I’m working on the second edition of ‘How to fix your academic writing trouble’ with Katherine Firth at the moment. We’re doing a new chapter on writing process, specifically how to think with generative AI tools. For inspiration, I am thinking about Artist Studios and how they support making work. Artist studios are filled with tools and materials for creating, as well as storage for supplies and finished works. At the center of any decent artist’s studio is a workbench, where projects come to life. An artist’s studio is also a place of self expression: filled with inspiring objects to prompt ..read more

In May 2023, Eirini Tzouma asked me participate in a panel on Neurodiversity at the Durham Centre for Academic Development post graduate research conference. Sadly, I had prior commitments, but we did arrange to meet afterwards so Eirini could share what happened with me. I don’t publish guest posts regularly anymore, but after this discussion I did invite Eirini to write up this session. If you’re interested in my ongoing work around neurodiversity/divergence in the PhD, you can join my research news mailing list here. ————————– My role as an Academic Development Advisor focuses on support of ..read more

We have to talk about ChatGPT, or as my sister @anitranot styles it, ‘ChattieG.’ (which is both funnier and easier to say). The reaction to Chattie in academia seems to oscillate between moral panic (“OMG, The Youngs will cheat on their assignments!!”) and world-weary cynicism (“it writes like shit anyway”). Very few people seem to be talking about ChattieG in the context of the Academic Hunger Games, by which I mean the competitive/toxic race to produce more and more publications and ‘get ahead’. Chattie is a new weapon in our backpack, how should we use it? via GIPHY Honestly, I’m a bit per ..read more

A couple of months ago I wrote a post called ‘The enshittification of academic social media’, riffing on ideas put in the world by Cory Doctorow. It’s fair to say, this post was a minor viral hit, resulting in me being interviewed by Geraldine Dougue on ABC radio, and a piece in The Australian, which I haven’t yet managed to read because it’s behind a pay wall (and I don’t pay Rupert Murdoch). Since I put out that post in July. I formally closed my Twitter account and have been splitting my social media time between Mastodon, BlueSky and Threads (I’m ‘@thesiswhisperer’ on all three). People ke ..read more

It is a truth almost never acknowledged, that university communities are absolutely, totally, tragically addicted to gossip. I was reminded of this truth when the identity of the new ANU VC was announced last week. It was goodbye to the much celebrated and respected Brian Schmidt and hello to the much celebrated and respected Genevieve Bell. Everyone I talked to seemed happy about the change in leadership. And when I say ‘everyone’, it feels like I talked to almost everyone last week because the gossip network was running HOT. I’ve not seen the gossip network run this hot since… last time we c ..read more

If I started Thesis Whisperer today, 10th of July 2023, you would never hear about me. I built a readership in my little corner of academia, and some measure of influence, by sharing my work online. When people ask how I got to 100,000 followers on social media, I used to share two tips: 1) make stuff and share it 2) share the work of others more than your own I write about things I think will interest you here. I also pride myself on recognising good stuff and making sure you know about it via social media. This approach has made me a trusted source of information about the PhD and academic l ..read more

Hey, before I start this post, I’ve got a couple more events coming up at Cambridge if you are around: On 11 July we are holding a forum for ThinkLab at Cambridge for PhDs and PostDocs who are interested in accessing the non-academic research job market (no online option, sorry). You can book for free here. I’m giving a lecture about the PhD in uncertain times where I will talk about the latest data we have on the UK market for research skills, at Kings College, Cambridge on Monday 10 July, 5:30 – 7:30pm: you can book for free here If you are interested in the neurodiversity research ..read more

Hey – Before I start, here are some upcoming events I’m doing at Cambridge University, which are open to the public: A lecture at Wolfson College, Cambridge on Tuesday 6 June at 5:30pm, which touches on themes from my new book with Simon Clews ‘Be visible or Vanish’. There’s an in-person option if you can get to Cambridge, and an online version if you can’t: you can book here. I’m giving a lecture about the PhD in uncertain times where I will talk about the latest data we have on the UK market for research skills, at Kings College, Cambridge on Monday 10 July, 5:30 – 7:30pm: you can book here ..read more

I’m on sabbatical for the next three months and have committed to doing a literature review on neurodiversity and PhD study. Ugh. I hate doing literature reviews. I’m just going to say it: most academic writing is BORING and doing a big review means reading lots of it. The thought of reading more than 200 papers in 3 months makes me want to poke my eyes out with a pen. The good news is I can use ChatGPT to help me write this review. There’s something of a moral panic around ChatGPT, or, as my twin sister amusingly calls it: ‘ChattieG’. We’ve heard much about the perils of misinformation and ho ..read more

Like many academics, I have too many things on. By ‘things’ I mean projects of all shapes and sizes, from ‘write a book on neurodiversity and the PhD’, to ‘Fix up the Bootcamp page on the ANU website’. Exhibit A: I’m going on Sabbatical in the UK from May to August. To minimise disruption to the team, I bunched my first semester of teaching into two months. At the same time I stupidly decided to do a new podcast series with my sister about the Apple TV show Severance: (it’s going to be a blast, you can listen to the teaser trailer and subscribe via your favourite pod platform here!). This ‘li ..read more