I can’t believe my time as SGSAH blogger has come to an end! Tomorrow I’m passing the torch into the capable hands of Jimmy Johnson, and I’m really excited to see where he goes with the blog! I’ve spent a lot of time reading posts written by my predecessors, and it’s incredible how diverse a … Continue reading Reflecting on blogging
As I come towards the end of my time blogging (I can’t believe I’m almost finished – the time has flown!), I’m also nearing the end of my PhD, which I’m hoping to finish at the end of this year. Coming to the end of my doctoral study is …. I’m struggling for words. It’s … Continue reading Coming towards the end of the PhD
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
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?
I’m in the slightly unique position of having lived in catered university halls throughout my entire academic career, from the very beginning of my BA to the (almost) end of my PhD. Since I’ve now got 7 (seriously, 7?! I just did a double-take) years of experience of halls, from both an undergrad and postgrad … Continue reading Should you live in halls during your PhD?
I don’t know if it’s just my intense perfectionism, but I have a real fear of finishing things, signing off, and saying I’m done. I’ve always been terrible at doing so, handing in essays right on the deadline during my undergrad. Once or twice, I even edited an essay within an inch of its life … Continue reading Perfectionism and the PhD: the dread of completion
Today, sadly, is my final day as the SGSAH blogger. It has been an absolutely rollercoaster past 6 months, but I wouldn't have picked a better time to have the blogging role in my life as I now have a paper trail of my progress over that time, as well as the proof I can … Continue reading Final thoughts on blogging
This guest post comes to us from Andrea Freund, a PhD student at at the Institute for Northern Studies, UHI, in Kirkwall, in the third year of an Applied Research Collaborative Studentship. In partnership with Orkney Museum, Andrea is investigating the Orcadian corpus of runic inscriptions as sources for Norse diaspora identities. You can learn more … Continue reading What chess does to my PhD
I never really set out to study place-names when I began my Uni career, and I certainly didn't see myself, as an American outsider, writing up a PhD on Scottish place-names in New Zealand. When I received my bachelors in Anthropology, I had a fairly clear idea of where I wanted to go with it- … Continue reading Why I study place-names
At the beginning of the month, my 60-day suspension of studies ended. There were a number of factors leading to my decision to take a break, and ultimately while I was nervous to truly step away from my PhD for any period of time, it was exactly what I needed...but there are some words of … Continue reading Taking a Break
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