Director of the Doctoral College’s Blog

Thoughts and insight from Dr Benjamin Halligan

What Can Jazz Say to Us About Doctoral Thesis Construction?

Posted by: Dr Ben Halligan

Dr Benjamin Halligan draws some surprising parallels with jazz album titles and ways of thinking about doctoral research.

Your Abstract: What, Why, How, When?

Posted by: Dr Benjamin Halligan, Director of the Doctoral College

In this blog post, Dr Benjamin Halligan turns to one element of the doctoral thesis that is often overlooked… and often a matter of requested corrections: the Abstract.

"One Year and One Hundred Online Viva Voces at the University of Wolverhampton"

Posted by: Dr Ben Halligan, Head of the Doctoral College

In this blog post, Dr Benjamin Halligan considers the experience of one year’s worth of Viva Voces during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The Glamour of Doctoral Research

Posted by: Dr Benjamin Halligan, Director of the Doctoral College

In this blog post, Dr Benjamin Halligan considers an unusual aspect of being a doctoral researcher: the potentially glamorous lifestyle.

“Intellectual Peace”: Four Lessons from Newman’s The Idea of a University

Posted by: Dr Benjamin Halligan

In this blog post, Dr Benjamin Halligan considers some of the ideas of the Venerable John Henry Newman regarding universities – finding in his writing anticipations of interdisciplinarity, the “two cultures” and “vocational education” debates, and useful guidance for doctoral students in respect to their time at university.

What Not To Wear: Viva Voce Preparations and Practicalities

Posted by: Dr Benjamin Halligan

Dr Benjamin Halligan, Director of the Doctoral College, turns an eye to the practicalities and pragmatics to ensure that the big day goes as smoothly as possible.

Thinking About Viva Voce Outcomes

Posted by: Dr Benjamin Halligan

In this blog post, Dr Benjamin Halligan considers what it means to get a “resubmission” outcome for a PhD – How to deal with any initial fall-out, and then devising and implementing a strategy to speed your PhD to a successful resubmission and award.

PhD Research and Online Networking: Twitter

Posted by: Dr Ben Halligan

In this blog post, Dr Benjamin Halligan reflects on the benefits of Twitter use for PGRs – both in terms of establishing a network of useful research contacts, and in terms of adding relevancy to individual PhD research.

PhD Proposals – but from a University Perspective.

Posted by: Dr Ben Halligan

In this blog post Dr Benjamin Halligan outlines some of the thinking that occurs at universities in terms of the ways in which PhD applications are received and reviewed.

Images and Research Methodologies

Posted by: Dr Ben Halligan

In this blog entry, Dr Halligan considers the importance of the integration of images into postgraduate research methodologies.