It has been over two years since I defended my PhD at the University of Agder in Norway. During the last two years I have discussed the PhD process with many others including peers, junior PhD candidates and senior colleagues. In this post, I reflect on the PhD process relying on my own experience and some others’ I know, and
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Dear New PhD Student This is an exciting time for you as you embark on your journey towards a doctoral degree. As your supervisor, I thought I should write to welcome you and give you a few handy hints that may help both of us to survive this long journey. We both have much to learn. Although we have exchanged
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A few months ago I attended a conference where a student (from a Non-English speaking country) told me his personal experience. He told me about the harsh comments his supervisor made on the initial draft of his paper at the end of his first month as a doctorate study. This is not the first time I heard of a student
Continue reading How to finish your PhD on time? 3 critical lessons every PhD learns the hard way By Stine Øyna During my very first week as a PhD student my new colleagues and I attended the defense (i.e. Viva or equivalent) of a Chinese guy who had spent 10 (T-E-N) years on his dissertation. I didn’t quite get his topic
Continue reading 10 terrible thoughts you will have during your PhD .. and why you will be fine anyway By Stine Øyna Last week our department welcomed a total of 19 new PhD students into our program in International Business. As a third-year candidate I was asked to give a talk about PhD life, and ideally offer some advice on how to
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ByProf. Dr.Jamal Hisham Hashim Visiting Professor at United Nations University- IIGH Former Professor of Environmental Health at National University Malaysia Making good plans and preparation for a PhD journey is just as important as starting one. Starting a PhD journey on the wrong foot can spell disaster. So, I am penning my advice and tips here for PhD aspirants
Continue reading WHY is it crucial? Mostly in developing countries, universities cannot subscribe to the world’s leading journal publishers because it is expensive to subscribe to the journals of the leading publishers. However, there exists ways to get access to them without paying. For instance, many publishers provide free access to their articles to universities in developing countries upon request. In
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After having completed a PhD degree myself, and having supervised, co-supervised and examined a number of PhD students over the years, I would like to offer some humble advice and pointers to those aspiring to pursue a PhD degree themselves. I find that many Malaysians misunderstood the purpose of getting a PhD degree and the commitments and sacrifices that it
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