About the Thesis Whisperer

The Thesis Whisperer is a  blog newspaper dedicated to the topic of doing a thesis and is edited by Associate Professor Inger Mewburn, director of research training at the Australian National University.

Read about how to support our work.

Would you like to write for the Whisperer? Here’s our editorial guidelines

  • We want to be concise. PhD students have to do a lot of reading so no posts will be longer than 1000 words
  • We want to learn from people’s stories about doing a research degree, but we don’t need to hear about your topic. There’s enough journals out there for that.
  • We are not a ‘how to’ guide to doing a thesis, but we are happy to dish out practical tips and techniques that work for us.
  • We don’t want to just talk about writing – successfully finishing a dissertation is about more than that. But we don’t want to be sued, so we are going to always keep it nice.
  • We want to stimulate conversations, so our posts will always be opinionated (hopefully without being obnoxious).
  • We want to hear your voice. Doing a thesis can take the fun out of anyone’s writing. This is a place you can relax because there is no examiner watching.

If you write for us, we can’t pay you, but we promise to never rip off your work and present it as our own. If you want to write for us it is because you have an urge to share your experience and help others so it may travel further than you think (note the licensing arrangements below).

Interested? Email inger.mewburn@anu.edu.au, preferably with a sample piece of less than 1000 words. Please note: we only accept posts from people who have had the experience of doing a PhD, or working in a professional capacity with research students. We do not accept posts from professional blog content providers.

Want to know more?

If you want to suggest a post topic, or ask a question of the Thesis Whisperer, please fill in the contact form below.

Please note: I only accept posts from people who have had experience of PhD study and those who support them.

I don’t accept posts from professional ‘blog content providers’. Be advised that I delete most of the mails trying to sell me stuff without reading them. Unfortunately I cannot offer individual assistance on your project or your supervision woes (sorry!). However, if you are struggling with a specific issue that you think other students would also like to read about, please feel free to get in touch. I do supervise a small number of PhD and Masters students. I am interested in working with people who want to research graduate student employability and machine learning (please read the ANU prospective student page before contacting me about study options).

Want to use our material?

You are free to reproduce any posts from the Whisperer through the Creative Commons “Attribution-non commercial-sharealike” license. Most of the photos on this site are copyright free and sourced from Morguefile.

Who is the Thesis Whisperer?

My name is Dr Inger Mewburn. I am a researcher, specialising in research education since 2006. I am currently the Director of Research Training at The Australian National University where I do research development activities with PhD students and do research on student experience to inform practice.

Aside from editing and contributing to the Thesis Whisperer, I write scholarly papers, books and book chapters about research student experiences, with a special interest in the digital practices of academics. I am a regular guest speaker at other universities and do media interviews on request.

For further information, my resume is below. You can view my Linkedin profile, my Amazon author page, or contact me by email via the online form above. For more details on my scholarly work please visit my Google Scholar page or my OrcidID. I often visit other universities and do workshops on publishing, writing, social media and presentation skills: if you are interested, see my workshops and training page.

Summary

I have a background as a designer and a researcher. For the last twelve years, I have worked with PhD students and early career researchers to develop their professional skills. I like to make things using a range of media and methods. My output ranges through training programs, events, online learning, apps, journal papers, reports, blog posts, journalism and books.

Director of research training, The Australian National University (2013 –

At ANU I manage the research training team, running events and programs for all research candidates, including the biggest 3 Minute Thesis final in the world. I consult with colleagues on projects related to policy and program development, including online education. My current research concerns the application of machine learning and big data techniques to understand researcher employability and economic prosperity.

Research Fellow, Graduate School of Research, RMIT University (2006 – 2013)

I ran the multidisciplinary events program for research students and undertook research projects aimed at improving quality in doctoral education at RMIT, which was still trying to formalise its processes and procedures around graduate education. During the formation of the School of Graduate Research I did a series of research projects aimed at better understanding the value chain and pain points of the research candidate experience, including induction, progress reporting and online education.

Freelance Educator, Melbourne University, Monash University, Swinburne University and RMIT University (2001 – 2006)

As is common these days, I spent five years being a sessional lecturer while raising a small child. During what I call ‘the wilderness years’, I always had as much work as I wanted because of the broad range of subjects I could teach and my excellent teaching evaluations. I worked in multiple institutions teaching a huge range of topics, from architectural history to computer games programming. I learned the value of networking, stake holder engagement and ruthlessly efficient time management – all while suffering through sleep deprivation and head-colds brought home from the day care centre (#goodtimes). After I completed my first post graduate degree I took up a permanent, part-time position while I worked on my PhD.

