As the year draws to a close, I like to look back and remind myself of what's been given to me in terms of opportunities over the last 12 months. SGSAH has, without doubt, been hugely helpful, not only with funding and providing opportunities for me personally (like writing the blog), but also through the … Continue reading Makin’ Wee Waves
Category: PhD Experience
The challenges, experiences and everyday stuff of PhD life
Expectations vs Reality on the US Trip
This is the second part of our guest report from Kiefer Holland on his trip to the US. The title says it all! When thinking about how I could create a blog post that reflected upon a five-week research to the US the best form I could come up with was to do an “expectations … Continue reading Expectations vs Reality on the US Trip
PhDs get Personal
This week we look at a very important subject for our guest blog, written by Ewan Bowlby. Ewan is a doctoral student at the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts (ITIA) in St Andrews. He is researching ways of using popular artworks to design new forms of art therapy which provide emotional, psychological and … Continue reading PhDs get Personal
Day Off
I've been surrounded by archival material this week. It's the first time I've properly had "archive fatigue" and wow, is it real. It's now got to the stage where I close my eyes after leaving the archive at the Scottish Genealogical Society and all I see is a screen of gravestone inscriptions scrolling past. Freaky … Continue reading Day Off
Politics.
It’s all getting a little bit fraught in the UK at the minute. There’s a general election happening in three weeks. The media and government are at each other’s throats. Fake news abounds. There are strikers outside nearly every HEI in Scotland right now. And I’ve run out of milk. If you're doing a PhD, … Continue reading Politics.
PhDs with a Disability
This week's guest blog is on a subject I've wanted to see more of on the SGSAH blog. It's from Jessica Secmezsoy-Urquhart, a first year PhD student at the University of St. Andrews. They are autistic, chronically ill, have anxiety, ADD, OCD, etc. Their research focus is the role of neurodiverse and bodilydiverse disabled entertainers … Continue reading PhDs with a Disability
The Slump
I'm told that once you're through your first review, you might slump a little. You might struggle to get back into the swing of research after the decompression of the end of First Year. It might seem like you've climbed one mountain, only to be told that there's another peak a little further up. Then … Continue reading The Slump
Making a Change
We live in a time when people all over the world are actively making changes. People are planting trees, reforesting, irrigating deserts, eschewing combustion engines, boycotting single-use plastics, and even cleaning the oceans. And you can make changes too. Not always on a grand scale, but certainly on a local scale. And at your HEI … Continue reading Making a Change
Moving During the PhD
If you’ve ever had to move house, you already know what stress really is. It’s not an easy thing to do under any circumstance [especially if your WiFi wrecks your carefully planned blog queueing plans!-Ed.] but during a PhD it can be doubly stressful. This last couple of weeks has been a bit of a … Continue reading Moving During the PhD
Freedom Road
This incredible guest post comes from Janine Mitchell. Janine Mitchell is starting the second year of her PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Stirling. Her practice-led research examines the ways in which archival material is analysed, selected and implemented in the creation of biographical narratives, and how this process negotiates the shifting boundaries of … Continue reading Freedom Road
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