Category: Getting things done

This is a picture of one of the rather nice glass doors in my apartment. If you look closely you will notice there’s a big crack in it, right next to the handle. I blame this crack on Chapter five of my PhD. To this day I don’t know how it happened, but I managed …continue reading.

One way a humble whiteboard can help you think more clearly about your research

On the tram this afternoon a friend commented that learning is a very inefficient process. I think this is especially true for PhD students, partly because it is so easy to get distracted. When I was doing my PhD I suspended my facebook account –  but the fridge was still a great source of distraction. …continue reading.

A PhD thesis or dissertation is supposed to make a “significant and original contribution to knowledge”. This can create a lot of angst amongst research students, partly because originality is often defined, but rarely talked about in actionable ways. In “How to get a PhD”, Phillips and Pugh set out 16 ways to be original …continue reading.

Apple are geniuses at showing us how technology can be used in novel ways within our everyday lives. The latest and greatest of all these gadgets is, of course, the iPad. I have heard all sorts of uses they have been put to: as an ebook reader, as a toy for the kids, as a …continue reading.

PhD students have to do a lot of a lot of reading. One of our philosophies at the Whisperer is to ease that burden by doing some of the reading for you. With that in mind I present our first book review.

Is doing a thesis like sticking to an exercise program? If so, how can you do your thesis Lance Armstrong style?