Chidi's Masterclass and Nicola's Recommendations

28 November 2025

We're well and truly into the new academic semester at The Open University, so much so that I had the awesome privilege of speaking with my new best friend and supervisor, Dr Nicola Bowman, in a Zoom call where she recommended I avoid (yes, avoid) regression analysis in my MSc dissertation. Her exact words were that the regressions in STATA were 'not necessary, at this level', which is fair. I also had a great call with Prof. Ogbonnaya of KBS, who led a great presentation on PhD research proposals. One of the attendees asked a great question about how to select an appropriate supervisor at the PhD level, which prompted me to consider whether I need Joao's help with writing this major contribution using the right methodology.

My Notes from Chidi’s Masterclass

1) Your Chosen Institutions

·         King’s Business School / University of Strathclyde

2) Apply for Scholarships / Outline Your Funding Sources

·         Internal Funding – Harold Moody

3) Part-Time Job

·         Bipolar UK - Volunteering

4) Conducting Research

·         Independent of your PhD (He later dismissed this as irrelevant to the process of gaining a PhD, but it's still relevant)

5) The importance of the literature

·         Broad ideas > Specific issues and gaps in the literature

·         Unanswered questions

·         Data Sources

·         Ethical Approval

·         Link ideas to key literature that you wish to embark on

6) Research proposal

·         1000 – 2000 words

·         Identify and articulate clear research questions

·         Focus on major theoretical contributions

·         Justify your methodological design

·         How does the research question resolve those gaps?

7) Realistic Timelines

·         3 years (most programmes)

·         1st year focus, 2nd year breakdown and 3rd year research activities

8) Find Supervisors

·         Mid-career faculty

·         Junior colleagues and Associate-level Professors

9) Apply

10) References: 1st and 2nd Referees should be contacted

11) Prepare for PhD Interviews