Explore the world of doctoral research and academia with insights, tips, and guidance for prospective and current PhD students. Navigate the challenges and rewards of the doctoral journey.

Applications and Funding
Tess Watt

How to Handle the Jump Straight from Undergrad to PhD 

Are you considering going straight from an undergraduate degree to a PhD, skipping the master’s? At 22 years old, Tess shares her experience of this and provides some valuable insights about how she prepared and applied for her PhD in Computing without doing a master’s degree.

Read More »
Experiences
Mojalefa Daniel Maluka

The H in PhD Stands for Hope: Remaining Hopeful in a PhD Journey

The PhD journey can make us lose hope, feeling trapped in the melancholy that often befriends the doctoral journey. But this empowering and uplifting article, written from a South African perspective, explores the idea of hope being an important friend to PhD candidates, helping us reach the finish line to graduation. Alongside the author’s personal journey with mental health, the article emphasises the importance of prioritising wellbeing, changing strategy when things aren’t working, and always remaining hopeful for the future.

Read More »
Applications and Funding
Kristin Hynes

Advice for Passing the Comprehensive Exam

In this article, Kristin Hynes describes her experience of comprehensive exams (required by some US universities.) With 5 tips, Kristin shares how other students can be successful in this part of the admissions process.

Read More »
Experiences
Adriana Cantón

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!

Read More »
Update cookies preferences