Dean of Centre for Postgraduate Studies
Professor Vijay Kumar is an internationally recognised leader in doctoral education, with more than 45 years of academic experience across New Zealand, and Malaysia. He began his career as a primary school teacher, progressing to senior academic leadership roles, and is currently the Dean of the Centre for Postgraduate Studies. His work focuses on nurturing a vibrant postgraduate research culture and advancing excellence in supervision, researcher development, and doctoral education.
Prior to joining QIU, Professor Vijay held senior leadership positions at the University of Otago, New Zealand, where he was conferred the title of Honorary Professor of Doctoral Education in acknowledgement of his outstanding leadership, scholarly distinction, and transformative impact in the field. His expertise is internationally acknowledged, having received the Australian Council of Graduate Research (ACGR) Award for Excellence in Graduate Research Programs and Support in 2025—the first academic outside Australia to achieve this honour. He was also the first person outside the United Kingdom to be recognised by the UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) for excellence in doctoral supervision.
A founding member of the International Doctoral Education Research Network (IDERN), Professor Vijay has played a significant role in shaping doctoral education globally. His research expertise spans doctoral supervision, doctoral examination, feedback practices, and researcher/academic staff development, with a particular focus on international and cross-cultural perspectives. His work is widely referenced in leading books and journals on doctoral education. Notably, his book on doctoral supervision, commissioned by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, is a foundational reference across Malaysian universities.
Professor Vijay Kumar holds editorial board appointments with several of the world’s leading journals in higher education and doctoral studies. In these roles, he contributes to shaping scholarly discourse, mentoring early-career researchers, and setting the research agenda in the field.
Notably, he has led doctoral supervision development initiatives across more than 45 universities in 23 countries leading to significant enhancements in supervisory practices, researcher development, and influencing institutional policies on supervision quality worldwide.
His commitment to fostering high-quality evidence-based postgraduate environments drives his leadership at QIU, helping to develop globally connected, research-driven, and socially responsive graduates.
Books
Published
- Kumar, V., & Wald, N. (2024). Global Perspectives on Enhancing Co-supervision. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-0460-6
- Kumar, V., Taylor, S., & Sharmini, S. (2023). Exploring doctoral examination across the globe: Insights through international case studies. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003197706
Book Chapters
In Press
- Kumar, V., & Bakar, F. (2025). Supporting doctoral students with writing. In M. Polkinghorne, J. Taylor, & F. Knight (Eds.), Innovative approaches to doctoral supervision: Selected case studies. Edward Elgar Publishing. (In press)
- Kumar, V., Kaur, A., & Bakar, F. (2025). Preparing doctoral students for the oral examination. In M. Polkinghorne, J. Taylor, & F. Knight (Eds.), Innovative approaches to doctoral supervision: Selected case studies. Edward Elgar Publishing. (In press)
Journal Articles
Published
- Kumar, V., & Wald, N. (2023). Ambiguity and peripherality in doctoral co-supervision workload allocation. Higher Education Research & Development, 42(4), 860–873. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2022.2115984
- Timmermans, J. A., & Kumar, V. (2023). Learning from senior academics’ perspectives of success and failure. Studies in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2264864
- Kaur, A., Kumar, V., & Noman, M. (2023). The viability of doctoral thesis and oral exams in a student’s native language. Journal of Language, Identity & Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2023.22719768
- Baker, N., Kumar, V., & Timmermans, J. A. (2023). Enabling writing behaviours of successful professors. Innovations in Education and Teaching International. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2023.2199022
- Wald, N., Kumar, V., & Sanderson, L. J. (2023). Enhancing co-supervision practice by setting expectations in a structured discussion using a research-informed tool. Higher Education Research & Development, 42(3), 757–779. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2022.2082390
- Bakar, F., & Kumar, V. (2023). How students perceive the teacher’s use of humour and how it enhances learning in the classroom. The European Journal of Humour Research, 10(4), 187–199. http://dx.doi.org/10.7592/EJHR2022.10.4.656
In Press
- Kumar, V., & Stracke, E. (2025). Evaluating the implementation of a research-informed tool for dialogic feedback in doctoral supervision. Innovations in Education and Teaching International. (In press)
- Bakar, F., & Kumar, V. (2025). The socialisation process of L2 doctoral students developing capital and habitus in academic publishing during their candidature. Journal of Language, Identity and Education. (In press)
- Ramachandra, S. S., Aurora, S., & Kumar, V. (2025). Effective strategies for international PhD applications. Health Professions Education. (In press)
