My experience of a summer school

Kirsten Dutton is a 4th Year PhD student in the Geosciences group at Newcastle University. Her thesis title is: ‘From sediment to rock: the role of microbes in the early lithification of sabkha sediments’. In today's post, she shares her experience of attending a summer school and why such experiences can aid a PhD. Follow Kirsten on Twitter: @KirstenDutton 

Academia really can take you to some wonderful places, whether it be through conferences, fieldwork or summer schools/courses. I’ve been lucky enough to do fieldwork in Abu Dhabi (very hot!), go to conferences in many places like Edinburgh (lots of whisky) and the Dolomites (lots of coffee and pasta) and most recently to Singapore for a Summer School.

 I attended a summer school at SCELSE (Singapore Centre for Environment, Life Sciences, Engineering) at Nanyang Technological University, learning about many aspects of microbiology and biofilms. It was one of the most intense, but incredibly valuable and even fun parts of my academic career. I learnt so much about everything from biofilms in waste water treatment to using microbes to help coral reefs recover (and the surrounding debate). Some of what I learnt is directly relevant to my current research topic, some showed me how I could develop further multidisciplinary research, or which specialists would be good to establish collaborations with and some of the material was completely new to me (medical biofilms, pictures of which are not for the faint of heart... there is a reason this geologist like rocks).

In terms of the intensity, it was very much like the first year of my degree, full time 5-6 days a week with massive amounts of new information. My undergrad was in geology and while I’ve sidestepped into the realms of biogeochemistry and geomicrobiology, my understanding has been limited to their relevance to my topic. I applied to this specific course because it gave me an invaluable opportunity to learn some of the fundamentals of microbiology and see how biofilms are used in research. I kept up with more than I thought I would and my understanding improved every day. By the second week I was even asking questions and properly participating in discussions. It was interesting to be back in a more formal learning environment after the independence of PhD research, I really enjoyed it.

It didn’t hurt that it took me all the way to Singapore. I’ve been very lucky to travel a lot throughout my life and during my PhD but I’ve never been further East than the Middle East until this trip. It was exciting to experience new cultures, try new foods and meet people from all over the world. Singapore is a very multicultural place and I got to explore Chinatown, Little India, the brand new shiny malls of downtown, the Gardens by the Bay, Henderson Waves and even went for some drinks at the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel which has some seriously epic views of the city.

 There are summer schools for many areas of research, not just sciences and they aren’t limited to PhD students, they are often open to Post-docs and Masters students too. They are often run by professional societies, universities and other institutions and are opportunities that should definitely be seized given the chance. I was lucky enough to be on a fully funded one. Some would need to be half or fully funded by your research grant.

I would highly encourage you to go on a summer school if you can find one which fits within or around the purview of your work. Talk to your fellow students and staff in your department to see what they’ve attended and the experiences they’ve had. They’ll also have some tips on how to write a good application for them. They are invaluable, you learn lots and meet people who could possibly be future collaborators, and get to see new places.

Post-PhD life: dealing with the transition

Dr Jessica M. Keady, FHEA, is a Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David. In today's post, she reflect upon dealing with the transition of finishing a PhD and entering the academic job market, offering some great tips along the way. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaMKeady 

After graduating with my PhD in Religions and Theology from The University of Manchester in 2015, I was offered the chance to teach the undergraduate module on ‘Biblical Hebrew’ at the University of Chester’s, Department of Theology and Religious Studies as a Visiting Lecturer. That was an opportunity that changed many things for me – I could teach a language for the first time, I had my own students from the beginning of an academic year to the end, I was able to really see first-hand the administrative responsibilities relating to an undergraduate module, and it was a chance for me to really get an understanding of what teaching at Higher Education level meant. That opportunity transpired into a wonderful 17 months at the Department, where I could take on a variety of opportunities: I was able to work as Researcher in Biblical Studies and Gender, to teach on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules, to work on a recently funded project on Sexuality and Anglican Identities, and to be a part of a wonderful team of lecturers and researchers. Alongside my work at the Department, I was also editing my first monograph for publication, completing my Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (which I could do through the University of Chester), and I was also completing a Level 3 Counselling Skills course at a local college.

