To ease their way, a leading Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic has posted answers on YouTube to 14 questions posed via Twitter by prospective PhD candidates.

 

Professor of Education and Head of the CSU School of Teacher Education, Professor Tara Brabazon, created the brief three-to-five minute video clips in response to the popularity of an earlier article she wrote for the Times Higher Education (THE) in the United Kingdom. The article, ‘Ten truths a PhD supervisor will never tell you’ (July 2013), has received hundreds of thousands of ‘reads’, according to THE.

 

In her introductory remarks to her YouTube video series, Professor Brabazon says her observations come from her wealth of higher education experience as both a student and as an academic.

 

“I have worked at eight universities in four countries, have supervised over 30 PhD students, and have marked many, many, many PhDs of different types,” Professor Brabazon said. “I’ve also been a director of postgraduate education, writing regulations and trying to understand the complexity of what is the doctorate in contemporary higher education. I’ve had many roles and functions from supervision through to candidature management.”

 

Examples of the questions answered by Professor Brabazon include:

What is the difference between a Master’s degree and a PhD?

What skills do I require to start a PhD?

How do I choose a topic that will sustain my interest?

What one question should I ask before commencing a PhD?

How do I select a good PhD supervisor?

Why are professional doctorates on the decline?

 

You can also view Professor Brabazon’s answers to the 14 questions posed by PhD aspirants on her own YouTube channel here.

 

Find out more about teaching courses at CSU here.