Concentrates best on the couch

Four months into his PhD on 19th century German missionaries in the South Pacific, Daniel Midena, from Australia, is still finding his routine.

At the moment he spends more than 16-20 hours on administration a week, »putting in PHD plans, applying for visas, figuring out travel applications, and getting funding,« he explains.

When the University Post caught up with Daniel he had already been waiting an hour at the notorious Immigration Service. He was number 46, and the electronic queue seemed to be stuck on number 41 for the duration of our interview.

But when he gets down to actually doing his core PhD work, 6-15 hours a week takes place at his own home. This is in line with the trend for PhDs in the humanities and social sciences in the University Post’s PhD work survey.

»The thing is, a lot of my actual work at the moment involves reading, and just having a computer turned on can be a huge distraction, so occasionally I spend a day on the couch. This is the most productive. I also work a lot in the weekends,« he explains.

miy@adm.ku.dk

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