The relevance of the study is driven by a decline in the effectiveness of training highly qualified researchers: the gap between the number of doctoral candidates and the proportion of successful dissertation defenses exceeds 80 percentage points, posing a threat to the reproduction of the research workforce in Russia. The aim of the article is to provide a theoretical justification and to develop an institutional model for supporting researchers at the doctoral stage, aimed at increasing the rate of successful dissertation defenses. The research methodology includes a systematic review of academic literature (87 sources, including publications indexed in Scopus and Web of Science), a comparative analysis of international PhD training practices in Germany, New Zealand, and the United States, as well as a secondary analysis of empirical data from Russian universities on doctoral training. The findings identify three groups of factors hindering successful dissertation defenses: organizational and pedagogical factors (the absence of a formalized support system and excessive workload of research supervisors); socio-psychological factors (professional burnout and social isolation of researchers); and infrastructural factors (limited access to material, technical, and information resources, equipment, and expert communities). Based on the analysis of best practices, the study proposes an original three-level model for supporting doctoral researchers, including an academic track (research supervision committees), an administrative and service track (specialized support units), and an infrastructure and resource track (targeted funding and provision of access to material, technical, and information resources). It is argued that improving support mechanisms requires the institutionalization of support services, the implementation of regular monitoring of doctoral researchers’ progress, and the development of horizontal communication networks among doctoral researchers. The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that the proposed model can be implemented in Russian universities and research institutes to increase the share of successful dissertation defenses to 35–40% by 2030.
doctoral training; doctoral researcher; research supervisor; researcher support model; dissertation councils; international practices of researcher training.