Talk to us!

We’re interested in what you think of our site…

Do you have any feedback or ideas you want to tell us? Leave us a message in the comments section!

167 Responses to Talk to us!

  1. Tapasi Mukherjee says:
    March 29, 2011 at 9:28 pm

    I find this blog very interesting. As a beginner in postgrad study, I was wondering if you give some tips on write a paper or a journal as well.

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      March 29, 2011 at 11:29 pm

      Thanks Tapasi :-)
      There are a number of articles under the ‘writing’ section which deal with the subject of academic writing, but I would also refer you to http://www.phd2published.com, which is dedicated to the subject of academic publishing. This blog is run by Dr Quinell, one of our writersand I occassionally do guest posts for it too. We plan more articles on writing as they are always popular. It helps if students share specific problems with us so feel free to give us more feedback of this kind.

      Reply
  2. Valerie Fairbrass says:
    March 30, 2011 at 4:45 am

    I could really do with a sort of PhD link-up by academic institution where I could ask someone to look something up for me in their own library. I am a book- history PhD and often need a scan/transcription of the title page of a specific edition of a text. Some US universities will scan the relevant pages but others eg Missouri charge a great deal to scan for a non-site user. Or won’t do it at all. Some catalogues give me all the information I need but others are woeful as regards 18th/19th century texts.
    I would be happy to do the same for anyone who needs something checked at Senate House, Univ of London

    Reply
  3. LinaB says:
    March 31, 2011 at 9:10 pm

    How about something on research paradigms, epistemology and ontology etc? How to approach these, disentangle them and decide where you fit or sit?

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      April 8, 2011 at 12:03 pm

      I try to avoid content of the thesis and methodology beyond very general observations here – mostly because I am trying to encompass all PhD students working in all disciplines. I think it’s a great idea for a blog though – sharing practical tips on working through various methodologies and analysis would be fertile territory for someone to explore.

      Reply
  4. Nicole Bush says:
    April 8, 2011 at 5:02 am

    Hi there! I read your blog quite often, and read something a few weeks ago which I’m trying to trace! (I’m quite sure I read it via your blog; if not, please let me know if I’m barking up the wrong tree!)

    It was to do with apps and other programmes which help researchers with organising stuff/productivity. It was described as software which could ensure that if your browser fails while writing a blog post, the text wouldn’t be lost as the programme could recover it. Does this sound familiar? If so, I’d love to know the name of the programme!

    On a side note while I’m here, this is a great resource you run; I’m only 3 months into my PhD and I know it’s going to be invaluable as the months and years progress!

    Many thanks,
    Nicole Bush

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      April 8, 2011 at 12:05 pm

      Thanks Nicole – it could be evernote or zotero – if you type either of those (or scrivener) into the search field you’ll get posts on new technology. Usually the most interesting software suggestions appear in the comments section. Cheers.

      Reply
  5. Karenmca says:
    April 11, 2011 at 3:19 am

    Valerie needs to access Eighteenth Century Collections Online – a fabulous database of searchable full-text materials. Go to your Uni Library catalogue and look for electronic resources. You probably have to have either an Athens login or use Shibboleth (where you choose your institution from a list, then use your normal uni username and password).

    There’s another free resource that I’ll look up for you then come back and post details. And also, look for your texts in GoogleBooks.com – you’d be amazed what comes up there.

    Reply
  6. Karenmca says:
    April 11, 2011 at 3:22 am

    Ah, it’s the Internet Archive. http://www.archive.org/ – why not take a look to see if any of your sources are there?

    Reply
  7. Dyda says:
    April 15, 2011 at 2:04 am

    Hi,

    Can you please explain about self reference in the thesis? Why some use I and some people use WE??

    Thanks.

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      April 15, 2011 at 12:26 pm

      Usually it has to do with how many people worked on the research. Sometimes, in the bench sciences for example, students will work in a team for some of the results. Other times people are referring to work they have done outside of the thesis with others. It’s more common to see it in journal articles than in a thesis. If you want a good reference on the use of the personal pronoun look at “Helping Doctoral candidates to write” by Kamler and Thomson (2006)

      Reply
  8. Thesis Nazi says:
    May 11, 2011 at 1:26 am

    I was working through a student’s PhD thesis today – and the text threw up an interesting issue. When a student is trying to overview and make sense of a topic that has received little scholarly attention, and also is trying to critique aspects of professional practice that when scrutinised from a neutral position are less than satisfactory – but everyone in the industry keeps silent about them – because they are either in the too hard basket or that these poor practices are very convenient for those in established positions in the profession, when the student wants to pinpoint these poor practices – there is virtually no stable textual cross referencing that actually documents these taken for granted activities – as they are just how the industry has always done things. In trying to suggest that the ways set out in the thesis will offer an improvement – it is hard to name/deconstruct the status quo – without either seeming smug or setting up straw men – that is making broad self-serving arguments about the errors of the Others than oneself but with no supporting evidence – and the curious thing is that one is in the position where such a stratagem almost becomes unavoidable – given that I think that narcissistic blind spots are one of the perils of practitioner reflection and requires a high level of self knowledge and restraint to edit out – what do you think Thesis Whisperer??

    Reply
  9. Auzziechap says:
    May 14, 2011 at 2:27 am

    I have just finished all the assignments for a prerequisite subject ‘Research Methods’ and I am supposed to start working on my PhD soon. I am based off-shore. Should I wait for the supervisor to contact me, or should I take the initiative and contact him?
    I just started reading your blog, it is quiet interesting. You might hear from me again and again with more silly questions as I do feel slightly overwhelmed by the prospect of doing a PhD with my supervisor 6000 miles away. I do not really benefit from all the SGR seminars the university is conducting, except from the occasional slides which they put on the ‘blackboard’.

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      May 17, 2011 at 11:08 am

      Well you will be pleased to know I started the blog as the ‘outreach’ of our campus workshops. Much of the content for the on track workshops is developed here first and the comments allow discussion and questions. Feel free to ask them because they often prompt a post… and yes. I would contact your supervisor if you haven’t heard from them yet. Stay in touch!

      Reply
  10. PhDandworkingmum says:
    May 20, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    I really love your blog. Its offers me bites of information that are 100% practical given that I am mature-age, kids, full time academic position, remote PhD candidate, perfectionist, persistent…. Trying to fit all the bits of my life together, and be really good at each bit, has caused some problems. The most pressing one right now is a very stiff neck caused by too little movement and too much computer screen time. The physio assures that time, exercise and moderation in my activities will help relieve this problem.
    I suspect that I am not alone in this problem- one of your posts alluded to back problems as a result of your PhD also. Could you get a guest expert to post on helping your body physically survive a PhD?

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      May 20, 2011 at 8:15 pm

      Thanks for the lovely feedback :-) Glad to hear I am filling a gap in the PhD support mechanisms.

      My sympathies on your neck – I hope it improves… I developed tendinitis in my right arm during my PhD which is still being treated. I was just talking to my osteopath about doing just such a post on back and body problems. I’ll put it in the queue!

      Reply
      • Dr Karen McAulay says:
        May 20, 2011 at 9:37 pm

        Now, this I can sympathise with, too. I’ve had horrendous migraines & sore neck/shoulders for many months, despite medication. Working mum + doctoral studies + kids = stress. Categorically!

        However, regular swimming has made a very significant difference to me. So long as I keep doing it, the pain is very much less frequent and less severe.

        I have to warn you that I don’t just mean a splash around in the pool – I mean alot of lengths at a time, and swimming 2-4 times a week. Warning: I had to re-learn my swimming technique so I was swimming with my face in the water, not stretching my neck upwards. And I alternate between breast-stroke and back-stroke. If you could manage even 20 lengths a couple of times a week, you’d probably see the difference – luckily I’ve finished my PhD, or I wouldn’t have the time to do the amount I’m actually doing! Good luck. You’re going to feel so proud of yourself when you finish against the odds – it’s worth it.

