Starting up or joining an informal peer writing support group is a great way to get feedback in a safe space at the same time as combating doctoral researcher isolation. 

Some ideas: 

Go to lunch with fellow doctoral researchers in the breaks on Monday training/seminar sessions to boost morale and exchange ideas.

Join synchronous and asynchronous forums on twitter and Facebook where you will find other doctoral researchers having the same problems as you. You will find peers grouped by subject area, methodology and writing support (e.g. Literature review support groups).

If you are a social writer, 'Shut up and write' groups are great for making you accountable for your productivity (see also Rowena Murray on Writing in Social Spaces).

You can also form your own peer groups that meet regularly to discuss problems within your research - see Welby Ings' chapter in 'Developing community writing in creative, practice-led PhD design theses', in Claire Aitchison and Cally Guerin (eds). Writing Groups for Doctoral Education and Beyond: Innovations in practice and theory, (Routledge, 2014) -  describes how a group of design students meet regularly around a white board to talk through research problems and then follow this up with peer writing support online.

Peer groups with those outside your area of expertise can offer a different perspective from your supervisors - you may be asked to explain in greater detail/ clarify/ explain assumptions that your supervisors take for granted. Also, you get good practice at responding in an academic but safe context.

Last modified: Sunday, 21 January 2018, 4:05 PM