In this episode, we dive into the concept of impact in research—what it is, why it’s crucial, and how you can plan for it even at the PhD stage. We explore how impact goes beyond simple dissemination or public engagement, aiming for real change in society, the economy, culture, policy, health, and beyond. Our conversation covers practical ways to identify beneficiaries and stakeholders, the significance of short-, medium-, and long-term impact planning, and the essential components of reach...

In this episode, we explore why a strong narrative is the backbone of a successful PhD. It’s not just about compiling studies or chapters; it’s about weaving them into a story that’s engaging and easy to follow. We discuss how to build a compelling pitch that answers essential questions and captivates your audience.   You’ll also hear tips for refining your PhD story, from visualising your work with simple tools to structuring your thesis in a way that flows naturally. Finally, we share...

Get ready for the best season yet! Season 3 is almost here, and we’re taking your PhD journey to new heights. From building a standout PhD narrative to navigating tricky co-worker dynamics, this season is packed with insights that will help you create impactful research and get the recognition you deserve. Stay tuned for expert tips on balancing work and study, mastering the art of media attention, and much more. Launching late September/early October— we'll see you soon!

This week, hosts Arun and Julia share personal experiences and practical guidance on handling criticism effectively. They emphasize the universality of criticism and the need to recognize its emotional impact, advising listeners to step away and regain perspective when it stings. The episode provides insights on embracing feedback by considering the reviewer's perspective, depersonalizing criticism, and maintaining professionalism in responses. Additionally, Arun and Julia stress the...

In Season 2 Episode 8, hosts Arun and Julia discuss the critical issue of plagiarism, shedding light on its various forms and offering valuable tips on how to avoid it. They emphasize that plagiarism involves taking someone else's work or ideas and presenting them as one's own. Arun and Julia caution against the serious consequences of plagiarism, citing examples of individuals who have faced academic and professional repercussions for this unethical practice. They highlight the importance of...

In the latest episode of "How to PhD," hosts Arun and Julia discuss practical strategies for graduate students to supplement their income during their doctoral studies. As the cost of living continues to rise, finding additional sources of cash becomes crucial. Arun and Julia, who were fortunate to have fully funded positions during their own doctorates, share their insights and suggestions for both on-campus and off-campus opportunities. Within the university, they recommend exploring...

Welcome back to "How to PhD," Season 2, Episode 6! In this episode, Arun and Julia are your guides on a journey to boost and maintain your writing motivation. Writing is at the core of every PhD, but staying motivated can often feel like an uphill battle. Arun and Julia share their own experiences and dive deep into valuable insights and strategies to reignite your passion for writing. Discover how to visualize and track your progress effectively with word counts, goal setting, personal...

In Season 2, Episode 5 of "How to PhD," hosts Arun and Julia address the daunting issue of dealing with intimidating supervisors during your PhD. They dive into why supervisors can be intimidating and provide actionable strategies to manage these relationships effectively. Their advice includes depersonalizing the situation, understanding your supervisor's perspective, and maintaining open communication. Arun and Julia emphasize the importance of concise communication, getting to know your...

We're back! This week we're delving into the world of procrastination. But importantly, we talk about techniques that actually address the root-cause of procrastination! Join us as we give you the tools you need to kick the habit and make the most of your time

We've talked a lot about publishing in journals, but this week, we're diving in deep and going into all of the little secrets of journal publications. Learn all metrics, authorship and even maximising your citations!

Keywords are often an afterthought, but actually can be incredibly useful in ensuring your work gets the biggest reach possible. This episode, we don our SEO keyword optimisation hats and share some smart little tricks to choose the best keywords for your journal paper!

We're back! Maintaining productivity and being consistent is one of the cornerstones of a successful PhD. This week, we share some simple changes you can make if you feel you’re not making the most of your time. It’s not about working harder, but more focussed!

A very brief update on the show and when we'll return! Thank you to the entire How to PhD community for continuing to listen to the show! It means so much to us and we can't wait to come back!

Often we think of knowledge gaps as the key thing to aim for in a PhD, but actually there are many more types of gaps that can be just as powerful and useful! Tune in to learn about the many types of research gaps and a very simple tool to help you identify which ones you'd like to pursue!

Balancing spending time on journal papers vs writing your thesis chapters is a tricky one. This week, we have everything you need to know on how to find that balance between the two and what you need to prioritise during your PhD!

Never get replies to emails? Find that your supervisors don't actually answer your questions? A lot of these problems can be traced back to how you write your emails.  This week, we're going to be talking about some super simple things you can start doing straight away to optimise your email writing and hopefully get much more responses!

Public involvement and engagement are two really powerful techniques to help justify your work. Think about times you couldn't find the literature to justify what you're doing... or if you feel you're not sure what your work is going to do for the world... these techniques can help solve those!  Tune in to find out exactly why you should run them and how!

We're back again, this time with Julia's PhD story. It's different in many ways and so many things to takeaway from the experience- tune in to find out!

This week we're going into each year of our PhD journeys to show you the reality of what a PhD is. Often, all we see is that final success from people on Twitter, but actually, most PhD candidates face the same problems and challenges. We'll be talking in depth about all the challenges Arun faced AND crucially, how to overcome them!

We're back with part 2. In this second half of our collaborative episode with Prof. Sebastian Kernbach, we talk about identify the things in your life that give you energy, how to achieve a resilient mindset, managing perfectionism and how to utilise positive psychology! It's a packed episode- we hope you enjoy it!

Here's part 1 of our first ever collaborative episode! We're so happy to welcome Prof. Sebastian Kernbach to our show! Sebastian is an expert in life design, resilience, design thinking, visual thinking, and positive psychology.  In this episode we dive into the concepts of successful intelligence and energy competence to help you be a productive and creative researcher! Part 2 will be out on Wednesday! Stay tuned!!

So often supervisor relations can go awry, but this is usually down to some simple things that are being missed. Often, a lot of these issues stem from the meetings themselves. We took a look around twitter, social media and listened to our own One-to-One students to list down the most common errors made, and everything you need to know about overcoming them!

Is it better late than never? Apologies for missing a week, but we're back! This week, we dive into some of the most common mistakes we've seen in PhDs and provide you with the essential tips to avoid these pitfalls!

It's perhaps one of the last things you want to be thinking about when you're in the run up to your PhD submission, but it's good to give this some thought. Thankfully, our tips will have to ready for that process so you can rest easy knowing you have one less thing to think about in the final run up to submission!