Welcome to Season Five!! What better way to start than with ABBA?! This week’s guest Shanika Ranasinghe is a fourth-year part-time ethnomusicology PhD student in the Department of Music – Royal Holloway, University of London. Her thesis constitutes an ethnographic study of twenty-first century ABBA fandom. In this episode we discuss how ABBA’s recent reform led Shanika to re-think her PhD topic and how she managed that shift. We also talk about the media interest that Shanika’s work has attracte...
Jan 10, 2022•22 min
In the great tradition of British TV we are re-running our Christmas special ! This episode has not one, but two guests! Chloé Bradwell is a Drama practitioner and SWW DTP funded PhD candidate at the University of Exeter and Aberystwyth University and Rachel Hopkin is a full-time, TECHNE funded PhD in the Media Arts department at Royal Holloway. Like Chloé she has returned to study after experience in industry and has worked with two of the largest theatrical agencies in the UK. In this seasonal...
Dec 13, 2021•29 min
This week we are welcoming back the marvellous Allan Kilner-Johnson! Allan is mindfulness meditation teacher alongside his work as a Senior Lecturer in English Literature and Associate Dean of Postgraduate Research at the University of Surrey. Allan talks us through the importance of the process of review within his own academic life. We talk about how academia can be very forward-focused and how a lot can be gained from taking stock of the previous work and experience. Allan draws on Kolb’s exp...
Dec 06, 2021•20 min
This week’s episode focuses on ‘finding your voice’ - both in terms of having confidence to speak about your work but also the process of discovering a way of writing about your research ideas. Our guest is Rebecca McCutcheon, a director and practice-led researcher, working across site-based practice, feminist performance and feminist theatre history. Becs talks about her own journey into the PhD through her creative practice and the experience of being pregnant whilst undertaking her doctoral r...
Nov 29, 2021•29 min
This week’s guest is Alison Miller AKA The Dissertation Coach. Alison created ‘The Academic Writers’ Space’ to provide structure and support doctoral students and academics and then, in 2000, she developed this work through The Dissertation Coach which provides programmes and specialist coaching for researchers. In this episode Alison talks about her own experience of imposter syndrome during her doctoral studies and how she developed structures to support her own mental well-being . Alison talk...
Nov 22, 2021•30 min
This week we are talking to Lisa Munro who specialises in helping academic writers through writing retreats, workshops, coaching, and editing. Lisa talks about her journey into and through her PhD . She also discusses how this led to her current work and business. We discuss how to avoid the shame and fear that writing can bring up and to look to cultivate joyful writing practices instead. Lisa talks about the power of writing with others and about her ‘shut up and write’ sessions. She also refl...
Nov 15, 2021•23 min
This week’s guest is the fabulous Tara Brabazon. Tara is the dean of graduate research and professor of cultural studies at Flinders University , Australia; a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce ; and director of the Popular Culture Collective . Tara has a fabulous YouTube channel with a wealth of advice for postgraduate researchers covering a whole range of topics ( https://www.youtube.com/user/TaraBrabazon ) In this episode we talk about procr...
Nov 08, 2021•22 min
Dr Sarita Robinson (aka Dr Survival®) has spent the last 20 years researching how people respond to life-threatening situations. Using a psychobiological approach, Sarita has explored human behaviour in relation to preparedness, cognitive and physiological responses during stressful events, and recovery from trauma. In this episode Sarita applies what she has learnt from her survival research to help navigate the stresses of the PhD. We talk about how a near fatal experience was the catalyst for...
Nov 01, 2021•21 min
This week’s guest is Dr Juliane Borchert, an experimental physicist, occasional poet, and gardening enthusiast! She studied in Berlin, Halle (Saale), Groningen, and Oxford. She was awarded a DPhil in Condensed Matter Physics from the University of Oxford and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge and AMOLF institute in Amsterdam. Her research focuses on novel materials for use in solar cells and LEDs. She is active in several initiatives to make physics more inclusive an...
Oct 25, 2021•24 min
Lynn Koworera has a background in Adult Nursing BSc and Physician Associate MSc . She has a post registration qualification in advanced non medical prescribing and she has practical experience working in the NHS tertiary centres and large NHS trusts in specialities such as care of the elderly, dermatology and clinical research. Lynn has spent her most recent clinical career in general practice . In this interview Lynn talks about how the desire to do a PhD has been with her since childhood. Lynn...
