Shows
The PhD Survival Guide Podcast25. Casual Conversations: Why you're not broken - With Alison Miller, PhDWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! After our short little hiatus, I am proud to announce that we're back and we're starting strong with a brand new Casual Conversations episode with Alison Miller of The Academic Writers Space! In this episode, we spoke to Alison, who has well over 20 years of experience mentoring students and mentors alike in the academic setting, about various topics such as finding out how to work in a way that works, understanding compatibility in academic work, navigating the inner critic, and so much more. Join us in this insightful conversation and as always...
2024-10-071h 19The PhD Survival Guide Podcast24. Casual Conversations: Exploring non-academic paths in the PhD - With Dakota, PhDWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! As we always say here on the podcast, every PhD journey is unique. I worked full-time in the laboratory and had the privilege of dedicating the majority of my time to my experiments. While I have talked in depth about the pros and cons of this, not all of you have the same experience. In this episode, I spoke to Dakota, a recent PhD graduate who juggled a full-time PhD with a full-time job outside of academia. We spoke about various topics, such as the challenges she faces, ways to expand on...
2024-06-171h 43The PhD Survival Guide Podcast23. Casual Conversations: From diverse roots, to doctorate - Crossing academic origins - With Cristina, MPH and Sarah, BSWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! In the recent past, some of you have reached out asking these key questions: Does it really make a big difference to have a Master's degree? Or does the research experience you completed in your Bachelor's degree really prepare you for the research burdens in a PhD? What if you don't have either of these things, will you be at a severe disadvantage? In this episode, we tackle the origin stories of Cristina (who has an MPH), Ferass (who has a BS with lab experience), and Sarah (who has a BS with...
2024-05-151h 54The PhD Survival Guide Podcast22. Casual Conversations: How to navigate relationships in the PhD - Creating sustainable connections - With Dr. Victoria GodievaWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! Pursuing a PhD can be a very isolating experience. You may soon come to realize that the demands of being a PhD student can consume your time. This drastic shift in your work-life balance can also significantly affect your relationships, including family, friends, and significant others. In this episode we talk with Dr. Victoria Godieva about how starting and pursuing our PhDs changed the relationships around us. We also talked about the qualities we looked for in relationships and how to create sustainable connections. As always, we hope you enjoy this episode!
2024-04-111h 46The PhD Survival Guide Podcast21. NOTHING IS WORKING!!! - How to properly troubleshoot - Don't be the definition of insanityWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! In my PhD, behind every single successful experiment, there were multiple (and I mean a ton) of failed experiments. That's totally normal! It's through failure that we learn how to find success, and you're going to fail a lot in your PhD. As such, it's important to learn how to properly troubleshoot an experiment or procedure. This also applies to those students that are doing their PhDs outside of STEM. So in this episode, I lay out a 6 step (technically 7 but whatever) guide as to how to generally tackle any troubleshooting procedures...
2024-04-0134 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast20. Casual Conversations: Transforming your notes to transform your PhD - Tending to the knowledge garden - With Jorge ArangoWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! In this episode, I talk to author Jorge Arango about his book - Duly Noted: Extend your mind through connected notes. This episode is packed with information on how to think differently about notes as well as how to use notes as tools to progress your research. As always, we hope you enjoy this episode!
Get Duly Noted: Extend your mind through connected notes from Rosenfeld today with discount code PHDPOD for a limited time!
Jorge Arango:
Jorge Arango is an information architect, author, and educator. For...
2024-03-251h 17The PhD Survival Guide Podcast19. Casual Conversations: Recruitment limitations, online PhD, working full-time - With Vinita PuriWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! In this episode, I had the opportunity to talk about so many different topics and issues that various students face, but I never had to deal with personally. I spoke to Vinita Puri, an international online PhD student from Canada doing her research in the United States. Vinita covers her experiences with recruiting for her research, what it's like to do an online PhD, having a full-time job while being a full-time student, and so much more. Vinita has a robust background in academia and considers herself a lifelong learner. Her passion...
2024-02-261h 43The PhD Survival Guide Podcast18. Conquering comprehensive exams - Comps, quals, prelims - What are they and why are they so scary?Welcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! At some point of your career as a PhD student, you will have to take the dreaded comprehensive exams (comps for short). Doesn't sound familiar? Maybe you call them preliminary exams or qualifying exams. Regardless, this exam is a necessary requirement for all PhD students to become PhD candidates. In this episode, I talk about why comps are so scary, what exam committees are and how to use them to your advantage, as well as the major formats of your comps and what to expect!
Want to...
