Dr Nicole Holt is a Lecturer in Public Health and Wellbeing for the School of Allied and Public Health Professions within the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Social Care at Canterbury Christ Church University. She is currently involved in several research projects around spirituality and wellbeing. In this episode we discuss Nicole’s experience of her PhD which explored the reported relationship between Spirituality and Public Health in those who identify as Spiritual but not Religious. Nicole t...
Oct 17, 2022•22 min
Professor Brian Lobel is a performer, teacher and curator. He has shown work internationally in a range of contexts, from Harvard Medical School to the Sydney Opera House. Brian has received commissions and grants from Jerwood, UMS (Ann Arbor), the British Council and Arts Council England, among others. He is a Wellcome Trust Public Engagement Fellow and the co-founder of The Sick of the Fringe. I met Brian as his PhD examiner and, in this episode, we talk about Brian’s experience as an accident...
Oct 10, 2022•30 min
Dr. Jenny Mak is a writer and educator. Her work has been published in Entropy magazine, Read Me Anthology, and shortlisted in the 2012 InkTears Short Story Competition. Her PhD, from the University of Warwick, focused on embodied experiences of globalisation in contemporary world literature. She has taught English Literature and Creative Writing at LASALLE College of the Arts, Nanyang Technological University, and University of Warwick. In this episode we touch on a range of issues - from how P...
Oct 03, 2022•25 min
After her experience in graduate school Tonya Vetter set up The Dissertation Doctors to help others through. In this episode Tonya outlines what she calls “pursuing your PhD from the inside” - thinking about what you care about and who you want to serve with the work. We also talk about overcoming fear and shame within the doctorate and re-writing the story. We finish with a top tip for motivating yourself to keep moving forward. You can find out more about Tonya’s work here: https://www.dissert...
Sep 26, 2022•26 min
Jenn McClearen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radio, Television and Film at the University of Texas at Austin. In this episode she talks about how she has drawn on her martial arts practice to enrich her work as a researcher. Jenn reflects on her own feelings of failure in graduate school and how she worked to become less fearful about writing. She talks about how she applied her experience of training in martial arts to her PhD process and opened up to a different way of learnin...
Sep 19, 2022•30 min
Brittney Johnson is an Educational Leadership, Administration & Policy Doctoral Student. She also works full-time as a teacher. In this episode we talk about managing energy and identifying priorities on the PhD journey. Brittney talks about the necessity of working in order to fund her doctoral studies and the challenges but also benefits of that situation. She reflects on the moment she realized that she was letting her work consume her too much and how she looked to redress the balance. B...
Sep 12, 2022•33 min
Welcome to Season Seven!!! We will be back into the usual swing next week but we are starting out with a bit of a special edition on the theme of ‘new beginnings’ in conversation with my friend and colleague Allan Kilner-Johnson. In this episode we talk about how to maximise the possibilities of a fresh start at the beginning of the academic year. For those going into a new phase of their PhD study Allan offers some advice on how to rekindle the flame of your research. For those at the beginning...
Sep 05, 2022•24 min
It’s the last episode of the season! And it’s about to get messy!! Jamie Pei obtained her PhD in Women’s Studies from the University of York in 2021 and is now a PhD & life coach. She has a particular interest in helping PhD students to work with the ‘messiness’ of research , addressing both the unpredictability and uncertainties of research itself, and also the surrounding factors, challenges and wellbeing issues within the doctoral experience . For this reason, she calls herself The Messy ...
Jul 11, 2022•29 min
Dr. Katy Peplin turned her difficulties in graduate school into a coaching business built around the idea that you can be a scholar and a human at the same time . In this episode Katy talks about the processes that she put in place to support herself and manage her anxiety on her PhD journey. We discuss uncovering the unwritten codes of academia - particularly as a first generation postgrad. We identify the challenges of negotiating being both a professional and a student in the department. Katy...
Jul 04, 2022•24 min
Katie Barclay is Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in the History of Emotions, and Head of Historical and Classical Studies, University of Adelaide. She writes widely in the area of gender, family life and the history of emotions. In this episode we discuss her recently published book Academic Emotions: Feeling the Institution . We talk about the heightened emotional register of academia and Katie explores the central place of passion. We also talk about the socialisation process t...
