Category: Miscellany

This post was written by Jonathan Downie, a PhD student, conference interpreter, public speaker and translator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He co-edits LifeinLINCS the unofficial blog of the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies at Heriot-Watt University. He is married with two children. His newest blog Rock Your Talk aims to help people keep on …continue reading.

In case you didn’t already know, this week is Open Access Week. To celebrate, this week’s post is by Belinda Thompson,  a PhD Scholar in the Menzies Centre for Health Policy at the Australian National University. This post originally appeared on the Open Access Support Group blog and I’d like to thank Danny Kingsley for …continue reading.

Lauren Gawne was a PhD student in the School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne. She wrote this post while she was in ‘examination limbo’ has now received her examiners reports back and found out she has passed. When she isn’t working on the grammar of Yolmo and making bets about how …continue reading.

This post is by Belinda Duke who is doing a Master of Philosophy in Archaeology at James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.  Her research is based in NE Thailand at the site Ban Non Wat.  Belinda has travelled and worked in NE Thailand since 2008 and also southern Laos since 2010 through a consultancy project under …continue reading.

Some 10 years ago my friend Joe and I worked at the same place and would occasionally meet for lunch. At the time Joe and I were both teaching computer graphics to architecture students. We were both working casually at multiple unis and hating the financially strapped and perilous lifestyle that came with it. Those …continue reading.

This short post is by Dr Danya Hodgetts, sport manager, lecturer and researcher and reflects on an issue which eventually will afflict us all… We’ve all been there. Go on, admit it. You’re working away solidly on your PhD and then starting to daydream… about being a doctor. About how life-changing those two little letters …continue reading.

There is no post this week because I’ve been at the UK council for graduate education’s international conference on developments in doctoral education and Training, filling up my sporran with all kinds of new ideas. I’m running two student workshops while I’m here, at the University of Edinburgh and at Herriot Watt University. Hope to …continue reading.

PhD students in Australia are under a lot of pressure to finish their degree ‘on time’ – but why?

Mary-Helen Ward has just completed a PhD on the PhD in Australia at the University of Sydney. I read a draft of her impressive thesis and learned a lot myself about the system. I asked Mary-Helen if she would do a post to explain the dark arts of research student funding and this post is the result. I hope it makes the situation a bit clearer, for those in Australia at least.

Two of my favourite people in the academic world are my friends Rachael Pitt (aka @thefellowette) and Nigel Palmer. Whenever we have a catch up, which is sadly rare, we have a fine old time talking shop over beer and chips (well lemonade in my case, but you get the picture). Some time ago ago …continue reading.

For most students, the problems will be temporary and relatively easily dealt with. Taking up a complaint with the person concerned is the usual, and usually successful, first step. Most complaints never get lodged under formal complaint policies, however this is not always the case as some disputes and concerns cannot be resolved so simply… read on to find out how to complain – and be heard.