Postdoctoral Life: From Wales to Helsinki (and Back Again!)

In February 2017, following a successful postdoctoral proposal/application, I was offered a Postdoctoral Researcher position at the University of Helsinki’s Centre of Excellence in Sacred Texts and Traditions (CSTT), to work on the Dead Sea Scrolls and gender. The post is until the end of 2019 and it was an opportunity that I could not turn down. I turned up to Helsinki on February 28^th with a suitcase of clothes to last me a month, my laptop, and the support of my family and partner in North Wales to go and enjoy the experiences.

Helsinki is a wonderful place and the support at the University was instant. Since I started at the CSTT, I have been given some wonderful opportunities: I have presented my postdoctoral work to colleagues; I have taken part in a variety of workshops, including ‘Social-Scientific Theorizing and Biblical Studies’; I have attended and presented at my first CSTT Annual Meeting on Tradition at the beautiful Zoological Station of Tvärminne in Hanko; I have been accepted to present papers in London, Berlin and Boston; I have met some wonderful colleagues from around the world; and I have felt like part of a team.

In the summer (2017), I was offered a full-time, permanent lectureship in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David. I started my new role in September and will get the opportunity to teach on Judaism at Undergraduate and Postgraduate Level, which I am really looking forward to. I am very much looking forward to continue my postdoctoral research and write up my second monograph.

 Publications and Certificates

Alongside the transition to being a Postdoctoral Researcher, my first monograph has been published with Bloomsbury Press and that really was a wonderful feeling to have the book in hand that I had worked so hard for.

After successfully completing my Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, I am now also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I am particularly proud of that accomplishment as it was a challenging task to manage all other duties, alongside the work needed to pass the course.

What I have learnt about myself since finishing my PhD is that:

1.    I have a very supportive family

2.    I still want to be an academic

3.    I value being a part of a team

4.    I like a challenge

Post-PhD Preparation

Going back to the spring of 2014, the funding for my PhD was rapidly coming to an end and the ever-looming fear of ‘What am I going to do next?’ was seriously becoming a reality, so I started planning for my post-PhD life about 6 months before my thesis deadline. Although every persons’ journey is different, I took the following steps to begin to think of a life post-PhD.

·        Networking: For me, networking involved such activities as being present in research seminars in and outside of my own university, presenting papers, attending conferences, building up a social media profile, making links via email or in person with potential colleagues, and talking about my research project. To this day, there are academics that I met during my PhD who I am very much still in touch with and can work, collaborate and draw guidance from. 

·     Teaching Observation: I organised teaching observation at another University so that I could observe the teaching style, content and methods of lecturers working across different modules in the discipline of Theology and Religious Studies.

·       Post-PhD Project: Although it seems like a very difficult task to think of another project separate to the one that you are currently working on, having a postdoctoral research idea in mind is a powerful tool. It allows you to think of your life away from your doctorate and to begin to imagine what it is that you would like your wider research profile to look like.

·       Working outside academia: While waiting for my Viva and subsequent graduation, I worked in a behavioural unit in a local secondary school. I learnt a great deal about myself and about student behaviours and the range of specific learning difficulties that students’ experience. I also took an Introduction to Counselling Skills Course at a local college. Whilst working in the unit, I could take some time out of the PhD bubble and reflect on what I really wanted and the post reaffirmed to me my drive to teach and research in Higher Education.

What advice would I give to those beginning to think of a post-PhD life:

1.       Celebrate your achievements

2.       Embrace challenging opportunities

3.       Draw on the networks that you have built during your research

4.       Take time out when you need it 

The journey to PhD submission

Sarah is a Teaching Fellow in Modern British History at the University of Birmingham. She is a historian of youth in post-war Britain, focusing on culture, identity, sexuality, and regulation, and oral history. She recently submitted her PhD thesis titled ‘Unspectacular Youth? Evening Leisure Space and Youth Culture in Sheffield, c.1960- c.1989’ at the University of Sheffield, where she also studied her MA and BA. 