Jun 27, 2022•27 min
Anna Clemens is an academic writing coach with a background in Chemistry and a experience as a science journalist. In this episode we talk about developing your work for publication . We talk about Anna’s own difficult PhD experience which led to her requesting a change of supervisor. We also talk about her love of writing which was developed through her doctoral journey. Anna shares advice on how to edit your work so that it is suitable for a journa l. We also discuss the process of identifying...
Jun 20, 2022•36 min
Isabeau Iqbal focuses on working with “ambitious perfectionists” and in this week’s episode she helps us unpick perfectionism and understand the elements which may be at play. We talk about ‘analysis paralysis’ and the experience of stuckness. Iabeau points out the positive elements of the perfectionist mindset and suggests ways to identify and build on your strengths. Finally, Isabeau shares a top tip about priorities and orientating yourself. Following-up the episode, Isabeau has suggested 4 a...
Jun 10, 2022•29 min
Selina Busby is a Principal Lecturer in Applied Theatre at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Her research and practice focus on theatre that invites the possibility of change, both in contemporary plays and in participatory performance. She has published widely in the field and is a co-editor of Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre . In this episode we talk about Selina’s experience of conducting research and writing up a thesis as a person with dyslexia. We talk a...
Jun 03, 2022•26 min
Ana Pineda is a scientist and a certified yoga instructor. Those two passions are combined in her mindful approach to academic life; developed with more than 15 years of research experience at top European Institutions, such as Wageningen University and the Netherlands Institute of Ecology. In today’s episode, Ana shares how she started applying her learning around calming the mind that she gained in her yoga training to the challenges of writing research papers. She has continued to explore a m...
May 27, 2022•26 min
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang was one of my first guests on the podcast. His book Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less is one that I regularly recommend to PhD researchers. Alex is a visiting scholar in History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at Stanford University. He is also the founder of Strategy and Rest , a consultancy advising companies on how to implement 4-day weeks. It’s this consultancy work that is the focus of our conversation. In this episode we talk about the possibilit...
May 20, 2022•36 min
Usman Sikander is originally from Pakistan and moved to the UK to do a PhD in Advanced Composites (aerospace engineering) at the University of Bristol. He is currently writing up his thesis and working as a Teaching Assistant (TA) and a Chief Resident (C/SR) within the university. In this episode Usman shares his top tips for surviving your PhD - particularly as an international student but the information is certainly applicable to lots of home students too! Usman talks about his experience of ...
May 13, 2022•27 min
Dr Petra Boynton is an Agony Aunt and Social Psychologist. She specialises in International Health Research from a Critical Perspective. Her books include The Research Companion and Being Well in Academia. In this episode Petra begins by reflecting on her journey through her self-funded PhD. We then address the issue of bullying in academia. We talk about Petra’s own experience of witnessing bullying in academia, as well as being bullied. We explore what to do if you are being bullied and Petra ...
May 06, 2022•37 min
A 2021 survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education found that almost 70% of US faculty members were experiencing a level of burnout. Stress and burnout are certainly very common in the academy and the pandemic has only made that worse. In this episode Nicole Janz, writer, scholar and coach, discusses her own experience of burnout within the university and what she learnt from it. We talk about symptoms and how to identify burnout. We talk about making space to check-in with yourself - and the im...
May 02, 2022•23 min
After a life changing event with breast cancer, Annie French enrolled onto an Art foundation course and has never looked back. She discovered a passion for creativity and a love of research that is leading her into a PhD. Parallel to this, Annie’s yoga practice has sustained her and help her deal with the stresses and challenges that has come her way. In this episode we talk about the particular benefits of yoga for PhD researchers. We discuss self-care; noticing patterns of behaviour and Annie ...
Apr 16, 2022•29 min
This week’s episode is a little bit different… As I look forward to welcoming you to The PhD Life Raft Summit (25th-29th April) I wanted to share a little bit about my story and why I do what I do… I talk about the passion to explore my subject which brought me back into academia and the challenges to my mental health that I experienced through my 5 years as a PhD student. I also stress the importance of community and the message that you are not alone which sits at the heart of my work and driv...
