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10 ways to make the most of your timeas a PhD student

Get involved in events, join the chatter on Twitter – and don’t be put off by annoying words

like ‘networking’

 Need to step away from your desk? There are plenty of reasons to take a break. Photograph:

Nathan Flood/GuardianWitness

Alison Garden

Tuesday 25 November 2014 13.24 GMT

1,020 20

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As numerous articles on this network have stated, it can be tough doing a PhD:

you might not have the best relationship with your supervisor, you might be

poor, you might be overworked. We all know that it’s getting increasingly tough

to get a lecturing job or a postdoctoral position.

Here are some tips to make the most of your time as a postgraduate. Being smart

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about how you approach things is key, especially if you aren’t sure whether you

want to stay in academia. The importance of getting published goes without

saying, as does the need to focus on your thesis, so here are some other ideas to

help you enjoy the opportunities available to PhD students.

1. Network and get online

I hate the word (Caroline Magennis has written a great piece on this – she’s also on

Twitter), but it is important and, if you love your research, it can be fun. It’ll also

help with those feelings of isolation.

Get on Twitter. There’s loads on there, including engaged researchers in your

area, commentators on academia and job postings you might not see otherwise.

Obviously the top tweeters will depend on your field, but good places to start are

@jobsacuk, @thesiswhisperer, @WetheHumanities, @ANU_RSAT,

@ThomsonPat, #ECRchat and #PhDchat on Twitter. Another fantastic resource

for PhDs and early career researchers from any subject is Nadine Muller’s blog.

2. Conferences

Now this one is obvious, but it pays to be strategic. There’s no point applying to

go to five in one summer (or even worse, in your final year). You won’t get

enough of your thesis written and you’ll be stressed all year.

Plan to work your way up: start with one or two postgraduate conferences in your

first year and work from there. I find it works to balance big, important national

and international ones in your subject with small, intimate ones where you’ll

present to a room full of experts in your field who will give you better feedback,

networking and publishing opportunities.

Don’t be afraid to put together a panel. Start with fellow postgraduates. At a later

stage, get in touch with researchers who you respect in your field about putting

together a panel. They can only say no (and most will be flattered to be asked).Enquire to see if the organisers have any bursaries or travel awards for

postgraduates – and if they do, make sure you apply.

3. If you can, teach and get a Higher Education Academy accreditation for it

Try and get some teaching in your department. If it isn’t offered to PhDs, ask your

supervisor if you can shadow them for a few classes. Try and lead one or two

tutorials, or give a lecture. You could also ask neighbouring universities if they’re

looking for someone to teach. (This is a good thing to do towards the end of the

PhD when you’re looking for work). Attend training seminars hosted by your

university. Try and get HEA accreditation at associate fellow level if you get some

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teaching experience.

4. Host a symposium, conference or workshop

It doesn’t have to be a massive, multi-panel, three-day affair. A simple day or half 

day, hosted with a fellow PhD or early career academic will suffice. You’ll get to

meet people who share your passion for your subject and get in touch with

academics whose work you really admire. Plus, you’ll probably have to apply for

funding and this is excellent in itself (see below). It’ll also give you some handy

administrative experience, which seems to keep cropping up on academic job

adverts these days.

5. Apply for funding

Just try first for little pots to host a conference; go on a research trip; develop a

skills training workshop; a visiting fellowship at a library. If you want to continue

in academia, you’ll have to really perfect your grant writing skills, so you might as

well start as soon as you can. Start small, it all adds up. Practice makes perfect.

Try your university, any national association for your subject or the research

councils. Ask people who you respect to look over your funding applications and

reward readers with cake.

6. Do some outreach work

One of the most enjoyable aspects of my postgraduate study has been the workthat I’ve done with our widening participation department and Contact the

Elderly. As this blog post suggests, we need to wrestle impact back from the

Research Excellence Framework. In England, the very aptly named Brilliant Club

do great work. Get in touch with museums, art galleries, schools, cinemas,

festivals – they will be so keen to hear from you and there will be a chance to do

something creative and rewarding with your research.

