Do (did/would) you love your PhD? Last week a number of Edinburgh Napier University PhD students celebrated Valentine’s Day by explaining why they are passionate about their doctoral research. Amongst them was one of the students that I supervise: John Mowbray. Continue reading
Tag Archives: PhD
Applications invited for ESRC Scottish Graduate School of Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership studentship competition 2017
The Science, Technology, Innovation, Information and Communication Studies pathway of the ESRC Scottish Graduate School of Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (SGSSS-DTP) is currently inviting applications for this year’s studentship competition.
Academic staff at each of the pathway member institutions – including those within my group at Edinburgh Napier University – would be pleased to hear from eligible candidates who would like to apply for a PhD place under this scheme. 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: “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
Generation X, personal reputation, and social media: new publication in Information Research
‘Managing and evaluating personal reputations on the basis of information shared on social media: a Generation X perspective‘ has been published this week in Information Research. I co-authored this paper with Centre for Social Informatics PhD student Frances Ryan, and colleagues Peter Cruickshank and Alistair Lawson. Continue reading
Congratulations Leo Appleton: winner of the LIRG LIS Researcher Practitioner Award 2016
Congratulations to Leo Appleton, who was awarded the 2016 Research Practitioner Excellence Award by the Library and Information Research Group (LIRG) at the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) 2016 New Professionals Day in London last Friday 28th October 2016. Leo is Associate Director of Library Services at the University of the Arts, London, and a part-time PhD student within the Centre for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University, where I am his Director of Studies.
Congratulations Lyndsey Jenkins: co-author of best paper at #I3E2016
Many congratulations to Centre for Social Informatics PhD student Lyndsey Jenkins on winning a ‘best paper’ award with co-authors Ruoyun Lin and Debora Jeske at the 15th IFIP Conference on e-Business, e-Services and e-Society last week.
The winning paper is entitled ‘Influences and benefits of role models on social media’. On the basis of their empirical work, the authors argue that having a role model is associated with greater perceived support for one’s career aspirations, and access to information. In addition, those who have role models online report that their online profiles give more realistic self-presentations of their values and priorities. These individuals also have higher expectations of reciprocity in online environments. Continue reading
Non-public eparticipation in social media spaces: a presentation by Ella Taylor-Smith at #SMSociety
This afternoon my colleague Dr Ella Taylor-Smith will be delivering a presentation entitled ‘Non-public eparticipation in social media spaces’ at Social Media and Society 2016, which takes place in London this week. Ella co-authored the full paper on which the presentation is based with her PhD supervisor Dr Colin Smith. Continue reading
iDocQ Information Science doctoral colloquium 2016 #idocq2016: a review
iDocQ 2016 – the sixth annual Information Science doctoral colloquium – took place on Thursday 23rd June at Strathclyde University in Glasgow. Twenty-eight delegates from Scottish and English universities enjoyed a varied programme on the day. This included: Continue reading
Contribution to #CoLIS9, Uppsala, Sweden
Conceptions of Library and Information Science (CoLIS) is a series of international conferences that provides a broad forum for the exploration and exchange of ideas in the field of Library and Information Science, Information Studies, and related disciplines. The ninth conference, which opens today and runs until Wednesday 29th June, has been organised by the Department of ALM, Uppsala University and the Division of ALM, Lund University and takes place in Uppsala, Sweden. If you would like to follow the conference remotely over the next three days, the Twitter hashtag is #CoLIS9. Continue reading
Centre for Social Informatics success at the Edinburgh Napier University research conference 2016 #NapRes16

CSI colleagues Iris Buunk, Dr Laura Muir, Marwa Salayma (Centre for Distributed Computing, Networking and Security), Dr Tom Kane, John Mowbray, Lyndsey Jenkins, & Frances Ryan
The Centre for Social Informatics had a very successful day at Edinburgh Napier University’s 2016 Research Conference last Wednesday. We presented our work in three of the sessions: Continue reading

