What is the SGSAH blog?

The SGSAH blog exists to share the full experiences – triumphs and trials – of postgraduate researchers in the arts and humanities. Whether you are a current PhD student at a Scottish higher education institution, an established academic, or an individual researcher, we are here to showcase your work and your stories about life in the arts and humanities. We usually publish a new blog every week.

The SGSAH blogger in residence rotates every six months. Jelena Sofronijevic is the current blogger. If you have an idea for a blog post, fully formed or just an inkling, please contact Jelena by email at Jelena.Sofronijevic@glasgow.ac.uk. 

What can I write about?

We want to share information and experiences about every side of postgraduate research in Scotland. We are open to any and all writing about the research journey, from dealing with imposter syndrome to nailing your first conference. We are particularly keen to hear from people whose path into research was a little more unusual – perhaps you’re a mature student returning to university, or doing a part time PhD.

Ideas for blogs include:

• My Research Story – if you have got as far as doing a PhD, you’re guaranteed to be bursting with enthusiasm for your subject area and your friends and family are guaranteed to have heard about it 100 times already. We haven’t, and we want to! Tell us about your research: why does it matter? How did you choose your topic? Why is time queer? How are folklore and politics linked? We want to know!

• My Research Life – we love to celebrate your wins, but the reality of PhD life can be monotonous, lonely, and challenging. Dealing with imposter syndrome or navigating pregnancy as a PhD researcher is just as important as being awarded a fellowship, and we want to hear about every aspect of life as a researcher. 

• A Practical Guide – we’re all pretty good at our specific methodologies, but the world of research means we need to learn how to do things we might never have thought of. From using AI to overcome writer’s block, to navigating the world of social media marketing, doing a PhD requires all kinds of skills. If you’ve learnt programming to improve your databases, gone viral with a social media skit, or cracked the code of how to nail a conference presentation, we would love to know.

• SGSAH Stories – SGSAH exists to support us as researchers, with events and funding on offer. We want to hear your SGSAH story, whether you’ve organised or attended a CDF event, been dazzled by the annual SGSAH showcase, or done an internship with one of SGSAH’s industry partners. 

If you have an idea for any of the themes above, or something else entirely, we would love to hear from you. Blogging is a great way to practise writing for a different audience, to process your own ideas and experiences, and to share your knowledge. It’s also another line to add to your CV, showing off your public engagement and knowledge exchange/impact work (if you’re focused on that sort of thing). 

How do I write a blog?

You can submit an idea for a blog or a fully drafted piece to Jelena at Jelena.Sofronijevic@glasgow.ac.uk.

Blog posts should be between 400 – 1,000 words and should include the following things:

• Suggested title 
• At least 2 images – either copyright free (e.g., from Wikimedia commons) or with full citations
• Author bio (100 words max)
• Links to your personal social media (e.g., Twitter, Instagram) and/or academic profile (e.g., ORCID, university profile)

Please submit blogs as an attachment to your email. Emma will work with you to fine-tune your blog and get it ready for publishing, and she will let you know when it goes live.

Top tips

Blogs should not be copy/pasted from your thesis draft! They should be engaging, hook the reader quickly, and they should get to the point. The best blogs either answer the reader’s question (e.g., how do I stay motivated?, how do I manage in a cost of living crisis?), or gives the reader something new to think about (e.g., living with gratitude)

Subheadings and bullet points can be useful for structuring your blog, but resist the temptation to overuse them. Think about how you would explain the topic to a friend, and start from there. 

Engaging doesn’t necessarily mean funny, so don’t worry about forcing humour. It’s more important to show off your interest and enthusiasm for the topic, as that is what the reader wants to see! Being honest about the difficulties of PhD life is more interesting than stuffing in jokes where they don’t fit.

Of course, these are just guidelines. Share what you’re comfortable sharing, write what you’re interested in writing, and enjoy the freedom of blogging. This is your post and this blog is your platform to engage with the arts and humanities research community across Scotland.

If you want more guidance on how to structure and write a blog, please email Jelena and she will be happy to help.