PhD Talk

In today's episode, we take a deep dive into the topic of research in difficult times. We look at how COVID-19 has impacted our research and how we work - a topic we've also previously discussed with our guests on the podcast. We discuss what worked to keep going, or how to keep doing some work in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Our best advice for dealing with difficult times is:

• Learn to take stock of the situation and acknowledge the difficulty of the situation
• Practice self-compassion
• Lean on the support that others can provide you
• Actively reach out to others to check in and see how they are doing

We round off our recording with some speculations on what the future of (tele)work may look like.

References

• Eva's course on research in difficult times
• PhD research in difficult times
• Life in times of COVID-19 in Ecuador
• Supporting PhD candidates during COVID-19
• COVID-19 and research
• Challenges and opportunities for international researchers during COVID-19
• Born to run - Christopher McDougall
• Self-compassion and diet research
• More research on self-compassion

In today's episode, we interview Baris Celik from the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. In his PhD research, Baris examines the crisis management operations of the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). We learned about the research of Baris, his findings with regard to what drives certain policy decisions in situations of international conflict, as well as how he conducted the semi-structured interviews for his research and how he found his research participants.

We also learn about how Baris has been combining research and teaching, and his best advice for those who embark on research using qualitative methods. We get an overview of what the timeline of the PhD looks like in politics in the UK. To round off the interview, we also learn how Baris sets boundaries to work, how COVID-19 has impacted his daily tasks, his best advice for PhD students, and what a day in the life looks like.

References

• Assistant Lecturer profile at the School of Politics & International Relations,  University of Kent
• ORCID profile
• (2021). The “5,000-kilometre screwdriver”: German and French police training in Afghanistan through the EU and NATO, Global Affairs, (online first).
•  (2020). Foreign policy decision-making in operational overlap: the UK’s policing assistance in Afghanistan through the EU and NATO, European Security 29(4), pp. 456-482.
• Baris' blog on research and teaching experiences
• Qualitative Research Guidelines Project:  Semi-Structured Interviews
• Designing a semi-structured interview guide for qualitative interviews

In this episode, we address a variety of questions from listeners:

• How is research similar to content creation? (blog, podcast, Instagram) 
• How have you seen academic parenting evolving through the years you've been in academia? I have the feeling that now it has become more accepted (comparing to when I was an undergrad)
• Which advice would you give your younger self?

We also discuss our plans for the summer, and ask each other the questions we've been asking our interviewees:

•  What is your best piece of advice for PhD students?
• How has Covid-19 changed your job and daily tasks?

References

• On Writing Well by William Zinsser
• Daily Rituals: Women at Work by Mason Currey
• On writing: A memoir of the craft by Stephen King
• Doing a PhD is Getting to Know Yourself - The Thesis Whisperer
• The quote about writing a long or short letter

We are back with another episode on Open Science. In this episode, we interview Frederique Belliard and Just de Leeuwe from the Delft University of Technology library on open access publishing: from the perspective of the TU Delft library which encourages researchers to publish open access and from the perspective of the TU Delft publishing house.

Listen to this episode to learn about how Frederique made the shift from research in an academic context to being in touch with research as a publisher, and how Just made the transition from working with information of the Rotterdam pollution maps to work as a librarian. You will also learn about their best advice for selecting an open access journal to publish your research, as well as important things to consider with regard to the copyright of your work.

In this episode, we also learn how to get started with open access publishing if your advisor may be hesitant, the best advice for PhD candidates from Frederique and Just, how COVID-19 impacted their daily tasks, and what a day in the life looks like for them.

References:

• Open access journal browser of TU Delft 
• Beal’s list of predatory journals, archived version 
• Think check submit 
• DOAJ
• 4 TU repository for data 
• MOOC 
• TU Delft library website 
• Zenodo (Eva’s database of shear in steel fiber reinforced concrete beams) 
• TU Delft open publishing 
• Open Access policy of TU Delft 
• TU Delft Open Access Funding 
• Open Access Publishing at TU Delft 
• Open Access in the Netherlands 
• The Informed Researcher, Course for PhD candidates at TU Delft 
• Copyright advice 
• TU Delft Open Access deals with publishers 
• Research identity 
• Archiving and digitizing 
• How to publish data 
• Plan S 

In today's episode, we discuss our use of analog and digital tools. First, we discuss where we use analog tools and where we use digital tools. We then go into the advantages of these different tools. We also go off on a tangent on keyboard styles and how this influences how we type (and thus, how we write). Finally, we give some advice on how to select your tools for the purpose you have in mind, and how to come to systems that work for you.

The tiny voice in the background is Eva's daughter wanting to chip in today :)

References and links:

• Leuchtturm 1917
• Andaluz and Estilo notebooks
• Keeping your lab and research notes organized
• How to find your planning and project management tools
• What planning tools are most popular?
• Qwerty keyboard (check also the slightly different Spanish Latin American sort)
• Azerty keyboard
• Blue light-blocking glasses

In today's episode, we interview Dr. Nosipho Makhakhe from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. She holds a PhD in humanities, more specifically in health promotion. We were eager to learn more about her use of qualitative methods and her research in particular.

