Monarch Switzerland · Scholarly exchange
Doctoral Workshops
Bring your research into conversation.
Return to your studies with clearer direction.
Share work in progress, explore questions with faculty and fellow scholars, and identify the next steps in your independent doctoral journey.
Research · Dialogue · Community
Bring your research into conversation.
Monarch’s doctoral workshops bring candidates, faculty and alumni together to share ideas, strengthen research and build lasting connections. They give a personal, collaborative dimension to the distance-based doctoral journey.
A place to develop your thinking
Doctoral research takes time, focus and independent thought. It also benefits from conversation. The workshops create space to step away from everyday demands, present work in progress and consider new perspectives in a supportive academic setting.
Present your research
Discuss an early proposal, a conceptual framework or a developing dissertation chapter. Practise explaining your ideas and identifying the questions that matter most.
Learn through dialogue
Receive constructive feedback from faculty and peers. Test assumptions, clarify your arguments and reflect on the direction and methods of your research.
Build connections
Meet fellow researchers and engage with the people behind the Monarch community. Shared discussion and informal exchange help relationships grow beyond the workshop.
Supporting your research progression
Discuss your research. Develop your next step.
Workshops create space to make your thinking visible, test it through scholarly dialogue and return to independent research with a clearer sense of what to do next. The questions you bring will change as your research develops.
Shape your question
Early in your research, explaining your proposed inquiry can help you clarify its scope, identify assumptions and consider how your question connects with existing scholarship.
Examine your approach
As your study develops, discussion can help you consider the fit between your research question, methods and evidence, and identify issues to explore further with your supervisor.
Strengthen your argument
When findings emerge, presenting them offers an opportunity to examine alternative interpretations, explain your contribution and identify where the written argument needs greater clarity.
Workshops complement independent online study and ongoing supervision. Participation does not replace supervisory guidance, formal assessment or programme requirements, and does not in itself confer progression or approval.
Making participation purposeful
Prepare. Discuss. Carry the work forward.
Before the workshop
Choose a focused question or a piece of work in progress. Identify what you would value feedback on and prepare to explain both your thinking and the uncertainty you are working through.
During the workshop
Present your ideas, listen to questions and record alternative perspectives. Learning also comes from considering how fellow candidates approach their own research challenges.
After the workshop
Reflect on the feedback and distinguish what is useful from what needs further investigation. Identify practical next steps and discuss proposed changes with your supervisor.
Scholarly exchange in practice
Presenting, questioning and learning together.
These moments from previous workshops show research discussion, attentive listening and informal exchange. Each contributes a different dimension to the experience of independent doctoral study.
Independent research. A shared scholarly community.
Doctoral work is individual, but it need not feel disconnected. Workshops bring candidates, faculty and alumni into conversation across research interests and professional backgrounds. Informal exchanges can offer encouragement and relationships that continue beyond the event.
Here, the focus is on your research and its next steps. The wider Monarch community provides the continuing setting for friendship, professional connection and contribution throughout study and after graduation.
Who can take part?
- Current doctoral candidates developing their research.
- Newly admitted candidates preparing to begin their doctoral journey.
- Alumni wishing to reconnect and contribute their experience.
- Prospective candidates exploring doctoral study at Monarch.
Prospective candidates may attend as a standalone experience, with an opportunity to ask questions and consider the doctoral path without an obligation to enrol. Contact the Administration Office for participation arrangements.
A tradition of meeting, learning and exchange
Previous workshops have brought the community together in settings including Disentis, Rapperswil and Malta. Each gathering offers a different setting for the same shared purpose: thoughtful research, constructive dialogue and connection.
Next announced workshop
Morschach, Switzerland
5–7 October 2026 · Antoniushaus, above Lake Lucerne
Join the Monarch community for research presentations, faculty feedback and scholarly exchange in the Swiss Alps. Capacity is limited; the Administration Office can provide registration and participation details.