Spoiler alert: No, this blog post will not encourage plagiarism.
Tag: Writing
Learning when to say no to yourself and others
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
Top 4 tips for surviving the first year of your 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
Top 5 tips for writing your PhD
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
What chess does to my PhD
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
My First #remoteretreat Experience
Writing is hard. Anyone that tells you otherwise is a dirty, dirty liar and you don't need that kind of negativity in your life. Or maybe I'm just super envious. I recently reopened my GoogleDrive to figure out where I left off on my PhD and other academic tasks before stepping away for health/life stuff, … Continue reading My First #remoteretreat Experience
When Enough Is Enough: Meeting goals and staying motivated in your PhD
I’ve often found myself in the library late at night, feeling unproductive and guilty about leaving. I often will have gotten a late start and done a fair bit of procrastinating. Even if I’ve gotten quite a bit done, it never feels quite like enough. It leaves me feeling like the day has been wasted … Continue reading When Enough Is Enough: Meeting goals and staying motivated in your PhD
Walking on Arran and Writing: The Struggle is Part of the Process
I finally took some of my own advice a few days ago and took a day-trip out to the Isle of Arran. It was going to be one the last nice days for some time according to the forecast and so I thought I’d hike the Goatfell. It was when I started struggling a bit … Continue reading Walking on Arran and Writing: The Struggle is Part of the Process
Writing and Public Engagement: Finding your voice
I wasn’t surprised when my writing came up in my annual review. My supervisor and I had identified my writing as an area that needed work. I was less nervous going into this year’s APR, but just before it began I was still going over my ‘proof’ that I had done my due-diligence in addressing … Continue reading Writing and Public Engagement: Finding your voice
Rethinking Bad Writing: Five ideas for improving your writing
I sat in my supervisor’s office, staring out the window lost in my own thoughts. The words, “we need to improve your writing. It really needs a lot of work” still replaying in my mind. Not because they stung, but because they rang true to me. My supervisor and I have a good relationship and … Continue reading Rethinking Bad Writing: Five ideas for improving your writing