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Today, I am inviting Michael Kulakov to share his best tips for writing papers. Michael is a freelance writer, who mainly works in the field of art, academia and education. He is also majoring in Linguistics. You can reach him at his Facebook page . Writing a paper, whether it is a PhD research or a short essay, may be a huge pain. While it is fun, given that you enjoy the topic, the process of putting it together in writing takes an awful amount of time. Follow these tips and you will find that the time you spend writing your paper will decrease significantly. Take breaks As counter intuitive as it may seem, to work more efficiently, you should take breaks rather often. It may be appealing to think that you can finish the paper in a 5 hour writing binge, but more often than not, working for too many hours straight will actually decrease your productivity. Eye strain and mental fatigue will build up over time, making it harder for you to concentrate. Make sure to have a 5 minutes break...

Today, Eugene Feygin shares with us some tips and tricks for using Google Drive. Eugen has a B.S. in Advertising from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. As an SEO expert, he has published articles on the SEO trends and presented at multiple conferences on marketing research and tactics, user experience and social media management. He is the founder of a Chicago digital marketing agency Raw SEO, and enjoys studying UX from both sides—as a user testing products and as a designer using the results to spur innovation. Think of all the ways that technology has made your life easier, both at home and in the office. For starters, you’re able to store documents, photos, and more, and have access to them no matter where you are. You’re also able to share things with other people, and one of the best tools to do that is Google. Google, of course, is known as a search engine, but that’s not all that Google is. Google has a host of cloud-based tools that make accessing and editing doc...

Today, I am interviewing Dr. Rasheda L. Weaver for the "How I Work" series. Dr. Weaver is an Assistant Professor of Community Entrepreneurship in the department of Community Development and Applied Economics at the University of Vermont (UVM). She is also the Co-Director of UVM’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Living Learning Community. She conducted the first large-scale study of the social, economic, and legal activities of social enterprise (businesses that have a social and/or environmental mission) in the United States. Her research analyzes how entrepreneurship may be utilized as a strategy for poverty alleviation and community economic development. In her free time, Dr. Weaver is an avid salsa dancer and loves to make spicy Caribbean food for her husband and son. General : Current Job : Assistant Professor of Community Entrepreneurship Current Location : University of Vermont Current mobile device : Samsung Android Current computer : Mac Desktop and MacBook Air Can...

Today, I have the pleasure of inviting Kimberley Mitchell in the "How I Work" series. Kim is a registered nurse and has been an instructor in the nursing department at Red River College in Winnipeg, Canada since 2002 where she has primarily taught the least nursey stuff possible: research methods and academic writing. She also acts as faculty writing mentor and all-round advice giver. Kim is also currently a PhD student at the University of Manitoba in the College of Nursing where she is plotting her doctoral thesis to explore the Theoretical Construction and Measurement of Writing Self-Efficacy. She has designed, completed and published several studies exploring writing self-efficacy in nursing students. In 2016, Kim created the persona and blogs at https://academicswrite.wordpress.com and tweets @academicswrite in order to inspire, share, and create a community of practice related to academic writing, research, and instruction. General : Current Job : Instructor, Red Rive...

I recently ran a poll on Twitter about the average length of the PhD defense or viva. Even though we all have heard the horror stories of defenses lasting 6 hours or more, the average defense seems to last between 1 and 2 hours. Here are the results: How long did your oral PhD defense / viva last? — Dr Eva Lantsoght (@evalantsoght) January 31, 2018 You can find the wake of this poll here:

I recently received this reader email, which can be interesting for other readers of PhD Talk as well (edited for anonymity): Dear Eva Lantsoght, I earned my Bachelors of Field and M.Sc. in Field Economics from the University of Somewhere and desiring to have my PhD in the same or related field from a university in Netherlands. Can you advise me on how to go about with my application especially on how to find supervisors? Many thank in anticipation for your kind and prompt response. Sincerely, XX Here's my reply: Dear XX, Thank you for reaching out to me through my blog. If you want to apply for a PhD position in the Netherlands, there is no standard procedure through an application website. The hiring process depends on the university and on the full professor you would want to work for. The best way to find a position is to be directly in contact with a possible promotor. I don't recommend that you cold email a possible promotor. I did this, and I was lucky to be invited for ...

This post is part of the series PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: posts written for the Dutch academic career network AcademicTransfer , your go-to resource for all research positions in the Netherlands. These posts are sponsored by AcademicTransfer, and tailored to those of you interested in pursuing a research position in the Netherlands. If these posts raise your interest in working as a researcher in the Netherlands, even better - and feel free to fire away any questions you might have on this topic! In the past, we've mostly looked at the topic of academic writing from the perspective of the authors. From working on a writing habit , sustaining writing habits , working on several papers at the same time , writing academic books , setting the scene for deep work and writing and focused flow , and using a template for planning your time that facilitates writing and plan a semester accordingly. Today, we are looking at academic writing from a different perspective. As a journa...

Dear readers, I've published a new book "The A-Z of the PhD Trajectory" in the Springer Texts in Education. You can read all about it (and buy it!) on the Springer website . The book is full of new material. There are topics that I've written about in the blog, but I reworked everything and added tons of new material. I've learned that there are topics I've written more about than others on this blog, and to develop a coherent story, I had to correct that imbalance. Here's a short description of the book: This textbook is a guide to success during the PhD trajectory. The first part of this book takes the reader through all steps of the PhD trajectory, and the second part contains a unique glossary of terms and explanation relevant for PhD candidates. Written in the accessible language of the PhD Talk blogs, the book contains a great deal of practical advice for carrying out research, and presenting one’s work. It includes tips and advice from current and ...

You may remember Dr. Amber Davis from her guest posts on " How to become a productive slacker ," " Challenge your office mentality ," and " Using your physiology to your advantage ." I have excellent news - and for this exceptional news, I am publishing this newsflash outside of the regular posting scheme here. On June 11th, Amber is starting the " Stress-free PhD Programme ". It will increase your PhD productivity, re-ignite your inspiration and lower your stress levels. To celebrate the launch of the programme Amber has two free spots in class available. Join the Giveaway here .