what is thrive phd anyway?

supportive. informative. community.

Grad school is hard - it should be hard to get to the top of your field, to produce new knowledge, to become an expert in your subject. But it’s also hard because the rules are often not clear: how do you write a dissertation? how do you communicate with your committee? how do you find a job that’s fulfilling? how do you organize all this information? how do you live a life at the same time?

Thrive PhD is a 12 week program that provides support through these (and all the other) challenges that grad school can throw at you. Most of all, you won’t feel so alone, because we get it. Here’s what makes us different, and what you can expect.

Information you need to do grad school better.

Every week, there’s a new curriculum article posted that covers some aspect of the graduate school experience. Have questions about taking notes or citation organizers? Want to know how to build in more mindfulness? Looking to better understand the perfectionism cycle? Want to know how to build a better mentorship team? We’ve got you covered.

The curriculum articles are written to be clear and easy to understand - you do NOT have to be born into an academic dynasty in order to use the strategies here. We explain the unexplained things, and provide you room to ask questions you might not want to ask your PI or advisor. Plus, you can work at your own pace. There’s no homework to complete or extra due dates to add pressure.

Topics include:

• Writing

• Reading

• Scheduling

• Project Management

• Stress & Anxiety

• Teaching

• Mentorship

• Habit Formation

• Sustainability

• and more!

A group of people who care about you and your work.

One of the hardest things about grad school is finding accountability. There are no shortage of deadlines, of high pressure “do this now or ELSE” situations, or competitive environments. What is missing is a place to go and check in, to reflect on what is working and what isn’t, to ask for help, and to celebrate when things are working well and you’re moving forward.

Each person in Thrive PhD has a small group (5-10 people) where they post updates 5 days a week on how the work is going. It sounds simple, but reflecting every day is magic. You get a coach reading your updates every day, making suggestions and cheering you on, and you also get a group of people who get it. And since your group is comprised of students who are NOT in your program, or even your university, you can be honest with them about the ups and downs.

Accountability Features:

• Daily check ins with coach and group feedback
  

• Regular work together sessions where you can work virtually with other people in the network
  

• A writing group where you can swap writing and get feedback with others
  

• Weekly Win posts where we celebrate all the things that are going right, and cheer each other on!

reading updates from your fellow grad students can help you see that not everyone is working every minute of every day.

Confidential and private so you can be honest and get the help you need.  

you can be this squirrel if you want. whatever makes you feel comfortable enough to be real about how you’re doing, and get the help you need.

Not everyone feels comfortable asking for help within their graduate programs. It can be hard to say “I need more support to stay on track with my writing” or “I don’t understand what tenure even is, exactly.” So Thrive PhD is built on the idea that privacy can help graduate students feel more comfortable engaging and asking for help, getting what they need faster.

So you won’t see any screenshots of the network on this site, and I don’t give tours so people can try it out first. I’ll happily say that we have members all around the world, in a huge variety of disciplines, but I’ll never share where my students come from or what their programs are.

Once you get into Thrive PhD, there are even more options to protect your privacy. You pick your user name, and you decide how much information to put on your profile - many of our members go by their middle names, or obscure their locations, or go by an alias all together.

I never ask for more information than an email address - so you tell me what you want me, and the rest of the community know. The rest is up to you.

Grad school is competitive, so Thrive PhD is set up so that it’s one space where you can just be yourself — without worrying about who is going to find out that you’re stressed, struggling, questioning your project, or really doing well.

Registration opening soon.

Be the first to know when doors open by signing up here.