Get it done! Practical Advice, Strategies and Support to Finish your Doctoral Project

Target group: Doctoral candidates

REGISTER: Get it done!

Language: English

Time: 12. & 19.10.2026 (13:30-16:00)

Writing – and finishing writing! – a PhD is a challenging endeavor. Many PhD candidates struggle to transition from research and writing into getting the thesis done and submitting the manuscript. Challenges, among others are: having many other obligations (such as child- and elderly care, jobs, political/activist engagements, volunteering, hobbies etc.), setting priorities, time management, anxiety around contacting supervisors, quality of the work, workload, uncertainty about expectations concerning quality, length, and format of the thesis, financial issues etc.

Many of the issues are not academic in the strict sense. Most often it is a feeling of being pressured, overwhelmed, confused, and/or lost. Most candidates who face those issues believe that they alone face those challenges and their situation is unique. While a PhD is supposed to be an individual project, the experience of it is by no means unique.

This workshop contextualizes the experience of doing (and importantly finishing!) the PhD, provides systematic knowledge about the different experiences and common challenges of the last phase of the PhD, and provides opportunity for peer-group exchange. The course is a safe space in which personal issues and experiences can be shared. It provides room to reflect on individual problems, practical and emotional challenges but also solutions and successful strategies.

This course faces the challenges of finishing a PhD head on and aims at providing some tips for PhD candidates in finalizing their PhD theses. Key topics include finding a submission date, time management, getting into the right mind-set, asking for support, and communication with supervisors.

Trainer: Julia Büchele - University of Basel