  11. Auzziechap says:
    May 21, 2011 at 9:26 am

    I want to follow up on the previous post by PhDand workingmum, I am also doing a PhD off campus, I wonder if you can add this to the queue, talking about dealing with doing a PhD off campus, with a family and irregular academic employment, this calls for you to speak to your psychotherapist on doing a post on how not go mental with the pressures of life, kids and …a PhD.

    Reply
  12. Auzziechap says:
    May 21, 2011 at 9:29 am

    By the way Inger, I followed your advice and contacted my supervisor, haven’t heard from him yet. Maybe too busy for now.

    Reply
  13. TortoiseMum says:
    May 25, 2011 at 5:30 pm

    Hello,

    Just trying to get a handle on where (which country) this blog comes from. Is it UK or Australia?

    Also, feel free to add my blog to your blogroll: http://tortoisetales2.wordpress.com/

    It’s equal parts mummyblog and PhD student blog so might be a bit different for the usual punters ;)

    Cheers, TM.

    Reply
  14. Anna Cooper Sloan says:
    June 16, 2011 at 10:19 pm

    Hi there,

    Wanted to share my blog with you: http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/researchexchange/

    It’s not entirely unrelated to yours :) It’s a community blog by PhD students at the University of Warwick, UK, where we share our experiences of doing a PhD. It would be great if you could post it to your own page!

    best wishes,
    Anna

    Reply
  15. Karenmca says:
    June 18, 2011 at 1:50 am

    Hi, Inger. There’s a post ready for you, and another in draft waiting for me to finish off. I suspect my messages have somehow trashed themselves again, so I thought I’d try to let you know another way …!
    Cheers from Scotland.

    Reply
  16. Lucy says:
    June 25, 2011 at 1:40 am

    Dear Inger (is that your first name??), I very much enjoy the blog but I think my own experience is unique (aren’t they all??) and might throw a little light on things from another angle. I’d love to contribute an article on the problem of physical isolation, the problem of not having anyone else in the region to talk to about the academic work, being geographically (and financially) cut off, and the consolations – and cautions – of substituting academic and intradisciplinary discussion with general talk on the thesis subject – because there’s no one else to bounce ideas off. I’ve also got two young kids who can’t really understand what’s going on with Mum. Your post on parenting was great – but what about when the kids never get to see the university, because it’s too far away? Hard to inspire them then. So these are some of the battles we face here. Do you think an article would help other people?

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      June 25, 2011 at 12:10 pm

      Sounds like more than one article Lucy! Feel free to email me with them, sounds like a great addition and certainly many people will relate. There’s editorial guidelines on the ‘about’ page as well as a link to my email address. Thanks for writing in :-)

      Reply
  17. Karenmca says:
    June 29, 2011 at 5:43 am

    Hiya, Inger. I’ve submitted another posting for your review. Hopefully this “comment” will make it through the trash-filter …!

    All the best,
    Karen.

    Reply
  18. Ashley says:
    July 13, 2011 at 1:07 am

    I’m a second year PhD student in the UK, on a research trip, trying to do some data collection. It isn’t going particularly well, the specific things that I need are not where they are supposed to be and so I’m spending a lot of time waiting for it to be sorted out (by some very helpful, kind people). In the mean time, I am trying to do a couple bits and bobs, but I didn’t bring a whole lot of extra work because 1) I was expecting to not be stuck inside with my computer and 2) because I could only carry so much. I am still able to get some work done, but I was wondering if you (and others) ever feel guilty when you’re unable to make progress and if you have any suggestions for helping to put things into perspective?

    Reply
  19. jl says:
    July 13, 2011 at 6:37 pm

    Seriously, Inger? 9am on a Monday morning on a minor campus?
    Whether or not I can tear myself away from my research to see you live shall be evident on that day.

    Love the blog, btw.

    p.s. by “my research” I mean the drooly type

    Reply
  20. karenmca says:
    July 14, 2011 at 12:19 am

    Ashley, I understand the frustration. Like the time I went to the British Library (200 miles or so, at that time) , to be told the ms had been” lost due to enemy action”. This was in the pre-email era. But that meant I would NEVER see that document.

    Isn’t there a saying which basically advises us to have the wisdom to discern what we can,or cannot, influence, and then the trick is just to accept things out of our control? If you have no” work” you can get on with, how about accessing e-articles you need to read, or formatting your bibliography, or just make some” to do” lists, or do some writing ir editing… ?

    Reply
  21. Becky says:
    July 14, 2011 at 3:47 pm

    Hi Thesiswhisperer, I’m really enjoying the blog, lots of helpful advice. I was wondering if you have done a research masters? Do you have any different tips on that?

    Reply
  22. Karenmca says:
    July 22, 2011 at 3:08 am

    Hi, Inger. I’ve submitted another draft for you. Enjoy!

    Reply
  23. Diane W says:
    August 2, 2011 at 4:01 am

    Hi Inger
    Just got a set of comments from my supervisor about an article draft that included nothing very encouraging. Have not felt anything positive back from my panel from anything I’ve written at all yet.( am at 18 mo mark so have not done very much). all i hear/see is about how overly ambitious I am. I know this is an environment where there is little need seen for blowing smoke up phd’s proverbials but beginning to wonder when/if I should be considering giving this away. I guess as I write I can hear ‘talk to your supervisors’ but am not sure I would get clear answer. How do you know if you’re good enough?
    Regards
    D

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      August 2, 2011 at 11:33 am

      Hmmm, difficult question. Is the criticism directed at the standard of writing or the standard of thinking? Sometimes supervisors don’t distinguish between the two. You need to find out, because writing difficulties can be fixed – most universities have support units dedicated to this and many supervisors don’t know that there is help available. It’s common for PhD students to be overly ambitious – have they given you specific advice about what they think is unachievable? If not, ask what they would do in your position. Some supervisors have trouble giving actionable feedback and this question can help them formulate advice in a more helpful way. Good luck!

      Reply
      • Diane W says:
        August 3, 2011 at 8:17 am

        Its not about the writing. Always about the scale. I guess I just have to take the point that writing about the whole wood rather than at the most a selection of trees is all that can be reasonably attempted (despite that this still seems a bit lame) When I look at the comments however what IS present is a lot of blue line (across the balance of trees considered by supervisor unnecessary) rather than direct criticism, but there is also the absence of any particular encouragement.. This is what worries me. If I was a supervisor I would be trying to both direct and support at once. In absence of explicit support then I assume the reverse but maybe this is not necessary. I will however follow your suggestion and ask a more directed question. Thank you for suggestion, for your blog and for replying.

  24. Craig Considine says:
    August 4, 2011 at 1:32 am

    Hi, Just came across the website. Great idea. Look forward to reading in the future. If you’d like, you can add my blog to your blogroll. I’m a PhD candidate at Trinity College Dublin. http://craigconsidine.wordpress.com/ Thanks again!

    Reply
  25. Beth Lytle says:
    August 5, 2011 at 4:42 am

    Hello. What a great site! Very helpful! When working on a dissertation or thesis, don’t forget about transcription services! Transcription Connection has been in business since 2004 and we primarily work with grad students and university research departments. Take a look at our website at http://www.transcription-connection.com. You can also message me on Facebook.

    Reply
  26. Karen McAulay says:
    August 5, 2011 at 7:50 am

    And I can tell our friends and colleagues “down under” that Trinity College Dublin is a fantastic place – I was at a conference there last week. Craig’s a lucky devil!

    Reply
  27. CET says:
    August 9, 2011 at 3:19 pm

    I saw you in the paper this morning and thought I’d look you up. Your blog has almost made me cry. I have no friends doing the academic thing, not really, and I so often wonder why I’m bothering. I have two children under three, a part time tutoring job and a full time PhD enrolment. I do my PhD work two days per week and I fight for that time.