You will learn in this episode more about Nosipho's research with sex workers, her recommendations for qualitative work in vulnerable communities, and the surprising findings of her research that came from truly listening to the sex workers and their stories. We also learned more about what it is like to do a PhD in South Africa, and their written form of the PhD defense. Finally, we also discuss how to set boundaries to work and protecting our mental health, get to learn about how COVID-19 impacted Nosipho's life and research, her best advice for PhD students, and what a day in the life looks like.

References

• Dr. Nosipho Makhakhe's publications
• Situation analysis 
• Situation analysis in qualitative methods
• Focus groups
• How to use focus groups to evaluate your digital health product
• Interviews in qualitative research
• Co-creation in dialogue groups
• National research foundation (South Africa)

In today's episode, we discuss the so-called imposter syndrome, which is generally defined as having feelings of not deserving what you have achieved despite external evidence of the contrary. However, calling this feeling a "syndrome" actually pathologizing a rational reaction to being in a hierarchical, competitive place like a university, surrounded by high achievers (as Patter pointed out correctly).

With these definitions and observations in place, we embark on a personal episode, in which we touch upon when we have felt and feel like an imposter, when we feel a sense of not belonging, and similar but different experiences in academia. Besides discussing these feelings and experiences, as well as how they have changed over the years, we also discuss some tips that have helped us move forward even when facing such emotions.

References

• Imposter syndrome is not real, but I call mine Beryl (Thesis Whisperer)
• The top 5 PhD emotions (Thesis Whisperer)
• Two things that made me thing this week (Patter)
• Feeling like an imposter is not a syndrome
• Dr. Pauline Rose Clan´s work on this topic
• The Imposter Syndrome: Why successful people often feel like frauds by Hugh Kearns

Eva documented some of her observations on such feelings over the past on her blog:

• How I got tenure
• Surviving and thriving as a young female academic
• Performing for TEDxDelftSalon
• On where PhD research gets published
• Who am I to speak up

Today, we interview Anke Versteeg and Nicole Will from the library of Delft University of Technology to learn more about the topic of open science. We learn what we can do to contribute to open science, and learn how open science is much more than open access publishing, as well as where researchers can learn more about open science (for example the open science MOOC). Data management is key here!

Besides the concepts of open science, we also learn how librarians support researchers in their efforts to make their science more open. We also learn from the experience of Nicole and Anke who have worked with many researchers to get their best advice in moving towards open science, as well as their general recommendations for PhD researchers.

References

•  A first introduction to open science
•  Five answers to questions about FAIR DATA
•  Five recommendations for FAIR Software
•  Three perspectives on Open Science in research assessment
• TU Delft library website
• Open science MOOC
• TU Delft library resources for students
• TU Delft library resources for researchers
•  Strategic Plan Open Science TU Delft 2020 - 2024
•  Open Science community Delft: This is an international initiative; any university research community can become a member).
• Some of the open science MOOC material is available here
•  Copyright clearance center
• Selecting the right creative commons license
• Differences in right retention in open access publishing 
• Sherpa/Romeo for checking rights in open access publishing
• TU Delft library architecture
• TU Delft aula architecture

In this episode, we discuss our experience with online teaching through the COVID-19 pandemic. We share our best practices, and lessons learned.

Here's the summary of our tips:

Tips:

• Less is more, in terms of content and tech tools
• More than just reduce content: put kindness and compassion for students first
• Much more leniency with deadlines and evaluation strictness
• Flexibility with office hour time, and accommodate student in different time zones 
• Be consistent in the way you compile your information
• Present the same material in different sensorial ways
• Reconsider your assessment methods
• Stick to one didactic model
• Have 3-5 learning objectives and keep those front and center
• Invest time in your didactic skills
• Ask your students, colleagues, and TAs  for feedback
• Make sure you got your tech tools working well: lighting, microphone, drawing tools

Here are some references for this episode:

• From Eva's blog
  •  Poll on tools for online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic 
  • PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: Online resources for scientists 
  • Explorations into Blended Flexible Learning 
  • PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: challenges and opportunities for international researchers during COVID-19 
• From elsewhere on the internet
  • The 5Es instructional model of Catlin Tucker
  • A brief introduction to constructive alignment 
  • More information on Bloom's taxonomy 
  • Felder-Silverman model of learning styles for engineering students 

In today's episode, we interview Dr. Pravina Manoharan, cohost of the Cheeky Academics podcast and Chair of the music department at USM Universiti Sains Malaysia in Malaysia. 

We learn from her what it's like to get a PhD in ethnomusicology, what doing a PhD in a creative field such as music looks like, some misunderstandings people have on what a musician does (hint: it's much more than only performing!), how she balances her research, supervision activities, and chairing her department, and her current work with Avid Education. 

She also gives us an insight in what a day in the life looks like for her, how she shifted hands-on music teaching to an online environment, and gives her best advice for PhD students.

References:

• Dr. Pravina Manoharan's university profile
• The Cheeky Academics podcast 
• Avid Education
• Tamil hiphop playlist 
• Tea picking opera 
• Gamelan instrument