Disclaimer: Most of this information will be specifically for PhDs in Education, Psychology, and Mental Health Sciences, as that is our only reference point. How does one begin the process of PhD applications? From trying to decide on the perfect programme to writing research proposals, the process can seem overwhelming, before even starting.   During the Summer of 2021, each of us began preparing our PhD applications, and continued the grueling process whilst studying for the MPhil. Collectively, we truly wished there were more informative and reflective blogs for prospective PhD st ..read more

In the current political climate, it is virtually impossible to discuss the classroom experience of Black students without considering the contemporary debate surrounding critical race theory (CRT) in schools. Critical race theory was first developed by Derrick Bell, in collaboration with other legal scholars such as Kimberlé Crenshaw, Cheryl Harris, and Patricia Williams. CRT is a lens through which to understand inequities in a racialized society. The theory dictates that race is socially constructed and that racial discrimination is not simply the product of individual prejudices, but rathe ..read more

Welcome to part three of our Multi-Study PhD blog series. This blog is a follow-up from parts one and two where we introduced the concept of multi-study theses and answered several FAQs. In this blog, we spotlight five students who completed their theses at the Faculty in the last three years and used a multi-study approach. Yishu Qin My name is Yishu Qin, and I officially graduated from the Faculty of Education in 2019. My thesis aim was to develop an implicit association test that captures people’s unconscious bias about empathy in scientists. At the beginning of my PhD, I wanted to solve on ..read more

This blog is a follow-up from part one where we introduced the concept of multi-study theses, as an exciting and relevant approach to doctoral studies at the Faculty of Education. For those new to the topic, we explain what a multi-study PhD is in detail in part one. We now move on to answer a few questions showcasing the joys and perils of the multi-study approach, to help you decide whether it is right for you. So, let’s get started! 1. What does a multi-study thesis look like? The multi-study thesis should be greater than the sum of its (multiple) parts. While each of the individual studies ..read more

I wasn’t ‘officially’ (whatever that means) diagnosed with the specific learning difficulty of dyslexia until my first year of undergraduate study. The institution screened everyone on admission and to be honest, it wasn’t a big surprise to me when I found out I was. I’d always struggled to spell; my reading speed was bleak, and I couldn’t for the life of me ever remember what I had just been told to remember. Although my dyslexia presents itself pretty much in line with many formal definitions, such as, “a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent w ..read more

One of the greatest difficulties I faced in my teenage years was finding my “passion”. Growing up in a small city in Romania, I was not particularly interested in any subject offered by my school. I always enjoyed studying and I was usually curious to learn more about different topics, but there was no particular subject I was fascinated with (or at least, interested enough in) to dedicate more time for it outside school. However, in the 5th grade, after winning a regional prize in an English competition (which, for a 10-year-old meant a lot), I found that I enjoyed learning English, particula ..read more

Doctoral research in Education is an open-ended, unpredictable, and ever-changing process. Now, with COVID-19 disrupting global education for more than a year, that complex (yet highly rewarding!) doctoral journey may have become even more unpredictable… to say the least. Not to worry though. A group of doctoral students at the Faculty of Education (FoE) has been thinking deeply about how to design a versatile PhD project that is thoughtful and well-planned, yet flexible and responsive to the challenges that might pop up along the way (rapidly changing timelines, access to fieldwork). Unforese ..read more

Tom Kirk is the Faculty of Education’s Communications Manager. His role emphasises research communications, which involves publicising research through both traditional news outlets and digital media with the broad aim of widening its reach and (hopefully) its impact on society. This includes helping researchers – including research students – to reinterpret their work for non-academic audiences, work with journalists, and make meaningful use of tools such as specialist websites, blogs, and podcast, video, and social platforms. Here, he describes some potential benefits of communicating resea ..read more

This is an ode to the pinboard—bulletin board, corkboard, tack board, or whatever synonym you prefer—as an underrated brainstorming tool. When I arrived at Cambridge as a new PhD student in the fall of 2020 (mid-pandemic), I became very well acquainted with my accommodations at St. Edmund’s College during my 14-day quarantine. My room came with two large pinboards. Perfect, I thought: plenty of space to hang photos and cards. I knew I was going to be looking at these walls for a long time so I might as well make them interesting. I quickly populated one with postcards while the other remained ..read more

This piece is part of the Autism and Culture series, in which researchers at the Faculty of Education carrying out studies relating to autism across the globe reflect on new challenges and exciting opportunities. This series was published in recognition of World Autism Awareness Week 2021, and you can view the rest of the series here: https://fersacambridge.com/?s=Autism+and+Culture Researching autism and play in the South African context while studying at the University of Cambridge, a Western institution, is a beautifully complex endeavour. It requires constant shifting of perspectives ..read more