    I wanted to ask – I have a particular problem with my supervisor. He leaves me alone. I know, most people might think that’s a good thing, but it makes me worry. I am certainly self motivated and initiate all meetings at appropriate intervals, which I am fine with. When he reads a part of my thesis, he tells me it is almost faultless and leaves it at that. He is a very senior professor, has won teaching awards and many, many grants etc. But I do not believe his feedback. I just feel as though he is too busy to fully engage with my work. I cannot really believe that he thinks it’s that good. I am concerned he is unfamiliar with my field. I feel as though he takes my completion for granted even though my candidature has been protracted, interrupted and, from my point of view, a battle. What level of feedback is reasonable to expect? If you’ve addressed this in an older post I haven’t yet found, forgive me.

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      August 9, 2011 at 3:54 pm

      Hi – sorry to hear you are having a difficult time. if it’s any consolation, many do. The question about appropriate feedback is a problemmatic one. Many supervisors, even ones with a lot of experience, do not know how to give good feedback although they may be experts in their field. I encourage you to make use of the Learning at teaching people at the university of Melbourne. I studied at Melbourne and found their support invaluable. Also consider that ‘imposter syndrome is very common amongst PhD students and you may be giving yourself a harder time than you need to. I’ve written several posts on this including this one, which may offer some comfort: http://thethesiswhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/the-top-5-phdemotions/

      If you don’t trust your supervisor to give you good feedback, another good idea is to try to publish. Submitting your work to blind peer review can be challenging, but it is a good way to learn what is good about your writing and what needs work. Best of luck and keep reading – the community here is very supportive.

      Reply
  28. Karen McAulay says:
    August 9, 2011 at 6:35 pm

    Whoa! If life feels hard just now, it’s because you HAVE got a lot to deal with! If you feel low generally, that might explain why you feel neglected by your supervisor – and maybe he hasn’t realised you need more support than you’re currently getting.

    Can’t think of much to add to Inger’s excellent suggestions, except to suggest that you use the conversational/interview skill of asking questions to which he CANNOT just answer yes or no! Like emailing before your next meeting; flag up that you’d like to talk about beginning publishing papers, and ask if you could pick his brains about the best place to start. That ought to give you an opening to ask, face to face, ‘Am I covering this aspect of the subject well enough? What do you think of my structure? What do you think of my literature review? If you were a journal editor, what would you think of this?’, etc.

    Reply
    • CET says:
      August 9, 2011 at 9:44 pm

      Thank you Inger and Karen for your really thoughtful responses to my whinge. I appreciate it a lot. On the publishing front, I have published a book during my candidature but I should probably try to do some more articles. I was shocked by the ‘imposter’ idea. I absolutely think that could be me. And I will try to be more strategic in questioning Prof Supervisor. At the moment, it’s more along the lines of – isn’t that bit shit? No. But what about that bit, that bit is definitely terrible, isn’t it? No. I think my questions could definitely be more focused!
      Thanks again. I look forward to regularly reading this blog.

      Reply
  29. Valerie Fairbrass says:
    August 11, 2011 at 1:52 am

    Just got a ‘soft rejection’ for an article submitted recently. One comment from the anonymous reader was that my style was ‘clotted’. What can that mean? I’m imagining dense and thick like clotted cream. I am also wondering how much time can be legitimately spent preparing and resubmitting arcticles to journals. This one has come out of an interesting (but not wholly relevant to PhD) bit of research I did and I can see another few weeks being spent not getting on with the ‘real’ work just to polish this article. I know we are encouraged to publish but it seems very time consuming. Have looked at ‘Write that journal article in 7 days’ which has some useful ideas but would be glad of advice

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      August 11, 2011 at 11:24 am

      Clotted??! Oh my goodness. I’d hate to be that person’s student! It’s a difficult question you ask, but as a general rule having a few pubs along the way will increase your employability out the other end. You have to weigh the time spent against what other things you have to do, how prestigious the journal is and how many changes they are asking you to make. Have a read of the latest post from @researchwhisper for some good tips: http://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/journal-karma/

      Reply
      • Valerie Fairbrass says:
        August 12, 2011 at 9:08 pm

        Many thanks. The changes requested are not in content – which has been praised but in my style. I am wondering if this is because I am a mature student whose main experience of being taught how to write is a good forty years ago so perhaps students are taught differently now. Just a hypothesis. Am not looking for any future employment from this but was advised by my supervisor that at least two chapters of my thesis ought to have appeared as articles in journals and this would be the second one so I guess I’ll just get my head down and try to lighten my style – more single cream than clotted cream.

  30. Peter Anderson says:
    August 11, 2011 at 5:20 am

    At almost 3.30am in Melbourne and two months till I submit my thesis. What a great find! That I put down to my procrastinatory research skills developed over the past 3 odd years.
    Regards
    P

    Reply
  31. Dena Rosko says:
    August 12, 2011 at 11:18 am

    Hi,

    I’m currently considering doctorate programs in Australia where I can study writing (broadly conceived), communication, and social media (including blogging) as applied to health. I seek to include intersections with leadership. I wanted to know if you know to whom or where to direct me at RMIT or other universities. I’m doing my own research to that end, but it always helps to have an interpersonal connection especially when searching from afar! Be free to learn more about me at http://denarosko.com, http://textandpixels.com, and my blog http://textandpixelreflections.com. Thanks! :D

    Thank you and kindly,
    Dena
    denarosko@gmail.com
    @dena_girl
    dena.rosko (skype)

    Reply
  32. Anonymous says:
    August 13, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    Hello, I love this site. I found it after reading about it in an Australian newspaper. I wonder if you can write about revisions. I have finished my thesis, it’s been examined but now I face revisions.

    Reply
  33. Karenmca says:
    August 14, 2011 at 1:37 am

    There are probably a number of us who can relate to the question of revisions! Could you share roughly the nature and extent of the revisions you’ve been asked to make? How long do you have in which to make them, and what happens next?

    Reply
  34. Tis says:
    August 16, 2011 at 9:25 pm

    Hi,
    Thank you for your web site, it’s so great !
    Now that I am a doctor^^, I envoy describing the lifeworld of the PhD students through the cartoons.
    If your are interested in my PhD cartoons this is the link :)

    - English version: http://tis-and-thesis.blogspot.com/
    - French version: http://tis-et-these.blogspot.com/

    Tis

    Reply
  35. shuhaida says:
    August 22, 2011 at 3:56 pm

    Hi Inger,

    In the thesis, do I need permission to use the images from books or website? In an example, I took an image from a learning taxonomy and cited the book. But do I need to personally ask for the permission from the author and write “permission granted on…” ?

    Thanks.

    Reply
  36. Anonymous says:
    August 23, 2011 at 8:12 am

    Hi, this isn’t really feedback or ideas (apart from the positive feedback that I love the website – found it in the last months of my doctorate but a few articles have still made a huge difference to how I work). I’m just in a bit of a tricky-ish situation and would appreciate any suggestions from, well, anyone.

