Pursuing a PhD as an older student – is it too late?
Adrienne Darrah discusses the advantages and difficulties of pursuing a PhD later in life, and presents reasons why you should contemplate undertaking a PhD as an older student in this talk.
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.
Adrienne Darrah discusses the advantages and difficulties of pursuing a PhD later in life, and presents reasons why you should contemplate undertaking a PhD as an older student in this talk.
Featured Academic

This article takes the reader on a journey of a doctoral student, from applications, interviews, and building a relationship with supervisors, to coming full circle by mentoring other students starting out and facing challenges. The writer shares their advice and their own personal experience of each stage, including their fulfilling mentoring work promoting awareness of mental wellbeing among PhD students.

Anmol Gupta shares his personal and insightful journey through the PhD experience. Follow his reflections on interdisciplinary research, overcoming obstacles and realizing long-term goals.

This article explores the experience of doing a part-time distance PhD in later life. The author’s age was an advantage, allowing them to focus on their thesis without distractions or major hiccups. The article reflects on how to make for a smooth doctorate – emphasising the importance of strong interest in your topic, supervisors who are easy to work with, and a bit of luck!

This insightful article highlights how young Gen Z academics can make the most of their unique skills and attributes cultivated by their generational upbringing, and propel themselves towards achieving triumph in their PhD programme and beyond.

This article reflects on the author’s 15-year academic journey, detailing the lessons learned from disorganised PhD student to effective work habits as a postdoc and assistant professor, and applying these lessons to their current role at Paperpile. Suzanne offers practical advice on academic writing, productivity, and professional development, emphasizing the importance of daily writing practice, systematic note-taking, reflection, goal setting, and the use of digital tools like reference managers. She shares these insights to help current PhD students avoid similar pitfalls and develop productive habits early in their academic careers.

Are you a new PhD student looking to make connections before your programs starts? Kristin shares two big tips to help you hit the ground running at the start of your doctoral studies.

Pillalamarri Srikrishnarka shares 10 tips he wish he knew before starting his STEM-based PhD program at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. A final year scholar, Pillalamarri emphasizes networking and time management, he provides useful links to other resources.

Discover how a PhD student turned to Paperpile to manage the chaos of storing and referencing papers, with the online tool helping them save, sort and access papers with ease.
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