I was struggling to get back in the work groove today when I saw a tweet from a member of staff at my university announcing that she was taking up a new job. Immediately, I wondered if my university would hire someone to replace her and scoured the uni's job ad pages. There was no job ad, but I decided that this was the kick I needed to get on with my PhD. New opportunities could open up at any time, and I may miss them if I am not far enough along with my PhD. With renewed resolve, I sat down at my desk only to discover that the government had lifted its cap on university seats, meaning the higher-ranked unis could hoover up this year's student intake. Since my uni isn't high-ranked, it would doubtless suffer. A twitter thread from my supervisor confirmed my suspicions and took the air out of my newfound resolve.
I love my research topic, but it is difficult to stay focussed on my PhD when there is so little certainty about what will come after it. I am still hoping to get a job at my uni but I will have to be prepared for any outcome. I wish I could just shout out the noise and immerse myself in my PhD but that is difficult during slow periods. Wrestling with the question of what is the conceptual core of your PhD during a pandemic is not ideal. I suppose it helps that I have nothing else to do but one can spend an inordinate amount of time fretting about the state of the world.
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