Learning conditions during Covid-19 pandemics were introduced at all educational levels (García-Peñalvo & Corell, 2020). Since the pandemics started, universities reduced their activities and they had to be digitalized. It is reported to have prevented 2–4% of deaths due to COVID-19 (Viner et al., 2020). Also, digitalization supposed new challenges and opportunities for emerging researchers (Stokes et al., 2019).

Reviewing the previous literature (Gonzalez Vidal et al., 2020; Muyor Rodríguez et al., 2021; Riviera & Fiesta, 2021; Rodriguez et al., 2021 and Shankar et al., 2021) there were many studies about educational impact of Covid-10 on students. However, the consequences on doctoral students are not developed enough. 

Spain and Ireland are countries where the pandemics were lived in a different way. It could be interesting to know the differences between them. In general, they have studied techniques of learning such as online assessment, university student's network, or environment in teaching practices. Also, they studied the policies and challenges from Covid-19. In the end, the most studied was the impact of Covid-19 on social, physical and mental health.

Different measures were taken during the lockdown in the world. Many Ph D. Students suffered a change in their research planning. It means they had to cancel research stays or they could not finish or start their projects in labs or other specific spaces.

In the case of the educational area, we find emergent researchers that could not get data in educational centers, or they had to take care of their families or other kinds of responsibilities such as working. This situation during the pandemics is supposed to university authorities to manage special measures. They were reducing activities in person, increasing time for thesis defense, and publicizing services of mental health. 

This research belongs to another study which started in 2020 when the first consequences of COVID-19 were noticeable Given the success of this research and after testing the reliability of the questionnaire, it was decided to add questions and restructure the dimensions of the questionnaire in order to obtain more accurate results and to distribute it to a larger number of doctoral students at a Spanish university. In phase 1 we use the new version of ICED, -now entitled M-ICED-, which evaluated the impact of Covid-19 on aspects involved in research development and socio-affective well-being in adverse situations.

According to Johnson, Onwuegbuzie & Turner ( 2007),  “during the data analysis stage, qualitative data can play an important role by interpreting, clarifying, describing, and validating quantitative results, as well as through grounding and modifying” (p. 115). In that way, we decided to collect qualitative data through interviews with doctoral students of education. Fortunately, our team had the opportunity to distribute the M-ICED and conduct interviews in an Irish university, too.

Research Design A mixed methodology has been used in this study (Creswell & Sinley, 2017; Molina Azorin, 2016). In the first phase we have employed a descriptive and comparative methodology with quantitative data from the M-ICED questionnaire. In the second phase we developed a multisite case study approach using semi-structured interviews as the research method (Stake, 1995). Our objective is to explore the research topics in more depth, in order to give an interpretation of the questionnaire results and form more precise conclusions. Instrument The quantitative findings of our study cover many domains and indicate the wide ranging impact of COVID-19 on emerging researchers across 40 items Likert-type scale. Among the most notable are: - Resilient attitudes towards the development of the Doctoral research, - Academic & professional opportunities, - Social relationships, - Academic measures implemented by the Home Institution and external institutions, - Academic measures implemented by external institutions, and - Mental and physical health. The interview used to collect data from doctoral students from Spain and Ireland was constructed from the dimensions of the M-ICED questionnaire, which was designed on the basis of an extensive literature review. Sample The M-ICED instrument was distributed between a large group of students in a Spanish university but for this study we only selected educational doctoral students (n=32) to compare with the same profile in Ireland (n=21). The participants ranged in age from 23 to 70 years (Irish mean = 41.43; Spanish mean= 35.25). The respondents from Spain were 65.63% women and 34.38% men. In Ireland they were 71.43% women and 28.57% men. Most of the Irish students, 47,62% were in the initial phase of their doctoral studies, 28.57% in the intermediate and 23.81% in the final. The opposite was found for the Spanish sample, with 25% of students in the initial, 34.38% in the intermediate and 40.63% in the final phase. The criteria for selecting participants in phase 2 were that they were doctoral students in education, working on their thesis during the pandemic, and willing to participate in the online interview. Finally, we conducted interviews with six participants in Spain and three in Ireland. Data Analysis The quantitative data were analysed using SPSS v.25 statistical software. The statistical and comparative findings guided the analysis of the interview responses. The interview questions were organised around two main themes, from which conceptual labels emerged to do the cross-case analysis by direct interpretation (Stake, 1995).

The descriptive statistics provide quality information on what facilitated and obstructed the development of research work during the pandemic. In general, Spanish doctoral students gave lower scores than Irish doctoral students. Preliminary results of the comparative analysis show that the covid-19 pandemic affected Irish doctoral students to a lesser extent than Spanish doctoral students. Most of the items showing significant differences in the differential analysis are found in the dimension: conditions conducive to completing the thesis, such as the need to extend the expected period of completion of the thesis and the lack of collaboration from their thesis supervisors. The qualitative analysis helps us to understand the situation of doctoral students during the lockdown. Those who were in the initial phase of their Ph D. were less reluctant to adapt their thesis plan to the new situation, some even took it as an opportunity. In all the cases studied, the relationship with their cohort has been affected. Some lost the relationship that started before the doctorate and others did not create the link until they met in person. Other findings from our case studies, which agree with the results of Shankar et al. (2021), is that the online mode of doctoral student training has not been a good substitute for face-to-face training. The negative consequences on the socio-affective state of the students during this period of pandemic (Muyor Rodríguez et al., 2021) led many of the participants in our case study to consider dropping out of their research, but in the end they all found sufficient reason and motivation not to drop out. Although our study includes doctoral students in education from only two universities, our results give an overview of how covid-19 has affected this group, as most studies in this field do not include postgraduate students.

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