Table of Contents
Introduction
Part 1: How to make a good start
Chapter 1: What to expect
Chapter 2: Clarify your personal goals
Chapter 3: Establish supervisory relationships
Chapter 4: Plot your course
Chapter 5: Create good habits
Chapter 6: Build support networks
Part 2: How to get going
Chapter 7: Lay the foundations
Chapter 8: Set your scope
Chapter 9: Identify tasks
Chapter 10: Schedule tasks
Chapter 11: Bulletproof your plan
Chapter 12: Take charge of your time
Chapter 13: Communicate persuasively
Part 3: How to keep going
Chapter 14: Boost your resilience
Chapter 15: Overcome procrastination
Chapter 16: Track your progress
Chapter 17: Look ahead
Chapter 18: Deal with setbacks
Chapter 19: Handle conflict and confrontation
Part 4: How to get it finished
Chapter 20: Get it all done
Chapter 21: Hang in there
Chapter 22: Get ready for the viva
Chapter 23: Take the next step
About this book
“This book will undoubtedly become a must read for every PhD student.”
Dr Steven McCabe, Associate Professor, Birmingham City University, UK
Based on the authors successful training courses run around the world for thousands of PhD students, and drawing on personal experiences of completing their own doctoral degrees, this book offers tried and tested approaches to help students at all stages meet the demands of a PhD.
Full of practical and highly applicable tools, techniques, activities and templates, The PhD Handbook looks beyond research challenges to provide an accessibly written step-by-step guide to the wider project management and personal effectiveness skills needed throughout your journey toward a successful and timely qualification. Each chapter focuses on the most common issues PhD students encounter, including how to:
- Create a useful plan when you don’t know what you’re doing
- Actively shape a positive supervision partnership
- Stop worrying and start working
- Get the most out of every day
- Get going again if you get stuck
- Bounce back when things go wrong
- Use your PhD as the launchpad for your future career
As well as helping you make the most of the doctoral experience, the book also provides a toolbox of transferable skills that you will find useful in setting yourself up for a successful career beyond your degree.
Dr Rosie Doyle is a highly respected trainer and coach, with a career of more than 25 years specialising in personal effectiveness, teamworking and leadership. She works in the UK and Europe with clients in the university, space industry, arts and charity sectors. She completed her PhD in 2009 at the University of St Andrews, UK.
Dr Fraser Robertson is an internationally acclaimed trainer, consultant and speaker. A project manager in the industry for over 20 years, he established Fistral Training in 2008 and specialises in supporting researchers around the globe from PhDs and PostDocs, to PIs and the Professoriate. He completed his doctoral degree at Edinburgh Napier University, UK in 2015.
Praise for the book:
“Those who’ve successfully attained a PhD stress intense frustration experienced as well as the need for self-criticism and awareness. Sustaining initial enthusiasm and maintaining positivity, especially during ‘dark days’ when things aren’t going well, is essential. The PhD Handbook by Doyle and Robertson is superbly honest about what achieving a doctorate really involves. It admirably, and elegantly, guides readers through the stages students undergo through presentation of a supportive narrative combined with easy-to-understand diagrams and vignettes. As the subtitle emphasises, students need to understand that success requires them to look after themselves in a what will be life changing and hugely rewarding process. It will undoubtedly become a must read for every PhD student.”
Dr Steven McCabe, Associate Professor, Birmingham City University, UK
“Like many books in the ‘how to get a PhD genre’, this one is packed with sound advice that researcher developers wish everyone would follow. The standout value of this book over the many other competing titles are the sections devoted to project management. These chapters an excellent primer on getting clarity on a big project before you start - and how to keep the various stakeholders happy throughout. There’s good visual tools, diagrams and worksheets that I will be using in my own teaching practice with new candidates and even PostDocs. A great addition to any supervisor or student’s bookshelf”
Professor Inger Mewburn, Director of Researcher Development, Australian National University, Australia
“Focused on the project management of PhD study, this highly interactive and practical handbook to the PhD is full of action items and templates, designed for the student who wants a detailed map for a successful start towards a successful completion.”
Dr Katherine Firth, The University of Melbourne, Australia; Author of How to Fix Your Academic Writing Trouble: A Practical Guide and Your PhD Survival Guide: Planning, Writing, and Succeeding in Your Final Year
“Undertaking a PhD is an enormous professional and personal challenge for almost everyone: Being in charge of a cutting-edge research project, often in international collaboration, creates a large number of challenges. ‘The PhD Handbook’ is an essential read to make this journey easier and more structured: It helps understand the roles of various stakeholders better and introduces essential tools and techniques to be successful. The authors adapt a hands-on approach and build on their personal experiences when describing the different stages of the PhD project.”
Prof Dr Carsten P Welsch, Head of Physics Department, University of Liverpool, UK
“Is it possible to write a guide for PhD candidates that does not overlap with what is already available? It’s almost impossible.... but Doyle and Robertson did it! Many PhD candidates regard the planning of a project as the supervisor’s weaker spot. This book pays a lot of attention to this aspect of a PhD trajectory. The career after the defense of the dissertation…. often a neglected child in the guidance. But here in the spotlight. Other highlights: the attention to stress and how to deal with it, and the power elements in the relationship with the supervisors. It’s also a must-read for every supervisor and will facilitate the communication with the candidate in an inspiring way.”
Dr Hans Sonneveld, Netherlands Center of Expertise for Doctoral Education, NL
Order your copy
If you are an instructor considering adopting this book for your course, you can order your inspection copy here; if you are a student, or indeed, anyone else interested in the book, you can buy a copy in print or eBook form here.
Terms and Conditions for Use
These resources are solely for use by customers of The PhD Handbook and should only be accessed through this Online Learning Centre.
These resources can be used to stimulate learning but should not be duplicated elsewhere.
All materials herein, videos, texts and supporting resources are subject to copyright. The resources are not to be used for commercial gain. No part of these resources should be re-uploaded elsewhere online, reproduced or altered without permission. Fistral Training and Consultancy Ltd retain copyright and IP for all templates.