    As part of my thesis and literature review, I’ve put together a theoretical model, which includes a diagram and write-up. This was suggested by one of my supervisors and developed by me with input along the way from both my supervisors. One of my supervisors is writing and editing a book. She has asked me whether she can use this model, and sections of my thesis (referencing me appropriately), for a chapter of her book. She has put it to me as being good for me – it will give me a publication, I wouldn’t have to do much work at all… because she would be first author. My gut feeling is “no!” because this treads a very thin line in terms of intellectual property issues (not just mine but the fact that my other supervisor was involved in these ideas – probably more than the one who wants to put it in her book) and it is also a bit iffy ethically because of the power imbalance in our relationship. Fortunately my other supervisor supports me in my decision to say ‘no’. The three of us are currently in discussions about this issue. I’m just wondering if anyone had any thoughts to add about 1) is this kind of thing common or appropriate, and am I just overreacting? and 2) how to deal appropriately with this situation? (I am aware of who to talk to about this i.e. supervisors, then other staff in the school, etc – but any objective anonymous advice wouldn’t go amiss)

    Reply
  37. Tis says:
    August 23, 2011 at 6:56 pm

    Hi
    If she references you, where is the problem? But you can ask her NOT to copy exactly word for word the part of your thesis (it is YOUR thesis). Either sum up the main ideas or quote you. It is not acceptable to copy exactly, word for word, the part of your thesis.
    Good luck

    Reply
  38. Auzziechap says:
    August 23, 2011 at 10:50 pm

    Ignore previous posts, submitted prematurely.
    ———————————————————-
    I agree entirely with Tis. There is nothing wrong with using some of your ideas and referencing them, it is a great compliment to your intellect that your supervisor is going to use some of your ideas in their work. Mind you, they can still use it after you submit your thesis and reference you afterwards (when your thesis is in the public domain), and there is nothing you can do about it. The only difference is timing.

    So loosen up, it is not the end of the world and I am sure your supervisor is not stupid enough to copy your work word for word.
    Cheers,

    Reply
  39. Anonymous says:
    August 24, 2011 at 11:21 am

    Thanks Tis and Auzziechap for your replies. This supervisor is known for her knack for getting people to do things that are useful to her, but aren’t necessarily in their best interests, and then sometimes not fully acknowledging their help. So after working with her for a few years and having fallen victim to this, as have other students/RAs/colleagues, I’m now inclined to be a bit wary when she asks anything of me. It’s good to hear that objectively this request on its own is entirely reasonable (and as you point out, flattering even!) Thanks again :)

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      August 25, 2011 at 11:45 am

      It’s a complicated issue you raise for another reason too. Sometimes, because of the nature of the supervision arrangement, people fight over who had ideas in the first place. Ideas emerge spontaneously in dialogue. I think supervisors have to be constantly wary about the ‘slippage’ of an idea and for both parties to negotiate on how the ideas which emerge will be used. Personally I think the supervisors should give them over to the students, but not all my colleagues agree.

      Reply
  40. Louise Mayhew says:
    September 6, 2011 at 4:32 pm

    Afternoon Inger

    I was wondering if you or any of your readers could point me in the right direction of where to find advice on turning a conference publication into a conference presentation.

    I’ve written a 4000 word academic, peer reviewed paper that I’ll be presenting next month in just 20 minutes. I figure I need to almost halve the paper, and revitalise it with shorter sentences and everyday language.

    Any other tips would be much appreciated!

    Thanks again for the blog, it’s been added to my list of places to-check-each-morning.

    Reply
  41. Tis says:
    September 6, 2011 at 6:31 pm

    Hi,
    You should use too a powerpoint presentation. Do not read your paper, train before the conference
    good luck :)

    Reply
  42. Louise Mayhew says:
    September 6, 2011 at 7:04 pm

    Thank you.

    I have no issue with cutting the word length, I was more thinking along the lines of how the language needs to be adjusted.

    The powerpoint will be the star of the show! My paper is on 1970s feminist poster collectives, most of which have never been researched or seen before. They’re fabulous images.

    Reply
  43. Anonymous says:
    September 6, 2011 at 7:22 pm

    Hi,
    I wanted to present you my PhD cartoons (I have changed the web site)

    - the english version (not finish yet): https://sites.google.com/a/tis-et-these.com/thesis-seriously-damages-health/home
    - La version francaise: http://www.tis-et-these.com/ :)

    Reply
  44. Anonymous says:
    September 6, 2011 at 7:28 pm

    You right your langage has to be simple and “revitalise it with shorter sentences and everyday language” + your power point : show some images, the guideline of your presentation and the main ideas of each part of your presentation. As I said, don’t read it’s horrible for the listener. Train you for that. I used to write what I want to say, in an everyday langage, and I have a quick look at my paper when I need it.

    Reply
  45. Anonymous says:
    September 7, 2011 at 12:05 am

    Louise, Anon is quite right.

    1. Sentences must be short – there’s no point in loads of semi-colons, brackets and subclauses.
    2. If you’re too anxious to shed the script, then practise reading it out loud – with a digital voice recorder – so you can tell if you’re going too fast.
    3. Any words or phrases that trip you up, should be changed. (Think “The King’s Speech”. What’s good enough for royalty …!)
    4. Cheat! Memorise your first paragraph so you can eyeball several different parts of the auditorium before looking down at your notes!
    5. Whatever goes in a powerpoint augments the presentation, but it shouldn’t duplicate it. Don’t have too many words on the screen or Powerpoint will just shrink the text and scare to your audience!
    6. Inger – I know you enjoy Prezi, but I’ve only recently tried it. I’m having a job with sizing frames, and also with not causing sea-sickness. Can you recommend any tutorials, or could you blog about it some day, maybe?

    Reply
  46. Karenmca says:
    September 7, 2011 at 12:18 am

    Quite agree with Anon.
    1. Keep sentences short: avoid long sentences, too many semicolons, brackets, subclauses &c.
    2. Don’t let paragraphs ramble on for too many lines. If you get lost, it’s harder to find yourself!
    3. Cheat. If you don’t dare abandon the script, LEARN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH. It gives you confidence and means you can eyeball several different parts of the auditorium before you look back at your notes again!
    4. Record yourself. Are you speaking slowly and clearly enough?
    5. Any passages that you stumble over should be reworded. (Like The King’s Speech!)
    6. Powerpoint is to enhance not duplicate the words you speak. I often put just the key phrase out of a quotation, on screen – not the whole thing. (And Ppt loves to shrink your text if it’s too long!)
    7. Inger’s a Prezi enthusiast – could we persuade her to blog about it? I’ve only just started experimenting and I have problems with sizing frames and not causing seasickness as I lurch from frame to frame.
    8. If you’re using audio or other applications, make sure you’re confident with the medium and technology – and do save audio files to your usb stick. If you only have a link to something you left behind on your pc, then that’s all the audience will get – a “link” symbol! Good luck.

    Reply
  47. Anonymous says:
    September 7, 2011 at 8:18 pm

    Thank you, I’ll be sure to follow all of that wonderful advice.

    Reply
  48. Sandra Fordyce-Voorham says:
    September 13, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    Thank you for your informative Blog, Dr Mewburn. Like many others, I have learnt so much in the short 24 hours of discovering The Thesis Whisperer. I have also referred your site to my professorial supervisor at Deakin. He was uber impressed with the 3 minute thesis!

    To share back, I came across this blog incidentally Nine things Successful People Do Differently – http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/02/nine_things_successful_people.html?cm_sp=most_widget-_-default-_-Nine%20Things%20Successful%20People%20Do%20Differently
    This blog was created by Dr Heidi Halvorson and it’s worth checking out.
    Thank you to all the contributors – I have enjoyed reading your stories and top tips.
    I downloaded the Pomodoro time management app and it’s another great way of keeping focused on task.

    Reply
  49. ringobingo56 says:
    September 20, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    Hi – love your blog, very useful and insightful. I wonder if you can help me with what I see is an important productivity tool. In the old days, students used lots of index cards to catalog sources, quotes and documents. Is there an electronic equivalent of this? I can see that I might need to set up some kind of database, with cross-referencing and searhc capabilities, but I can’t be bothered getting too deep into Access or any other program. Is there something off-the-shelf that is available – that you know of? Looking forward to your response and thanks again for the great blog.

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      September 20, 2011 at 8:58 pm

      Hi and thanks :-) the latest post refers to evernote – this is what I use as a database for notes etc. I also use scrivener, which helps me keep track of notes for a specific paper I am writing. Check out the post “is your computer domesticating you” and “don’t format c:” for other tips. Cheers.

