Writing is part of the adventure

Amica Liburd, a PGR in the Department of Theology and Religion, attended many of the workshops as part of the Postgraduate Researcher Online Writing Summer School 2023, held 10-14 July. Here, she reflects on what she gained. To access recordings of all the workshops, enrol on the Canvas module.

Amica’s work desk

What if there is more to the PhD journey than simply writing a thesis? Participating in PROWSS2023 online workshops helped me to appreciate the value nurturing the skill of writing so that after years of “writing towards a thesis”, I can emerge as someone who can effectively communicate to others about the ideas that I am passionate about. Since starting the PhD journey in September 2020, I’ve wanted to dedicate a week to attending this annual workshop. Back then it seemed like the ideal way to start the journey. Unfortunately, it took three years to attend and even then, I still had to negotiate attending some sessions alongside a Conference that was being held simultaneously. Fortunately, both events were online and all the resources for PROWSS2023 are also now available online so if I missed a session, I could easily access it later. Prioritizing the sessions which were relevant to my stage in the PhD journey was an excellent decision and at the end of the week there were at least three sessions I was glad that I didn’t miss. The perfect conditions for attending this year’s PROWSS did not come, however two of the sessions I attended and found most helpful were Managing Writing Momentum and Shut up and Work!!

Managing Writing Momentum

Point me to the PhD student who has perfectly mastered the art of maintaining writing momentum! The week was certainly off to a great start with this topic. We were reminded by the Dr Emma Foster that writing momentum is something that can be cultivated and thereafter maintained with practice. To cultivate such momentum, writing must become part of one’s daily routine. Writing every day can help me professionalize something that I already enjoy doing. And if I’m not enjoying it on any given day, … I’ll just have to try pretending that I do. Alternatively, I can imagine that I am a renowned author/academic with an readership who is eager to read my next publication. This session reinforced just how closely related the researcher’s holistic wellbeing is to maintain sustainable patterns for engaging with research and writing well. The image of writing as a muscle that must be strengthened was insightful. But even more sobering was the caution that unhappy writers often lack inspiration, are melancholy, aren’t as creative as they can be and are starved of determination. Prioritizing breaks so that the subconscious can creatively blend ideas is imperative, unless of course you fancy a quick burn out. Not only do regular breaks replenish creativity but it goes a long way to keeping the writer happy to produce quality work. A bit of light yet meaningful humour … “Don’t stop unless your rear end falls off. And if it does fall off, put it in a paper bag and take it with you. Stopping is what kills momentum!” Perseverance is key.

Shut up and work!!

The Online Shut-up and Work Sessions organised by the Graduate School have over the past three years been quite helpful. No surprise then that the day of focused work with other researchers who were determined to accomplish some set tasks was equally valuable. Using the Pomodoro technique with regular intervals helped me to catch up on work that I needed to get done, after a week of online conference and workshops. Being able to identify key areas for follow up the next week gave me a plan for my next workday.

Interestingly the two sessions I reflected on were the start and the end of PROWSS2023. This is not to say that what happened in between was not pertinent to the overall experience. The online resources state otherwise. The start and the end of PROWSS2023 reflect what holds the PhD experience together if we choose to persevere in what could be an edifying adventure.

Juggling Priorities: Navigating Parenthood and Postgraduate Studies with Grace

Starting yesterday, the University of Birmingham’s Parents and Carers Fortnight 2023 is a programme of events from the Parents and Carers Network. Natalia Hartono, a final year PhD student in Mechanical Engineering, shares how she balances her research programme with her responsibilities as a parent.

Balancing the responsibilities of being a postgraduate researcher and a parent is a unique challenge that demands sacrifice and unwavering determination. In this blog post, I will share my personal journey, highlighting the valuable lessons I’ve learned along the way. Despite the difficulties, maintaining a positive mindset, embracing personal growth, and having positive supports have been instrumental in navigating this demanding lifestyle.

