The academic career blog:
Advice for students, PhDs, postdocs & professors
Practical guidance for every stage of academic life — from your first year as a student to leading your own department.
Academic Input & Outcome
Your PhD Career: What Your Doctorate Prepares You For and What It Doesn’t
A PhD proves you can research independently. That is a real and significant achievement. But it is not the same as expertise — and confusing the two may be quietly holding back your development…
WeiterlesenPhD Funding: Why Writing A Proposal Always Pays Off
A PhD funding proposal strengthens your dissertation whether it succeeds or not. The process builds research clarity, external credibility, and a network of collaborators — all of which belong to you regardless of the…
WeiterlesenPhD Funding: Why the Money Is Not the Most Valuable Part
Most PhD candidates think about funding in one dimension: financial support. But the most valuable part of PhD funding is not the money — it is the network and stakeholder buy-in that the process…
WeiterlesenFinancial Freedom for Academics: Craft a Scalable Teaching Path
External lecturing often carries a stigma of instability, low pay, and career stagnation. Yet, as I’ve discovered, it can become a surprisingly effective pathway toward financial freedom—if you approach it creatively, strategically, and intentionally.
Five Things Every Rejected Paper Has in Common. And How to Avoid it though Productive Academic Writing
I keep a list. Every time I review a paper that gets rejected from a top venue, I write down why. After eighty entries, a pattern jumped out at me. The rejections rarely had…
WeiterlesenDyck (2016): Beyond Satisfaction (Book Notes)
These are my notes for the book “Beyond Satisfaction: The Secret to Crafting a Profitable Online Course That Will Change Lives” by Breanne Dyck. Section 1: Overview The book “Beyond Satisfaction: The Secret to…
Automated transcription to speed up online course creation
transcribing, and editing, or simply because you use the edited transcript as a script for your teleprompter recording. Additionally, this text can be used to create study guides and quizzes, or even embedded directly…
WeiterlesenAcademic Entrepreneurship: When Your Research Tool Needs a Funding Model
You built a brilliant tool from your PhD – but how do you fund it sustainably? A practical guide to academic entrepreneurship for researchers who care about impact and stability.
Academic Careers
The Career Break That Isn't: Reframing Departures from the Academic Ladder
Wondering what to do after your PhD? Discover why leaving the academic ladder isn’t failure — it can be the smartest move of your career.
Leaving Academia? How to Align Your Next Move with What Matters Most
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to double your salary overnight? Sounds amazing, right? For many academics, that dream becomes a reality when they transition to industry roles. But what happens…
WeiterlesenTrust-Based Academic Networking That Protects Your Academic Career
Building an academic career means building a real network—not just on LinkedIn. This includes collaborators, mentors, reviewers, and those who assess your worth. This article covers how to choose partners wisely, protect trust, and…
WeiterlesenAcademic Paper: A Simple Four-Step Structure
This article introduces a simple four-paragraph framework for writing a strong academic paper introduction. It shows how to move logically from broad relevance to existing knowledge, identify a clear research gap, and outline a…
WeiterlesenWhy Critical Thinking in Academia Matters More Than Simple Maxims
Why critical thinking in academia matters beyond research — and how it helps you navigate advice, identity, and complex academic systems.
University Professorship: Why Patience Beats Speed
Most academics respond to competitive pressure by accelerating. But there is a quieter, more sustainable path to a university professorship — one that works precisely because most of your peers are too impatient to…
WeiterlesenAcademic Goals: What You Really Want May Surprise You
Most researchers arrive in coaching with a very specific target in mind. That focus is not a bad thing. But it is often exactly where the real problem lies.
PhD Funding: Why Writing A Proposal Always Pays Off
A PhD funding proposal strengthens your dissertation whether it succeeds or not. The process builds research clarity, external credibility, and a network of collaborators — all of which belong to you regardless of the…
WeiterlesenPhD Funding: Why the Money Is Not the Most Valuable Part
Most PhD candidates think about funding in one dimension: financial support. But the most valuable part of PhD funding is not the money — it is the network and stakeholder buy-in that the process…
WeiterlesenAcademic Self-Leadership & Clarity
More Hours don't equal More Impact: The Academic Productivity Trap in Academia
Academic productivity isn’t about how much you get done—it’s about doing what matters. Here’s how to escape the busywork trap and realign your work with your values.