      Reply
  50. Valerie Fairbrass says:
    September 20, 2011 at 9:08 pm

    I find Microsoft OneNote absolutely brilliant as an organisational tool as it mimics my former paper way of working – concertina file type arrangements- am trying to do a paperless PhD and one third through I am managing it.

    Reply
  51. Karenmca says:
    September 24, 2011 at 8:05 am

    Hi, Inger. Have just posted another piece – interested to see what you think!

    Reply
  52. Emily says:
    October 11, 2011 at 4:20 pm

    Dear Thesis Whisperer,

    I am writing on behalf of our thesis writing circle at La Trobe University. We are all great fans of your blog and have discussed posts together and in particular new software options that you suggest. We are trying to be proactive and think of a way of communicating with each other and sharing each others’ work (for discussion) that doesn’t involve long, unwieldy emails sent back and forth across an ever expanding email list. I suggested Google Groups and set up a test example, only to find that Google has removed the ‘upload file’ feature from this platform so you can only use it as a discussion group. Google suggests instead using either Google Sites (not really appropriate) or Google Documents to link into Google Groups to share files. This sounds a bit pointless if our goal is to make communication simpler not more complicated. Add to that the need that the platform be user-friendly for all members of the group (and we are a diverse bunch!). I was wondering whether you knew of any online platforms that could perform the function that we are looking for: a discussion board to share message and to upload examples of our work.

    Thanks for this and for all your advice both here and on twitter, it is really appreciated!

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      October 11, 2011 at 5:22 pm

      Hi Emily – I can think of a few wiki type things you could use, but have asked my twitter peeps to give recommendations as they tend to be on the newest things. I’ll repost here when I have some good ideas! Cheers, i

      Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      October 12, 2011 at 12:40 pm

      ok, after some conferring in twitter I would recommend “freedcamp” as a project management / discussion thread / paper repository. There are many fee versions of the same thing, but this looks very promising. Have started playing with it myself – good luck!

      Reply
  53. TortoiseMum says:
    October 14, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    Inger I was sure that you recently wrote or tweeted about doing a thesis by publication, but now I can’t find those posts anywhere. Any chance of a pointer or did I imagine the whole thing?

    Cheers, TM.

    Reply
  54. Valerie Fairbrass says:
    October 16, 2011 at 5:32 am

    Inger,
    15 copies of my first published article arrived today from the publishers. I’m not sure what to do with them. Are they for swapping? No one’s ever given me theirs. The answer is probably staring me in the face but at the moment I can’t work out what use they could be.
    Also, I have recently had a second article accepted for publication. Two paragraphs of it replicate in subject matter (but from a different angle) though not in phraseology, some material in my first article. I have added a footnote about the first article where this appears in the second but am not sure if I should do any more than that

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      October 16, 2011 at 7:55 am

      Hi Valerie – well done for being so prolific! I would keep the paper copies to send to people who ask for the article because they don’t have access to that particular database. As for the second query: I don’t footnote, I cite myself instead so people can easily find the reference if they want to (the reference lists are often included separately so people).

      Reply
  55. CarlosEMF says:
    October 17, 2011 at 8:28 pm

    How about a use of technology in my PhD blog based on Linux and free and open-source software? I’ve been think of writing such thing for my blog and would like to cross-post.

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      October 17, 2011 at 8:30 pm

      sure – feel free to send it to me

      Reply
      • Malba Barahona says:
        October 18, 2011 at 11:03 am

        Hi!

        Thanks for this blog! Very inspiring and useful for a PhD student. What about a post on blogging for research or for reflection?
        I have just written a post on why do I blog that may be of any interest to other PhD students.
        Cheers!

        Malba

      • CarlosEMF says:
        October 19, 2011 at 6:06 am

        Oh my word! I’ve just gone back and read what I wrote – appalling grammar! Sorry, I must have been doing something else at the time. I will write the post, and I promise it will be thoroughly read and properly copy-edited.

  56. Malba Barahona says:
    October 18, 2011 at 11:13 am

    Hi again! I forgot to copy teh link of my blog, here it goes!

    http://eflteachereducation.wordpress.com/

    Reply
  57. Karenmca says:
    October 19, 2011 at 8:39 am

    That’s a very interesting blog, Malba. And your English is excellent! Coincidentally, I also blogged about why I blog, last weekend.

    It’s at http://whittakerlive.blogspot.com/2011/10/why-whittaker-blogs.html . (I should explain that it’s a library blog, but I’m a librarian with a PhD, so I tend to introduce research-support things and musicology things in amongst the more usual library stuff! As for why I call myself “Whittaker” – well, it’s the Whittaker Library, named after our first college Principal. So “Whittaker” is my alias.)

    Reply
  58. Malba Barahona says:
    October 19, 2011 at 10:11 am

    Hi! Thanks for your comment: I’ll have a look at your blog! Cheers,

    Malba http://eflteachereducation.wordpress.com/

    Reply
  59. Sarah Wright says:
    November 10, 2011 at 1:33 am

    Great question, the one about how to respond to would-be PhDs. As a PhD dropout, my immediate response is: “make sure you have a data set, or can easily access one”. I think secondary data analysis is the way to go, unless you have unlimited time and money.

    I really faltered at the dissertation stage, and could not believe how socially isolating dissertating was. I was literally climbing the walls, and finally escaped via a part-time job, which ultimately led to the creation of my own business. Self-employment is similar to PhD Land, but much less isolating.

    I have enormous respect for all doctoral students, faculty, and researchers. I also firmly believe that we doctoral dropouts are a poorly understood group. Higher education needs to address the ever-increasing time to dissertation completion.

    Finally, doctoral students must think of their committees in a certain way. Managing this group of people is often described in terms of plural marriage. As someone who has never had any personal interest in marriage, well, I knew there were alternatives. Dropping out of PhD Land was a painful but positive decision. Thankfully, my health was and is good, and my family was and is great!!

    Reply
  60. pointless person says:
    November 11, 2011 at 10:24 am

    I am feeling so desperately unmotivated. I sit in my office and try not to cry when I should be writing this thesis. Is there anything on this site – that I haven’t been able to find – that could shake me out of this? I don’t have colleagues. My supervisors leave me alone. My work is esoteric literary studies stuff that will do nothing for anyone. Any help whatsoever would be invaluable to me right now….

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      November 11, 2011 at 6:01 pm

      I feel your pain, believe me. I think everyone has had these kinds of moments where it feels like a completely pointless endeavour…. If it’s going on and on I can understand how much it would get you down. I hope you are looking for help within the uni and with your friends and family. There are a couple of posts on here which touch on some of these issues. For instance: http://thethesiswhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/5-ways-to-soothe-an-anxious-phd-student/ – particularly the last point.

      Focus on the learning, not the topic itselt.

      It’s easy – very easy – to think you aren’t learning anything. I assure you this is common and it’s only later I think you really understand what it is your have achieved – so persistence is worthwhile. I find this site http://www.selloutyoursoul.com/ particularly helpful in thinking about what you learn. It’s dedicated to providing advice for english majors to get out of academia and concentrates on ways to repackage yourself. I find some of the ways it describes’ skills and learning’ refreshingly pragmatic.

      Anyway – hang in there. I think you’ll find that the comments on many posts are full of people in all kinds of states of mind. Recognising you are not alone is surprisingly comforting I find!

      Best
      inger

      Reply
      • pointless person says:
        November 12, 2011 at 9:18 am

        Inger Mewburn, you are a wonderful, generous woman and I appreciate that comprehensive, thoughtful response so much. Every now and then, I come across a person who is doing just what they’re meant to be doing in life and I think you are one of those people. This blog is big hearted and scholarly. What a beautiful combination. Thank you.