7. Host an event for other postgraduatesWhile writing is a solitary process, there’s no need to be lonely. Put those funding

application skills to practice again and apply for some money to do something for

your fellow postgraduates. Run a workshop that allows you to get skills training

that is catered to your needs. Take the time to get to know your fellow

postgraduates: they will be your peers, your friends, your support network and

potential collaborators.

8. Run a project

Here’s where you can bring everything together: learn how to cultivate your time

management skills; translate your research into different spheres; develop blogs

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PhD   Academics   Higher education   Post graduate students

and websites; make key contacts inside and outside of academia; work with the

public. If you aren’t planning on an academic career or just want to cover your

 back, honing these sorts of skills is invaluable.

9. Be interdisciplinary, go to other seminars in your university

Despite specialising in literature, I found it hugely valuable to attend the

excellent modern Irish history and diaspora studies seminars at the University of 

Edinburgh. Interdisciplinary is a trendy buzz word, but venturing outside your

subject area gives you new research angles and helps you make other contacts. If 

you have a gap in your research armour, ask if you can audit an appropriate

master’s level course.

10. Develop a thick skin

The only way to do this is through applying for things and getting rejected. Your

PhD is a good time to do this, before the competition for jobs gets truly fierce.

Let’s be honest, academia is a tough ride. After all, as Samuel Beckett said: “Ever

tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”

 Alison has recently submitted her PhD at the University of Edinburgh. In 2015 she

will be a visiting fellow in American Studies at Northumbria University before taking 

up a postdoctoral position at University College Dublin funded by the Leverhulme

trust – follow her on Twitter @notsecretgarden

Enter the Guardian university awards 2015 and join the Higher Education

Network for more comment, analysis and job opportunities, direct to your inbox.

Follow us on Twitter @gdnhighered.

Do you have any tips to add? Share your advice in the comments below.

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AlisonGarden

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letusberealistic

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Thanks for these comments. There is certainly evidence to suggest that teaching is often not

prioritised as much as research in terms of securing academic employment, but I think this is slowlychanging. Many job adverts are now noting that a teaching qualification is highly desirable, if not

essential.

I think it's very important that academics learn how to teach effectively, both in terms of lecturing

and smaller scale classroom teaching. Teaching well is challenging, so there should definitely be

more support - and training - in this area.

Teaching qualifications and outreach work have no value for PhD students, at least in STEM

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AlisonGarden letusberealistic

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10 ways to make the most of your time as a PhD student1

Five things successful PhD students refuse to do2

Thanks for this. I know that the teaching is very different in STEM, but I've a friend who

recently completed her PhD in Chemistry and she worked at several Science festivals and

loved it - found it really fun and rewarding. I think it depends what you mean by 'value'.

Completely (respectfully) disagree, letusberealistic.

Being able to condense down ideas into basic principles and build up to the bigger concepts

(as a prac demonstrator, in science outreach - Wonder of Science in schools ambassador - and

as a uni teaching assistant/tutor) has:

A) enabled me to design better presentations (passed my confirmation milestone last week

with many compliments on how easy to follow and professional my speech was :D )

B) communicate my research effectively to a non-medical science graduate audience ... like

potential funding/collaboration opportunities. I have my "elevator pitch" skills seriouslyhoned.

C) has provided the opportunity to make connections with other PhD students I otherwise

would not have met, and gave me a sense of community in the midst of what can be an

isolating experience

D) and lastly, has been extremely rewarding, both on a personal level - giving back to

community - and in most cases financially rewarding too!

Ridiculously beneficial - in my experience, at least!

P.S. As I type this, I am in Cairns, having flown in from Townsville tonight and Brisbane the

day before that, on an expenses paid trip to host regional student science conferences in Qld

with the Wonder of Science program. Seeing these yr 6-9 students present their hard work,

which we have scaffolded them and encouraged their inquiry-based learning skills through,

refocusses me on my research and why I love STEM. So

E) travel opportunities and

F) inspiration for my own PhD

can be added to the list, too.

in higher education network across the guardian

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