It's been so great to get a glimpse into your PhD journey. I really enjoyed the part looking back and reflecting on what you initially thought you would do throughout the PhD - I'm about halfway through and so far what I thought I would do is so different from what I did end up doing! Like you, I think I underestimated the amount of time it actually takes to get just the thesis done, even with very few other commitments. I also definitely massively underestimated the amount of time, effort and prep it takes to work on publications, go to conferences and deliver talks! It would be really interesting to watch other videos specifically about your experiences teaching, your job search/application journey, and of course, your viva later on.
bubbyheart Thanks for the feedback! Yes, it's quite funny looking back and realising that I thought I would have time to audit so many extra courses for fun. There definitely was no time for that once the thesis got underway and conference presentations started piling up! I talked a little bit about my teaching work in one of my very first videos: ua-cam.com/video/gC_K2HxIHIU/v-deo.html. Please excuse the poor quality! I'll be uploading every Sunday for the immediate future, and will try to make one of my videos later this month about the job search.
Thank you for the wonderful video "journey" which has surely been very helpful and insightful. Congratulations, obviously, for finally submitting your thesis.I'm hoping to finish mine this year and your daily routine has encouraged me to be a bit more organised and rigorous ! Hope all goes well for your viva, keep us posted !
theo polychronis Thanks for the feedback, Theo, and good luck finishing your thesis! Once you have a full draft completed everything starts to happen much more quickly. And yes, plenty more videos to come! I'll be filming about the job search and viva prep, and will be doing weekly videos in September before and after my viva as part of an exciting collaboration… stay tuned!
A very interesting and useful summary and reflection--I wish I'd written a 'plan' like that, it would have been very funny (but mostly depressing, to be fair) to look back at it! This does also really highlight the difference between the UK PhD model and the Canadian (& I think US) one... the first two years of my PhD were taken up by course work and a minor field, the third year was the Major Field, and real work on the actual thesis didn't even start until the end of the third year. We were supposed to then finish by the end of the fifth year, though we were only guaranteed funding for 4 years. (I didn't... not even close!). Anyway, congrats again!
Aven McMaster Thank you! It was happenstance that I came across the plan again, but it has inspired me to try and write out what I hope to achieve academically over the next two years. It's definitely a useful exercise, although unimaginably harder when working within the US/Canadian system and trying to plan out five years in one go. I did a separate Masters to my PhD and can only imagine how confused my goals would have been if I wrote them out prior to the Masters degree!
Aven McMaster On a side note, I recommend this Slate article for an interesting insight into how things are changing and what new styles are being proposed: www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2015/07/uc_irvine_s_5_2_program_a_good_idea_but_the_worst_job_title_in_academia.single.html.
It's been so great to get a glimpse into your PhD journey. I really enjoyed the part looking back and reflecting on what you initially thought you would do throughout the PhD - I'm about halfway through and so far what I thought I would do is so different from what I did end up doing! Like you, I think I underestimated the amount of time it actually takes to get just the thesis done, even with very few other commitments. I also definitely massively underestimated the amount of time, effort and prep it takes to work on publications, go to conferences and deliver talks! It would be really interesting to watch other videos specifically about your experiences teaching, your job search/application journey, and of course, your viva later on.
bubbyheart Thanks for the feedback! Yes, it's quite funny looking back and realising that I thought I would have time to audit so many extra courses for fun. There definitely was no time for that once the thesis got underway and conference presentations started piling up! I talked a little bit about my teaching work in one of my very first videos: ua-cam.com/video/gC_K2HxIHIU/v-deo.html. Please excuse the poor quality! I'll be uploading every Sunday for the immediate future, and will try to make one of my videos later this month about the job search.
Thank you for the wonderful video "journey" which has surely been very helpful and insightful. Congratulations, obviously, for finally submitting your thesis.I'm hoping to finish mine this year and your daily routine has encouraged me to be a bit more organised and rigorous ! Hope all goes well for your viva, keep us posted !
theo polychronis Thanks for the feedback, Theo, and good luck finishing your thesis! Once you have a full draft completed everything starts to happen much more quickly. And yes, plenty more videos to come! I'll be filming about the job search and viva prep, and will be doing weekly videos in September before and after my viva as part of an exciting collaboration… stay tuned!
A very interesting and useful summary and reflection--I wish I'd written a 'plan' like that, it would have been very funny (but mostly depressing, to be fair) to look back at it! This does also really highlight the difference between the UK PhD model and the Canadian (& I think US) one... the first two years of my PhD were taken up by course work and a minor field, the third year was the Major Field, and real work on the actual thesis didn't even start until the end of the third year. We were supposed to then finish by the end of the fifth year, though we were only guaranteed funding for 4 years. (I didn't... not even close!). Anyway, congrats again!
Aven McMaster Thank you! It was happenstance that I came across the plan again, but it has inspired me to try and write out what I hope to achieve academically over the next two years. It's definitely a useful exercise, although unimaginably harder when working within the US/Canadian system and trying to plan out five years in one go. I did a separate Masters to my PhD and can only imagine how confused my goals would have been if I wrote them out prior to the Masters degree!
Aven McMaster On a side note, I recommend this Slate article for an interesting insight into how things are changing and what new styles are being proposed: www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2015/07/uc_irvine_s_5_2_program_a_good_idea_but_the_worst_job_title_in_academia.single.html.
For the record, I did a one-year Master's as well, before the PhD. Long road! And thanks for the link.
This is really great advice, especially about formatting. Is it too early for me as an undergraduate to be worrying about this? 😅