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. Hi …continue reading.

The thesis whisperer is taking a break until mid January 2010. Happy PhDing over the Christmas period! Of course @thesiswhisperer will still be on Twitter because she is an addict 🙂

Stuck with all that literature? Here’s five simple ideas to make sense of it all.

This week we feature a guest post by PhD student and Whisperer reader @cuteangel. Here she reflects on whether or not an academic coach is the answer to PhD woes. Being a PhD student and a mother made realise there can be certain similarities between being a child and a student. My kids are young …continue reading.

Presentations  for a faculty or disciplinary audience are subtly different to those you give at a conference, but not talked about as frequently. These ‘internal’ presentations are important because they tell your colleagues what kind of researcher you are; it helps you socially and academically to perform well to your peers. This topic occurred to …continue reading.

Where I talk about sex and writing – but not in a dirty way.

There’s so many, many books on the market that claim to help you with your PhD – which ones are worth buying? I have been thinking about it this topic for some time, but it’s still hard to decide. So here’s a provisional top 5, based on books I use again and again in my …continue reading.

Want to start a blog which sells you academic expertise?

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 not …continue reading.

It can be hard to admit you are wrong – but even harder to take it seriously.