iPhD Insights Series: The Great iPhD Survival Kit!

Getting stuck into your iPhD is no easy feat and it’s a long and sometimes lonely road. Each year will bring new challenges such as confirmation, publishing, and eventually submission. Aside from navigating thesis-writing and research requirements, there are ‘softer’ skills required such as time management and managing ‘upwards’ (aka juggling three sets of institutional requirements and supervisors). How does one survive?

Join Dr Michael Billows, a recent iPhD graduate as he shares key tips from his PhD journey. Topics covered will include:

General PhD survival

• Challenges and how to navigate them
• Year by year experience and progression through different phases
• How to work independently & manage time/deadlines
• How to manage long-term objectives and no fixed daily structure
• Communication strategies with multiple supervisors & stakeholders

Research focussed advice (strong caveat: advice is based on personal experience and students should always consult their supervisors first)

• University-specific enquiries (particularly if students are from the same uni)
• Tips on how to approach confirmation of candidature
• Tips on publishing papers
• Tips on how to effectively present data/findings, written and verbal
• How to manage feedback provision
• How to manage IP and confidential information correctly

About the presenter: Michael is an enthusiastic and committed Clinical Psychologist with 13 years’ experience in the field. Previous careers in the SA Metropolitan Fire Service and Australian Defence Force were balanced with the demands of part-time undergraduate and post-graduate studies while being a parent to four children and managing an Angora goat hobby farm. In his spare time, Michael enjoys bushwalking (with the Mt Everest Base Camp trek a hiking career highlight), playing the Didgeridoo and working as a Volunteer Park Ranger.