Oct 18, 2021•27 min
This week’s guest is the amazing Gilly McKeown AKA @neurodivergent_researcher . We begin by talking through the twists and turns of Gilly’s own story ; and her spirit of curiosity will be an inspiration to anyone who is still trying to find their ‘thing’. We then talk about her own late diagnosis of Autism and self-diagnosis of ADHD and the possibilities and challenges she faces as a neurodivergent scholar. Gilly shares some of the strategies that she has found usefu l and promotes finding commu...
Oct 10, 2021•27 min
This week’s episode is all about the importance of friends on the PhD journey! Milensu Shanyinde is a PhD candidate at University College London. Her research examines the complication of managing HIV in relation to Hepatitis C in persons seen for routine clinical care in Italy. She also works part time as a clinical trial statistician at Oxford University and was one of the team working on a nationwide study to find COVID-19 treatments . Milensu talks about how her fr iends helped her in her de...
Oct 04, 2021•20 min
We are kicking off the new season with the fabulous Devon Price ! Devon is a social psychologist, writer, activist, and professor at Loyola University of Chicago's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Devon has published widely including their book Laziness Does Not Exist which came out in 2020. In this episode we reflect on Devon’s own experiences of graduate school and how the reality of that experience did not match expectations. We then dive into what Devon calls “the laziness lie”...
Sep 27, 2021•24 min
It’s the final episode of Season 3! It’s gone so quickly and I am so grateful to the wonderful guests who have made it so awesome! And, talking of awesome guests, who better to create a big finish for this series than Melanie Smith?! Dr Melanie Smith is Reader Emerita at Cardiff University School of Law and Politics and an independent expert and research consultant in the broad field of European constitutional and administrative law, with a specific focus on enforcement of EU law across a broad ...
Jul 19, 2021•22 min
Precarity is, unfortunately, a familiar experience for many PhD students - particularly in the strange times that we find ourselves in. This week’s episode touches on both the precarity brought about by the pandemic but also the on-going precarious nature of employment within the Higher Education sector. Bee talks about their own experience of the PhD process and the importance of assembling a team that support the work you are doing. We explore researching during the pandemic and the challenges...
Jul 12, 2021•29 min
This week is all about how to survive your viva ! Nathan Ryder runs skills training for PhD students with a signature course entitled ‘Viva Survivor’ and daily blog of viva prep help. In this episode Nathan talks about his own experience of a PhD in Mathematics at the University of Liverpool and the importance of the support his supervisor gave him . We then talk about his move into supporting PGRs as an independent researcher-developer. Nathan has lots of encouraging thoughts to share - such as...
Jul 05, 2021•24 min
This week’s episode focuses on the experience of Sam Belfrage a full time PhD student at the University of Winchester, in the Faculty of Health and Well-being. Sam identifies as a working class academic and first generation university student . Her research is exploring community based interventions to improve health literacy, with a focus on parents of pre-school children. Sam talks about the experience of coming from a family that didn’t really value education and how that impacted on her jour...
Jun 28, 2021•34 min
Productivity is an issue that PhD students often struggle with and this week’s episode offers lots of practical advice to help you through! Dr Kate Litterer is a Productivity Coach, independent scholar, and author who lives outside Boston, Massachusetts in the U.S. Kate received her MFA degree in Creative Writing and her Master's degree and Doctoral degree in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In this episode we talk about Kate’s journey through an MFA; into a...
Jun 21, 2021•21 min
Elisa Webb describes herself as a student, teacher, writer - her debut novel Darkling Park was published with Patrician Press. In this week’s episode she shares her journey through building a successful career; through burnout and depression; and on into a Practice-based Southern Gothic Imaginative Writing PhD. We talk about the experience of crisis/crossroads and how Elisa decided to make returning to study for a PhD a positive step forward. We talk about being a first generation student going ...
Jun 14, 2021•29 min
This week I talk to Professor Vernon Trafford about what a PhD examiner is looking for in your thesis. Vernon Trafford is Professor Emeritus at Anglia Ruskin University, UK and Research Associate at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He has held visiting professorships in India, Scandinavia, Singapore, South Africa and consultancies for the British Council, OECD, UNICEF and the World Bank. His publications, conference presentations and workshops relate to the nature of doctorateness. In this...
