✍️ Academic Writing
Most of the challenges PhD students bring to me — an unclear relationship with an advisor, a stalled project, a nagging sense of not knowing what “good progress” even looks like — don’t resolve in a single conversation. So while a one-off session can absolutely be useful, I’ve built this around the idea of ongoing support: a series of conversations that build on each other as your situation develops.
🎤 Presentations & Visual Communication
Each session is a focused, one-on-one conversation — video call, roughly 30–45 minutes. We’ll talk about what’s actually going on for you right now: a specific decision, a difficult meeting coming up, a pattern you keep running into. I’ll ask questions, share what’s worked for other students in similar situations, and help you leave with a concrete next step.
🧠 Mental Health
- Choosing a PhD advisor or research group, and what to ask before you commit
- Navigating a difficult or hands-off advising relationship
- Developing research skills that aren’t formally taught: reading papers efficiently, scoping an ambiguous project, managing a multi-year timeline
- Preparing for check-ins, committee meetings, or difficult conversations with your advisor
- General academic “office politics” — authorship, credit, collaboration dynamics
- Just having someone to talk to who gets it
💻 Research Tools
I’m not able to give you subject-matter expertise in your specific research area — that’s what your advisor and committee are for. I’m also not a therapist or counselor; if what you’re dealing with is more about mental health than academic navigation, I’ll do my best to point you toward appropriate support alongside anything we work on together.
😄 Humor
I’m currently in an early phase of building this practice, which means I’m offering free sessions to a limited number of students. These sessions help me understand what CS PhD students actually need, and help you get a feel for whether this kind of ongoing support is useful to you. There’s no obligation to continue afterward.