PhDs take forever. Well, it seems that way. Data on completion times suggests 7 years is the average. Yet, (Australian) universities are pushing 3 years, perhaps with a 6 month extension. So, how do you stay focused? Or, more to the point, what are the kinds of things that distract you from making meaningful progress […]
In this audio, I cover off five different points of failure within PhD programs and how you might address them. Transcript In the work that I do, I’m often asked to help build PhD programs. As a result, I’ve done a fair bit of work research into published research or looking at the published research […]
One of the biggest problems in a PhD program is lack of students. More students means greater peer support. More students also means many events and activities are more cost effective (or less dollars per student). Transcript Quick tip. If you’re building a PhD program, don’t be scared of having a large number of students. […]
We need better PhD supervisors.1 Yes – students need to take control of their own destiny. Yes – students need to be more aware of their role in the research, and supervisory process. Yes – students should be self-informing about options beyond their PhD. But…
A mentor should be someone who can show you the way through things. They may not have THE answer, but they probably have AN answer. A bit like a Sherpa helps people up mountains. They cannot climb the mountain for you, but they can give you the best advice and support about how to climb.
A mentor should be someone who can show you the way through things. They may not have THE answer, but they probably have AN answer. A bit like a Sherpa helps people up mountains. They cannot climb the mountain for you, but they can give you the best advice and support about how to climb.
If tough conversations were easy, we’d all be having them, and they wouldn’t be called tough. They are tough for a reason. Or sometimes several reasons. Tough conversations could be almost any topic with almost anyone. But conversations with your supervisor or your entire supervision panel or maybe some collaborators can be particularly difficult. There […]
So, you’ve completed your PhD. What next? Do you stay in academia? Do you leave? If you stay do you work as a Post Doc with your supervisor? Or do you try to find another role in a different group, department, school, faculty, university or country?
Starting a PhD is a big decision. And there are lots of choices to make. What university? What topic? What group? Not to mention your supervisor. Then of course there are the practicalities of life such as work, where you live, and who you live with.
Universities and research are going through a tough time at the moment. Researchers/scientists are seen as less and less relevant – think climate change, vaccines, genetically modified crops, medicinal marijuana. Employment as an academic researcher has lost its shine. Degrees are being devalued. And graduates are wondering if it is all worth it.