“Planning PhD Projects and Pursuing Opportunities” at the Faculty of Arts Doctoral College of Umeå University on 29 September, 2022.

Download: Slides
Download: Toolbox

Note: To run macros in Microsoft Word, follow these instructions.

The macros for finding liability words, marking long sentences, and unmarking long sentences have been saved in the Word template in the Toolbox. Run these at your own risk, and always make sure to have a backup of your file(s).

I have used them for quite some time now without issues, but your mileage may vary. They can be edited in Visual Basic code to find different liability words, and different lengths of sentences, to suit your needs. This requires some tinkering, but shouldn’t be too technical. Just open the macros in Microsoft Word’s own editor and read the comments displayed in green text. You basically just need to change a number for the length of sentences that should be marked with an orange triangle, or edit a list of expressions enclosed in quotation signs that will then be listed in a prompt and highlighted with a background colour.

The planning Excel file can be modified to whatever extent you wish. In the semester sheet, I initially tracked the hours I worked on a daily basis. That helped me figure out if I prefer full 8 hour days, shorter days but longer weeks, and which weeks required something like full 8 hour days (or more) for more than five days in a row. Noticing patterns in year 1 helped me plan better during year 2 and adjust accordingly.

You may also edit the course names and credit allocation (ECTS credits) in the overview field. This should then populate the disaggregated yearly field entries. You can use it as a rough guide during discussions with your supervisors, for instance. Best wishes! If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me (sebastian.ostlund@umu.se).