// Archives

Studying for a PhD – challenges and opportunities

Maya Sharma, PhD Psychology Image by Džoko Stach from Pixabay Hello! My name is Maya and I have an undergraduate psychology degree, and I am currently completing my first year of a Doctorate in Forensic Psychology. I want to share my experience of choosing to study a PhD and what it’s been like so far. Upon completing my …

How to balance a PhD with paid work

by Chloe O’Dowd, philosophy postgraduate researcher Image: Image by Andrea from Pixabay In this blog, I talk about the various paid roles I have now, previous roles, and how I managed my time so that I maintain a good PhD and paid work balance. Catering assistant During my PhD, I have partaken in a lot of different paid …

Gaining employability skills alongside my PhD

By Chloe O’Dowd, Philosophy PhD student. During a PhD, you have the opportunity to do various training courses. In this blog, I will be talking about the various training courses that the University of Nottingham offers to PhD students and the positive impact they have on your future. Where do you find them? As a …

The balancing act: PhD research and internships

by Nkem Nwaobi, PhD student © via Unsplash by Campaign Creators Embarking on a PhD journey is a commendable feat that involves a deep dive into research, critical thinking, and academic prowess. However, as a PhD student, I often encounter the challenge of balancing research commitments with the preparation for a future career, whether within …

A first-timer’s guide to international conferences

Nkem Nwaobi, PhD student Embarking on my first conference was a journey filled with excitement, nervousness and countless opportunities for growth. This past summer I attended the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) conference in Italy, it was eye-opening and frankly quite scary. In this blog I will share my guide to your first …

How the Careers and Development Fund Helped Me Attend My First Conference

By Gillian Walters, Applied English MA student. I applied for the Learning and Development Opportunities Fund after a tutor on the Distance Learning Applied English MA posted about it on Teams. Why did you apply for the fund?  Since my PhD will be in Victorian Studies, I desperately wanted to attend The British Association for …

Why a PhD Was Right for Me

By Salman Arif, Optimisation Scientist A PhD is the highest level of academic qualification in the UK and it involves three to four years of original research on a specific topic. There are lots of reasons why you may be considering a PhD and you’ll need to carefully consider how it could help you achieve …

What to Expect From Researcher Careers Week

By Hiba Azim, postgraduate researcher It’s that time of year again! Researcher Careers Week is almost here and it’s packed with activities to help postgraduate researchers explore careers outside of academia. As an attendee of the event last year, I can say that it was a great opportunity for me to be more intentional with …

Connecting Researchers and Employers: Insights from the PGR Networking Brunch

By Yulan Lyu, postgraduate researcher This year’s Employer Networking Brunch for researchers is scheduled for Tuesday 16 May, which reminds me of the first time I attended this event last year. As a researcher hoping to work in industry after graduation, I wasn’t quite sure how employers viewed people with PhDs. Therefore, I decided to …

Doing a PhD but Unsure of Your Career Options? Here’s What Helped Me.

By Annie Buckley, PhD researcher If, like me, you’re doing a PhD having gone straight from your bachelor’s degree to your master’s, and straight from your master’s to your PhD, you might be feeling like you don’t have any work experience outside academia. This can feel scary when beginning to think about career options. What …