I am always surprised when I learn a new computer trick or shortcut that I probably should have known 10 years ago. So I thought I would list a couple of probably completely obvious ones that may just help you too! Ctrl + A highlights everything which makes it super easy to group things If you highlight empty cells of […]
From the very start of the dr.ofwhat blog, I have envisioned writing this particularly post. The story of my PhD. I started my PhD in 2016, I was a 22 year old starry-eyed, passionate student. I have always been innately curious, and my desire to find out stuff is what led me to starting my PhD. I was incredibly excited and felt honoured to be paid (I was scholarship funded) to research an area that I was genuinely interested in. I didn’t really have a clear idea about what I wanted to do long term, but academia was the front runner. I was also excited to have that Dr. title (as superficial as that sounds). Aside from all the positive things that I felt about starting my PhD, imposter syndrome was also very high. It did not take me long to identify how much of a steep learning curve this experience was going to be, academically, professionally, and personally. I was also lucky enough to be starting my PhD with two fellow students who I had grown close to in honours year and I met a fellow conservation psychology researcher in the office. These three girls quickly became an integral part of my life and to date they are still some of my most favourite people. The first year of the PhD was actually a bit of a drag. I started the year so excited and passionate and ready […]
Like with many people’s jobs around the world, academia has had a large switch up this year with social distancing and lock down restrictions implemented across the world. This has meant that many of us have been adapting to life online for teaching. I have been fortunate enough to land a year contract as an online course facilitator (online lecturer) […]
It has been a little while since I have updated you on where my PhD / Career is at, mainly because things have been hectic, both for me and for the world. In terms of my PhD I have finished making the corrections required and my Supervisor has recently approved these. Now I am waiting for the university committee to […]
It can be really hard to maintain focus & delay procrastination when you are studying, which can result in you only being productive for short periods of time. I have compiled a list of tips to try to prolong your study sessions for as long as you can. Hide your phone– There is way too much temptation on our small […]
1) When you don’t get a reply after you’ve spent hours working up the to courage to email someone important 2) When you don’t get a significant statistics result 3) When others appear to be way more ahead in their research than yourself 4) When you have a first meeting with someone important (either in person or via skype/zoom) 5) […]
So your proposal is conferred and you are officially a PhD Candidate (Happy Dance Please!!!). But…. what is next? The exact trajectory of each PhD student is unique because we each have a different number of studies, different methodologies, different time frames, different lifestyles, different topics etc. etc. etc. So although I cannot give you a step by step […]
This is a topic that I am particularly passionate about being a PhD candidate, like many others, who went into the industry. I am part of what is called a ‘Transformed PhD’ at my university which intends to provide PhD candidates with a broad skill set to be able to go into a range of industries. Unfortunately, I was the […]
Something I don’t think is talked about enough is adjusting to life after thesis. People had off-handily mentioned that it can be hard to know what to do once your thesis is complete because a PhD takes so much time and energy. However, no one said that it would be this hard to adjust. A PhD becomes a part of […]
I am a PhD Candidate at the University of California, Santa Cruz in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. I’m in my 6th year and wrapping up at the end of this year! It’s a bittersweet time for me because my graduate experience has been incredible, challenging, but incredible. I’ve been given the opportunity to teach field courses both locally […]