Category: You and your supervisor

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.

When I asked on Twitter what people were buying their PhD supervisor I was surprised by the range of different responses…

Do you sometimes think about giving up? Should you entertain this notion seriously, or ignore it? When is it right to walk away?

It’s an important issue which we haven’t really tackled much on the blog to date, which is why I was pleased when B.J. Epstein, a lecturer in literature and translation at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England offered to write a post on the topic.

Everyone loves dogs don’t they? How would dogs go about doing a PhD? This light hearted piece is by ‘Florian’, as told to Professor Peter Downton, a very experienced supervisor from the School of Architecture and design at RMIT University. Florian is a very handsome poodle, as we can see by the picture. I think …continue reading.

I have a friend, let’s call him Peter…

It’s been a while since we heard from the Student up the Back on the Left – the alter ego of RMIT teaching and learning advisor Ruth Mueller (who actually taught me how to teach long ago). Now we are in second semester the Student up the Back on the Left has a few words to say about the feedback you gave them on their essay.

Yesterday on Twitter ‏@kikidotca asked me “was wondering if you have some advice about making a list of possible examiners for a PhD?”. I contemplated answering in 140 characters or less, but I wanted to avoid writing a journal article, so I volunteered a blog post instead.

A student finds a novel solution to the ‘pain’ of doing a PhD – hire someone.

Anyway, it got me thinking (again) about the similarities between doing a PhD and taking part in a reality TV show. I have an unhealthy obsession with reality TV, which I have accepted as part of the brain damage I suffered while doing my PhD. While I’m selective about which ones I watch, I find the whole genre endlessly fascinating for the way it portrays learning as a process of self discovery and transformation. Bear with me here, I think I’m onto something and want to throw these ideas past you in the form of an academic mash up of my own before I go all academic and write a paper on it.