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
Every year of the PhD is hard. Year 2 is host to the dreaded ‘second year slump’, when you still have a long way to go, but the novelty and newness of doing your PhD is wearing off. Year 3 is full of the pressure of writing and editing, picking examiners and choosing when you … Continue reading Top 4 tips for surviving the first year of your PhD
This guest blog comes from Andrea Freund, an SGSAH-funded PhD student in her third year at the Institute for Northern Studies, UHI, in Orkney. Her project looks at questions of runic writing and identity and is a collaboration with Orkney Museum. You can read more about her research in her blog: orkneyrunes.wordpress.com. My PhD is funded … Continue reading Curating an exhibition as part of a PhD project – a steep learning curve
Shortly after I started my PhD, I was diagnosed with dyspraxia, or Developmental Co-ordination Disorder. It’s something I had wondered if I had for a while – I’d always been clumsy, and my handwriting so terrible that I was told by a teacher at school that I would fail my GCSEs if it didn’t improve. … Continue reading Learning difficulties and PhD life
Our next guest blog comes from María Fernanda Miño Puga, a PhD student at the University of St Andrews. Her research examines the intersection between film narratives, aesthetics and production practices in contemporary Ecuadorian Cinema, as they relate to film policy and industry measures. She currently serves as PGR Representative for the University of St Andrews Department … Continue reading Film and Beyond Interdisciplinary Retreat: Engaging film in research, academia and the professional job market
I recently read a comment about the stress of a PhD, which personally hit me to the core: “If you’re emotionally unstable or vulnerable, it’s not a good idea.” This was me, 3 years ago. Or in fact, 5, 8, or 10 years ago. I’ve lived with depression, anxiety, and OCD for a decade of … Continue reading Starting a PhD with existing mental health problems
Being almost 3 years into my PhD, I’ve written my fair share of academic writing. This also means that I’ve had a huge amount of feedback from my supervisor on my writing style. There are some mistakes that I’ve made (and continue making), which I wish I had got out of the habit of doing … Continue reading Top 5 tips for writing your PhD
Organisation is one of my favourite things. It’s sad but true. I love the feeling of creating order out of chaos, straightening out my world, and getting everything out of my head and onto a list on paper. But when you start a PhD, you have to up your organisation game. A lot. It’s so easy … Continue reading Staying organised during your PhD
When you’re hyper-focussed on working on your PhD, especially when you get towards deadlines and you’re furiously writing or editing, it’s easy for things to fall through the cracks, and for other areas of your life to start going awry. This always reminds me of Bridget Jones saying, ‘it's a truth universally acknowledged that the … Continue reading Having a life outside the PhD
When you start a PhD, you’ll often hear that your research should be treated like a 9 to 5 job. If you’re like me, this will probably cause you to panic and question what on earth you’re doing – don’t a lot of us start PhDs because we secretly didn’t want a 9-5 job?! I … Continue reading How many hours should you spend on the clock, and when should you spend them?
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