Well-being and productivity: International PhD students' academic journeys at Warwick
Well-being and productivity: International PhD students’ academic journeys at Warwick
Team leader: Meifang Zhuo (Applied Linguistics)
Team members: Siyu Wang (Applied Linguistics); Mehmet Onur Sahin (WMG); Peter To (Psychology)
For inquiries, feel free to contact us:
Meifang: meifang.zhuo@warwick.ac.uk
Siyu: dorothy.wang@warwick.ac.uk
Peter: peter.to@warwick.ac.uk
Summary
A PhD is challenging. Doing it in another language makes it even more so. This project, focusing specifically on international doctoral students at Warwick, mapped out the various challenges they face and worked out possible coping strategies for them and many more to come. The overall purpose of this project was to enhance their well-being and productivity during their academic pursuits at Warwick.
This project consisted of a one-day conference on the Warwick campus on 26 July 2024 and a paid life-story writing, specifically for international PhD students at Warwick.
1. A one-day conference
This one-day conference consisted of morning activities, including morning activity including networking (PhD speed networking activity), a food mindfulness session, and mapping out PhD life at Warwick on wellbeing and productivity (Zine-making activity), and afternoon activities, including sharing zine stories, discussing challenges, and working out solutions, as well as well-being practices (mindfulness activity).
This conference was inclusive, collaborative and interdisciplinary, with team members and participants from various cultural backgrounds, based in different departments at Warwick.
This conference provided international PhD students at Warwick with the much-needed opportunities to connect with peers of the same identity, explore their challenges in a safe and supportive environment, and learn hands-on techniques for well-being and productivity. They gained validation from others’ challenging PhD stories and understood that they were never alone. Most importantly, they cooperated with each other to work out possible solutions to the common problems faced by international PhD students at Warwick, benefiting themselves and many others in the Warwick community.
2. A paid writing opportunity
This was a collection of life stories contributed by and for international PhD students about their academic journeys at Warwick. Each story was around 600-1500 words, including challenges, solutions, lessons and an encouraging note. This collection is immensely beneficial for international PhD students at Warwick to enhance their wellbeing and productivity during their academic journeys at Warwick. To recognise contributors’ time, each accepted life story was compensated with a £10 Amazon voucher.
This project has the following three outputs:
(1) A collective zine by conference participants, documenting their academic journey (focusing on productivity and wellbeing) at Warwick as international PhD students.
(2) A collection of written stories by volunteered participants (not limited to conference participants and open to all international PhD students at Warwick), sharing their unique life stories as international PhD students at Warwick.
(3) A report detailing the project, documenting the details of the conference (challenges, solutions, feedback) and the collecting of life stories (number and scope).
Project Outputs
Biographies
Meifang Zhuo
Meifang Zhuo, a PhD student with Applied Linguistics, is interested in language teacher/learner related topics, and interdisciplinary research methods. She is leading this project to support other international PGRs at Warwick. Feel free to connect through Twitter@ZhuoMeifang ; LinkedIn: Meifang Zhuo.
Siyu Wang
Siyu Wang is a PhD student with Applied linguistics. Her research interests include intercultural language teaching and learning, second/foreign language acquisition, and intercultural communication. She is undertaking this project to map out the challenges faced by international PhD students and to develop effective strategies to improve their academic well-being and productivity. For further discussion, please contact her at dorothy.wang@warwick.ac.uk.
Peter To
Peter To is a PhD student in Psychology. His research lies in the relationships between physical activity, sleep and pain among chronic patients in the UK. As a member of well-being research cluster at the Department of Psychology, Peter would like to promote well-being among PGR students at Warwick. Contact: peter.to@warwick.ac.uk
Mehmet Onur Sahin
Mehmet Onur Sahin, a PhD student with WMG, is interested in international defense collaboration by using insight from civilian sectors. He is doing this project to reach out to other international PGRs at Warwick. Feel free to contact him at mehmet-onur.sahin@warwick.ac.uk.