Apr 08, 2022•15 min
It’s the final episode of the season!! This episode focuses on Robert Romanyshyn’s book The Wounded Researcher: Research with Soul in Mind. This text looks at the subconscious processes at play in the research process - from how research is a vocation to dreams as a route to revelation. It opens up an alternative approach to the PhD journey and offers a range of strategies for engaging with research material. Robert Romanyshyn was the first non-analyst elected as an Affiliate Member of The Inter...
Mar 18, 2022•34 min
Jessamy Gleeson currently works as a Senior Lecturer within the National Indigenous Knowledges Education Research Innovation (NIKERI) Institute at Deakin University. She has also worked at Monash University within the Art, Design, and Architecture department, and at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne. Her PhD, from Swinburne University, was focused on contemporary forms of feminist activism within social media. Jessamy’s article Troubling/trouble in the academy: posttraumatic stress d...
Mar 11, 2022•25 min
I know that many people can relate to thinking “I’m not smart enough to finish this PhD” . This inner critical voice can, in itself, be paralysing and feed into a downward spiral where lack of progress feeds self-doubt which leads to lack of progress which feeds self doubt and so on and so painful… This week’s episode is a positivity pep-talk from Kaylie Zapanta a current doctoral candidate at the University of Southern California. Kaylie has a background as an exercise coach and trainer and she...
Mar 04, 2022•24 min
Ires Ghelien is a health care psychologist from Holland who draws on her own experience as a PhD researcher to help others navigate the PhD journey. In this episode we dive into her story of burnout and what she discovered through recovery about doing the PhD her own way! Ires talks about the importance of mindset and of approaching things as an experiment. She also shares some thoughts about how to communicate effectively with your supervisor. Ires emphasizes the importance of looking after you...
Feb 28, 2022•24 min
Kaelyn Grace Apple is a second year combined PhD student in the Department of History and African American Studies at Yale. One of her passions is demystifying academia and providing access routes to higher education and, as part of this work, she launched her own You Tube channel TheRedHeadAcademic. In this episode we Kaelyn shares her story - from not wanting to go to college at all to wanting to get on to a PhD programme! She talks about how she found support on You Tube that helped her devel...
Feb 20, 2022•25 min
We all have that inner critical voice and this week’s guest is going to help us deal with it! Amy Boyd was a K-12 educational leader who wrote her dissertation part-time while working. The challenges she experienced on her own journey led to her working to support other women in their doctoral studies. In this episode we talk about perfectionist tendencies and how to overcome them. We explore how the PhD journey can transform the person you are. We also think about how tapping into the future “D...
Feb 15, 2022•21 min
Sajni Haria is a research fellow scientist and entrepreneurial lead in a Chemistry research group at the University of Birmingham. She recently completed her PhD, where she designed and developed luminescent materials beneficial for targeted cancer therapy and enhanced diagnosis. Taking on multiple workstreams, with the added pressures of a PhD she found herself experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions throughout her PhD journey. In this episode we particularly focus on what she learnt about man...
Feb 07, 2022•22 min
Dr Rachel Marsh has a PhD in satire and teaches in the Humanities with the Open University. She is also the lead academic for the Online Pre-PhD Programme with Oxford International. Rachel has previously worked at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Dundee, and the University of St Andrews, helping international students at all levels develop critical skill sets. In this episode we discuss coming to the PhD later as part of a lifetime learning process and Rachel’s own experience of a ...
Jan 28, 2022•27 min
This week’s guest is David Vincent , Emeritus Professor of Social History at the Open University where he was Pro Vice Chancellor from 2003 to 2010. He obtained an undergraduate degree in History and Politics from the University of York, and a PhD from Cambridge University. In this episode we talk about David’s experience of the PhD and his decision to fire his original PhD supervisor! David has published widely on modern British and European history, including studies of working-class autobiogr...
Jan 24, 2022•22 min
This week’s episode is both inspirational and a cautionary tale. Catherine Pope was awarded her PhD by the University of Sussex in 2014. She talks about her own PhD experience both in terms of how she utilised her professional project-management skills within her doctoral journey but also how her own health was compromised as she undertook studying alongside full-time work. Catherine went straight into a Master’s programme having not been to university before. She then went on to complete her Ph...
Jan 17, 2022•24 min
