The Third Degree

Building Your Academic Identity Early
Wednesday 24 June 2026 (8pm | GMT + 8)
Dr Craig J Selby

Learn how to begin shaping your academic identity, visibility, voice, and professional presence during your doctoral journey.

Academic identity does not begin after graduation. It starts to form during the doctoral journey through the choices researchers make, the conversations they join, the work they share, and the professional presence they begin to build.

This webinar explores how doctoral candidates and early-career researchers can begin developing a clear, authentic, and sustainable academic identity. We will consider research interests, academic voice, networking, visibility, social media, publishing, teaching, and professional positioning.

The session is designed to help researchers think intentionally about who they are becoming as academics, researchers, educators, and contributors to their wider scholarly communities.

Registration link in the Comments below.

The Hidden Architecture of a Strong PhD (Doctorate)
Wednesday 10 June 2026 (8pm | GMT + 8)
Dr Craig J Selby

A strong doctorate is not built only through writing chapters, collecting data, or meeting deadlines. Beneath the visible work is a hidden architecture: the logic, structure, coherence, argument, positioning, and decision-making that hold the doctorate together.

This webinar explores what makes a doctorate feel strong, connected, and convincing. We will look at how doctoral researchers can strengthen the relationship between their research problem, literature, methodology, findings, contribution, and overall argument.

The session is ideal for doctoral candidates who want to move beyond ‘completing tasks’ and begin thinking more strategically about the shape, strength, and integrity of their doctorate.

Registration link in Comments below.

Many researchers pilot their interview schedules, surveys, or focus group questions.

Far fewer pilot the entire research process.

Yet it is often the process—not the questions—that creates the biggest challenges.

A pilot study is an opportunity to test every stage of your research journey before launching full-scale data collection.

Can participants understand the information sheet and consent process?

Can you successfully recruit participants?

Does the recording equipment work reliably?

Is the survey platform functioning as intended?

Are interviews taking longer than expected?

Do participants interpret questions in the way you anticipated?

How easily can data be stored, managed, and processed?

Piloting is not simply about refining questions.

**A pilot is not a rehearsal of your questions. It is a stress test of your research process.**

By identifying weaknesses early, researchers can make adjustments before they become delays, frustrations, or threats to data quality.

The time invested in a pilot can save weeks—or even months—later in the project.

**"The cheapest mistakes in research are the ones you find during a pilot."**

This week, I'd like to do something a little different.

Rather than focusing on research techniques, methods, writing, or data collection, I'd like us to spend some time reflecting.

The doctoral journey is often measured through milestones, publications, chapters, and ultimately a thesis.

But there is another outcome that is just as important:

Who are you becoming through this journey?

A doctorate shapes more than our research. It shapes our confidence, our resilience, our perspectives, our professional identity, and the way we engage with the world around us.

So today, I invite you to reflect:

• How have you changed since you started?
• What skills have you developed?
• What perspectives have you gained?
• How have your assumptions and biases evolved?
• What challenges have helped shape you?
• What would your past self be proud of today?

As much as the doctoral journey is about producing new knowledge, it is also about becoming the person capable of creating it.

I'd love to hear your reflections.

For many researchers, impact is something that happens later.

After graduation.
After publication.
After the findings are shared with the world.

But long before our research influences others, it influences us.

It teaches us resilience when things do not go to plan.
It develops our thinking, challenges our assumptions, and expands our understanding of the world around us.

The doctoral journey is not only about creating new knowledge.

It is also about becoming the person capable of carrying that knowledge forward.

And perhaps that, too, is a form of impact worth celebrating.

Wesak Day is a beautiful reminder for us that growth is often a journey of patience rather than speed; of wisdom rather than certainty; and of kindness toward both others and ourselves.

Whether you are navigating a doctorate, building a career, overcoming personal challenges, or simply taking the next step forward, may you find strength in the journey and hope in what lies ahead.

Wishing you a meaningful and peaceful Wesak Day.

Research is not just about what you would like to do.

It is about what you can realistically achieve within your context, timeline, resources, ethics requirements, and participant availability.

When planning your research timeline, remember to allow time for negotiating access, building relationships, and addressing stakeholder concerns.

We often talk about the value of diversity in research, education, and our professional communities.

But diversity is not an abstract concept.

It is the people around us.
The different experiences they bring.
The traditions they celebrate.
The perspectives they share.

Over the past few days, many members of our community have been celebrating Eid al-Adha.

To all who have been observing the holiday, we hope it has been a meaningful time of reflection, generosity, family, and connection.

Eid Mubarak.

Honestly, not the most exciting topic to teach ... or learn ... but a necessary one for and .

I'm not going to talk about the fundamentals of (I have a couple of videos on my YouTube channel you can check out for that), but I will be sharing about the more challenging ethical questions that researchers encounter once they leave the textbook behind.

Things like:

* What happens when participants disclose something unexpected?
* When is anonymity not as simple as removing names?
* What do you do when a participant wants to withdraw after you've analysed the data?
* How do you navigate power imbalances in interviews and fieldwork?
* Where does your responsibility as a researcher begin and end?
* What happens when ethics approval and real-world research collide?
* How do we work with vulnerable respondents?

Research ethics is seldom black and white. Often, it lives in the grey areas!

Join me on 3 June as we explore some of the ethical challenges that no-one really talks about — but many researchers eventually face.

* Registration link in the Comments below *

PhD Candidates, feel free to join. Professors and Supervisors, please share with your research candidates!

Choosing a supervisor is not only about finding someone who understands your research topic.

It is also about understanding how they supervise, what they expect, how they respond to disagreement, and what they believe a successful doctoral candidate should become.

These questions matter because supervision is not a neutral space. It shapes confidence, independence, productivity, wellbeing, and the overall doctoral experience.

As a future doctoral candidate, you are allowed to ask questions before committing to a supervisory relationship.

You are allowed to understand whether the supervision style fits how you work, learn, and grow!

This week, we’re continuing our short series on 'Questions Future Doctoral Candidates Should Ask Potential Supervisors'.

Today’s theme focuses on ‘Supervisory Style & Expectations’.

Because the right supervisor is not only someone who knows your field — it is someone who can support the researcher you are becoming.