  61. Karenmca says:
    November 11, 2011 at 7:11 pm

    Sorry things seem so bad. Forgive me if this seems intrusive – you don’t have to respond on site – but I think you need to ask yourself if this is how you feel ALL the time, most of it, or just occasionally. If it’s a big ongoing problem, you may be suffering depression, and you need help. It’s not your fault, and it’s not weakness: you wouldn’t blame yourself for a physical ailment like a sore throat, so there’s no need to feel ashamed if it’s a mental indisposition. I imagine there must be doctors and/or counselling services available through your campus?

    Not knowing where in the world you are, I don’t know what help you can access. There’s a website, Live Life to the Full (google it) which offers quick self-assessment questionnaires so you can determine just how much your sadness is affecting your day to day life. Maybe try it?

    Any chance of taking a few days off, seeing friends or family, and giving yourself a chance to reflect on precisely what aspects of your research are making you feel this way? As ThesisWhisperer asked the other day, why are you doing this research? Hopefully because you want to, and not out of a misguided sense of duty to family or former tutors?

    Reply
    • pointless person says:
      November 12, 2011 at 9:22 am

      Thank you Karen. Again, like Inger’s reply, I was touched by the generosity of spirit in your response to my little whinge. Yes, I am recovering from depression. Alone in my office with my thesis is where the struggle remains the most difficult. I am lucky, though, to have much capacity for joy beyond those walls. I will. I WILL. I WILL MOTIVATE MYSELF to do this thing. And, as for why – well, it’s a misguided sense of duty to myself. I am too far gone into it to turn back. Thank you for bothering to reply and thank you for being so kind.

      Reply
  62. Dominic Furlong says:
    December 19, 2011 at 6:19 am

    Hello Inger

    I think The Thesis Whisperer is a great site and wondered if you would be interested in me writing a guest blog-post.

    I’m in the final-year of my PhD at the Sussex School of Education and specialise in the political economy of education in developing countries.

    Since I’ve recently started using Twitter, I was thinking about something along the lines of ‘My First 10 Days on Twitter: Mistakes Made and Lessons Learned’. What do you think? What do other blog-readers think? I’m open to tweaking of the subject matter and other suggestions – whatever people would find useful and I feel comfortable blogging about, really.

    All the best

    Dominic

    Reply
  63. Wayne Joseph says:
    December 19, 2011 at 3:42 pm

    Good day,
    I am a representative of the postgraduate student association (PARSA) at The ANU, and would like to inquire about the possibility of your presenting on this at an event in February.
    Kindly contact me at your earliest convenience.
    thanks. W

    Reply
  64. Dominic Furlong says:
    December 26, 2011 at 4:29 am

    Hi Inger.

    Just noticed the link to the Thesis Whisperer from your LSE Guest Blogger bio is broken. Look here:

    http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/blog-contributors/#Inger_Mewburn

    Right, that’s my good deed for Christmas Day done ;)

    All the best. Dominic

    Reply
  65. Karenmca says:
    December 26, 2011 at 7:33 am

    Inger’s on extended vacation, but I’m sure she’ll respond next time she checks in, Dominic.

    Reply
  66. PleagleTrainer says:
    January 13, 2012 at 4:26 pm

    Just want to express my appreciation for this blog generally. Very helpful information for someone starting out on a PhD candidature this year.

    Reply
  67. PhD student to be says:
    January 17, 2012 at 11:32 am

    Just wanted to say how great this blog is. After working 2 years in a Big 4 accounting firm, I’ve decided to take 8 months leave to complete my Honours year so I can follow up with a PhD in Accounting at some point (probably sooner rather than later). Even just announcing that I’m going back to do Honours created some negative feedback like “why bother?” “you’re crazy” “it’s not something someone should do in their life.” It’s so great to read about the ups and downs of a PhD and know that you are not alone. It is no means an easy choice (a lot of people around me think it’s about sitting on your butt for 3 years doing nothing), so PhD students need all the support they can get.

    Reply
  68. Tim says:
    January 22, 2012 at 12:36 pm

    Hi inger
    Love the site it’s fantastic!
    Im on home stretch of phd ( I hope)
    I’d love you to do a post about writing phd with
    iBooks author.
    There are lots of advantages, no printing,
    easily distributable, snappy graphics.
    What do you think?

    Reply
  69. Malba Barahona says:
    January 25, 2012 at 10:13 pm

    Hey!
    This site is getting better and better! congratulations! I feel mucho understood reading the stuff you post here.

    I’d appreciate if you add my blog to your blogroll. I usually write about my research journey and my ups and downs as a phd student. http://eflteachereducation.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/whats-my-thesis/

    Cheers,

    Reply
  70. Muddle headed says:
    February 1, 2012 at 8:39 pm

    Love your work here Inger. I am doing an auto/ethnography related to my work in a cross cultural setting overseas and am about half way through my PhD. The journal entries that I have kept are my data and I am analysing them but I seem to be all over the place. I thought I would be more linear and be able to work from Intro, methodology, lit review etc but each chapter has bits of everything, so many of the issues and dilemmas seem to overlap…looking at it I think I am more into chaos theory! I guess I just have to spend more time looking at the themes that have emerged from my experiences and journal entries and field that I was working in OS. Any comments. If I didn’t have to work full-time it would be great. My Mr Thesis is very supportive and keeps leading me back to the computer.

    Reply
  71. Karina Quinn says:
    February 3, 2012 at 1:04 pm

    Dear thesis whisperer,

    here’s the problem. I have a cold (I’d like to say it’s the flu but it’s really not). I also have a one year old and a three year old, which means that my thesis days (tuesdays, thursdays, and fridays) are the closet thing I have to a day off.

    I’ve been sitting in front of my lap top feeling cruddy (aching, snotty, head pressure, the usual) and have eked out a pathetic 130 words. There have been many cups of tea and Facebook forays in this time. As a general rule I’m a productivity geek – I read about how to be more productive and then I do it. I’ve managed to write 10,000 words this month that way.

    But I’m wondering if I really should just lie down, or if I’m being weak and pathetic and need to soldier on. Either way I’m just feeling kinda bad and guilty…

    Any advice will be taken thoroughly on board and very much appreciated (I’ve now written more in this comment than I have on my thesis).

    Karina

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      February 5, 2012 at 8:58 am

      Go back to bed I reckon! Wallowing in it for a bit might do you good. Sometimes it’s just not worth pushing on. When I was doing my masters thesiswhisperer jnr had chickenpox and we were quarantined for 2 weeks. I thought I might get work done, but all I did was lie on the couch with him and watch toy story over and over. The week after I managed 5000 words – my brain clearly needed a rest. Enjoy!

      Reply
      • Karina says:
        February 5, 2012 at 10:31 am

        Shortly after writing that cry for help I gave myself permission to zone on the couch for two hours before doing the childcare pickup. I also called a phd friend who talked me through letting go of the associated guilt, and I’m glad I did. The weekend so far has involved no lying around, and with a sinus headache that’s not much fun. So thank you for the sage advice.

        Also just generally, thank you. I started my phd part time in June last year and then got a scholarship to go full time starting on the 1st of January. Much of my first 6 months was spent researching how to write a thesis without going crazy, orienting myself to the library and learning scrivener and endnote. So when I started full time, my scrivener project was up and running and I feel like I’ve been able to come out of the blocks really quickly. So again, thank you. Especially for your scrivener post and your how to write a thousand words a day post. Also the stuff on blogging gave me the motivation to start building an online presence. Much of the geeky researching about how to do research I was referring to in my first post was done on your blog. Hope your Sunday is restful,
        Karina

  72. elevenhoursahead says:
    February 9, 2012 at 10:36 am

    Hello Thesis W.

