About to start PhD- any tips?

[MuddledMiddlebrow]

Hi all,

I’ve recently completed my MRes in Literary Studies and am about to submit my application for PhD- my supervisor is on board already and I’m about to approach potential second and thirds also. Now that I’m in the final stages of the application process I’m turning my mind toward doing the PhD itself and wondered if any of you lovely people had any top tips, warnings or general pearls of wisdom you could share with me please?

Much appreciated!

Will you be doing full time or part time?

My tip is to be consistent and get into a work routine. Get used to doing relatively short bursts as well rather than waiting for whole days to be free.

Establish good rapport with supervisors. Get an idea from them early on what they want from you and try to communicate what you want from them in return. Make sure they read and feed back on your work.

Be prepared to feel stupid. PhD study can drain your confidence. Don’t compare yourself to others and remember that what you read in journals and books has been through probably about 10 drafts to make it sound good.

Try to make contact with other PhD students at the uni so that you have a group of people to vent to and who can support you. Expect to feel that nobody else understands what you are going through from the outside world.

Remember that the PhD is not the sum total of your capabilities. You are much more than it and if it is going badly, it’s no reflection on you as a person. You don’t need to write a masterpiece, just enough to pass. It honestly doesn’t have to be your magnum opus.

Finally, expect a huge anti-climax when you finish. You then start to wonder why you stressed about it in the first place.

Do you want a career in academia? If so, think about publication and conference attendance as well as thinking how your PhD can be a springboard to what you want to research when you finish.

Great top tips above.

Also, think what you want this PhD for and if you are going to be disappointed if you don't become an academic. The job market in the humanities is brutal from what I understand so it helps to know this in advance, so talk to other students doing similar studies at yours and other institutions and find out what their plans are.

Tell us about your funding!

Thank you all for your responses, I didn’t get any notifications so sorry for replying so slowly!

I’m going to be doing it part time as I have a disability so have to be able to pace myself. My supervisor is going to be the same one I had for my MRes as we have a really good working relationship, her supervisory style really works for me and her expertise is the closest to my subject. I’ve also managed to get an amazing second supervisor from another faculty to support the interdisciplinary nature of my research area. I’m also really fortunate to know a few PhD students already from postgraduate student seminars groups etc but it’s all such good advice.

In terms of jobs afterwards, I’m well aware of the issues with finding work in academia. My motives for doing the doctorate are entirely focused on the wanting to do the research itself, I’m passionate about the subject and feel it needs to be written, and I need to be the one to do it! After that, I just want to share my love for the subject with others- even if that is pthp teaching. My husband is an academic so I’m well aware of the pitfalls, especially at our university.

And I’m self-funding using government doctoral loan also.

You’ll probably get someone popping up to tell you you shouldn’t self-fund. However, it depends on the circumstances and I actually know several academics in permanent posts who self-funded (people just don’t tend to shout about it because of stigma) and several long term precarious or people who have left academia who had research council funding. As long as you are under no illusions about an academic career, it can work for you. You should have a hunt around for potential funding sources beyond the obvious though- there may be some smaller bodies that offer stipends etc to students.

Good luck with it all.

As the pp said: Get used to doing relatively short bursts as well rather than waiting for whole days to be free

THIS! Mine took me years longer than I wanted because I was always waiting for a free ‘block’ of time. In the end, an hour or two every morning from about 5am was the right pattern for me. It keeps you engaged, reflective and chipping away at it, so it never feels so daunting.

Best of luck with it