Earlier this month, TIRF hosted two, one-hour mentoring webinars led by its current Doctoral Dissertation Grant (DDG) Fellows. The sessions were designed for doctoral students looking for practical advice on navigating the TIRF DDG application process.

Across the webinars, TIRF’s DDG Fellows discussed topics such as refining research questions, managing data collection and analysis, working with supervisors, and staying organized and motivated during long research timelines. Panelists also shared personal reflections on challenges they faced during their doctoral studies and what they learned from those experiences.

Information about the two sessions follows below:

Morning Webinar Panel – Click Here for the Recording

• Beth Clark-Gareca, Associate Professor and Director of the TESOL K–12 Program, Binghamton University
• Jonathan Malone, Director, Maryland English Institute
• Inoussa Malgoubri, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Evening Webinar Panel – Click Here for the Recording

• Gavin O’Neil, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Business Administration, Hitotsubashi University
• Ying Zhang, Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics, Northern Arizona University
• Tabitha Kidwell, Faculty Member, TESOL Program, American University

Participants had opportunities to hear directly from Fellows working in different contexts and research areas, making the discussions relevant to a wide range of doctoral students. The series reinforced TIRF’s ongoing commitment to supporting emerging scholars and fostering mentoring within the research community.

TIRF’s 2026 DDG program is currently open. Proposals are due Wednesday, May 13^th. Click here to learn more about the DDG program.