The challenges, experiences and everyday stuff of PhD life
For the 2021 SGSAH Summer School, I attended the Academic IP workshop, run by Amy Thomas. Though I have a basic understanding of copyright law, I didn’t know how it pertained to my work as a PhD. Throughout the workshop, I realised this is something every PhD should be familiar with, so I thought I’d … Continue reading Understanding Your Academic IP and Copyright
In this guest post, University of St Andrews PhD researcher Kate Mackenzie discusses the upcoming UK Supreme Court decision on the Scottish Government's Rights of the Child Bill and explains how child laws in Central Africa could set a precedent. It is perhaps a feature of the life of a PhD researcher that, even when … Continue reading Interpreting the Rights of the Child: Look South (a lot further than Westminster)
On 4th and 16th March 2021, Alastair Mackie and Amandine le Maire were involved in a Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities’ workshop for PhD students in arts and humanities disciplines on ethnographic research methods, organised by the University of Aberdeen and Heriot-Watt University. During the two online sessions, they introduced research methods that … Continue reading Workshopping Ethnographic Research Methods: A SGSAH Report
In this guest post, University of Glasgow PhD researcher Shelby Judge discusses her experiences with redrafting her thesis chapters and offers some advice on how to make the most of a redraft. You can read more about Shelby in her '5 Minutes With' interview. In a fit of grandiosity, I have labelled my current stage … Continue reading In Defense of Nice Stationary: Tips for Redrafting Your Thesis
This guest post is part of our continuous GTA series, where current and former graduate teaching assistants across Scottish HEIs discuss their experiences, thoughts and/or concerns about GTA practice. Here, University of Glasgow PhD researcher Kevin Leomo discusses his experiences with decolonising curriculums as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and explains how we can all make … Continue reading Decolonising the Curriculum: A GTA’s Perspective
A few weeks ago I came across a post on Twitter asking people how many jobs they’d had since they first started working. It got me thinking. I’m currently twenty-six years old and I got my first job when I was fifteen. After doing the maths, I realised that in the eleven years since, I’ve … Continue reading Financing a PhD: The Realities of Being a Self-Funded International Student
In this guest post, University of Strathclyde PhD researcher Andrew Porter discusses his experiences as a part-time, self-funded researcher who has yet to step foot on his campus, and offers advice on how we can all persevere through our PhDs. When I began studying my PhD in October, I knew that it was going to … Continue reading Searching for Normal: Navigating Unconventional PhD Journeys
This guest post is part of our continuous GTA series, where current and former graduate teaching assistants across Scottish HEIs discuss their experiences, thoughts and/or concerns about GTA practice. Here, University of Stirling PhD researcher Lorna Wallace (who recently submitted her thesis!) looks back at her time as a GTA in English literature and offers … Continue reading Notes from a Previously Nervous GTA
In this guest post, University of Edinburgh PhD researcher Vesna Curlic explains the importance of internationalisation in our research and practice, and gives advice on how to apply a global mindset to our work. What does it mean to be an international researcher? This, like most questions that academics deal with, is a question that … Continue reading How to Be an International Scholar (Even While Staying Home)
In the three years I’ve been working on my PhD, I’ve come to realise that there’s nothing quite as terrifying and exciting as starting a new chapter. When I finally get to set aside the document I’ve been working on for months to start something new and fresh, I’m usually met first with a sense … Continue reading Tackling the Beast: Advice for Starting New Thesis Chapters
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