Feb 15, 2024Your productivity: how to tell if you are doing enough — Prof Partout Online Academic English and Academic CoachingIf you are anything like Prof Partout you have a sneaking if not a downright concrete suspicion that you are not productive enough. The demand for higher productivity in this era is a brickbat we probably find hurtling towards us at any given moment. But the pressure to produce more…4 min read4 min read
Feb 6, 2024Your academic supervisor: A user manual — Prof Partout Online Academic English and Academic CoachingProf Partout knows you know that you don’t own your supervisor, but more to the point, they should come with assembly instructions or user manual. Students often have the wrong idea about the role of the supervisor and what the relationship should be about. This post was inspired by the…Academic Supervisor5 min readAcademic Supervisor5 min read
Feb 2, 2024Where do new great ideas come from? — Prof Partout Online Academic English and Academic CoachingWe all know there is no great waiting room in the sky…well at least not a waiting room for ideas. Why is it then that many of us sit around as if there were though, hoping one will plummet down from the heavens and enter our brain…and our brain only…Idea Generation4 min readIdea Generation4 min read
Jan 30, 2024Wannabe vampires? Why are we still pulling all-nighters? — Prof Partout Online Academic English and Academic CoachingProf Partout knows that for many students pulling all-nighters-working late into the night to get work done-is almost a rite of passage. Is it the cliff-hanger thrill of the rush to meet a deadline? Is leaving it to the last minute a form of self-sabotage? …All Nighter4 min readAll Nighter4 min read
Jan 25, 2024Your year in review: Cheers to your productivity — Prof Partout Online Academic English and Academic CoachingThe end of January is nigh upon us. By Professor Partout’s reckoning you will have all given up on your new year’s resolutions by about now. …Research Productivity3 min readResearch Productivity3 min read
Jan 19, 2024Feedback: those voices in the margins of your work — Prof Partout Online Academic English and Academic CoachingAcademic supervisors are there to critique your work. This implies both praise and…well less pleasant negative evaluations. It is the nature of the work supervisors do. To get the best out of your feedback remember these two things. …Academic Supervision3 min readAcademic Supervision3 min read
Sep 20, 2023Speaking of speaking-tips for conference talks for non-native speakersWhether delivering your first conference paper or accepting your Nobel Prize, speaking in your second language is enough to get your knees shaking. As if giving a talk isn’t hard enough, doing it in your 2nd…3rd…Nth language turns the stress up to eleven. …Conference Talks4 min readConference Talks4 min read
Aug 25, 2023Starting a PhD journey? Must-haves in your metacognitive backpackTo misquote a certain Chinese philosopher, a PhD journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step? Sorry, but Prof P won’t be travelling anywhere with Lao Tzu any time soon. The PhD journey begins long before lacing up those shoes and stepping out. It begins with preparation. It…Starting Phd4 min readStarting Phd4 min read
Aug 18, 2023The PhD marathon metaphor: It’s no sprint nor a walk in the parkIt is an oldie but a goodie, the PhD marathon metaphor. You know the one-it’s not a sprint it’s a marathon? Um, Prof Partout has never met anyone who has mistaken a PhD with a sprint, but he is not entirely sure it is a marathon either. A marathon is…Phd Dissertation4 min readPhd Dissertation4 min read
Aug 11, 2023Researching on the move: Academic workspaces are mobileProf Partout loves to travel. It broadens the mind. Can we take the benefit of travel and apply it to academia? Higher education is not so modern yet that we can all be digital nomads, but there is something to be said for moving around (not quite so far as…Workspaces4 min readWorkspaces4 min read