Feeling lonely is one of the most common difficulties for PhD students - particularly those studying overseas.

 

This week’s podcast talks to Georgina Binnie who founded the ‘Writing Back’ project in 2014; the award-winning scheme matches home-based and international University of Leed students as pen pals with older correspondents recruited via engagement with 26 local charities.  

 

You can find out more about the project here:  https://www.writingback.co.uk/

 

In our interview Georgina talks about the scope of the project.  She also shares how her work on the project opened up a whole new career trajectory for her.  

 

Georgina talks about the importance of the quality of connection rather than the quantity of people you are in communication with.  

 

Georgina recommends volunteering or setting up your own project as an excellent way to mitigate the loneliness of PhD research.

 

You can contact Georgina here: 

https://twitter.com/GeorginaBinnie

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1579-075X