Research toolkit
What is the #1 milestone to a successful academic career? What is a PhD Viva Voce!
What is a PhD viva voce, what actually happens inside it, and the one mindset shift that makes the day manageable. A working academic explains.
Become the Motivated Academic
What do you search for today?
Latest on the blog
Research toolkit
How to use LinkedIn to develop your research profile
How to use LinkedIn to develop your research profile as an academic. A working professor’s guide to the platform he used to grow a 60,000-strong audience.
Wellbeing
50 creative ways to improve your wellbeing in academia
50 creative ways to improve your wellbeing in academia. A working academic’s practical list for protecting your mind and body inside a demanding career.
Research toolkit
How to avoid plagiarism in your research?
How to avoid plagiarism in your research, from someone who has spotted it as both author and reviewer. A working academic’s plain-language checklist.
Research toolkit
How to write an outstanding abstract for your research paper?
How to write an outstanding abstract for your research paper. A working academic and journal editor’s step-by-step process, plus a worked example to adapt.
Productivity
How to develop good habits for a successful academic career in 5 easy steps?
How to develop good habits for a successful academic career. A working professor’s five-step process for the small daily moves that compound across a career.
Productivity
What are SMART goals and how to use them in your research?
What are SMART goals and how do they work in a research project? A working academic’s guide to setting research goals that hold up under PhD-level uncertainty.
Productivity
How to come up with new research ideas in 5 easy steps?
How to come up with new research ideas in five steps. A working professor’s process for getting from a vague hunch to a fundable, publishable research question.
Productivity
Quality over quantity: the golden balance between quality and quantity in academic publishing
Quality over quantity in academic publishing. A working academic’s case for fewer, stronger papers and what it does to your hiring and grant prospects.
Wellbeing
How to deal with a negative environment?
How to deal with a negative academic environment. A working professor on what you can change, what you cannot, and the third option most academics miss.
Motivation
How to deal with rejection in 5 easy steps?
How to deal with rejection in academia in five steps. A working professor’s honest framework for paper rejections, grant declines and bigger career setbacks.
Productivity
Publish or perish: did we get lost in the pursuit of academic success?
Publish or perish: did academia lose its way chasing success? A working professor’s honest reflection on the system, what it rewards, and what it costs.
