What can you do with a PhD? Ten answers from graduates who completed their doctoral studies between 2015 and 2023

One of the questions most often asked of doctoral students is What are you going to do when you finish your PhD? For some students it is also one of the most dreaded, especially when it comes from family members or friends who barely understand the title of the doctoral research in question. An obvious, and truthful, answer is ‘No longer work on my thesis’. However, this isn’t really a suitable response. The questioner is interested in hearing about ‘proper’ job ambitions, and the value of these to a successful future career. Continue reading

How long does it take to write a PhD thesis?

My short answer is 68 days, but please read the detail below…

Bold resolutions PhD comic

Bold resolutions: “Piled Higher and Deeper” by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com

As a PhD supervisor I have often been asked ‘How long do you think it will take me to write up my thesis?’ My answer always begins ‘It depends…’ We then continue the conversation with an audit of material already drafted that may contribute (in edited format) to the final thesis. These include the initial literature review from the first year transfer report, and posters, conference papers and journal articles presented and/or published from the on-going work. Continue reading

Applications invited for 25 PhD studentships at Edinburgh Napier University, start date 1 October 2015

Edinburgh Napier logoEdinburgh Napier University is currently inviting applications for 25 fully-funded PhD studentships across a range of research areas. Included in these areas are six topics of relevance to the research interests of the Centre for Social Informatics. These are:

  • e-Government
  • Information policy
  • Information seeking behaviour and use
  • Knowledge management
  • Online communities
  • Open data and open government

Continue reading