2024-02-0534 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast17. How to present with no data? - Seminar and presentation formatting - Ace your first presentation!Welcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! In this episode, we talk about how to give a presentation when you still have little to no data to present on. Whether you're a first year PhD or just starting a new project, you might be expected to present on your work and that can be pretty scary! Don't worry at all as I will go over how to format your presentation and recount my first ever seminar and what I learned from it!
Want to be a guest or send me a voice message? Check out ou...
2023-12-2138 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast16. Where has Ferass been? - Updates on what I've been up to - What's to come?Welcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! This episode is sort of like an update to tell everyone what I have been up to, why I haven't been uploading in a while, and where the show is going to go from here. It's been a long time since I've been recording but I am happy to be doing it again and look forward to future episodes! Special thank you to all that have supported me throughout my PhD journey!
Want to be a guest or send me a voice message? Check out our linktree!
2023-12-0717 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast15. Casual Conversations: Can you be a mom in the PhD? - with AbigailWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! In this episode, we talk with Abigail, a political sciences PhD student from Canada about what it is like to do a PhD as a mother. Please help me in introducing Abigail! We talk about what some of the challenges of being a mother in a PhD entails such as figuring out maternity leave, organization/time management, and imposter syndrome. We also dive into how Abigail makes time for herself and maintains a healthy balance of PhD/home/self-care. This is an incredible episode chatting with a very talented PhD student. As...
2023-09-181h 23The PhD Survival Guide Podcast14. Make writing easier!!! - Top things I wish I knew before I started writing in the PhD - Writer's blockWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! It has been a while and I have missed you guys! We dive right back into the groove in this episode. So let's talk about one of the most daunting tasks in the PhD, writing! It doesn't have to be daunting or scary though, which is something that I learned a little later then I wish I had. For that reason we're going to discuss some tips for writing more effectively, and what you should start doing even early on in your PhD to make the writing easier along the way!
2023-06-2931 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast13. Dissertation committees are there to help - Considerations when choosing members for your committee - Committee meetings 101Welcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! In this episode, we break down the scary dissertation committee! This is essentially one of the first big decisions you will make on your PhD journey. Who should you choose to be on your committee? How many members should I have on my committee? How do I prepare for a committee meeting? We answer all of these questions and more!
Tools mentioned in this episode:
Doodle (for scheduling meetings)
We are also on Apple Podcasts!
I...
2023-05-2232 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast12. Transferable Skills! - What skills will you need after your PhD? - Learning from Dr. KarmausWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! What are transferable skills and what are some key general takeaways from your time in grad school that you can use after you graduate? I had the pleasure of listening to a great presentation by Dr. Agnes Karmaus at the SOT meeting this year and wanted to share what she talked about with all of you! We talk about the importance of communication, networking, confidence, and much more. By the end of this episode, you will have a good idea about what is needed to further your career, whether it be in...
2023-05-0935 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast11. The infamous side projects - Stretching yourself too thin - How to get the most out of them!Welcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! Have you ever heard of the infamous side projects? The ones that PhD students always reference as taking up most of their time? In this episode we really break down what they are and how to avoid ones that can be detrimental to your progress in your dissertation. Some side projects are not all that bad though, and it's important to also highlight how to get the most out of them efficiently!
We are also on Apple Podcasts!
If you enjoy this p...
2023-04-1827 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast10. Conferences! Pt. 2 - What to put on your poster - How to present your posterWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! This episode is the second of a 2 part series dedicated to academic conferences! Academic conferences host fabulous research and opportunities for all PhD students to learn from. In this episode, we talk about how to put together your poster, what programs you can use to do that, and how to present your poster!
Sorry for the long wait, we're back to our routine! Thank you so much for keeping up with the listening and sharing with your friends!
We are also on...
2023-04-0434 min
The PhD Survival Guide Podcast09. Conferences! Pt. 1 - Why you should go to conferences - Making friends outside the lab - Prize money?Welcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! This episode is the first of a 2 part series dedicated to academic conferences! Academic conferences host fabulous research and opportunities for all PhD students to learn from. We tackle my top 3 reasons to go to a conference, the different ways to obtain funding, and the overall impact that conferences can have on your academic career! We hope you enjoy this episode!
We are also on Apple Podcasts!
If you enjoy this podcast and want to tune in as more episodes of the P...
2023-03-0726 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast08. Casual Conversations: Resilience in the PhD - with Nicole, BSWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! Join Nicole and I in this "Casual Conversations" episode where we talk about what it means to be resilient in a PhD. What to do when an experiment isn't working? What to do with criticism? Tune in as we speak about our personal experiences and how unique resilience is interpreted by each of us.
