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What Participants Say About
Doctoral Research Topic Architecture Workshop | September 2026
Ben Peters
Director, City of Cape Town
“If I had taken this workshop in the first six months of my PhD, I would have had much more clarity much earlier.”
Even in the third year of his PhD, Ben found the workshop highly relevant, particularly its emphasis on narrowing the research topic and bringing greater structure to the research direction.
He valued the combination of theory with immediate application, exercises, and discussion. For Ben, being able to work with a concept directly after it was introduced made the learning more practical and easier to translate into his own doctoral research.
His reflection also highlights the value of structured guidance throughout the PhD journey, particularly as researchers continue to navigate topic development, publications, conferences, planning, and the broader research process.
Joshua Edlin
Enterprise Portfolio Governance Leader
“The timing was right for me. I was just starting out, and the workshop gave me direction to move forward with my research topic.”
Joshua attended the workshop at the very beginning of his doctoral journey, before formally enrolling in a PhD program and while still shaping his initial research topic.
The workshop provided a structured starting point for thinking through his research direction and gave him greater confidence about how to develop the idea further.
He also valued the practical exercises and the time provided to work through them, highlighting the importance of giving participants sufficient space to test, discuss, and develop their emerging research ideas.
Mark Cawood
Manager, Project & Program Management Unit, City of Cape Town
“The workshop helped me make my research topic clearer and challenged me to narrow it much more precisely.”
Mark joined the workshop after already spending time developing his doctoral topic and preparing a draft proposal. This allowed him to use the workshop to challenge, refine, and further position his research.
He particularly valued the emphasis on narrowing the topic, as well as the opportunity to discuss research ideas with other doctoral students and hear different critical perspectives.
For Mark, the workshop reinforced that refinement, realignment, and even redirection are normal parts of the doctoral journey. The structured process and peer discussion helped him think more clearly about how to shape and articulate his research topic.
Prof. Nelson Rosamilha
Professor in Project Management
“The workshop provides a structured methodology, practical tools, and a governance model for doctoral research.”
From an academic perspective, Prof. Nelson highlighted the difficulty researchers often face when defining the direction of a study, identifying constructs, setting research boundaries, and translating an initial idea into a coherent research project.
He valued the workshop’s combination of methodology, tools, and governance, describing it as a more disciplined way to plan research before moving into execution.
He also saw potential for the approach to improve the quality of doctoral studies more broadly and recognized its value for use with doctoral students beyond the workshop, including potential application in Brazil.
Steve Choo
PhD Student
“The workshop gave me a structured way to narrow my PhD topic and turn ideas about constructs and theory into something I could actually apply.”
Steve attended the workshop at an early stage of his PhD while selecting a research topic related to artificial intelligence. He found the structured topic-development process particularly useful in moving from broad thinking toward a more focused research direction.
The sections on constructs, theory development, and academic contribution helped him translate ideas he had already been considering into a clearer research structure.
He also highlighted the value of the workshop discussions, which provided insight into how scientific reviewers may approach research topics and what may be of interest to the wider academic community.
Join the Next Doctoral Research Topic Architecture Workshop
Build greater clarity and confidence in your research direction through structured frameworks, practical application, expert guidance, and peer discussion.
The next workshop is planned for Stellenbosch, South Africa, in 2027.