Eight Awesome Books for Your PhD

Anna Zapaishchykova

Keywords: phd, motivation

TL;DR: A PhD is less a straight path and more a survival course. These eight books helped me through the different phases — starting with building essential skills, gaining a broader perspective, and ending with a reminder of why I started.

Abstract: A PhD is less a straight path and more a survival course. My best advice to first-year starters is to treat it as a marathon rather than a sprint: you need to have enough energy and motivation to carry through 4–5–6–7(!) years, with a lot of potential rejections, many times of questioning yourself and your research. You begin with optimism, face setbacks, and must adapt both intellectually and emotionally to keep going. Most of the emphasis will be on your technical skillset, but that is, perhaps, not enough. These eight books helped me through the different phases — starting with building essential skills, gaining a broader perspective, and ending with a reminder of why I started. Hope you will find something here for yourself!

Submission Number: 7