Student support
Twenty minutes a week, for up to five weeks, for undergraduates and postgraduates. The people who helped me when I was starting out were busy and helped anyway, and never asked for anything in return.
Now accepting students.
Ten places, open to undergraduates and postgraduates. A place is one twenty-minute session a week, for up to five weeks. Not one session and that is it. One a week, for as long as your block runs. To take one, email me from your university address with a photo of your student ID. I check it once and delete it the same day your place is confirmed.
Twenty minutes is shorter than it sounds, so most sessions end up focused on one problem and what to do about it. You do not need to prepare anything. Plenty of students arrive saying they are stuck and not sure why, and that is a perfectly reasonable place to start.
Email questions are free whether or not you hold a place, and there is no limit on them. If your block ends and something new goes wrong later in your degree, come back.
A thesis or an assignment is examined. That means there are things I will not do, and it is better you know now than halfway through.
| Thesis or assessment | Journal manuscript | |
|---|---|---|
| Run the analysis and supply the code | Yes | Yes |
| Explain the output so you can write it up | Yes | Yes |
| Advise on method and design | Yes | Yes |
| Write the results text | No | Yes |
| Edit text you have written | Feedback only | Yes |
| Write the discussion or interpretation | No | No |
If your institution's rules are stricter than this, theirs apply. Tell me what they say before we start, and declare the assistance you have received. I will not look at marked work or anything currently under assessment.
Starting out in research is hard and the learning curve is steep, but if you're willing to put the time in, you'd be surprised by what you can achieve.
If you need to do research and aren't sure what to do or where to start, let me know. I keep a list of projects suited to honours, coursework and independent study, mostly reviews and analyses of public datasets. They're a gentler way into research than collecting your own qualitative or quantitative data. Ethics and institutional approvals are always part of research, but projects like these are usually much easier to manage.
I share the list by email rather than publishing it here. Tell me a little about what you're studying and what interests you, and we can discuss whether our interests align and which project might suit you. If you have an idea of your own, include that too.
If you take on one of these projects, you can be first author on anything that comes out of it, as long as your work reflects that. Before you start, though, you should understand what being first author actually means.
A first author drives the project. That means doing the searching, screening and analysis, writing the drafts, keeping to the timeline and chasing things when they stall. My colleagues and I will guide you through each stage and make sure the analysis is sound, but making it happen is up to you, and that is what first authorship recognises.
You will not be the only author on the paper, because you will not be doing the work alone. Guiding a project from the first question through to submission is an authorship-level contribution, so I will be a co-author on any project we start together. Asking me for advice on your own thesis or review is different. That help is free, and it does not make me an author on your work.
If you are a postgraduate on a hardship, equity or access scheme, say so in your first email and I will give you priority for the next place that opens.
I will not ask you to document the scheme. Saying so is enough. The student ID is only there to confirm you are enrolled, and it is deleted once your place is confirmed.
Email from your university address, with your student ID attached if you are claiming a place. I reply within one to two business days. I have my own deadlines, so there is sometimes a wait. I will tell you how long rather than leave you wondering.