Jun 05, 2021•27 min
This week’s episode picks up on some of the themes from last week in terms of negotiating caring responsibilities alongside completing research work but it also explores the importance of supporting diversity and inclusion in academia. Jen Leigh is a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education and Academic Practice within the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Kent and, amongst many other things, the Vice-Chair (People) of WISC (Women in Supramolecular Chemistry) . In this epi...
May 31, 2021•23 min
This week’s episode focuses on the PhD and motherhood as Anna Woolf shares her insights and experiences. Anna is a Ph.D. candidate at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Her research examines socially engaged arts , health and applied theatre in relation to teenagers with the complex autoimmune disease juvenile idiopathic arthritis. In this interview Anna reflects on her personal connection to her PhD topic . She also talks about how her life situation has meant that she has needed to ...
May 24, 2021•23 min
This week we are exploring how to enjoy writing your PhD . Our guest Dee Reynolds is a proofreader and copy editor, and an academic writing mentor . She is a Professor Emerita (French Studies, University of Manchester) with a long career in research and publishing on topics ranging from French poetry to contemporary dance and neuroscience. Dee talks about the pleasure she found in her own PhD journey and the importance of following your gut-instinct and about collaborating with people along the ...
Apr 30, 2021•34 min
We are back for Season Three!! I do hope that you found some time over Easter to rest and feel ready for the new term? As if we ever feel ready for the new term?!! This week’s guest is Jeff Weingarten who is a Professor of Language and Liberal Studies at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, Canada. Jeff reflects on his own difficult journey through the PhD and how he came to reflect on the narrative he had created for himself . He talks about the process towards finding meaning in his work and h...
Apr 26, 2021•24 min
It’s the last episode of Season Two! Allan Kilner-Johnson shares his own journey through his PhD and into his mindfulness practice. Allan is a mindfulness meditation teacher alongside his work as a Senior Lecturer in English Literature and Associate Dean of Postgraduate Research at the University of Surrey. Allan proposes Jon Kabat-Zinn’s definition of mindfulness as “the awareness of the present moment without judgment”. He offers a practical ‘anchoring’ exercise to help ground yourself in the ...
Mar 22, 2021•27 min
This week’s guest is Nicole Brown - Director of Social Research & Practice and Education Ltd. and Lecturer in Education at the UCL Institute of Education. Nicole was awarded her PhD in Sociology at the University of Kent for her thesis “The ‘I’ in fibromyalgia: the construction of academic identity under the influence of fibromyalgia”. Nicole begins by talking about her own journey through the PhD as a part-time, mature student . We then talk about what to do with all the ideas that come to ...
Mar 15, 2021•22 min
This week’s episode is all about getting to the finish line of your PhD ! Rowena Murray runs writing retreats for writers - with a particular specialism in working with academics and doctoral students. Her publications include How to Write a Thesis, Writing for Academic Journals and How to Survive Your Viva . In this episode we talk about what Rowena calls the ‘endgame’ of the thesis . This is the moment when you are looking to draw together your work into a coherent document. Rowena explores th...
Mar 08, 2021•25 min
This week’s episode explores creativity, mental health and the PhD process . Theo Stickley trained in mental health nursing and then did an MA in Counselling and qualified as a counsellor and worked as a nurse. In 2000 he began teaching at the University of Nottingham where he worked until 2019 when he retired. His PhD was in the arts and mental health. He supervised 11 PhD students and has externally examined 15 theses. He has 140 publications and now volunteers with a charity befriending asylu...
Feb 27, 2021•33 min
This episode deals with the financial impact of undertaking a PhD . Emily Roberts is a personal finance educator specializing in early-career PhDs based in the U.S. Emily draws on her own experience as a graduate student to support others to make the most of their money. In this conversation we talk about the ‘opportunity cost’ of doctoral study and the potential stress of financial pressures. We also talk about recognising - and challenging! - the scarcity mindset of academia . Emily also offer...
Feb 22, 2021•31 min
This week’s episode takes an honest look at the realities of the PhD journey. Nick Rowe describes himself as a “ trans-disciplinary educationalist ”, with interests in scientific communication and academic/professional development. He is a fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and the Society for Education and Training and worked as a lecturer in the UK but is now based in Finland. Nick’s latest book is The Realities of Completing a PhD: How to Plan for Success and it draws on international ...
Feb 15, 2021•28 min