Embracing Scholarships and Responsibilities

Receiving scholarships to pursue my postgraduate studies was a privilege, but it also came with significant responsibilities. Meeting requirements and achieving milestones demanded substantial time and effort. I am grateful for the opportunity to pursue my studies and acknowledge the sacrifices my family has made to support me on this journey.

Finding Joy in the Journey

Natalia competing in the final of the 2022 UoB 3MT

Participating in university events and competitions has truly enriched my academic experience. Instead of fixating solely on winning, I have always prioritised embracing the joy that comes from the process itself. I firmly believe that the true value lies in the growth and learning that occur along the way, regardless of the final outcome. This mindset is something I am wholeheartedly instilling in my child, teaching her the importance of embracing both successes and failures as opportunities for personal development. By embodying resilience and persistence, I am actively laying a foundation for my child’s future, emphasizing the fulfilment that stems from the journey rather than the pursuit of victory.

The Price of Pursuing Higher Education

Behind the accomplishments lie a multitude of sacrifices: sleepless nights, working on weekends and holidays, and missing out on leisure time have been part of my journey. However, I always make an effort to find dedicated time for my daughter, showing her that she is loved and cared for. While the path has not been easy, my family and I have prioritised my studies, knowing that these sacrifices are temporary and will ultimately benefit our collective future.

Overcoming Challenges During the Pandemic

Starting my PhD and adjusting to a new school for my child in a foreign country coincided with the pandemic’s challenges. Lockdowns and school closures disrupted our routines, but through resilience and unwavering support, we navigated through. My husband’s understanding and our commitment to prioritising our daughter’s needs played a vital role. Night-time chats became our solace, fostering stability. I adapted my study routine to dedicate focused time at night, balancing academics with my daughter’s emotional well-being. This experience taught us the value of flexibility, adaptability, and family support in challenging times, strengthening our bond.

The Power of Supportive Networks and Services

Building a strong support system is crucial for successfully balancing parenting and postgraduate studies. My relationship with my supervisor and research group has provided invaluable guidance and encouragement. Additionally, utilising resources such as Library Services and joining networks like the “Shut Up and Work” community have improved my time management skills and created a supportive environment. Importantly, I’ve also recognised the importance of seeking help when needed and accessing mental health support during periods of burnout.

Navigating the demanding yet fulfilling phase of balancing parenthood and pursuing postgraduate studies requires sacrifice, understanding, consistency, and a positive mindset. Throughout my personal journey, I have come to appreciate the significance of embracing the process and cherishing the valuable lessons learned from both triumphs and setbacks. The unwavering support of my family and the resources available to me have been invaluable. Although the path may not always be easy, prioritising and fostering a supportive environment enable us to navigate this demanding yet fulfilling phase of our lives. Remember, you are not alone—seek support, maintain a positive outlook, and find joy in gracefully managing these intertwined priorities.

#AcWriMo & online writing communities for off-campus PGRs

In this post, Freya Watkins, a PGR in Psychology, shares her thoughts on the value of #AcWriMoatUoB.

Doing a PhD is often an isolating and alienating experience. You’re responsible for creating your own structure, often left to your own devices while you muddle through the ups and downs of research. PGRs with office space may still only see their peers or colleagues occasionally due to our varied individual schedules. Even that minimal in-person interaction on campus disappeared for PGRs for some time when the COVID-19 hit.

But for many of us, not being on campus was the norm long before the pandemic: disabled and chronically ill PGRs, parents and carers, distance learners, and working-class PGRs who must work alongside their research. A lot of PGRs are also part-time, working from home alone, and on a longer journey than the average doctoral candidate. The system is so broken that we end up working for free, writing up on evenings and weekends because PhDs aren’t funded/paid properly. Online events earlier in the pandemic provided off-campus PGRs with unprecedented access to conferences, webinars, workshops, lab meetings and co-working. But as universities rush back to in-person events, showing that lessons about accessibility haven’t been learned from COVID-19, PGRs working off-campus face a return to WFH loneliness.