It’s September, which marks the start of a new academic year. Many people will be at the exciting, although admittedly daunting, stage of starting their PhDs. Others will be in the final stages, often frantically trying to submit before funding runs out. Others will be somewhere in the middle, (hopefully) feeling like they’ve got a grasp on their research but (probably) feeling like they’ve still got a mountain to climb.

I submitted my PhD two months ago. I have yet to have my viva, so the process is by no means over, but I am now in a position to reflect on the process of writing it. This post will focus on the final months and weeks of writing my PhD because the feelings are still fresh, but I hope what follows will be helpful to those at any stage of their academic journey. 

A lot of the time I didn’t like it. And that’s ok.

I didn’t always enjoy writing my PhD. In fact, I would say it made me miserable a lot of the time. It was often a never-ending source of uncertainty and anxiety, and my relationship with it was quite often volatile. In the course of a few hours I could go from feeling like I had just had a real breakthrough, to not knowing how I was ever going to get it finished, to feeling like it was too late for me to salvage anything worthwhile. Going from extreme to extreme is exhausting. It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that it was ok not to enjoy the PhD, and that not enjoying writing it did not make me a lesser candidate than my peers. In the final months, as the pressure (mostly from myself) mounted, I learned to take the good with the bad, and to relish every small victory. Paragraph re-edited? Success! Bibliography updated? Success! I turned the thesis into a series of small and achievable tasks, and this certainly helped me feel less overwhelmed. However, on the days when I did feel completely overwhelmed and didn’t achieve what I wanted- and there were often days when I achieved nothing- I had to remind myself that it was ok. The PhD is really bloody hard. 

Motivation

I was not prepared for struggling with my motivation in the final months. When I started my PhD I saw my colleagues preparing for submission and they were often working, or so it seemed, with a relentless drive and energy. I am sure this is the experience for a lot of people; after all, we all get our motivation in different ways. But it was not my experience. After working for so long, but still feeling like I had a long way to go, I was often bored. I would drag myself to the office and intermittently stare at my thesis, while refreshing Twitter. I knew it had to get done, but some days I had very little desire to be proactive about this. I can’t really offer any gems of advice about this other than it will get done, eventually. Perhaps I found the expectation and the reality of finishing my PhD jarring; I was often bored, when I expected to be excited.

Waiting

I was incredibly fortunate to have supervisors who read a final draft of my PhD from cover to cover. Their comments and suggestions in the final weeks were incredibly helpful, and went some way to easing my terror before I submitted. However, after the rush of ‘final’ submission- finalising footnotes and the bibliography, ordering the contents page, writing the abstract, reading and re-reading every chapter- I had to wait. Again, my reality was jarring with my expectation. I had expected the final weeks to be a flurry of activity. In reality, I submitted what I hoped would be the final draft to my supervisors, and I waited. I found this very difficult. I was often frustrated, and feeling like I should be doing something productive while I waited for feedback and final changes. I’m not a patient person at the best of times, so this period was a real challenge for me. However, I was also exhausted. I could have started the draft of an article I’d been meaning to write. I could have submitted more job applications. I could have done plenty of ‘productive’ things, but I had no energy left. In all honesty, I slept a lot. I watched some bad TV. I re-read what I had submitted in search of elusive typos. While I found this period difficult, I would recommend submitting a finalised draft where possible. It may sound like an obvious piece of advice, but when the finish line is so close the temptation to rush to submission can be tempting. In hindsight, I am glad I took the extra few weeks to get the final comments on my thesis.

Pride

Submitting the PhD was a strange anti-climax. I submitted it online, and it was done. I had hoped for something more ceremonious. A fanfare by a group of trumpeteers as I pressed ‘submit’, perhaps? Picking up the the hard copy did feel more exciting. After almost four years I held my manuscript in my hand and my hard work was represented in physical form. I submitted the hard copy, received a sticker (not quite a fanfare, but I took it nonetheless) and that was that. I was incredibly proud of myself that day. Doing a PhD often means that you are surrounded by other people doing PhDs, or who have done PhDs. It often means that many of the people you know have already done, or will soon be doing, what you have done. Do not let this take away from the sense of pride you should feel when you do finally submit. Writing a PhD is an extraordinary achievement. As I await my viva, this is what I remind myself of.