The original Brain Research Group

PhD Pioneers: The Lived Experiences of the Open University’s First PhD Graduates

This exhibition features the stories and experiences of twelve of the OU’s first PhD graduates from 1973-79. It focuses on their video interviews which took place between April and June 2021 during the world-wide Covid pandemic. From as far afield as the USA and Canada, and including the very first OU PhD graduate, these pioneering students relate what it was like to study at the OU in its infancy in the 1970s. We learn about their early lives and what they have gone on to achieve since gaining their PhD. With excerpts of their 2021 interviews mixed with photos and TV footage from the 1970s, this exhibition illustrates the often exciting, ground-breaking activities, and sometimes emotional reflections, of this outstanding group of OU PhD alumni.