PhD Application Advice - FB Live Session

FB Live Session on Applying for a PhD

I often get contacted by potential PhD students who are interested in pursuing a research degree and I put some slides together as a resource to help answer some of the common questions.  I will be conducting a Facebook Live Session for the Sustainable Education Foundation on this topic on 18 June 2017. 

Of course, there are many similar guides available on this topic and I am particularly grateful to Matt Might for his excellent "Illustrated guide to a PhD", which I have borrowed from to prepare this information.  


Popular posts from this blog

Cloud Wedge - geek of the week

Image
CloudWedge: 'Geek of the Week' My colleague Yijun Yu recently wrote a opinion piece for The Conversation about how cloud computing could have made a difference to the search for Malayian Airlines MH370.  Essentially the question he poses is: why, in the age of global internet connectivity (including now onboard planes!), do we depend on the onboard flight data recorder for information about what happens on a plane? Of course there are numerous challenges with this - not least the cost of bandwidth for all the flight data (including cockpit audio) to be uploaded in real time and the security of the data.  Yijun's article addresses some aspects of the latter, and the former is not an insurmountable problem.  For example it should be possible to upload basic flight telemetry (e.g., GPS location, air speed, engine statistics and fuel data) without requiring significant bandwidth.  Indeed aero engine manufacturers such as Rolls-Royce deployed engine monitoring ...
Read more

Cyber security by the rest of us ...

Image
Breakdown of cyber crime types reported by learners in Week 1 As part of the Introduction to Cyber Security MOOC , we asked learners to review their computer security practices at the start of their learning by completing a simple online survey / self-audit.  Over 9100 learners completed the survey in Week 1 of the course, highlighting some interesting findings. For example, although 84% of respondents had configured their computers to require a password on startup, 30% did not 'lock' their computer so that it required the password to be re-entered if they left it unattended. With regard to password management, 55% of respondents depended on their memory for storing passwords, whereas 26% used software (password manager / web browser) to manage their passwords.  It is noteworthy that 18% reported that they write their passwords down and 59% reuse the same username / password across multiple websites. It was reassuring to note that 90% of learners who completed the...
Read more

(Academic) Leadership ... in "13 Days"

Image
Reflections on academic leadership ... In Dec 2017, I had just been appointed Head of the School and asked a wise colleague for guidance on meeting the challenges of the role. Knowing that I am a film buff, she gave me a copy of a movie called "Thirteen Days" (2001) together with a brief note highlighting some key leadership behaviours that she felt were important to learn. At the time, I noted the key points she had written but never actually got around to watching the movie - mainly because it was on a DVD and we no longer had a player in the house!  I completed my tenure in the role, with some successes but also faced several challenging situations.  My colleague's advice was useful when faced with particular challenges, but I also found a need to adapt some aspects of the guidance to fit my personality and style. Six years later, as we approach the end of 2023, I noticed that "Thirteen Days" was available on one of the streaming services we subscribe to and ...
Read more