VET sector lecturer, RMIT University (1999 – 2001)

My first, full time teaching gig was teaching computer graphics, design and construction technology in the building design and drafting course. I assisted in the first roll out of Wi-Fi, smart boards and laptops and had my first experience of developing online teaching materials. VET was implementing quality assurance processes, so I was given appropriate teacher training for the first time, which greatly improved my practice. After becoming a parent, I decided to work part time and left this role to take casual work in the Higher Education section of the university and work on my post graduate degrees.

Architectural practice, Styant-Browne Architects, Hooker Handasyde, Ashton Raggatt McDougall, Lyons, MIRVAC (1991 – 1999)

As a student and then graduate architect, I worked in a series of high end design firms in Melbourne. In the 1990s, my 3D computer animation and rendering skills were cutting edge and extremely rare. I held multiple positions over a short time because there was a lot of competition for my services. My advanced technical skills and ability to communicate with a wide range of people enabled me to be an effective ‘bridge’ between design teams, clients and marketing departments. Translating ideas to concrete visualisation that work requires a high level of autonomy, diplomacy, and attention to detail. Architecture is a high pressure, low margins business. During my time in practice I learned how to work in large, multi-disciplinary teams (in a male dominated environment) on high stakes projects, to tight deadlines. At the same time, I worked nights teaching undergraduates my suite of in-demand skills. Eventually I realised I enjoyed the teaching more than the architecture, so I left to pursue a career in academia.

Retail and service industry work (1984 – 1991)

I worked as soon as I was old enough to apply for a job. I got a great start and training as a Coles “checkout chick”. After the supermarket, I worked as a fish and chip shop cashier, a courier driver and a cleaner, until university when I worked in a bookstore and then weekend manager at a record store (remember those?). I still include this experience in my resume because it gave me a solid grounding in customer service and the ability to deal with an extremely diverse range of people in high stress environments (including the police, when there were shop lifters, or when my staff were suspected of drug dealing). I contemplated a career as an A&R rep for Sony, before returning to study and finishing my architecture degree. The key factor in this decision was the introduction of computers in the workplace. I was intrigued by the possibilities… what can I say? I’m a nerd.

Qualifications

  • “Constructing Bodies: gesture speech and representation at work in Architecture classrooms”, Ph.D, University of Melbourne, (2009). Winner of the John Grice award for best thesis in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning.
  • “Digital architectures and the presence of the virtual”, MPhil RMIT University, (2005).
  • Post-graduate certificate in Spatial Information Architecture, RMIT University (2001).
  • Certificate IV in training and assessment, RMIT University (1999).
  • Bachelor of Architecture (with Honours), RMIT University (Awarded 1997).

Awards, grants and prizes

  • Vice Chancellor’s award for innovation and excellence in service, November 2017.
  • CSIRO ‘On Prime’ program completion bonus, 2017
  • Leader: $50,000 Discovery Translation Fund grant from Canberra Innovation Network, 2017
  • Leader: Department of Industry research grant to investigate the application of machine learning to explore PhD employability and the ‘hidden job market’ for graduates, 2015 – 2016. $80,000
  • Leader: ARUP engineering research grant to explore the integration of digital badges in engineering contexts, 2014 ($6000)
  • Leader: Office of Learning and Teaching seed grant to explore the use of digital badge technology in doctoral pedagogy, 2014 ($40,000)
  • Best concise paper, “Badge trouble: implementing digital badges at the Australian National University, ASCILITE conference, Wellington, 2014.
  • Leader: ANU gender institute grant to explore PhD student attrition, 2013 ($1500)
  • John Grice award for best thesis in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, 2009. ($3000)
  • Best paper award, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, 2008 ($3000)
  • Melbourne research scholarship, University of Melbourne, 2006-2008. ($24,000 PA)
  • Creative research industries CRC award for creative explorations, 2003. ($3000)

Blogging

At time of writing the blog has over half a million words of content, 100,000 followers over 4 social media channels, been viewed over 7 million times with over 15 thousand comments. The blog has a truly global reach, with readers located all over the world.