We are also on Apple Podcasts!
If you enjoy this podcast and want to tune in as more episodes of the PhD Survival Guide come out, please feel free to like the podcast! This way, you will be notified...
2023-02-2748 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast07. Breaking the "Sorry" habit - Arrogance vs. Diffidence - Building your confidenceWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! In this episode, we talk about the "Sorry" habit. Do you find that you start every response with "sorry?" What does that mean to the people that you are speaking to? How can we break this habit, and become much more confident in the way we conversate with our peers? We talk about all of that and more in this episode!
Article Referenced: When "I'm Sorry" Is Too Much - Juliana Breines, PhD
Excerpt from: Advice for a Young Investigator - Santiago Ramon y Cajal
We are also on Apple Podcasts!
If you e...
2023-02-2222 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast06. Organization makes the PhD Easier - My top organizational tools for every PhD - How many web tabs are too many?Welcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! In this episode, we talk about how organizational skills are essential to making a PhD easier. This is something that I struggled with greatly in my first years as a student, and one that I continue to work on even now. I break down 3 tips to making organization easier through a PhD! We are also on Apple Podcasts! If you enjoy this podcast and want to tune in as more episodes of the PhD Survival Guide come out, please feel free to like the podcast! This way, you will be notified every...
2023-02-1327 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast05. Loss of Motivation - Could it be telling of a bigger problem? - Apathetic daysWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! In this episode, we confront a problem that every PhD student faces numerous times along the way: loss of motivation. This is something that I personally struggle with quite a bit and have learned to identify and tackle effectively. Here, I talk about my main tells, triggers, and solutions. I also talk about what others have dealt with and their solutions as well! We hope to answer all your questions and give guidance on how to tackle the inevitable issue.
Blog Referenced: #35: PhD motivation running low? Here’s the cure!
2023-01-3023 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast04. Casual Conversations: Imposter Syndrome - with Arturo, MPHWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! In this episode, we tackle a highly requested topic: Imposter Syndrome! This is also the first episode of our Casual Conversations series, where I bring on guests to discuss the posted topic. Please help me in introducing Arturo! We identify imposter syndrome, some of the general known causes, and how to mitigate the negative effects of imposter syndrome. Please remember that every student, and thus iteration of imposter syndrome, is totally unique. We hope to answer all your questions and give guidance on how to tackle this issue.
Article Referenced: F...
2023-01-2338 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast03. Essential Skills: Reading - How to not get lost in the literature - The truth behind impact factorsWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! In this episode, we tackle an incredibly important skill: reading! As a true survival guide, we will be covering some essential skills to help ease you into your PhD. Do you feel like it takes way too long to read a research article? Do you spend a lot of time googling what all the words mean? What's impact factor? What's peer-review? We answer all of those questions and more!
We are now also on Apple Podcasts!
If you enjoy this podcast and want to tune in as more episodes of the PhD Survival...
2023-01-2127 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast02. How to find the right lab for YOU! - Listener comments and questions answered - The guide I didn't follow entering my PhDWelcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! I am honestly pleasantly shocked by the kind reception of the first episode of the podcast! I got so many questions and ideas for future episodes, and for that I am very grateful! Please feel free to give me questions, comments, concerns, etc. in the Q&A below (if you are on Spotify). In this episode I decided to put together a quick but comprehensive guide on how to find the right lab for YOU! What questions should you be asking yourself? What tools are available to research labs? What other questions...
2023-01-1026 minThe PhD Survival Guide Podcast01. So, you want to be a PhD? - What is a PhD? - How to get started! - Breaking down the 3 biggest myths that prospective PhD students face!Welcome in to our first episode of the PhD Survival Guide! This episode is more of a prologue, so let's just call this episode 0.
In this episode I introduce myself, Firas, a 5th year PhD student. There are many things that I wish I knew prior to becoming a PhD student that I think would've helped me immensely during the beginning of my career. As a new student, there are many anxieties and myths that we face when deciding to join a PhD. Is this right for me? Do I need a PhD to get to where I...
2023-01-0432 minThe PhD Survival Guide PodcastTrailerHey everyone! My name is Firas and I am super excited to announce the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! If you are interested in pursuing a PhD or are a current student, this podcast will be very helpful for you! I hope you all enjoy the podcast!
Are you a first year PhD student trying to figure out how to navigate grad life? Or maybe you're a fifth year looking for the motivation to write out the last chapter of your dissertation? Regardless of where you are or where you want to be, this is...
2022-10-2501 min