International PhD Seminar in Education | Knowledge Cultures, International Student Mobility, and Doctoral Uncertainty

Ekaterina Minaeva presented her PhD proposal, "Making Sense of Fragmented Knowledge Cultures in the University Space: An International Student Mobility Lens." The study examines how international students cultivate cross-epistemic orientations through extended learning in university space and argues that internationalisation in higher education has largely remained instrumental rather than epistemic.
Building on research on international student mobility and university culture as a culture of knowing, the project introduces the concept of a metacognitive stance — an ethically oriented epistemic orientation grounded in reflexivity, historicity, and epistemic plurality. The theoretical framework draws on transdisciplinarity, ecological theory, and systems theory to conceptualise engagement with epistemic tensions across multiple knowledge traditions.
Empirically, the study adopts a qualitative research design combining cultural-historical activity theory and Lefebvre’s theory of space. Based on semi-structured interviews with international PhD students across STEM and humanities disciplines and the use of mental sketch maps, the research explores how students experience and appropriate university space in everyday academic practices. The project aims to reposition international students as co-constructors of knowledge and to inform the design of learning environments and support practices in higher education.

Nikita Smirnov presented his doctoral research, "Uncertainty, Opacity, and the Educational Experience of Russian Doctoral Students in Conditions of Liminality." Drawing on the concept of liminality, the study conceptualises doctoral education as an intermediate stage between student and researcher identities characterised by ambiguity and instability.
The research analyses several sources of uncertainty in Russian doctoral education, including informational opacity at entry, expectation - reality mismatch, supervisory practices, and career ambiguity. Using quantitative content analysis of doctoral-programme websites and survey data from approximately 1,200 doctoral students, the study identifies groups of students experiencing excessive workload, stress, or insufficient peer support. Additional analysis of paired survey data highlights disciplinary, gender, and experience-based differences in perceptions of supervision and informal practices.
The study argues that uncertainty in doctoral education is structurally embedded in institutional frameworks marked by short programme duration, high formal requirements, and significant institutional autonomy. In conclusion, the author emphasises the need for greater transparency and targeted institutional support for doctoral students

Commentary was provided by Dr. Fei Guo (Tsinghua University), Evgeniy Terentev (HSE University). The discussants highlighted the strong theoretical grounding of both studies and discussed their implications for understanding university knowledge cultures, international student development, and institutional approaches to doctoral education.