I am now starting to put together my thesis. First step was to write a plan. There are a couple of resources on the Internet that might help you create…
Written by Heather Doran
I am a PhD student at the University of Aberdeen. My PhD is Molecular Biology and Pharmacology based. I studied Molecular Biology and Biochemistry with a year in Industry at Durham University. I then went on to work in research and development in the consumer goods industry for 12 months. I decided for my long term career and for my own personal interests I wanted to pursue a PhD – so I went for it and I am enjoying (nearly) every minute! I am really passionate about science communication and I get involved in lots of different activities that are available through the University and through being a PhD student. I hope my blog will be useful for people who are thinking of doing a PhD in any subject and also for those that are studying for their PhDs at the moment.
Things I wish I had known at the start of my PhD
I am entering the final stretch of my PhD and this is a list of things that I wish I had known (or things I wish someone would have told me)…
The value of PhD Assessments
Over the past two months I have been putting together my second year PhD assessment. This is an internal requirement for my PhD. The assessment involves submitting a ‘paper’ with my…
The PhD Student – Supervisor Relationship
The relationship between a PhD student and their supervisor(s) often exists in a delicate balance… the fundamentals of this relationship are illustrated beautifully in the PhD comics, especially this one –http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1439 But…
Getting Constructive PhD Feedback
All universities structure PhDs slightly differently with different internal asessments and requirements. Currently we have an appraisal style assessment that we need to complete every 6 months; it is a form…
The Final Year Panic
I am fast approaching the final year of my PhD (come the 1st of September it will be official). The past two years have flown by so incredibly quickly. When I…
Leaving Work to Start a PhD
I made the move from the world of work into a PhD. I tend not to think of myself as a ‘student’ and think of my PhD as a full time…
Taking a Break From Your PhD
As a PhD student you get a rather generous holiday allowance. I think I can take up to 8 weeks holiday a year. I doubt very much that I will ever get…
What Makes a PhD?
The last few weeks haven’t been particularly successful and I have started to wonder what actually makes up a PhD. I thought I would have more time to think, read…
How many hours does it take to get a PhD?
There is no way to answer this question. It seems to get asked a lot on the internet. I suppose it all depends on 1) How productive you are during…