What makes a doctorate worth several years of someone's life? Reflections on intellectual direction, the research environment, funding and choosing between a PhD and other routes into research.

What should happen when a student asks for an experiment to be fixed? A practical account of clarifying the problem, choosing an informative test and giving the student's reasoning a greater role in supervision.

AI can make work look convincing before its reasoning has been tested. Seven habits reveal how students and researchers can use AI while retaining curiosity, critical thinking and independent judgement.

Reflections on PhD supervision, independence and scientific judgement when AI can complete more of the routine work.