Teaching

I have always been attracted to working in adult learning, especially research education, because this is where change can be difficult to achieve and extraordinarily rewarding. I believe PhD students are incredibly smart, motivated people who can contribute to the deeply complex problems our world faces. My job is to help them to succeed and move on to the next phase of their life. I do this in a variety of ways: blogging, curating content, conventional teaching and research.

I am a creative teacher who likes to work with new media wherever possible, but I value and respect what can be achieved in face-to-face and community settings. I plan all my formal teaching around clearly stated goals, using activity mapping to structure engaging classroom experiences and a positive, but challenging, learning environment. I try, wherever possible, to work in blended formats to extend my teaching to distance candidates. I practice a radically open educational practice; all my teaching materials and resources are released free, under the creative commons share alike attribution license. Many others have adapted my content into their teaching practice and I see this, in addition to my research, as an important contribution to my discipline.

Research and publications

Since completing my Ph.D on gesture behaviour in design teaching, my research has mostly been focused on problem areas in research education. I am attracted to areas where I feel I can have the most impact. Accordingly, I have focused my research efforts on conflict in candidature, administrative and governance issues, new assessment approaches (including micro-credentialing), and methods for measuring and improving candidate retention. In 2016 I began collaborating with colleagues in science and computer engineering to explore Ph.D graduate employability, using big data and machine learning approaches. I am currently working on commercialization avenues for the algorithms that emerged from this project. I publish my research outcomes in a range of formats, strategically to have the most impact, not just for ‘points’.

Books:

Book Chapters:

Journal papers

Commissioned reports

Peer reviewed conference papers

Selected expert Commentary

Projects and service

  • Member of the Higher Degrees by Research committee (2013 -)
  • Member of the steering committee for academic professional development (2017 – )
  • Leader, Working party for Supervision professional development framework at ANU, 2017
  • Steering committee member, ANU strategy development for HDR candidates, 2016.
  • Volunteer mentor in the VC’s student leadership program (2014 -)
  • Liaison for HDR matters in the establishment of the Westpac Fellowship scheme (2014 – 2016)
  • HDR project management committee, member ANU 2014 – 2015
  • ANU gateway project steering committee, member ANU 2013-2014.
  • Data management steering group, member ANU 2013- 2014.
  • Regular Peer Reviewer for: Higher education research and Development, Higher Education Academy senior fellowships, annual ‘New Horizons: digital education survey’, Open University press educational imprint, Australian Educational Researcher journal, Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, and tenure reviewer for Northwestern University in the USA.
  • fIRST, steering group member 2012 – 2014.
  • Consultant: School of Graduate research transformation project, 2008/2009.
  • High Risk Ethics Committee, member RMIT University 2009 – 2012.

Keynotes

  • “What do employers want? Forging a fulfilling post PhD career”, University of Sydney Health and medical sciences faculty Research candidate conference, October, 2017
  • “Using machine learning to explore future academic employability”, Canadian Studies in higher education plenary keynote at the 2016 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada and “Critical success factors for an academic career”, 2016 Congress of the Humanities Interdisciplinary Forum, Alberta Canada, May 2016. (The Congress of the Humanities the annual gathering of 75 Canadian scholarly associations, with around 8,000 researchers, practitioners, policy makers and the public)
  • “Blogging, writing and other parts of my writing life”, symposium on writing in the humanities, Goldsmiths, London, November 2015).
  • “How to run a successful academic blog”. Academic blogging symposium, Warwick University, March 2015.
  • “Academic superheroes – what more do universities want?”. MPA Excellence series, Monash University, February, 2014.
  • Inaugural Law, Education, Business and Arts (LEBA) HDR student conference keynote, Charles Darwin University, September 2013.
  • “Analysing PhD employability”. Australian Post Graduate Careers developers symposium, University of Sydney, March 2014.
  • “Can you be replaced by a machine?”. Association for Academic Language and Learning, ‘Building higher degree research student writing capacity: whose job is it? University of Sydney, March 2014.
  • “Let the plates fall on the floor? Invisible work in university libraries”. Caval Reference Group forum, Melbourne University, Melbourne University, November 2013.
  • “What do academic employers want?”. Post graduate student conference in Law, QUT, June 2013.
  • “Will I get a job after my PhD?”. Nursing research week, University of Sydney, June 2013.
  • “Is a PhD detrimental to your career?”, MPA Excellence series, Monash University, 2013.
  • “What academic employers want”, Cardiff University research education conference, Cardiff University, March 2013.
  • “What I learned from Gabriel Tarde about research metrics”. Caval Reference Group forum on Open publishing models, Melbourne University, September 2012.
  • “Personal learning net(works): an actor network approach to PhD candidature”. Personal Learning Environment conference, Deakin University, May 2012.
  • “How to manage your PhD (and yourself)”, Manchester University GRAD school forum, Manchester University 2012.
  • “The spaces of PhD candidature” Special conference on Social Issues in Research Spaces, Herriot Watt University, Edinburgh, April 2012.
  • “Personal learning networks in your PhD”, IGNITE 12. Creative Industries research student conference, QUT, October 2012.
  • Inaugural new student keynote, Nursing research week, University of Sydney, June 2011.
  • “What I learned about doing a PhD from romance novels”. Education research week, Charles Sturt University, May 2011.

