The Whisper Collective finds and showcases the best, independent academic advice from around the web. We are here to help PhD students, postdocs and academics in their work. We feature blog posts, videos, podcasts and reviews from creators in different parts of the world. This site will update as new content is created: book-mark and visit frequently to see what’s new or become a member for free and get a monthly newsletter. Click on any of the links on this page to visit active bloggers from around the world. Check out the menu for a range of other content, merch and events. Visit our About page to find out more about the Whisper Collective and our work.

Feature article

  • Building a second brain for writing – with Obsidian
    Writing a thesis or book is an enormous task that takes years and involves reading hundreds, sometimes thousands, of books, papers and articles. At the same time, you must produce your own words and make sure you don’t accidentally plagiarise other people. People end up with all kinds of home-brew solutions to solve this epic ...continue reading....
    Thesis Whisperer /TWC Published on: 01 Feb 2023

Latest from our featured blogs

  • Building a second brain – for academic writing
    ** Apologies to email subscribers – I accidentally sent a draft version of this post on Saturday. The fully edited piece is below. Thanks for your patience and understanding.** —————————– Before I start, big news! Long time readers will know that I have been working for years with a team...
    Thesis Whisperer Published on: 02 Oct 2022

  • Has 2022 been a better year?
      Well. It has been a year. Our last couple of end-of-year posts have been full of feels (2020 | 2021), many of these rather negative and frustrating. It’s fair to say that it has been a tortuous couple of years. Is this year any different?  Let’s see…  Jonathan says...
    Research Whisperer Published on: 18 Dec 2022


  • cutting and pasting early text into the thesis – part 2.
    So you are writing your thesis about the research that you have done. And what you write now is is likely to be a little different from the expanded proposal you wrote to confirm your candidature. And a little different … Continue reading →...
    Patter Published on: 06 Feb 2023

  • Ten Top Tips For Debiasing Your Work
    We all have biases and prejudices that affect our lives in many ways, from the choices we make to our interactions with others. And of course our biases and prejudices can affect our research work too. We can never completely … Continue reading →...
    Helen Kara Published on: 26 Jan 2023

  • The story of my thesis
    If you have ever been to one of my workshops in the last decade, you will probably have done this warm up. In fact, if you came to a multi-day writing retreat I ran, you would have done this at the beginning of each day. It is the most powerful,...
    Research Degree Insiders Published on: 19 Jan 2023

  • Retiring the Post-Pandemic University project
    For a number of reasons we have decided to retire the Post-Pandemic University project. Over a two and a half year period we published 235 posts from contributors around the world, organised two large online conferences and ran a podcast series on methodological adaptations to lockdown. The site will be...
    Postpandemic University Published on: 05 Jan 2023


  • Sally Wainwright’s writing process
    Chris chats to top TV dramatist Sally Wainwright about starting out, 2 am starts and her new book deal, and shares her tips for getting your first TV commission (from 2014). BAFTA-winning UK writer, producer and director Sally Wainwright is best known for creating memorable characters and penning some of...
    The Prolifiko Blog Published on: 02 Feb 2023

  • The Questions You Expect
    A question that’s expected can be prepared for. A question you expect can still be difficult to respond to. If you expect a question you might not be asked it after all. And if you prepare you may still find......
    Viva Survivors Published on: 06 Feb 2023


  • What are informational interviews?
    Thanks to my friend Jennifer van Alstyne for this fun conversation about informational interviews, why to do them, and how they can supercharge a PhD… The post What are informational interviews? appeared first on From PhD to Life....
    From PhD to Life Published on: 27 Sep 2022

  • Wrapping up 2022
    Again we have the pleasure of wrapping up another calendar year of the Doctoral Writing blog. As always, we note …Continue reading →...
    Doctoral Writing SIG Published on: 20 Dec 2022