Broadening horizons: development of multi-site teamworking skills within interdisciplinary doctoral training

This paper has now been published as: Cramman, H., Eerola, P.-S., Elliot, Z., Shields, L., Robson, J., & Whitton, N. (2025). Development of multi-site teamworking skills in scientific interdisciplinary doctoral training: a case study. Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1108/SGPE-01-2025-0005Doctoral graduates are now expected to possess a range of teamworking and interdisciplinary collaboration skills beyond their disciplinary subject area, with many institutions providing additional training to facilitate such development. This study presents findings from a comprehensive exploration of an established, seven-month intensive, interdisciplinary doctoral training programme, investigating the degree to which training contributed to the development of teamworking skills and a multi-site working mentality for students. A concurrent mixed-methods design collected data across the programme with quantitative data analysed using Wilcoxon signed-rank testing and qualitative data analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Findings were interpreted within a Contribution Analysis framework. We found strong evidence that the programme contributed to students developing teamworking skills and in students seeing the potential benefits of multi-site working. We make recommendations relevant to an international audience for maximising opportunities for students to develop depth and breadth of skills and knowledge in intensive doctoral training programmes.