Pathfinder Archives - PhD Pathfinder

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How to deal with the crisis in Ukraine

There have been a lot of postings about the crisis in Ukraine. I wanted to gather the main points from different sources, on what individuals can do when faced with trauma of a war from afar. First, it’s very important to note that all emotions and reactions are completely normal…

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This is not goodbye

This week is my last week as PhD Pathfinder. I have accepted a new position outside academia and will be continuing developing and enhancing work wellbeing, but in another setting. I want to thank all of you readers, both casual and frequent, for your support and for visiting my page…

Give your brain a break!

Have you noticed that you are having trouble concentrating, that you have headaches after a day’s work or that you feel exhausted during your free time? Your brain might be telling you to take a break. Expert, creative, independent work requires concentration, self-regulation, and recovery. All of these are tools…

What are you looking forward to?

Now that the fall semester is in full swing, it’s good to take a moment and reflect on the path that lies ahead. Coming back from the summer holidays is not always easy, as I wrote in a previous blog post. But once the dust has settled you could ask…

How to return to work after a summer vacation?

Once again a summer has come and gone. I hope you had a good summer? Most of us are returning to work after a summer vacation. Even though I love my job, I was feeling really bummed out that the summer is over. Some might not even have had the…

ADHD in doctoral studies

With this blog post I wish to increase awareness of (high-functioning) ADHD in doctoral studies, reduce the stigma around it, and help doctoral students with ADHD (or suspecting having ADHD) find tools, that can help them succeed on their doctoral journey. I also want to spread the word that ADHD…

How much is enough? Unreasonable tasks and intent to leave academia

This is a Research Highlight, where I present published research on doctoral student wellbeing. In this Research Highlight I focus on an article by Bramlage, Julmi, Pereira and Jackenkroll (2021) on unreasonable tasks and intent to leave academia. I’ve written about reasons for leaving academia in a previous Research Highlight….

Do you need a push to get things done? Try this self-reflection exercise

We all need a helping hand from time to time to get things done. Be it writing a manuscript, reading literature, preparing a presentation or grading exams – starting is the hardest part, especially when you’re not feeling motivated. Without going into detail about why you’re not motivated at the…

Which ghost are you listening to?

Have you ever thought about how much time you spend thinking about the past or fantasizing about the future? It’s been suggested, that we spend only half our time focused on the present. And when we wander around in the past or in the future, we tend to be less…

Co-writing – creating shared experiences and supportive environments

Many doctoral students face feelings of loneliness during their doctoral studies. This issue might have been even further exacerbated by the social isolation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. I hear about doctoral students that have been left to their own devices during lock down, with no support from their supervisor…

EDIT: I am currently working at Metacore games as Wellbeing & Performance Lead and will be updating these pages soon. So bear with me! 🙂

Whether you need support to survive and thrive on your PhD journey or you want to improve your self-management skills as a scientist, the PhD Pathfinder is the right place for you.

Serving as your PhD Pathfinder is me, Maria Törnroos, a work and organizational psychologist (PhD) with plenty of experience and expertise of all the ups and downs of doing a PhD. At the moment, I am working as a psychologist, advancing wellbeing for doctoral researchers and early career researchers at Aalto University in Finland. You can read more about me, my academic past and my visions for the future in the ‘About me’ section.

The Best Thing Today

The Best Thing Today is a podcast series by Aalto study, career and advanced study psychologists. With their guests they discuss issues like remote working, social distancing, the effects of the Covid pandemic on studies, and much more. They also give advice for the everyday life in Aalto. The Best Thing Today is – naturally – in English, and the podcast’s counterpart in Finnish is called Paras hetki päivässä.

Maria Törnroos’s Audio columns are based on her blog PhD Pathfinder, www.mariatornroos.fi

As a master’s student at Aalto University, there are many opportunities to build one’s own life out of student life. How is it done? In this podcast episode, you can hear the experiences of Maria Karesoja, a master’s student in economics, and maybe even small tips are promised. Host: study psychologist Paula Sjöblom.