Category: Getting things done

Recently I put together a promotion application. For those of you unfamiliar with the Australian system, this is similar to a tenure application in the U.S.A. You must compile everything you have done in your academic career, assess its impact and present it all as a legible ‘story’ of your contribution to your discipline and …continue reading.

A couple of weeks ago I was asked by a foreign university to provide a written reference for someone I didn’t know. Usually when I am asked to write a reference I know the person well and can speak to their strengths. In this case, the university in question wanted my expert opinion about the …continue reading.

Last week I announced our new MOOC “How to survive your PhD”. Since then I’ve been overwhelmed by the response, with more than 2600 people signing up in the first week alone, which is far more than I expected! A few people have written to me about how they might use the MOOC to help …continue reading.

A year and a half ago, ANU gave me a chance to make a MOOC. For those of you in the know, a MOOC stands for ‘massive open online course’. ANU has partnered with EdX, a MOOC delivery platform, so that thousands of people have the chance to participate in ANU courses from around the …continue reading.

This post is by Colin Cohen, who completed a doctorate at the School for Health in the University of Bath in south west England. Colin is what we call in the trade a ‘non traditional student’: older, part time and not working in an academic field. Many people have talked to me about what an …continue reading.

Parenting through a PhD can be tough, but what about single-parenting through a PhD? Degree of difficulty = high! If you are in this situation is a PhD doable? You bet it is – but it’s likely your university could do more to help. Orla Egan tells us more. Orla just submitted her thesis for …continue reading.

Family Thesiswhisperer recently signed up to Netflix. Or as we call it in our house – ‘Netcrack’. Work is, as usual, insanely busy, and the Canberra winters can be bitterly cold, so I find myself on the couch with the remote in my hand most weeknights. The problem great thing about endless, on demand film …continue reading.

Paula Hanasz  is currently writing a thesis on the geopolitics of water security in South Asia at The ANU. She is enrolled at the Australia National University but currently spends more time on her couch than in her office or the library. The first time we met Paula she was experiencing PhD lifestyle guilt. Next …continue reading.

Long time readers may have noticed that for the first time in 5 years the Thesis Whisperer did not publish a post first thing on Wednesday morning. I just… well – I forgot. I felt terrible about this until @deblsda just pointed out on Twitter, a habit interrupted is not a habit broken. Five years …continue reading.

This post is by Lara Corr, a research fellow from the Centre for Health Equity at Melbourne University With three months to go before completion, I found myself watching a YouTube presentation of a scholar I deeply respect and admire. Queue thesis meltdown #476. My heart raced and my chest constricted as I listened to …continue reading.