Undertaking a PhD can be a daunting process. It requires developing a research question, collecting and analysing data, and writing up findings. It involves building and maintaining relationships with supervisors, and developing a community of scholarly peers.
Sometimes this can feel challenging, and this is where an academic coach can be helpful.
An academic coach is someone who can provide you with one-to-one tailored support around
- The practicalities of doing often solitary doctoral research such as time management, maintaining work-life balance and building a community of peers
- Managing academic relationships such as negotiating boundaries and expectations with supervisors
- Developing research skills around data collection, analysis and writing
I have almost two decades experience supervising and examining PhDs, with expertise in social anthropology, sociology and interdisciplinary research. I have worked with fifteen co-supervisors across seven disciplines and seen how different disciplinary expectations and personalities can impact on student experience. I am committed to supporting ethical research, and taking a whole life course approach to research ethics.
An academic coach is not a supervisor, but someone with experience of supervising and examining PhDs who can provide you with tailored, holistic support around your doctoral experience as a whole.
As an academic coach, I can help you:
- Identify your strengths and help you capitalise on them
- Identify your barriers to achieving what you want to achieve and work with you on strategies to overcome them
- Support achievable goal setting and developing effective time management
- Work more effectively with your supervisors
- Develop effective and answerable research questions
- Build meaningful research ethics into your project
- Turn a doctoral thesis into journal submissions
- Develop an effective dissemination strategy
- Prepare for your viva
If you are interested an initial no-cost consultation, email me at lucy@lucypickering.co.uk including your subject, topic, stage of study and the broad areas you would like to focus on.
From here, we will work together to identify your needs, agree a set of priorities and expectations, and develop an action plan for working together.
Sessions are conducted online, cost £54, and last 50 minutes. While fortnightly sessions are recommended, there may be periods of your PhD that require greater or lesser frequency of meeting, and we will tailor our meeting schedule to your needs.