 

 

 

129 thoughts on “About the Thesis Whisperer”

    • We should talk! Sounds like your research would be very interesting.
      I am lucky enough to be an academic in a primarily administrative unit (School of Graduate Research). My teaching load is light so I can concentrate on doing research aimed at improving the experience of PhD and masters students. So far I have not met anyone else, other than my colleague Dr Barnacle, who has a full time role like this.

      Reply

  2. That’s a great job to have! I hope my research topic will be useful, and will help to shape policy and practice in the UK doctoral education (let’s be ambitious:). I have found several PhDs doing research on researchers. Maybe we should organise a doctoral sonsortium on this:)

    Reply

      • There are some interesting clnoisg dates on this article but I don’t know if I see all of them center to heart. There may be some validity however I’ll take hold opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we wish extra! Added to FeedBurner as effectively

        Reply

  4. Hi!
    I’ve just found your blog, love it & wish I’d known about it earlier. I’m working on a PhD about my favourite topic: Pain! I also blog regularly at http://healthskills.wordpress.com – on the topic: Pain! Actually, self management of chronic pain, and I write for health professionals working with people who have chronic pain. My research uses grounded theory to explain how people with chronic pain who live well in the community manage to do so without needing to see people like me.
    cheers
    Bronnie

    Reply

  5. So good to make contact with you Inger, and to discover the rich resource that is The Thesis Whisperer. I look forward to many future interactions.
    Liz Tynan, JCU Graduate Research School, Townsville

    Reply

  7. I’m so glad to have found you near the start of my PhD! Even though we seem to be in vastly different fields (I’m researching the social behaviour and personality of captive cheetahs), I have found your posts both useful and interesting and I’m sure they will come in very handy when I’m writing my thesis and other papers. I also have a blog at http://virtual-doc.salford.ac.uk/cheetahphd.

    Looking forward to future posts!

    Reply

  8. Grouse blog… I’m about to link to the blog to all our Fac Ed PhD students via my fortnightly Graduate Studies Bulletin – so expect more traffic. Great to meet you last week – look forward to more of your awesomeness.

    Reply

  9. Dear Inger,

    hello! I just found your site through Twitter, and it’s really great.

    I am a former tenured prof and department head, based in the U.S., and I have launched a new site and blog, “The Professor Is In.,” to provide what I call “BS-free advising for grad school, the job market, and tenure.”

    It’s at: http://www.theprofessorisin.com.

    I am wondering if you’d be kind enough to visit my site and consider listing it among the illustrious company of excellent blogs on your blogroll? I’d like to be in touch about contributing as well! Thanks for your excellent work!

    Karen Kelsky, Ph.D.

    Reply

  10. Pingback: ACU Research Net » Blog Archive » Help with doing a PhD

  11. Hi Inger,
    I found your blog yesterday during my web ramblings. What a wonderful site. As someone said in a comment earlier, I wish I had found this blog a few months ago when I was stuck with my thesis. But even having now completed it, it is rewarding reading this blog. I already mentioned it in a post on my blog, but I will also personally recommend it to friends. I could probably give a modest contribution too at some point. Carry on this awesome work. All the best, Hilra

    Reply

  13. Pingback: The Thesis Whisperer | The Sociological Imagination

  14. Pingback: Supervision Without Borders: -social media and ‘feral’ research communities « Marcus in Media

  15. Pingback: Blog In Your Throat - Guest Lecture: The Thesis Whisperer

  16. Pingback: | Ej's blog

  17. This is a great idea. I am a ‘mature’ PhD candidate (over 50) who has a great deal of expertise in my field. I have only started the literature review and it is already making me crazy…. I only know some theory but know it extremely well. I am finding errors or misunderstandings in papers, excessive jargon and cliches in many papers, and a big gap between what I read and current practice. Am I alone in finding this?
    As such, I look forward to reading this blog in the future.

