Blog
Reflections on doing the work of being a researcher and navigating the complex relationships of academia, always with practical tools and tips.
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Welcome new blog readers: Here’s what to expect
It's so good to have you here! I'm Eleanor, and I've worked with doctoral and early career researchers for over a decade. Along the way, I've learnt an enormous amount from my own experiences (including getting a PhD from Oxford, working part- and full-time while...
2021 Full-day Writing Retreats: #WriteForCara
Collective writing has been such a core part of The Thriving Researcher activities from its very beginning and in 2021, we'll be adding an additional strand to our writing programme: three stand-alone full-day writing retreats to raise funds and awareness for the...
The calming power of consistent highlighting (Working Smarter Series)
(Raises hand as a stationary obsessive) Who doesn't love a new set of highlighter pens, or the highlighter colour palette in any onscreen reviewing tool? Their inherent promise to bring order through use, to save us time, to bring us - cheerfully - to a better way of...
The questions asked of others
Why ignore hundreds of free micro-trainings a year? A quick poll of 12 PhD students indicated that, on average, around 7 questions are asked of the speaker at every seminar they attended. At a rate of just one seminar a week during term time, that's roughly 210...
It’s our writing group’s six-month anniversary 🥳🙌
By consistently showing up for half a day a week since July last year, the Thriving Researcher writing group has racked up nearly 100 hours of writing in community. Since joining the group, members have finished chapters, submitted articles, written and delivered...
In support of gentle, attentive consistency
(Glances over shoulder at 2020 as it retreats) In 2020, thanks to Covid-19, we all experienced major changes to our lives which were outside our control, and left us variously worried, frustrated, bored, downright frightened, and heartbroken. And yet, amidst all the...
Don’t despair if your PhD chapter is turning into the never-ending story
Do you keep writing and the chapter just gets longer but never feels closer to finished? It’s frustrating and dispiriting, but if it’s a Trojan horse piece of writing, the situation is probably nowhere nearly as bad as it seems. You need to see it for what it is, and work out what do do with it to get the most out of the work you’re doing.
How To: Practical Time Management for New Doctoral Students
If you’re a new PhD student, chances are you’re concerned about how to manage your time. This post gives tried and tested practical tips to get you off to a great start!
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