PGR Voice survey 2025
28 Apr 2025
A chance for our Postgraduate Researchers to tell us about their experiences, so we can make improvements wherever needed – encourage them to get involved from Monday, 12 May
The University’s PGR Voice Survey goes live on Monday, 12 May.
Part of Your Voice Matters, a new approach to listening to staff and students, the survey gives all our PGRs the opportunity to share their feedback on their time at Manchester.
This insight could help us make improvements wherever required – but for that, we will need as many responses as possible so please encourage your PGRs or any that you work with to fill it in.
Students respond best to encouragement from staff they know and trust. Whether you teach, advise, or support students, your engagement is critical to achieving a high response rate.
So, please remind them to take part and tell them that their feedback is vital - it shapes improvements to assessment and feedback, academic support and learning resources.
Director of MDC, Elly Cartwright said: “I encourage all colleagues to actively support this important initiative by promoting the survey to our postgraduate researchers. It offers a vital opportunity for PGRs to reflect on their experience and have their voices heard. The feedback gathered will directly influence how we shape policies, support services, and the overall research environment at the University.
“Your encouragement can make a real difference to participation, and in turn, to ensuring the postgraduate research experience continues to improve for all”.
About the survey
Open until Friday, 20 June, the survey will take about 15 minutes to complete and has been developed and in collaboration with the University of Sheffield.
The questions have been developed using feedback from focus groups across the Universities’ academic, professional services and PGR communities and cover areas such as the research culture and community, supervision, resources, training and development and the overall PGR experience.
As a thank you for their time PGRs will be entered into prize draws for:
- 6 x £500 conference attendance packages
(Covering fees, travel, and accommodation for conferences in 2025/26)
- 18 x £100 vouchers
(Your choice of Love2Shop, Uber, or Deliveroo)
- Charity donation
For every survey completed, the University will donate £1, split between:
- Manchester Central Foodbank – Providing emergency food and support to people in crisis.
- Barnabus – Supporting people experiencing homelessness with practical help and long-term solutions.
- Ladybarn Community Hub – Offering social groups and services to bring people together and tackle isolation.
How staff can help
All eligible PGRs will be emailed a link to the survey and will also be able to complete by logging into My Manchester from Monday, 12 May. If you supervise, work with or support PGRs, please encourage them to complete their survey. It’s important they understand that, as an institution, we are committed to continuously improving the experience of our PGRs, and one of the best ways we can do this is by listening and acting on feedback.
A range of digital promotional assets have been produced. If you think you or your colleagues could use these to help promote the survey, please contact:
Further information
Further information about the survey and how results will be used can be found on the PGR Voice website or email pgrvoice@manchester.ac.uk
Your Voice Matters - as part of the ongoing development of our Manchester 2035 strategy, we have introduced a new approach to colleague and student feedback with the launch of ‘Your Voice Matters’.
This continuous listening approach marks a move away from large surveys conducted every few years and includes pulse surveys, townhalls and open meetings as well as the annual Colleague Engagement Survey and Student Experience Surveys.