Today's episode is a Q&A episode. We received questions about how to select and narrow down a research topic, when to contact potential advisors, and what our major skills and struggles as researchers are. In addition, we discuss what we've learned from the last 4 months of podcasting, as well as our favorite books and albums of 2021 so far.

If you have questions for us for a future episode, feel free to send them in!

Here are the resources we mentioned in the recording with regard to defining a research topic and contacting possible advisors:

• Creative research methods by Helen Kara
• How to choose your research question, a guest post by Helen Kara on the PhD Talk blog
• When to contact possible advisors

Books mentioned in the podcast:

• Anne Brontë - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall 
• Lode Zielens - Moeder, waarom leven wij
• Bridges of Madison County - Robert James Waller 
• Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

We both follow the Modern Mrs Darcy 2021 reading challenge. 

Albums and playlist mentioned in the podcast:

• Eva’s 2021 new albums playlist 
• Anneke van Giersbergen - The Darkest Skies are the Brightest
• Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd