The challenges, experiences and everyday stuff of PhD life
In one of my earlier posts, I discussed what it’s like giving a paper as a sufferer of anxiety. In that blog, I briefly talked about some of the tips my counsellor gave me at the time, and how I got through giving my first talk. I thought it might be helpful to expand more … Continue reading Top 5 tips for giving papers
Learning when to say ‘no’ is something of a fine art. It’s something that a lot of people struggle with in their daily lives in general, but I think the struggle is equally, if not more, applicable to PhD life. From personal experience, I know how hard it is to say no to both requests, … Continue reading Learning when to say no to yourself and others
In theory, a PhD is simple – research a topic, come up with some original ideas, and write about it. Easy, right? Nope… Academic work-wise, we all know that a PhD is never so simple. It’s not a straight line that you follow with no bumps in the road, it’s a winding path, a rollercoaster … Continue reading Self-funding my first year
This guest blog comes from Conner Milliken, a first year PhD student in Theatre Studies at the University of Glasgow, undertaking a PhD entitled 'Queer History-Making in Performance: Interrogating Scotland’s Narrative of Liberalisation'. Here, Conner reflects on participating in the Oral History Training workshop. “Oral history is a unique way of doing history, involving the reconstruction … Continue reading Oral Interview (?) with PhD Student Conner Milliken
For a long time, my self-care has been an afterthought, and it felt like things were just happening to me, rather than me making anything happen – like I was in the ocean with waves crashing over me, but I wasn’t swimming (I love a good simile). I’m not sure how or when even I … Continue reading Taking self-care seriously
Being a postgraduate tutor has been one of the best things I’ve ever done, hands down. I was so nervous when I was offered my first classes, teaching medieval literature (from Old English riddles to Chaucer and Henryson) to second year undergraduates. As is typical for me, I ended up spending a lot of time … Continue reading 4 things you should know about being a postgraduate tutor
This guest post comes from Dr Clare Edwards, who has recently completed her AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award PhD with Glasgow Life at the University of Glasgow. Clare's PhD investigated the emergence of cultural policy in Glasgow in the decades leading to European City of Culture in 1990, based on archival research and oral history interviews with key decision-makers. … Continue reading How to complete your PhD when you’ve got more difficult things to deal with – and how your PhD can help
With so much demand on PhD researchers to produce more and more academic achievements that they can list on their CV – conference papers, journal articles, public engagement, awards, creation of impact, funding attracted, classes taught, the list goes on and on – it’s easy for the other achievements to be pushed to one side, … Continue reading The personal skills you gain from a PhD
My entire life so far has been spent in education. In my last year of school, I applied to university, and went straight from school to my undergraduate degree in English Literature at the University of Manchester. In my final year of my Bachelor’s, I applied for a Master’s program in Mediaeval English at the … Continue reading The pros and cons of going straight through to PhD
This guest post comes from Grant Barclay, who is in the second year of a PhD in the field of criminal law at the University of Glasgow. His research examines the criminal law defences of necessity and coercion from a broader philosophical understanding of the guiding forces and their impact on persons forced to commit … Continue reading Down and Out in Toronto: the Importance of Recalibration
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