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.

Sooner or later each thesis writer finds themselves holding the knife – the virtual one of course. Taking a leaf out of Stephen King’s book – how can we murder our darlings?

What do academics think academics should be able to do? How can PhD students use this to help them to write a great thesis?

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.

Why is a thesis text like Sam Worthington in Avatar? It used to be that all you had to do to become a doctor is know everything. Now it’s much harder.

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

This year RMIT is taking part in the three minute thesis competition – the first time it’s gone national. Running the competition had all sorts of unexpected benefits for us

How can learning models help us be better writers and scholars?