    Reply

  19. I am a docoral student working on my dissertation and often blog about my topics (disordered eating, risky sexual activity and substance use, and adoelscent developmnet) on my site! I am adding this helpful site to my blogroll, and hope you might consider posting mine!

    Reply

  20. I have only just discovered this recently on Google Search. This has been an interesting read, that I come back to from time to time. I’m at the end of my 2nd year of my PhD, and do write from time to time at: http://www.jasminezheng.com . Would be good to be added to the community of PhD students from everywhere.

    Reply

  21. HI I’m just beginning my Doctorate of Education. Im planning on working on it part time over 6 years -which makes things a bit tricky! I’d love to join and interact with the community here as I’m finding it hard to know where to start! Any advice or posts that might be useful to me would be gratefully accepted !

    PS I’m a Melbournite too :0)

    Reply

  22. A quick comment to say thanks for being a great read in 2011! I sometimes write about the PhD life on my blog and so it’s always useful to find similarily-themed blogs for inspiration and interesting thoughts. I’ve just updated my links page as a “thank you” to all the blogs that have inspired me this year – one of the best things about blogging i find lots of other fun blogs – and I included your site. Looking forwards to more interesting posts in 2012. Happy New Year!
    http://www.sowhataboutseaweed.wordpress.com

    Reply

  23. hello dr. mewburn,

    Thank you so much for your website. I met it through your twitter. I am from Turkey and doing Phd in the UK. After I met your website, I looked for blogs and websites on PhD, just like yours, in Turkish, for those who are not good at reading and understanding in English very well. I found yours very helpful, but I couldn’t find any website like yours in Turkish. So, I decided to write a blog on which I share my experiences and ideas on Phd. Well, I haven’t finished my PhD yet, so I can only talk about the PhD process and some helpful tips. Thank you for the inspiration! My blog is http://tezenzi.wordpress.com/

    Reply

  24. Hello, my blog is http://www.adunokupe.blogspot.com
    I’ll love to write too, you can have a view of my blog to see my style – although I write on a wide variety of topics.

    My phd is on Leadership within the Tourism Industry.

    Came across your blog via twitter’s #phd chat field and it’s very useful!
    Thank you for being encouraging.

    Reply

  25. Hi Inger,
    I attended your seminar at ANU this morning and was reassured and inspired. Thanks! I’m in my first year of PhD across visual arts and Indonesian studies, whilst also looking after my 3 kids under 6. Preschool hours and after bedtime are my workings hours and, in between paraysing bouts of self doubt, I’ve been telling myself this would be enough so long as I am efficient. Now I am armed with your practical tool box, your own example, and encouraging stats about productivity of PhD students, I feel bolstered again. I can do this!
    Oh, and I also have a blog (this was a strategy do keep writing!) http://www.ellydotkent.blogspot.com
    Thank you!

    Reply

  26. Pingback: 10 lesson I've learned writing about the literature review for 1 year … | Literature

  28. I am glad to have found this blog. I am currently entering the fifth year of a History PhD at a Canadian university. Your blog is very informative and encouraging– I will definitely continue to check it out as I work towards that final dissertation ‘push.’

    Reply

  29. Pingback: 2 years (and a bit) on: happy second birthday Whisperer! « The Thesis Whisperer

  31. Pingback: TGA’s 2 months anniversary: new logos and avatar, a dissection and an award « The Geek Anthropologist

  33. Pingback: Thesis Whisperer – A Space for Grad Students to Be Grad Students | Tutoring the Whole Writer

  34. Pingback: Дерьмовая долина | Zangezi

  35. Hello Inger!
    I’d like to add my vote of thanks to those expressed above, and wonder if you could add my blog (which is still in its infancy so treat it gently, please!) to the list. My thesis has morphed into an attempt to show how respect and self-respect, two sides of the same coin, are human survival tools: we need to develop them! My blog’s at http://www.gamanrad.wordpress.com – thanks again. Best, Lucy

    Reply

  36. This is me reminding you (kindly!) to add my blog to your list. Thanks for this amazing site and for your work!
    queerurbanecologies.wordpress.com

    Reply

  38. Pingback: Cultures of Criticism | Dry-Erase Writings

  39. Pingback: Fail Your Viva Book Review | The Thesis Whisperer

  40. A truly inspirational presentation and masterclass at our Research Week at Sydney Nursing School of The University of Sydney. Thank you!

