The A-Z of the PhD Trajectory

Dear readers,

I’ve published a new book “The A-Z of the PhD Trajectory” in the Springer Texts in Education. You can read all about it (and buy it!) on the Springer website.

The book is full of new material. There are topics that I’ve written about in the blog, but I reworked everything and added tons of new material. I’ve learned that there are topics I’ve written more about than others on this blog, and to develop a coherent story, I had to correct that imbalance.

Here’s a short description of the book:

This textbook is a guide to success during the PhD trajectory. The first part of this book takes the reader through all steps of the PhD trajectory, and the second part contains a unique glossary of terms and explanation relevant for PhD candidates. Written in the accessible language of the PhD Talk blogs, the book contains a great deal of practical advice for carrying out research, and presenting one’s work. It includes tips and advice from current and former PhD candidates, thus representing a broad range of opinions. The book includes exercises that help PhD candidates get their work kick-started. It covers all steps of a doctoral journey in STEM: getting started in a program, planning the work, the literature review, the research question, experimental work, writing, presenting, online tools, presenting at one’s first conference, writing the first journal paper, writing and defending the thesis, and the career after the PhD. Since a PhD trajectory is a deeply personal journey, this book suggests methods PhD candidates can try out, and teaches them how to figure out for themselves which proposed methods work for them, and how to find their own way of doing things.

And here are some of the comments from the reviewers of the book:

“This strategy makes readers feel as if they are reading letters from a friend who’s providing suggestions on how to become successful, instead of an academic book. The author touches on many dimensions of the doctoral training that are left assumed, such as taking responsibility for honing one’s academic writing skills and, if students have English as a second language, tips and suggestions for addressing this added level of complexity. I can’t wait to have the book and recommend it to my own doctoral students.” (Patricia Goodson, Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA)

“The personal insight and practical tips and exercises make an original contribution here.” (Alex Hope, Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom)

“The review is incredibly comprehensive and relatively thorough. It’s also very easy to navigate. In this sense I can imagine it sitting on the shelf of any PhD student as a reference guide. This book has broad appeal. It is comprehensive and easy to navigate and I can see this being a reference manual for any PhD student.” (Ben Libberton, MAX IV Laboratory, Lund, Sweden)

You can request a review copy of the book through the Springer website.

If you want to develop a course based on this book, please let me know!

I hope this book will serve you, and I’m looking forward to your comments on this book and experiences with the implementation of the strategies and exercises.

Eva