The eternal student

Doing a PhD inevitably means staying in university longer and not being able to rinse off the student-status. This can at times feel a bit awkward when friends and people around us seem to be in completely different life stages. They might be getting a dog and a mortgage, while you’re trying to convince a prospective landlord that you are technically a professional even if you’re officially a student.  You’re neither fish nor fowl, navigating the grey area of work, bureaucracy, and life.

Why you should consider being an academic on TikTok

It’s not a secret that branding, marketing, and showcasing your research online can boost your academic career. You might have noticed that you will find most researchers and PhD students all over Twitter, where they can share their work, establish their relevance in the field, and grow their networks. Perhaps the one or other might even have their own research blog or podcast. Recently however, there has been a slow shift to TikTok as a platform to promote research.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”: Career anxiety and the PhD

| Vesna Curlic As the mid-point of my PhD creeps closer every day, I’m increasingly aware of the fact that I will soon enough have to make decisions about what to do after my doctorate. The prospect of life post-PhD weighs heavily on my mind, especially as I’m someone who went directly from undergrad into a … Continue reading “What do you want to be when you grow up?”: Career anxiety and the PhD

Tips for Responding to British CfPs as an International Scholar (and How to Organise a More Globally Inclusive Conference)

In this guest post, University of St Andrews PhD researcher Ann Gillian Chu offers advice on what academic conference organisers in Britain might be looking for in their Calls for Papers (CfPs). Similarly, she also explores how British conference organisers can strive to be more inclusive and understanding when opening CfPs to a global audience. … Continue reading Tips for Responding to British CfPs as an International Scholar (and How to Organise a More Globally Inclusive Conference)

Panning Out: Confronting White Complicity as a Researcher of Tibet

In this guest post, University of Glasgow PhD researcher Lucy McCormick discusses how her current research was affected by her time in Tibet and explores how white researchers of non-white communities can confront their own complicity. In 2013 I was living in a part of China with a large Tibetan population – unsurprising, since a … Continue reading Panning Out: Confronting White Complicity as a Researcher of Tibet