If you dreamt of doing a PhD but instead you're overwhelmed, procrastinating, and feeling like an imposter, then the PhD Life Coach membership is here to help.
The PhD Life Coach program helps you understand your own challenges and develop strategies that feel good and get stuff done. This isn't just about productivity - it's about learning how to support yourself to have the life you want.
Your coach is Dr. Vikki Wright, an ex-Birmingham Professor and certified life coach, with over 25 years of academic experience. You can hear more about her approach ideas in her podcast, The PhD Life Coach.
You can sign up here
PhD student in Medical Sciences
“After each session, I feel more capable to take the next step in getting work done on my PhD and I feel supported in doing it. I'm not sure that I would still be enrolled without it.”
What you will get in the membership
- Three 50 min group coaching sessions per week
Online group coaching (10 weeks/quarter) – you can watch others get coached or volunteer for one-to-one coaching yourself. (You don't need to come to all of them - they're there when you need them!) You can bring any PhD (or PhD life!) challenge to these sessions.
- A quarterly "kick-off" and a review workshop
You will have a two-hour workshop at the start of the quarter to set your goals and intentions, and then two review workshops to track your progress and celebrate your achievements
- A live training course focused on a specific topic each quarter
This course, made up of ten 1hr live workshops, changes each quarter and helps you build the skills you need to really change your PhD experience. Quarter 1 (Feb-Apr) focuses on time and task management, Quarter 2 (May-July) covers motivation, procrastination and focus, Quarter 3 (Aug-Oct) is about networking and improving academic relationships, and Quarter 4 (Nov-Jan) helps you overcome imposter syndrome and build an academic life that you love. You also have access to the past worksheets and/or recordings.
- Asynchronous coaching and access to our exclusive Slack community
If you can't make the live sessions, you can submit a question and Vikki will publish an audio response with advice and coaching tips. You'll have access to all the (anonymised) questions and answers in a private podcast. In Slack you can also chat with and support other PhD students from all over the world.
- The EXPANDED “Be your own best boss” online course
This self-paced resource helps you figure out how you supervise yourself at the moment, how that’s affecting your progress, and how to become the best possible supervisor for yourself in the future.
Twice a month we'll have two hour coworking sessions where you can work on your self-paced courses in a supportive environment. Members also organise other informal coworking sessions throughout the quarter.
“I did (almost all of) the Be Your Own Best Boss course. I find I no longer have panic moments where I don't know what to do. Before joining the membership, I was stressed, overwhelmed and somewhat regretting starting my PhD. Now that I have my organisation system in place, I'm enjoying it again.”
The University of Birmingham is the only university in the world to offer completely free membership to all its students so you have access to the whole programme whenever you need it.
The coaching programme is open to all University of Birmingham postgraduate researchers (PGRs). PGR programmes include: MPhil, MMus, MRes, MA by Research, MSc by Research, MLitt, PhD, PhD with integrated study, EngD, DDS, MD, Higher doctorates and Professional doctorates.