The Thriving Researcher

I’m Dr Eleanor Pritchard, founder of The Thriving Researcher. 
For the past 15 years — including 8 leading researcher development at Oxford — I’ve worked with thousands of PhD students in the social sciences and humanities. What I’ve learned is this: struggling with your PhD is never about intelligence or effort. It’s about isolation, overwhelm, and the hidden pressures of academic systems.

That’s why I created The Thriving Researcher — to give doctoral students what universities rarely can:

* a judgment-free space to write, connect, and think

* insider expertise from someone who’s lived both sides of the PhD journey

* structured retreats and workshops that turn scattered effort into steady progress

On Eventbrite, you’ll find my monthly Online Writing Retreats: a full day designed to help you focus, regain momentum, and write alongside peers who understand the ups and downs of the process. I also occasionally host sessions on time management and career development for early career researchers.

And if you’d like ongoing support, you can join me at PhD Progress Weekly on Substack — where I share research strategies, demystify academic challenges, and create the sense of community so many PhD students say they’re missing.

Your research matters. And so does the way you experience doing it.