Karen (She/ Her) is an architect from Mexico City who is currently competing a PhD at the University of Leeds, which she started in December 2021. ​She began her academic career in Mexico City, writing her undergraduate dissertation, ‘The building as a mean in the architect’s education: The secret voices of the design studio” in 2017. This was her first foray into the analysis of space and its relation to pedagogical practices. She then began working at a young design studio based in Mexico City, before working at a school with children on the autism spectrum. This led her to study a master’s programme at Barcelona. Her second dissertation: ‘Re-think, Reframe, and Re-imagine educational spaces within the complexity of human and non-human intra-actions’ (2019) provided an insightful analysis into the concept of architectural character with the new materialism theories. In 2020 she taught at university level while studying a one year course about Bioclimatic Architecture, before beginning her PhD at Leeds.

“Look Right, Look Left”

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.

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Preparing for the Transfer Viva. My Experience

Get insights into preparing for the transfer viva, an important step in your research journey, from someone who has gone through it. Learn how to focus on your contributions to knowledge, practice your presentation without overdoing it, and trust that you know your research better than anyone else.

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To Be or Not To Be (a Reviewer 2): Should I Review Articles as a PhD Student?

For the wheels to continue turning in research, we need reviewers. Although often a thankless endeavour (littered with Reviewer 2 jokes), acting as a gatekeeper for the integrity of your research field remains vital. As a PhD student, you may find the process of reviewing a manuscript pretty novel, but a reviewer request email may enter your inbox in the near future. This article guides you through the pros and cons of reviewing articles.

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