Reflections on a PhD

For the vast majority of the public, 2016 was a year to largely be forgotten about. In my case however, it was one of the most exciting years of recent times, as this was the year that I began my PhD at the University of South Wales. I first discovered the genre of electro swing in 2012, and over the next few years I gradually and semi-unintentionally decided to go down the path of extensively and comprehensively researching this genre – and by 2016 I had completed both my undergrad BA, and Master’s degree in Musicology, both of which including an extended dissertation into electro swing (which can be read here). At the start of 2016, I was living in Sheffield, and upon receiving a scholarship to begin the PhD, I moved down to Cardiff, and started the project that would occupy the next three and a half years of my life.

December the 17^th marked the final stage of this journey, graduating and finally getting the title of Dr Inglis. I’m very glad that I managed to complete everything by the end of 2019, as it was a fantastic way to round off the year. And now, whilst I have a bit of time over the Christmas holidays, I figured it might be appropriate to compose a reflection on the whole experience, and simultaneously offer advice to anyone else that might be pursuing a PhD in the future.

Research a topic that you love

One of the best advantages to any PhD is that you’re effectively going to become the leading expert in whatever the subject area it is that you’re researching. On top of this, you’re going to be putting a hell of a lot of time and energy into this work, so you’d better make sure that it’s not something that’s going to drive you crazy when spending the vast majority of your hours dealing with the topic. By researching something that you’re truly passionate about, you’re less likely to get bored of it, and you’ll be especially proud of the final result. I was lucky enough that there’s yet to be any serious literature into the electro swing style, so the niche was mine to fill. On top of this, it’s a genre that I genuinely really enjoy, thus the joy of making new discoveries about it was fulfilling in both an academic and personal sense.

Seek funding

It’s a sad reality that higher education is an expensive business. It’s particularly difficult for postgraduate students, who don’t even have the opportunity to get a student loan. Thus, the only way to realistically pursue a PhD without spending a fortune is to acquire funding. There are several ways to do this: one is to get a sponsorship; this is more common in the sciences, however the disadvantage is that you’re not as free with your research, as you essentially have to do the bidding of your sponsor. Another way is to get funding from external doctoral training partnerships; there are several of these around, and it’s definitely worth pursuing. I was lucky enough to receive an internal scholarship from the University itself. This was probably the most advantageous course of action; by demonstrating that my research was worthy of extended research, I was free to guide my own research in precisely the ways I wanted from start to finish.

Find the right supervision team

Whilst there are real benefits to guiding your own research, it’s also vitally important to recognise the expertise of those with much more experience than you. Yes, you’re the one with the most knowledge in this particular area, but in terms of how to apply that knowledge, and create the actual thesis – it’s important to recognise that the real talent lies with those who’ll be guiding you through the writing process. I would say that when first deciding where to conduct your research, the most important question should be “who will be doing the supervision?”. I personally was advised by one supervisor who already had a prior interest in electro swing, and another who was heavily involved in the acid jazz scene of the ’90s – and resultingly, the final work would be of considerably less worth were it not for the continued advice of this team.

Don’t isolate yourself

Despite having this team, the overwhelming majority of work you’ll do will be completely on your own. Personally, I think I had a meeting approximately once every three or so weeks, so there’ll be a lot of time spent working by yourself. I know that some people prefer to work like this, but personally, I know that I’d go insane to not have regular company for so long. Over my time doing this work then, I made sure to surround myself with others conducting research into various other areas; not only did this help me with avoiding isolation, but I also learnt a great amount about things that I otherwise never would. One should never pass up on the opportunity to discuss their work, and I can point to multiple occasions when a simple conversation with a peer helped me solve a problem, or develop new ideas.

Treat it like a job

This one mainly applies for those undertaking a PhD full-time, although I suppose that it might be relevant even for those doing their research alongside additional work. Writing a doctoral thesis is an enormous task, and it’s hard to appreciate just how much work it really is until you’ve done one. To ensure that the task actually gets completed requires a great deal of self-discipline, and it will be necessary for you to maintain a regular routine, working just as many hours as you would in any other profession. Of course, on the other hand, you need to know when to stop: overworking yourself can be just as much of a problem, and I for example was sure to never work weekends, or past 5PM unless necessary.

Take advantage of every opportunity to share your research

One of the things I enjoyed most about my entire PhD experience was getting to travel around and present my research as it progressed, across several different symposiums and conferences. Not only does this give you an opportunity to develop your work in terms of its presentation, but it’s also a fantastic confidence boost to know that other authors that may well have inspired your own research are finding your work genuinely fascinating. I personally had the chance to present in Amsterdam, Lisbon, as well as at the University of Cambridge – amongst others – and was also fortunate enough to share panels with some of the researchers who I’ve looked up to for quite some time now. Undoubtedly this felt brilliant, and through this you will also begin to feel like you’re part of a distinctive community. I know that I still intend to keep attending conferences and presenting for as long as I’m involved in this particular area.

Teach if you can

Another opportunity that a lot of doctoral researchers will get is to teach some of the undergraduates in whatever institution you’re working in. In my third year in particular I was given the chance to teach the university’s second-year Musicology module, and I absolutely loved it. Not only does the transfer of knowledge feel fantastic, but it will give you the opportunity to flesh out your own ideas as well. Depending on what particular subject was being taught that day, I would often weave examples from my own work into the lectures, and there were numerous moments when a student’s thoughts or suggestions made me rethink or reconsider my opinions in ways that ended up benefitting the final work.

Enjoy it

Finally, the most important thing is to enjoy yourself. As cliché as this advice sounds, the whole experience should be incredible, and it will be, provided you allow it to be. Yes, it will be stressful at times, and you will get frustrated, but that should be balanced out by the fun of the whole thing, and it certainly was in my case. As I’ve mentioned, I was researching an area that I was – and still am – incredibly passionate about, and conducting this research allowed me to experience a great deal of things that I would have jumped at the chance to do anyway. Interviewing many of my favourite musicians; becoming a part of what felt like electro swing’s ‘inner circle’; going to dozens of festivals, club nights, and concerts: these were all things that I’ve hugely enjoyed, and would have loved to experience, regardless of the status of my work. One of my favourites moments of the past year was travelling over to Chicago for Roaring City, America’s first ever electro swing festival – something I simply wouldn’t have done were it not for the benefit of my research. The opportunities I’ve had since starting this PhD have been wonderful, and I’m so glad that I managed to make this entire thing happen.

I hope that my words may help someone considering postgraduate education to make the right decisions. I love electro swing, and I fully intend to keep up this work; that’s the main reason why I started this blog. As we approach the end of the year, I’m looking forward to what’s coming for the genre in 2020, and even more so, I’m looking forward to the next stages of my own academic electro swing career.