    Reply

  41. Pingback: Thought Leaders: Joyce Seitzinger (aka Cat’s Pyjamas)

  42. Pingback: Very Inspiring Blogger Award | Ish Ism

  43. Pingback: Thesis Whisperer | degreecoachingco

  44. Dear Ingrid et al,
    Wondering if anyone has any suggestions, or if other students have been in similar straits in AU, and how they proceeded….and what leverage (if any) a PhD student has in situations like this?
    I am hoping that people have some suggestions for me. I am one year into my PhD (part time enrolled) and have made excellent progress on my project (yes I have that in writing from sups….) and preparing for an early confirmation. Just when I tried to access funding, I was informed that my school had “no money”. When I say no money, I mean zilch nada and I am expected to fund my project expenses! My project involves travel and data collection abroad and although I don’t have a budget yet….I imagine it would be in the realm of 10-15 K…..
    I am in the process of taking this up the chain but I am quite upset. I am at an Australian university as a domestic student. I prepared a short project proposal 6 mos into my candidature which was approved by my sups…and now my school is claiming they have no money. It seems like the admin is trying to lay the blame on my sups (who are excellent)…I don’t know what went wrong with funding….my sups say they didn’t know they were supposed to pay for my project, the admin say that they were, etc, it is clearly indicated on the university website that direct research costs (including travel!) are paid by the school….my guess is that this is not my sups fault although they seem to be getting blamed for taking me on….Anyway, as I await for a verdict with the office of research on what can be done….I am obviously concerned. I am not sure what bargaining chips I have. This university is highly ranked for research, one of the top in the world…..and they clearly (in writing) inform students that the enrolling school pays for the direct research costs. (except apparently for me)…..Anyone know what kind of bargaining chips I have? Oh, there was a suggestion for “changing my project” to something more local but I have been working on this now for over 1 year….and I chose this project …t..to start all over on something that may cost less and delay my phD for another year does not seem fair….Suggestions Please!!!!!!!!!!!!! My project is in the Social Sciences.
    I should also say that I believe there has been some loses of funding etc in the past year from one of their streams but I was never informed this would affect my project funding. My project is something that I designed so there is no grants or anything else associated with it, nor any other students or researchers working on it other than me….

    Thank you!

    Reply

    • While I agree with M-H, it’s unusual for a university to promise to cover all costs unless a project is externally funded. Usually the uni defines ‘costs’ as office space, computer, Internet access, library and supervision. Read the fine print of the uni policy carefully and, if they do make more promises than this, by all means hold their feet to the fire. Your student organisation will have professional advocates who can help you with this. Good luck!

      Reply

      • Thanks Inger. Well this is what it says on their website
        Research Costs

        The School/Institute you enrol through at XUni is responsible for meeting all ‘direct research costs’ that are necessary to undertake your RHD project. This includes:

        access to resources or facilities at XUni or other organisations in Australia or overseas;
        travel to complete fieldwork, collect data, or to visit libraries or other repositories;
        training in techniques; and
        necessary coursework undertaken outside the School/Institute.

        Funding may be available for supplementary research that is not essential to your project but will enhance your research experience at XUni

        ….and the graduate school has confirmed this to me verbally that the enrolling school is responsible for covering my direct research costs and that “if they didn’t have the money for funding they shouldn’t have taken you on as a student”. That leaves me in a PhD no mans land as I wait for them to figure out what to do next…..

        Do you think this is enough to hold their feet to the fire?

        Also, if I fail my confirmation due to lack of funding (or asked to leave for the same reason), won’t that affect my ability to seek a phD elsewhere in terms of tuition costs as a domestic student? Arrrrgh!

        Reply

  45. I love the idea of this blogsite; I think it is brilliant! If only blogs had been around when I was thinking of doing a thesis many many years ago! I am mainly a creative writer, though I do write book and play reviews. I would love to contribute something, but am not sure my stuff would be acceptable. Power to your collective pens! Alienora

    Reply

  46. Pingback: Two Worthy Projects for Certain Writers . . . | Notes from An Alien

  47. Dear Thesis Whisperer,

    Thanks so much for writing this blog! I’m an Australian living in Switzerland with my partner and young daughter and I’ve just started a Creative writing Phd at Deakin University (by way of an historical novel and exegesis). I’m going to be an extremely off-campus student.

    Living in a non-English speaking country as I do, it’s very difficult to find a network for both the creative writing, the research and the whole thesis writing thing. With this in mind I’m searching for online lifelines, and I think your site fits the bill very nicely.

    Reply

  48. Pingback: An afternoon of advice from Thesis Whisperer Dr Inger Mewburn | Hazel Hall

  49. Pingback: The Future Starts Now: how college students can get published in a magazine | whenyoungwritersblog

  50. Pingback: We’re taking a break: see you in 2014! | The Thesis Whisperer

  52. Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon every day.

    It will always be helpful to read articles from other
    authors and use a little something from other websites.

    Reply

  53. Pingback: Find The Gap: Or, why researchers squabble so much. | saraheknowles

  54. Pingback: Staying power: how to finish your doctorate | 100 days to the doctorate & beyond

  55. Hello,

    I have just recently come across this website. Its amazing! I am a current PhD student researching into financial regulation and stability. I have started a blog – afollypeprempe.wordpress.com

    Reply

    • Smart PhD students know not to use these unethical services – if you are caught you will lose your PhD or be kicked out of your uni. Next time I’ll just delete your spam Homework writers, but I’m leaving it here this time so I can make a point.

      Reply

  57. Pingback: When is an ePortfolio not an ePortfolio? | niccipallitt

  59. Pingback: The Thesis Whisperer

  62. Pingback: The best two books on doing a thesis | The Thesis Whisperer

  63. Hi Dr Inger.
    I’m glad that I found your blog. I’m a second-year PhD student from Malaysia, doing research on authentic learning strategies and writing. I’ve added a link to your blog on mine. I like all your postings. Thanks.

    Sophyta

    Reply

  66. Pingback: Geology Jenga | How to survive your PhD – A free online course

  67. This is also possible if they offer SEO as part of their service.
    People, who are planning to use their own software,
    they must not choose this hosting service.
    Elements such as text, graphics, images, font sizes and colors are used in designing and producing pages for a web site.

    Reply

  68. Pingback: Mademoiselle Spotlight Feature: The Thesis Whisperer/Dr. Inger Mewburn | Mademoiselle Scientist

  69. Pingback: Twitter as Ersatz PhD Supervisor | Teaching Project Management

  70. Pingback: Please treat me like a grownup! | The Thesis Whisperer

  72. Pingback: MOOC module "How to Survive your PhD" : my reflections at the end | Piirus Blog

  75. Pingback: 2015 in Fabrication Nation: An alphabetical list | Fabrication Nation

  78. I am phd in ANU, and currently I am looking for a place to upload my academic research data online so it would be the support material in my exegesis. The data are all in 70 pdfs, and I try to upload several on academia.com, but it will give each pdf a page, which is not quite what I want. I hope each pdf could have URL, and also all of them could show on the same page as well. Would you have any suggestions?

    Reply

  80. Pingback: Getting my EdD writing ‘out the door’ | sdsdavies's blog

  82. Pingback: Buy WordPress Hosting In Abington – Buy cheap wordpress hosting

  87. Pingback: How to do less for your students (and be a better supervisor at the same time) – The Supervision Whisperers

  88. Pingback: What is “that”? and other feedback tricks – The Supervision Whisperers

  89. Pingback: Simple steps to effective writing for PhD students – Doctoral Academy

  90. Pingback: Postgraduate support and networks – Postgraduate Futures

  91. The other day, while I was at work, my cousin stole my apple ipad and tested to see if it can survive
    a 40 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad is
    now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is totally off
    topic but I had to share it with someone!

    Reply

  92. Pingback: How to run a blog for 8 years and not go insane | The Thesis Whisperer

  93. Você se pergunta o que e QuitoPlan? Ouviu falar dele por uma amiga ou amigo, ou viu algum anúncio desse produto e agora precisa saber tudo sobre ele? A razão mais certa para você vir até aqui saber dele é ter visto alguém que emagreceu demais e contou que foi por causa do QuitoPlan

    Reply

  112. Pingback: The Dream of the River- Oikos in my Kitchen | metabolicsynaesthete

What do you think?

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s