The Two Types of Writing for your Academic Writing Workflow — and Why Mixing Them Up Kills Your Flow
Discover the crucial difference between writing-to-think and writing-to-publish — and how separating them can transform your academic writing workflow.
Academic Writing Routine: Why You Need to Redefine “Writing” First
When researchers ask me how to design their ideal day for academic writing, they often expect a recipe: Find your peak performance time. Block two or three hours of uninterrupted writing. Turn off email,…
WeiterlesenAcademic Productivity: Why Reading Is Your Quiet Advantage
Reading is a silent competitive advantage in academia. Learn a simple, realistic reading system that boosts your academic productivity without adding more pressure.
Trust-Based Academic Networking That Protects Your Academic Career
Building an academic career means building a real network—not just on LinkedIn. This includes collaborators, mentors, reviewers, and those who assess your worth. This article covers how to choose partners wisely, protect trust, and…
WeiterlesenLetting Go of the PhD Process: Embracing Academic Entrepreneurship
Many researchers struggle when trying to turn their PhD insights into practical tools. Success requires letting go of purely academic methods, adopting an academic entrepreneurship mindset, and designing projects that are sustainable and impactful…
WeiterlesenAcademic Paper: A Simple Four-Step Structure
This article introduces a simple four-paragraph framework for writing a strong academic paper introduction. It shows how to move logically from broad relevance to existing knowledge, identify a clear research gap, and outline a…
WeiterlesenResearch Progress: Why Steady Effort Matters More Than Strength
This article explains how PhD candidates and early-career researchers can achieve steady research progress through structured, consistent academic work. It highlights the importance of combining reflection with focused work sessions and small, repeated actions…
WeiterlesenTools for Researchers: Why Easy Is Not Always Better
Not all tools for researchers are created equal. Before adopting the next productivity shortcut, ask yourself: does this build my capability — or does it substitute for it? The answer matters more than you…
WeiterlesenResearch Skills & Academic Writing
Free Citation Tool: How to Simplify Your References
A citation tool simplifies APA and MLA references, automates in-text citations, and helps students and researchers save time and reduce errors.
Conducting Academic Research: How to Achieve Long-Term Success
Long-term research projects can feel overwhelming. No matter how far away a deadline is, work often piles up until the last minute. This is not due to a lack of motivation, but to the…
Understanding Academic Writing: A Guide for PhD and Postdoc Researchers
Explore what academic writing truly means and how to structure your daily workflow for maximum productivity.
Academic Productivity Systems: Five Reasons You Think You Don't Need This
I lost most of a year to a filing system. Not to the system itself — to its absence, and then to my elaborate attempts to build one after the fact. I had the…
WeiterlesenStatistics with R
R has become one of the most popular and versatile applications for conducting statistical analyses in recent years. Statistics with R is a common approach. In this course, I will introduce you to the…
Speak, Don't Type: Voice Surveys for Practitioner Research
Put an open text box into an online questionnaire and you will mostly get very little back. A few keywords, half a sentence, often nothing at all. Yet that box is exactly where someone…
Keeping a research diary – Your path to better reflection
Are you currently working on your thesis and feeling a little overwhelmed? Are you wondering how you can keep track of your thoughts and ideas? Then I have a great solution for you: the…
WeiterlesenUsing a reference manager for thesis writing: A top tip for every thesis
In academia, it is essential to collect, manage, and cite literature efficiently. A reference manager for thesis writing such as Zotero can help you complete these tasks and make your work easier. We will…
Five Things Every Rejected Paper Has in Common. And How to Avoid it though Productive Academic Writing
I keep a list. Every time I review a paper that gets rejected from a top venue, I write down why. After eighty entries, a pattern jumped out at me. The rejections rarely had…
WeiterlesenNeurodivergent Researchers
Why Academia Keeps Failing Neurodivergent Researchers
The further you go in academia, the less support you get. Undergraduates have study skills centres, structured timetables, and someone whose job is to notice when they fall behind. By the time you are…
WeiterlesenWhat the Evidence Actually Says About Neurodivergent Workplace Adjustments
Give an autistic employee the quiet, private workspace they asked for, and there is a documented chance you will make things worse. Not because the quiet was wrong. Because being moved to a room…
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