Sharing PhD experiences across the University of Warwick and beyond
The Doctoral College at Warwick is the university body you all belong to, but you may never have realised! As Warwick PGRs, it’s your one-stop shop for all things PhD, as well as a gateway to university life beyond your department. Pierre Botcherby, PhD Life blogger and PGR Development Officer in the Doctoral College, takes… Continue Reading →
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (ED&I) is a very current concern in Higher Education. Universities are inherently diverse communities, which have grown massively in recent decades, but under-representation and issues around protected characteristics persist. Relatively understood at Undergraduate level, the understanding of these issues at PGR level still has a long way to go. By Pierre… Continue Reading →
There’s plenty we don’t know heading into a PhD, and still lots we don’t know once it’s done. But there are some things which, with hindsight, would have been reassuring to know in advance… By Pierre Botcherby
It sits, a neon blaze on the distant horizon, alone in a desert of scorched neurones, the gamblers’ paradise on which you stake the last four years. You need a strong heart and nerves of steel as you roll the dice one last time, as there’s a fortune (well, a thesis) to be won or… Continue Reading →
A skill you might not imagine practicing as part of a PhD is writing your CV and a cover letter or personal statement… once, twice, ten, twenty, a hundred times. For many PGRs, the final year of thesis is a balance between completing the writing-up and finding a new post. By Pierre Botcherby.
4 years of thesis work eventually ends. There are several end points, though, some of which were evoked in a previous piece about life between submission and viva. The run-up to submission similarly includes several end points, like the final individual chapter draft sent to supervisors or sending the full draft for their delectation. And,… Continue Reading →
The end of the thesis is quite a drawn-out affair. Between hitting the ‘submit’ button and sitting the Viva, you’re in a holding zone, agonisingly close to being PhDone. But, for many, it’s not just a waiting game, with jobs to be searched for or – maybe – begin, and the spectre of funding about… Continue Reading →
Faced with an increasingly competitive academic jobs market, PGRs are often encouraged to teach alongside their research. At Warwick in any given year, several hundred researchers work across all departments of the university teaching lectures and seminars to undergraduate and masters students. Whilst it can be immensely enjoyable and rewarding, it can also be challenging… Continue Reading →
This week, blogger Pierre talks about how to handle the dreaded task of getting enough things done. By Pierre Botcherby
PhDLife Blog 