Dai Wenqi is currently pursuing her PhD in Applied Linguistics at the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation at the Universiti Sains Malaysia ('Science University of Malaysia'). She is now in the second year of her PhD career. She has worked as a Chinese language teacher in Africa for five years. Her research interests are intercultural communication and teaching Chinese as a foreign language.

PhD Abroad: How to Navigate Intercultural Interactions 

Are you studying for a PhD abroad? Are you worried about integrating meaningfully into your PhD life in a different country? In this article, Dai Wenqi explores how to socialise and adapt to a new culture during your PhD abroad, providing advice from her lived experiences to help you enjoy your doctoral life to the fullest. This includes respecting and engaging with the culture of your host country, learning the language (but forgo the pressure of perfect fluency), and leaning into your unique personal charm.

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It’s Your PhD: How to Deal With Unhelpful Advice

This article explores how advice, whether solicited or unsolicited, can damage the morale and hope of those doing a PhD. The purpose of this article is to comment on the boundaries that researchers must put in place to avoid being negatively affected: we must be discerning as to whether advice is useful and pertinent, or whether it is not applicable to us. The main message is: don’t listen to everyone, and trust your own judgement!

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Turning Research Papers into a Podcast: Productivity Hacks

What if there was an alternative to reading when your eyes need a rest, or while waiting for coffee, or sitting in traffic? SciSpace’s innovative podcast tool transforms your research paper backlog into bite-sized audio summaries. Turn idle moments into productive learning sessions by listening to key research insights while cooking, commuting, or exercising – helping you decide which papers deserve your full attention.

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