Thriving against all odds: Navigating a PhD as a black woman in palaeosciences

Author: Precious Chiwara // Editors: Cherene de Bruyn & Sarah Charlin Klingberg My journey to pursue a PhD in palaeosciences, specifically archaeology, started in 2021 when I received the Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI) #Advancing Woman Award for black female students at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. This #Advancing Woman program was … Continue reading Thriving against all odds: Navigating a PhD as a black woman in palaeosciences

Between Two Worlds: Understanding if discrimination and social identity causes psychosis among ethnic minorities in the UK

Author: Rashmi Danwaththa Liyanage // Editor: Erin Pallott A Mother's Journey I woke up in the gloom and I could see some black and white pigeons huddled together on a neighbour’s roof embracing the warmth and serenity, a sheer contrast to my inner disarray. Just days after the Southport tragedy, and riots occurred a few … Continue reading Between Two Worlds: Understanding if discrimination and social identity causes psychosis among ethnic minorities in the UK

Financial Barriers to Education: My Journey to my PhD!

Author: Bethany Warwick // Editor: Vicky McIntyre I recently attended a Webinar for exploring career options after completing a PhD. It was a very informative session; however, it left me with one question; ‘is my experience that different from other people’s coming into/getting into academia?’.  This particular session was centred around ‘Careers in Policy’, and during the … Continue reading Financial Barriers to Education: My Journey to my PhD!

Starting a postgraduate degree as an Autistic person

Author: Nina Wycech // Editor: Poppy Dunn Notes: In the light of the Neurodivergency movement, many try to retire the medical view and call it Autism Spectrum Condition instead of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Many people prefer using person-first language (person with autism) when it comes to ASD. I consider Autism to be an undetachable … Continue reading Starting a postgraduate degree as an Autistic person

“I Don’t Want to Cause Trouble”: Acceptance of Bullying in Academia

Author: Erin Pallott // Editors: Luke Marshall, Sophie Alshukri When I joined my PhD programme, I needed to figure out which lab I wanted to join. I got given lots of advice on what to ask other PhD and postdoc members, and a prominent suggestion was to find out what the lab environment is like. … Continue reading “I Don’t Want to Cause Trouble”: Acceptance of Bullying in Academia

Reflections on Student Protest in Light of the Encampment

Author: Jafar Cain // Editor: Erin PallottPhoto credit: Qais Attaallah Anyone who has been on campus within the past month will have inevitably seen the student encampment in the formerly named Brunswick Park area. Whilst similar student-led movements have been met with violent armed opposition by state forces in the USA, the movements across UK … Continue reading Reflections on Student Protest in Light of the Encampment