Throughout my time doing a PhD, I have figured out there is a lot of learning through failure and mistakes…like a lot of things! I wanted to put together a few things I thought would have been helpful to have known as a first year PhD researcher. I really believe that had I known some of these, I might have been more active in my decision making and saved energy too!

Hopefully some of these will be helpful for you to think about whatever stage of research you are at in your project.

Conferences

I would highly recommend saving conferences until second year and after, unless there is one you feel is particularly relevant and you want to submit work to. Doctoral seminars are often part of conferences where you have the opportunity to share your work with fellow PhD researchers and can be very helpful. But if you feel this too much for you, never think you have to jump into these opportunities straight away. They are great, but more of a priority for second and third year from my experience. Attending other events for networking purposes can be a helpful alternative in the first year to connect with others.  

A gap in knowledge

Focus on getting your research problem defined. Although you may have this pretty much set during the PhD application process, the earlier you can evidence this through literature, the sooner you can get working on the gaps you have identified to research based on the problem. There can be a struggle finding ‘gap’ and maintaining this.

With research being a continuous and every changing process and new ideas emerging that are not always in our control, having the research problem as the anchor keeps the root of the gaps clear to be able to change direction if needed. If the problem were to change or be somewhat ‘resolved’ during your research, the gaps can then be used as different visions and angles for exploration.

Keeping in contact

As early as you can, gather a list of useful contacts internally within university teams. This could include finance for your consumables budget, PhD admission enquiries and disability related teams. Having this information somewhere quick and easy to access that works for you will be very helpful for those busier times in your PhD journey when taking a while to find the right person to speak to may add overwhelm.

Fun

This is something I started to learn after the first 6 months once I was fortunate to get to know more people in our department. Booking in time with friends to do something you enjoy regularly can be super helpful making sure you still enjoy fun times and provides good memories during the ups and downs of PhD life.

Similarly, now is the ideal time to take up a hobby you have always wanted to or have put to one side. I fell out of love with music a while ago, despite it being the best thing for my mental health as a teenager. I found that I started to focus and make time for it bit by bit during my PhD. I didn’t force myself to do lots, but just enough to train my brain into having a proper break doing something else that I love. Equally, I have been fortunate enough to find some fiction books to get hooked onto, which has been a real gem of a hobby given how much I know from myself and others, reading academically can very easily put people off reading for pleasure. This has allowed me to enjoy books while keeping my brain motivated and stimulated to practice reading in a different way to the constant critical reading we do as academics.

Challenge your supervisors

The more I learnt to do this, the more I felt each part of my PhD continued to settle into place, and I understood my work more and more, even if things changed. At first, it feels like challenging superiors, and to an extent, you are. But you are also challenging academic peers, your equals. This is not being rude, your voice is important in your work as that is a key part of your PhD. This does not mean ignoring their ideas and not listening to what they have to say. You might just be questioning the perspective they put onto your work. Questioning their thoughts and suggestions will not only help you to think about your work in a deeper sense but it will really help with solidifying your knowledge and understanding of the decision making in the PhD project. It is also really good practice for defense in your viva and transfer reports.

Looking back, there are plenty of things that I wish I had done differently in my PhD journey – like anything – but these are the few that really come to mind. Your PhD journey is yours and you will come across situations that you may not handle exactly how you would want to, but you can reflect on these times and use this to your advantage for the remainder of your PhD.