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The PhD Life Raft Podcast

Doing a PhD is tough.  The PhD Life Raft is here to help get you through.

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The PhD Life Raft

It can be hard to know where to turn during a PhD, especially as universities can often feel like pressurised environments where it seems important to always been seen to be at your best. 

Hosted by Dr Emma Brodzinski PhD (supervisor, examiner and once part-time PhD student), The PhD Life Raft will focus on sharing insights and experiences around  some common issues like anxiety, procrastination,  precariousness, imposter syndrome, and work-life balance (spoiler alert – yes, it is OK to take time off at the weekend!)  We will talk to students, supervisors and experts in the field of wellbeing and mental health and share actionable tips and additonal resources.

The PhD life raft sadly can’t offer any quick fixes, but it will offer a space to discuss pressing issues; explore possible strategies; and provide sources of support for your journey. 

 

Dr Emma Brodzinski

Host

Recent Episodes

What I wished I had known when I started my PhD…

 

Season 1, Episode 1   

All Episodes

Using Your PhD Outside Academia

by | Jul 19, 2021 |

It’s the final episode of Season 3!  It’s gone so quickly and I am so grateful to the wonderful guests who have made it so awesome! And, talking of awesome guests, who better to create a big finish for this series than Melanie Smith?! Dr Melanie Smith is Reader...

The PhD and Precarity with Bee Hughes

by | Jul 11, 2021 |

Precarity is, unfortunately, a familiar experience for many PhD students - particularly in the strange times that we find ourselves in.  This week’s episode touches on both the precarity brought about by the pandemic but also the on-going precarious nature of...

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Emma Brodzinski

THE PHD LIFE RAFT PODCAST

It can be hard to know where to turn during a PhD, especially as universities can often feel like pressurised environments where it seems important to always been seen to be at your best.

Hosted by Dr Emma Brodzinski PhD (supervisor, examiner and once part-time PhD student), The PhD Life Raft will focus on sharing insights and experiences around some common issues like anxiety, procrastination, precariousness, imposter syndrome, and work-life balance (spoiler alert – yes, it is OK to take time off at the weekend!) We will talk to students, supervisors and experts in the field of wellbeing and mental health and share actionable tips and additonal resources.

The PhD life raft sadly can’t offer any quick fixes, but it will offer a space to discuss pressing issues; explore possible strategies; and provide sources of support for your journey.

Emma Brodzinski
It’s the final episode of Season 3! It’s gone so quickly and I am so grateful to the wonderful guests who have made it so awesome! And, talking of awesome guests, who better to create a big finish for this series than Melanie Smith?! Dr Melanie Smith is Reader Emerita at Cardiff University School of Law and Politics and an independent expert and research consultant in the broad field of European constitutional and administrative law, with a specific focus on enforcement of EU law across a broad policy spectrum. Melanie has provided expert advice as an independent consultant to the European Parliament (JURI, LIBE and IMCO Committees) over the last 10 years on a variety of topics from centralised Commission enforcement of EU law, to the desirability of the Administrative Procedures Act, the effectiveness of member state enforcement activities and recently on the future Digital Services Act. She is also founder of Academic Coach, which is a coaching service that offers courses and 1-1 coaching for PhD students and faculty, and workshops for Universities on all aspects of the writing process. In this episode Melanie talks about her journey out of banking and into academia and then out of academia and into consultancy and coaching! Melanie describes how she worked with the European Commission and the European Parliament as part of her PhD research and how that contact developed into the role of expert advisor. Melanie encourages PhD students to remember the value of your expertise outside of academia and the impact it can have in the ‘real world. She also talks about her work as an academic coach and how important it is to receive good quality mentoring as part of your PhD journey. Here are Melanie’s contact details: Websites /Social Media: www.academiccoach.info www.drmelaniesmith.org Twitter: @Drmelsmith & @AcademicCoach5 Facebook : @coachacademic Keep in touch with all the info on special events at by signing up to ‘Notes from the Life Raft’ here
Using Your PhD Outside Academia with Melanie Smith
YouTube Video UCVVWxhoL1DFiXHiJSI4J9Kg_z7ywAtu5o3c
Precarity is, unfortunately, a familiar experience for many PhD students - particularly in the strange times that we find ourselves in. This week’s episode touches on both the precarity brought about by the pandemic but also the on-going precarious nature of employment within the Higher Education sector. Bee talks about their own experience of the PhD process and the importance of assembling a team that support the work you are doing. We explore researching during the pandemic and the challenges of undertaking a viva via MS Teams! We also discuss Bee’s frustration with the precarity of working as a sessional lecturer which led them to their work with the union. Bee outlines some of UCU’s current campaigns and how the union can support you if you are working within HE. Here are links to further information: UCU membership FAQs: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/10509/Future-of-the-profession-free-membership-FAQs UCU pages on casualisation, including links to employment law commentary and campaigning resources: https://www.ucu.org.uk/socc_memberinfo UCU Report Second Class Academic Citizens: The dehumanising effects of casualisation in higher education (Megoran & Mason, 2020) https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/10681/second_class_academic_citizens/pdf/secondclassacademiccitizens UCU Guidance on requesting permanent contract: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/3567/Fixed-term-regulations-requesting-confirmation-of-permanence UCU Anti-Casualisation mailing list sign up (for members only): https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/5364/Login?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ucu.org.uk%2Felists PGRs as staff, not studets: https://fundthefuture.org.uk/event/pgrs-as-staff-not-students/ #CoronaContract: https://coronacontract.org/ UCU Solidarity Movement: https://www.ucusolidaritymovement.org/ Pandemic PGRs Report: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/11396/Falling-Short-report-Pandemic-PGRs?list=7268 Here are Bee’s contact details: Website: www.beehughes.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/BeeHughes_ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beehughes_art/ And here is the link to the association for Art History that we mention in the episode: https://forarthistory.org.uk/ You can sign up to Note from the Life Raft a weeklyish email with lots of information to inspire and support you on your PhD journey - just click here: https://mailchi.mp/f2dce91955c6/notes-from-the-life-raft
Precarity and PhD Students
YouTube Video UCVVWxhoL1DFiXHiJSI4J9Kg_7eV6AvtN40Q
This week is all about how to survive your viva! Nathan Ryder runs skills training for PhD students with a signature course entitled ‘Viva Survivor’ and daily blog of viva prep help. In this episode Nathan talks about his own experience of a PhD in Mathematics at the University of Liverpool and the importance of the support his supervisor gave him. We then talk about his move into supporting PGRs as an independent researcher-developer. Nathan has lots of encouraging thoughts to share - such as the reminder that, by the time you get to submission, you will be very skilled at facing difficult challenges. He offers an hourly calculation which demonstrates how the odds are on your side to succeed! He emphasises the importance of mindset and how being nervous is a positive sign of anticipation! You can find Nathan on Twitter as @DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors. His website is http://viva-survivors.com/ The author Nathan mentions in the episode is Seth Godin - he is fabulous and his own great daily blog - you can subscribe here: https://www.sethgodin.com/ While you are signing up to things you could treat yourself to ‘Notes from the Life Raft’ which comes out weekly-ish. You can join us here: https://mailchi.mp/f2dce91955c6/notes-from-the-life-raft
Surviving Your Viva with Nathan Ryder
YouTube Video UCVVWxhoL1DFiXHiJSI4J9Kg_6nmnkDzK9Xw
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