Thread for PhD students whose work was interrupted by COVID-19. #phdchat 1/

I’ve examined 101 PhDs, but the one that sticks in my mind was from someone whose partner had a life-changing illness halfway through the PhD timeline. 2/

Family comes first. The student suspended their studies, looked after partner for a year, then (with support) returned to part-time PhD alongside heavy carer responsibilities. 3/

The student looked again at their research question, but it didn’t seem so important now. The empirical work had to change, because of practicalities. 4/

The supervisor was experienced; encouraged reflexivity. The student had written 4 chapters. Chapter 5 was entitled “A life event”. Explained what happened, and why the direction was changing. 5/

Chapter 6 picked up old threads but spun them in a different weave. Insights from Chapter 5 fed into the analysis in creative ways that nobody could have predicted. 6/

The result was a thesis that began in a rather dull and plodding way, had a brutal and unexpected twist in the middle, and pulled together disparate threads (theoretical, empirical, experiential) in the final chapters. 7/

The thesis won the prize for best in the university that year. End/