    I just read your blog about what to do when asked the “so what do you do” question in social situations. I have a related problem which I would love to hear some suggestions on. What do you do in social situations when someone says something racist, bigoted, sexist etc without sounding like an complete academic dick. I was recently at some drinks with a bunch people I had never met. One women was talking about her daughter and was saying “doesn’t he (the father) know that a mothers opinion and decisions are just count for so much more that the fathers?” As someone who studies masculinities and social expectations of men I had to hold my jaw shut to stop it hitting the table. I smiled and nodded at her and then changed the subject all the while feeling like a complete coward for not disagreeing.

    Talking to friends about it later, they all shared similar experiences. Do we have a responsibility to ‘walk the talk,’ especially when outside the comfort of our academic environment and face alienating ourselves from non-academic friends? Do we just shut our mouths because sometimes its just not worth it? Is there another way??

    Regards,
    Kiri

    Reply
  73. theresa says:
    February 10, 2012 at 11:40 am

    Hi Inger,

    I’m an ECR at James Cook Uni and I’m part of a group of “Rising Stars” who are being nurtured with extra super special Professional Development programs. We ECRs are meant to give some ideas about what PD we should have, and I wonder if you have any advice? About specific programs, or about skills/practices that good researchers should build up in the immediate post-PhD phase?

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      February 10, 2012 at 2:25 pm

      As an ECR myself I am interested in what you end up doing. I have ideas from my own point of view, but might be useful for you to talk to the research whisperer people (www.researchwhisperer.wordpress.com) at RMIT. They are intimately involved in planning the ECR program here, which is very good. For what it’s worth, I think the ‘soft skills’ like communication and resilience are very important – especially considering that a ‘high flyer’ program might include a lot of people who end up in management. Anyway, if you have trouble getting in touch with the RWs let me know.

      Reply
  74. marielle says:
    February 18, 2012 at 5:50 am

    Could you please write a couple of pieces of advice on how students should tackle the problem of an ‘R&R’ verdict? I have just received an R&R after handing in my thesis and I could do with some support.

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      February 20, 2012 at 10:01 am

      Definitely – that’s a difficult circumstance to deal with. I will put it on the list – and best of luck with your ongoing work. I hope you have decent support networks.

      Reply
  75. Carolyn Ee says:
    February 25, 2012 at 2:33 pm

    What a great blog!! I came across it while idly googling during my Orientation to Graduate Research day (:P) and I look forward to catching up on the posts! Do you know of any blogs by PhD students who are also parents to small, cute but demanding rugrats? I have a muchneglected blog carolynee.net feel free to add to your sidebar if you like! keep up the great work!

    Reply
    • Karina says:
      February 25, 2012 at 2:43 pm

      Hi Carolyn, I’m a #phdparent – lovely to meet you. I also have a small and slightly neglected blog, but I persevere so that I can meet other phd parents. Good luck.

      Reply
  76. hararhyenas says:
    March 2, 2012 at 7:29 am

    Hi,
    I’m going to be submitting in 5 months and I’m starting to realise that I’ll still be alive and probably looking for something to do after I submit. Have you written any posts about things to do beyond phd and how to go about doing them?

    Reply
  77. Becoming a Supervisor says:
    March 2, 2012 at 11:35 am

    Hello Thesis Whisperer.
    I am doing a PhD at the moment and am about to start supervising Honours theses at my university for the first time. Zero training provided, which is great! Any tips? Anywhere I can go for some guidelines? All I know is the word count required on the the project. As for managing students, etc etc, will my instincts suffice?
    Hope this question isn’t too far beyond the Thesis Whisperer subject matter…

    Reply
  78. Pamela Fruechting says:
    March 4, 2012 at 6:58 am

    I have thought of converting to Mac, and I just wondered what your experience was like. For the messy creative who has been living in Windows for 20 years, how did you transition? Was it worth it? What’s the difference in experience between the two platforms that is compelling for you? I have friends who say I am just stuck in the dark ages, but I’m fearful of the change, though I feel I am being a bit cowardly about it for fear it will not work out so neatly.

    Reply
  79. Anonymous says:
    March 4, 2012 at 7:57 pm

    I’ve been researching a lot into doing a PhD and what scares me the most is the academic career prospects once I’m finished. A lot of the information I’ve found on the internet seems to relate to doing a PhD in the USA. Are tenure positions in common in Australia and generally what are the prospects of getting a job as an academic in Australia?

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      March 5, 2012 at 1:59 pm

      Incredibly difficult to answer as it’s so discipline specific. Our ‘tenure’ is structured differently and yes, there are some problems with over supply in some areas. Your best guide is to look at job listings over time. Try http://www.unijobs.com or http://www.seek.com.au

      Reply
    • Muddle headed says:
      March 5, 2012 at 7:16 pm

      In Australia you have a much better chance of working as an academic in a Uni if you are happy to start out at a regional uni campus in a country area. As Inger said it depends on your area of research and discipline. I started out doing sessional work and marking when I started my PhD. But I was working in a school full time. As is the case with most jobs…build a network of people who work in the area you wont to work in….ask somebody to be a mentor and buy them an occasional bottle of wine to thank them! Just turn up at the uni and talk to people…you need to be ever so pleasant and helpful.
      The uni I work at has a three your probation period…..so for three years you need to get good feedback from your students and write a couple of papers or get a couple of small grants…then you get full tenure after three years. Each uni has a different system. It certainly helps if you like teaching.

      Reply
    • Muddle headed says:
      March 5, 2012 at 7:18 pm

      Hi Anonymous…..see my reply below.

      Reply
  80. marielle says:
    March 13, 2012 at 1:00 am

    Please, do offer some advice to all of us who have received an R&R. You have promised :) Feeling a bit better now, by the way, but I could do with some advice and encouragement.

    Reply
  81. Abdulrahman Hariri says:
    March 16, 2012 at 12:43 am

    I just came across you blog and I have to say it looks very helpful!

    I am a PhD student and 2 years ago I started my own Arabic Research related blog. Its not mainly a PhD only blog as it covers tips that can be applied by MSc students and so on.

    Articles I post range from things like basics of doing research to thing like tools and software packages that can help researchers do more. I also share resources and links to various other websites and academic search engines, etc…

    I would be happy if you take a look and perhaps add my blog to the list of related blogs. It can be reached here: http://www.drhariri.com

    I will be reading your blog later on and I am sure that I will find many excellent articles that I would gladly then translate and give link to the original articles on your blog.

    If you have any questions or comments please contact me directly through facebook or on twitter (@aahariri).

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      March 25, 2012 at 9:16 am

      Hi Abduirahman, thanks for writing in :-) All the posts are released under the creative commons license – so long as you acknowledge authorship I’m happy for you to translate my blog and repost as you like. Send me the link via Twitter whenever you do so I can boost it. I’ll add your blog under the sidebar. Best, inger

      Reply
  82. Lesa Beel says:
    March 18, 2012 at 8:29 am

    Hi Inger
    I have been playing around with ‘mind mapping’ and have been using free software and was wondering if you recommend or know of any software that would allow me to attach large chunks of texts to nodes? MindNode Pro keeps coming up as a recommendation on the Web… any thoughts?
    Lesa

    Reply
  83. benteh says:
    March 22, 2012 at 7:36 am

    I attended the Whisperers´ lecture on ethics, copyright and plagiarism yesterday, and many thanks for good information and a good lecture! Some of these issues are yawningly boring until you find yourself in a pickle about intellectual property, as I did with my alma mater. Then is becomes extremely interesting. Please people, read this if you will, and I would love to know what you think.. Theft. educational kings of incompetence.

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      March 25, 2012 at 9:13 am

      Goodness – what a terrible story! I’m glad to hear you got something in the end, but I’m sure it didn’t make up for all the trouble. Welcome to RMIT anyway – I hope your experience here is better!

      Reply
      • benteh says:
        March 25, 2012 at 5:29 pm

        Thanks! The sheer level of incompetence in that place begs belief, so I it can only go upward! :-D I do however think it is important for people to know about these things.

