutions