Painting our way through research, belonging, and London | The PhD Sketchbook
What does a PhD journey look like when you paint it rather than write it?
Louise and Tooba are two international doctoral students at the UCL Institute of Education, and in 2026 they are navigating the third year of their PhD programmes. Each month they will meet to sit down, talk, and paint. These sessions turn reflective conversations into visual stories, using art to bring their PhD experience to life on the page - their 'PhD Sketchbook'.
In this episode they explore the beginnings of their journeys: the “seeds” that motivated them to start a PhD, their paths to London, and the small moments that help an unfamiliar city slowly feel like home, all shared over canvas and colour.
You can see the artworks they created during this episode on the UCL IOE student blog, and on the IOE Instagram account.