  84. Krystle says:
    March 22, 2012 at 9:46 am

    Hi! Thanks for your blogs, they are really interesting and so useful since I have just started my PhD this year in marine biology. I was wondering if you could give some advice on how to find work after you finish a PhD? I know I’m thinking a bit ahead, but a friend of mine who has just finished his PhD is really struggling to find work because he has been told that he is “over qualified” and “doesn’t have enough experience”…does this mean we have to aim for a low paid job? Or find something that doesn’t require much skill?? I know some friends that have turned to manual labour just because it pays better then a desk job!!

    Reply
  85. eleanor says:
    April 3, 2012 at 9:26 am

    Hey Dr Inger,
    Somewhere on this blog you recommended a book on doing practice based research (or maybe it was in the comments?) I have just spent many hours trawling through posts trying to find it again with no success. Do you happen to know what I mean? Did my stressed and fevered brain make it up? Please help? :)

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      April 3, 2012 at 10:39 am

      Depends – Are you after practice based research, where you examine others doing workplace or professional practice, or are you doing creative practice based research where you make stuff?

      Reply
      • eleanor says:
        April 4, 2012 at 2:47 pm

        This is the making stuff kind.

      • ingermewburn says:
        April 5, 2012 at 10:37 am

        You know, there are no really great books on methodology out there. Not ones I could recommend and feel I have really pointed to value for money. What particular aspect are you struggling with? I might be able to suggest another text altogether.

  86. Lucy says:
    April 5, 2012 at 7:01 pm

    Hello again, Inger,
    I asked a question a few months back (in the wrong section, evidently!) on a problem I had: circumstances forced my supervisor to take an extended leave, and there was no one else in the field able to supervise my research at that institution, so I found myself scouting around for an alternative supervisor. To my great good fortune, a professor at an institution on the island has agreed that, with some fairly major amendments, he will take me on as his student. So along with the whole administrative headache of withdrawing and reapplying, but having to explain my circumstances ad nauseum so that the work I’ve undertaken (two years of it) to date can be taken into account, and having to locate and review a second batch of literature, I sent an abstract off for consideration by a conference committee in London – and it was accepted. I’m on a very tight budget so I’m looking into possible funding assistance but that’s tricky, given that I fall between two stools right now – but my question (phew) is this:
    given that I’ve never presented my work outside an institution to which I’ve been associated ever in the past before (and before getting married and having kids, I had a previous life as a researcher – so now I’m both a mature student and having a second fling with academia), how important is it that I actually make the effort to go to the conference and present there? I’ve submitted the same paper for consideration as a book chapter within (what will soon by my former but is still) my present university but haven’t had word back on that yet.
    Your thoughts are welcome. I’m under a bit of time pressure to get back to London University so I’m really hoping you can give me the benefit of your experience on this one as soon as possible.

    Reply
  87. jeffrey a getchell says:
    April 11, 2012 at 4:21 am

    I am a first year college student and am stuck with the daunting task of comparing Robert Frost’s “Nothing Can Stay Gold” to Andre Dubus’ “A Fathers Story”. I need six scholarly references and this is to be an eight to ten page paper. Procrastination is my worst enemy, I simply am at a loss as to where to begin!

    Reply
  88. Lucy says:
    April 27, 2012 at 11:27 pm

    I have a number of bibliographies collated over the last couple of years. I need help organising them into one single comprehensive bibliography containing all the references to books, papers, etc, I’ve read in relation to my research so I can then go through them and subdivide them into conceptually related groups. Help Me! I downloaded lots of freeware (Mendeley, etc) but while I can get pdfs into there, I can’t get bibliographies to convert so I have a comprehensive monster list of all I’ve read. Is there anyone who might help?

    Reply
    • ingermewburn says:
      April 29, 2012 at 9:15 pm

      I know a lot of people who just use microsoft excel for this kind of task. I’m beginning to wonder if I should because no reference editor is ever right for me. If you post this onto the thesis whisperer facebook wall you might get more eyes on and comments. Best of luck!

      Reply
  89. Anonymous says:
    May 14, 2012 at 12:33 pm

    Hi,

    I am interesting in hearing how other people feel in the “limbo” period between submission of thesis and getting the results…

    Reply
  90. Sambuca says:
    May 18, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    I am currently navigating the PhD terrain and have just stumbled upon your nifty blog – and I like it!

    Please contact me if you are interested in writing a short guest post at my blog hackyourdegree.com that is aimed at undergraduates.

    Keep up the good work

    Reply
  91. BJ says:
    May 23, 2012 at 10:11 am

    How about doing a post on surviving a doctorate when you are thousands of km’s away from your campus, working and studying at the same time and trying to avoid being medicated to finish your degree. It is so hard when you dont have physical access to your supervisors, stats people, library and the support of fellow students

    Reply
    • Gary Hillali says:
      May 23, 2012 at 8:18 pm

      I could not agree more. I am exactly in the same situation and believe me when I hear about all these PhD candidate winging about how hard to get this project done and they are in the same town as their university, have access to countless books in their campus library or libraries, and their supervisor is only a couple of train stations away on the local city train, I think to myself, you lucky bastards! you should try to do a PhD working as a Regional Sales manager covering seven countries in the Middle East. I only had a couple of Skype meeting with my supervisor and a very short conversation, that does not even count.

      So spare me the drama of PhD blues if you are doing your
      PhD on campus because I would only be using the smallest violin in the world to play you the sad tunes.

      Reply
      • BJ says:
        May 23, 2012 at 9:27 pm

        My supervisor isn’t into skype which is probably just as well because the phone helps to hide the tears.

  92. Anonymous says:
    May 23, 2012 at 11:10 pm

    Phd supervisors get quite a few workload points for having students…so if they don’t want to skype they should be phoning you for at least a 30 to 60 minute conversation once a month. The uni pays for the phone call so no probs there. Just keep up with the emails to tee it all up. Sorry I am starting to sound bossy. Are you able to get books sent to you from the library if you live so far away? I download a Loy of stuff from the library site…ESP good articles. My supervisor is in Sydney and I am in melb…that makes it tricky. Ask your supervisor what money has been allocated for individual phd students as you may have money that can be used as travel for meetings at your supervisors uni. Hope this helps.

    Reply
  93. tribalstrategies says:
    May 24, 2012 at 3:11 am

    A post on this sounds good, I’d be happy to contribute, I am sitting in Lusaka, Zambia, trying to manage an organisation of 100 people and keep up with my PhD – with my supervisor back in Melbourne.

    Reply
  94. Maree Livermore says:
    May 24, 2012 at 9:12 am

    Big hello and warmth to all the out-riders. Respect for the strength of your PhD experience and for your tenacity.

    Reply
  95. Mere says:
    May 24, 2012 at 6:35 pm

    Hi there– I must say that finding the Thesis Whisperer a few months before finishing my thesis was a light in the darkness– thank you so much! I’d love a post where post-viva-survivors give some tips that they learned on the day, or some things that surprised them. Mine is coming up in a few weeks time and I’m trying to read all I can about it! (The No custard pies was a great post!)

    Reply
  96. PhDand workingmum says:
    May 27, 2012 at 3:33 pm

    Dear Thesis Whisperer. Your blog is always filled with such sensible advice that I am going to put my current problem out there for comment. My PhD advisor has requested that all writing I submit to them has Endnote turned off. The reason for this is because WORDs ‘track change’ feature produces field code change notifications which can make the document look extra chaotic. How do other advisor/student couples manage this?
    I am fortunate that my advisors are fabulous and so naturally I want to work with them in ways that maintains our relationship. However Endnote is also a fabulous tool that I really rely on and Iuse it as more than just a way to have the Reference list formatted. I am constantly using it as a database to check the content of my citations and to make sure that I have included the best citation and so on.
    Looking forward to hearing suggestions and stories from you and your community.

    Reply

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