Screenshot of Freya’s gather.town virtual PGR office

One way that has helped reduce this isolation for me is using online co-working spaces to get a sense of solidarity, community and accountability with other PGRs. Over the past few years I’ve tried various different platforms and groups: regular writing sessions with friends over Zoom, the UGS Shut Up & Work sessions on Teams, and the always-open PhDForum Online Study Room. My cohort even re-created our office space on gather.town to get that communal office feeling during lockdowns. The Monday evening work sessions on the Common Room Discord are still going strong, and PGRs on the UGS Teams channel are increasingly autonomously organising their own ‘drop-in & work’ sessions. Some PGRs who are on campus even join live from the library, but just prefer to have some online company and accountability to work, which is great too! Over the years I’ve met PGRs across different departments who I wouldn’t otherwise have had contact with, whose co-working company is just as important to my progress as my supervisors and lab members.

A great introduction to co-writing community is Academic Writing Month (#AcWriMo), which offers an opportunity for PGRs to set themselves a ‘SMART’ writing target for the month and focus on achieving that goal together with others. Last year, UGS organised three SU&W online sessions a week on the Teams channel, hosted by the UGS Scholars. The particular focus on getting words written rather than just ‘co-working’ helped me to achieve specific writing goals, like drafting sections of a thesis chapter. I remember one particularly inspired session where I got 1,000 words done in four Pomodoro sessions. There was a great sense of community last November, with more faces than at the usual weekly sessions, and knowing everyone had a writing goal helped us motivate each other mutually to achieve that target.

For #AcWriMoAtUoB 2022, UGS have organised a diverse program of writing sessions and workshops. Whether online or in-person, have a go at setting yourself a writing goal, and you might surprise yourself with how much you achieve! You may even discover that the routine, accountability and camaraderie of co-writing sessions are helpful for getting PhD work done beyond November, even if you do most of your work in the library or office. And for those of us off-campus, we’ll keep plugging away in our online writing rooms, organising our own access and community, going at our own pace.

#AcWriMo: why take part and what’s happening?

Natalia Hartono is a PhD student in the Mechanical Engineering Department. This time last year marked the beginning of her third year, and tons of to-do lists! Here, she shares how #AcWriMo 2021 helped her. And read about how you can get involved with #AcWriMo 2022.

Natalia writes

I signed up for AcWriMo in November of 2021. I’ve been a member of PGR Shut up and Work ever since the pandemic, and the first one I attended was conducted online. To me, attending these sessions, whether they are held in person or online, is a fantastic opportunity.

The announcement of AcWriMo 2021 made me happy because I gain a lot from these meetings. Shut up and Work only takes place once a week, but in the month of November, it happened three times a week! I’m glad there were more schedules to join in because November was a busy month for me. I’m trying to balance my time between studying, meeting deadlines, working as a PGTA, and taking care of my child.

Taking Part in #AcWriMo: Reflections and Responses

November is Academic Writing Month (#AcWriMo) and in this post, Liam Knight, a PGR in the Department of English Literature and a Westmere Scholar, reflects on his experience of participating in last year’s event.

Back in 2020, I took part in AcWriMo, a month-long writing event in which people working within academia set themselves goals to accomplish over the month of November (e.g. write X000 words, collect X amount of data sets, read X number of papers, etc.) and then use their local and online academic communities to keep themselves accountable and supported and ensure that they reach those goals (or come as close as is reasonably possible)!

Details of this year’s #AcWriMo at UoB, hosted by your Westmere Scholars

#PROWSS2021 – Cracking the Code

12-16 July was the Postgraduate Researcher Online Writing Summer School 2021 (or #PROWSS2021) and Bridget Blankley, a PGR from the Department of Art History, Curating and Visual Studies, reflects on her experience of attending.

