“The Perfect PhD”

What do we mean when we’re thinking about a perfect PhD?

Candidate? Research? Thesis? The journey?

In some ways it doesn’t matter: there’s no perfection to be found!

There’s good: you can recognise what you do well, what you’re capable of, what you present well in your thesis and how it all ties together in your PhD experience.

There’s difficult: you can consider the challenges, the obstacles overcome, the struggle to write and more.

There’s better: you can reflect on what you have made better both in your research and in yourself – and possibly even see where things could be better still but aren’t yet.

There’s good, there’s difficult, there’s better – and there’s enough.

There’s no perfect in your PhD, but there is enough to show that you are a good researcher. There’s enough to show you have made a contribution at your viva.