PhD students often face loneliness during their journey, and it’s important to have a support system. In this article, Alicia Wickert shares her advice on how to find your team, including reaching out to family, joining a community at university, and connecting with other students in your department.
Karen, who recently started her PhD at the University of Leeds, reflects on her experiences adjusting to life in the UK, including the language barrier, slower pace of life, and the complexities of the PhD journey. She shares the struggles of finding her research direction, fighting gender stereotypes in academia, and the fears that come with being an international student.
Dr Chris Thompson offers six ways to prepare for a PhD. Alongside finding rest, students should reach out to current PhD students or experienced academics to absorb their wisdom, research their new surroundings, and connect with future colleagues to create a network before starting.
In this article, Melissa Vasi shares her experience of having a supportive and understanding supervisor during her PhD journey. She explains how being a supervisor is not just limited to correcting a thesis, but also being a mentor and friend.
