March 8, 2011

reading like a mongrel

In this post I hone in on the first problem almost every PhD student confronts – how to make sense of all that information out there…

February 22, 2011

Finishing with perspective (and without finding Oz)

This guest post is written by Elizabeth Humphrys, who has recently completed her Masters Thesis. Her day job is investigating student complaints and misconduct at a public university. Here Elizabeth shares her thoughts on the feelings she experienced just before submitting. I submitted my Masters thesis in October 2010. I recently received the examiners’ reportscontinue reading.

February 10, 2011

Doing a PhD is getting to know yourself

This guest post is by Eva Lantsoght who is a PhD student at Delft University of Technology. Here Eva reflects on how knowing yourself is an integral part of developing effective working habits This post is inspired by a course for PhD students which I am doing, in which a small group of PhD studentscontinue reading.

February 1, 2011

Advice for newbies

Squisy Scientist talks about getting the academic bonding process going

January 18, 2011

Why you might be ‘stuck’

In which I share an experience of ‘threshold crossing’ as a way to understand being ‘stuck’

January 13, 2011

Is your computer domesticating you?

In which I wonder what Foucault would have to say about word processing software.

January 3, 2011

An open letter to social media

The following is a book review in the style of the McSweeney Open Letters to entities that are unlikely to respond. If you are not really a Twitter devotee you could insert Facebook or email – any digital application which connects you to the crowd and sometimes gets in the way of your work. Hicontinue reading.

November 11, 2010

5 ways to detox your desk (and mind)

Recently I grabbed a book from the RMIT library called “Detox your desk: declutter your life and mind” by Theo Theobald and Cary Cooper. Have a look at this picture and you’ll see why: This is my at home desk – not my at work desk (which is in such embarrassing condition I am notcontinue reading.

October 28, 2010

Parenting through a PhD (or 5 ways not to go completely insane)

PhD students are an interesting cohort. At our university the average age of a PhD student is 36, which means you can safely bet that most students have some family responsibilities – either to a spouse, elderly parents, animals or children. Parenting is challenging for PhD students because, in addition to the caring work thatcontinue reading.

October 26, 2010

The loneliness of the long distance thesis writer

A friend of mine tells the story of her first day as a PhD student with equal parts amusement and horror. One day she had a busy life as an academic, working with a wide range of students and colleagues, the next she was a PhD student who just had to hand in a thesiscontinue reading.

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