At the University of Stirling, the first year of a PhD is a kind of probationary period. This is in the sense that even though you are enrolled as a PhD student on a PhD programme, your status is not ‘confirmed’ and formalised until you have passed your first year. Passing involves submitting a 10000 word report to an “external” reviewer (not your supervisor, but someone else within the university). This report must include 8000 words of something you written as part of your PhD. For example, it could be an excerpt from your literature review or methodology chapters. It should also include up to 2000 words detailing your progress, the training you have undertaken and your proposed schedule to completion.
And, as if that isn’t enough, there’s an additional stage to the review; a formal face-to-face meeting with an external reviewer (from Stirling uni) and one of your supervisors where you will be asked questions on your submission and your PhD research project as a whole. The whole thing is called the iPR, the annual progress review.
I submitted my iPR report in June, which included an 8000 word excerpt from literature review, and I had my formal meeting in July. I’m delighted to say that it all went really well and I passed, with “no concerns” after a “strong performance” . So it’s all systems go as I crack on with my research.
It’s not quite been a full year of study yet but from September/October to July I have crammed a lot in. I’ve made great progress. I’ve submitted several drafts of my literature review and methodology chapters and I’ve analysed all of my research and coded it all into my main themes of gender, class and emotion as well as creating several other sub themes. It’s time to knuckle down and get on with writing the main analysis chapters!
I know there will be ongoing reading and research as I aim to keep my knowledge and understanding of what’s being researched and written in the field as up to date as possible, but it feels good to be making progress. There will undoubtedly be a plethora of rewrites of each chapter draft too. It will be like writing a novel, a first draft is only ever that. There are endless rewrites and edits to follow. In filmmaking too, I think about when I have a first draft of a documentary. It is a long journey from a rough cut to a finished polished work of art but I love that stage, shaping and reshaping the narrative, telling the story so it is the most powerful reflection of actuality that it can be.
However, whilst I am chuffed with my progress, I’m always acutely aware that I don’t know what might lie ahead, personally or professionally, that could throw a spanner in the works. For now though, I march on. And use each day as productively as possible.
At the moment, I’m also working in development on a cracking sports feature-doc which will hopefully be going into production very soon. It’s a story I’m very excited to tell and if all goes to plan, will reach new audiences. It will be interesting to analyse my filmmaking in actuality as well in my research. The creative storytelling process of a new film project will undoubtedly further fuel my passion for my PhD journey.
Hopefully, this is all a strong indication for interesting times ahead. As long as life doesn’t get in the way š
Margot McCuaig 