Why is it that life as a PGR that means learning to write all over again? Just as you think you have got the hang of writing essays suddenly, there are a whole new set of things that you have to write; abstracts, literature reviews, conference papers and even, whisper it softly, grant proposals. What’s worse, each one seems to have its own set of, often secret, rules that you have to learn. Well, at least that’s how I felt before I attended #PROWSS2021 this year. It was four days of ideas and advice followed by a full day of Shut up and Work – a great way to put into practice some of the ideas that you picked up earlier in the week.

Shut up and focus on mutual encouragement

In this post, Mustafa Coban, a PGR from the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies in the College of Arts and Law shares his experiences of Shut up and work.

Shut up and work was for me initially, Shut up and write, though I’ve come to appreciate the ‘work’ phrasing is much more apt since there is all sorts of work involved in study and research before, during and after the writing process. It was, and still largely is, a time dedicated to writing, editing, and proofreading. A friend who was leaving the university after completing her studies told me about Shut up and work as I was starting my PhD programme. It took me some time to seek out a session, but once I found one, I found it immediately useful.

I wasn’t entirely sure of what I expected. But I knew I wanted a time dedicated to writing and only writing. I imagined it as time free not only from reading, but the endless loops and interesting dives into reading, that only seemed to snowball as I chased one footnote, idea, or curiosity after another until I had a folder of pdf articles becoming too big to manage. That was in the early days of my programme, and while I still chase footnotes, through “shutting up and writing” I’ve become better at not trying to cover everything I’ve read.

Building your research community

In this post, Raeni, a PGR in the Department of Accounting, and Isbahna Naz, a PGR in the Department of Management, share some tips that they found beneficial in developing their sense of community during their PhDs.

3- 4 years doing a PhD is a long time. Some may say, “Life is on hold while doing my PhD”.

We are, of course, all on different journeys but with the same aim. Before COVID-19, we have a study space in the Muirhead Tower, where we could meet, interact and create a community within our cohort even though we are from different research interests. Having a sense of belonging with our peers alongside the journey is essential in numerous ways.

A pre-COVID-19 reading group session – Raeni is at the far right.

Being a member of a research community allows us to stimulate research progress, access an excellent seminar programme, discuss opportunities, and recognise other organisations beyond the campus. The community also sometimes directs us to get opportunities, for instance, acting as teaching or research assistants. Keeping us busy while engaging with others also helps our wellbeing.

Virtually the same – communal productivity at home

In this post, Sarah Chung, PGR in the School of Education and Westmere Scholar, tells us about the value she finds in running and attending Virtual Shut Up and Work.

As a mother of two young children, who was working as a full-time primary school teacher and school governor, I very enthusiastically started my part-time PhD in Education in 2018.  I planned to work in the evenings and at weekends, only venturing onto campus as needed.  On a regular basis I would receive e-mails which would tell me all about the opportunities that were available for PGRs and one always stuck out – Shut Up and Work.  As an initiative, I thought it was great but I couldn’t join in as I was at work.  It made me realise that there was a lot I couldn’t attend as a part-time PGR.  When I became a Westmere Scholar in 2019, I had the opportunity to attend the Shut Up and Work sessions organised by the PGR Community Engagement Officer (then Eren Bilgen) and I immediately noticed how supportive the environment was with everyone sharing goals and next steps. I also noticed how much more productive I had been!

Reflecting on the session, I realised that it would be great if we could include other PGRs that were part-time, distance learners, PGRs with parental/caring responsibilities or even a combination of all three!  Eren and I discussed how we could do this, and we decided to offer an online version – ‘Virtual Shut Up and Work’ – via the Westmere Facebook group for distance learners and part-time PGRs.

Welcome to the University of Birmingham!

Are you a new postgraduate researcher at the University of Birmingham? Do you feel a bit daunted at the thought of starting this new adventure? If so, fear not. Lucky for you the University of Birmingham has lots of resources to help you. Here are a few tips to start you off on the right foot!