PhD Annual Review coming up? Here’s how to not be a hot mess express!
An impending PhD annual review can leave you flailing around like a hot mess express. “OMG! What exactly have I actually done in the last year?!” “They’re going to absolutely roast me!” “Can I get off the train right here, please?!” The joys!
The prospect of an annual review can feel intimidating—and kind of annoying, right? It's going to take up a lot of your mental bandwidth, and there's a load of stuff you’ve got to prepare for it… at a time when you could really do without it! It's just a pain in the proverbial.
Unfortunately, there’s no getting out of it. You’ve got to do it. You’ve got to suck it up.
However, in my experience, the annual review—like a lot of things on the PhD journey—gives back what you put into it. What you get out of it is determined by how you’re thinking about it.
If you’re thinking about it as this massive, annoying distraction that you feel resentful about, then it’s going to become a massive, annoying distraction that you feel resentful about!
If you think of it slightly differently, though, you might end up getting something out of it—and even enjoying it. Completely possible.
In this blog post, we’re covering everything you need to know to prepare for your annual review. If we’ve not met before—hi, I’m Dr Elizabeth Yardley, and in the two decades I’ve been supporting graduate students, I have seen a lot of PhD annual reviews.
I’ve sat on annual review panels. I’ve prepared my own students for annual reviews. I’ve seen annual reviews go horribly wrong. I’ve seen annual reviews that are positive, pivotal, transformational moments on someone’s PhD journey. And I’ve learned a few things about them along the way.
So, let’s get into it.
Purpose of the annual review
Before we get into all the how-to stuff, let’s step back for a moment and think about the purpose of the annual review. What is it for?
Whilst the finer details of annual reviews will vary from one university to the next, the general purpose is as follows:
✅ To assess your progress. Are you on track? Have you achieved your milestones? Are you starting to slip? And if so, can we catch you before you do a massive PhD faceplant?
✅ To evaluate the quality of your work. Does your research meet academic standards in your discipline? If so, great. If not, what can we do to pull it up?
✅ To provide constructive feedback. What are your strengths? Where do you need to improve?
✅ To identify any upcoming challenges. Are there any obstacles on the horizon, and if so, what needs to be done about them?
Your annual review is not supposed to trip you up, expose your weaknesses, or be an awful experience. It’s supposed to be a supportive process. And yeah, I get it—it doesn’t feel like that. It really doesn’t feel like that. But it is!
Your audience isn’t looking to make your life a misery. They’re humans too. They had PhD annual reviews too! So, get to know them.
Know your audience
One of the trickiest aspects of your annual review is presenting your work to a panel that might include some unfamiliar faces.
There might be people from outside your discipline—people you haven’t met before.
There may be people you know of, but feel a bit intimidated by.
If you can, find out who will be reviewing you. A quick search of their academic profile online can give you a good sense of where they’re coming from.
For example, if you’re a qualitative researcher and there’s a hardcore numbers person on the panel, it’s good to know that. It doesn’t mean you have to change your approach, but it does mean you can prepare for some of the questions they might ask, and some of the objections or criticisms they might raise in relation to your research.
And keep it clear and simple. If some (or all) of your panel are from a different field or discipline, they might not be familiar with the jargon, acronyms, or inside jokes of your research area. Ditch the technical stuff, and explain your work in a way that makes sense to someone outside your field.
This doesn’t mean you’re dumbing it down. Okay? You’re just making sure everyone’s on the same page. That actually shows a real depth of understanding—and your panel will really appreciate you for doing it.
Read the guidelines carefully. Yes, all of them!
As I said at the start, every university does annual reviews a bit differently.
Before you dive into the preparations for yours, make sure you read those guidelines, okay?
Go through them with a magnifying glass.
Seriously—this is going to save you so much stress and anxiety later.
Pay attention to what you’ve got to submit. Is it a progress report? A draft chapter? A plan? How long (or short) should it be? What’s the word limit? How long will you have to present?
Be aware of the deadlines too, because missing them is not a good look. As soon as you know what they are, mark them in your calendar and plan backwards from them. Also, be aware of any deadlines that fall prior to your review panel. It might be that the panel needs your documents a week ahead of the actual face-to-face session. It might be two weeks. Don’t assume you can just show up on the day with your stuff.
Pay close attention to those finer details.
I can’t stress how important this is.
Messing up the instructions—or worse, doing something that totally goes against them—can be really frustrating for your panel members. Plus, it’s going to distract them from the quality of your work and the progress you’ve made.
Believe me, I’ve been on panels where students have come along and done their own thing, and we’ve all been sighing and rolling our eyes. And they’ve been like, “What?!”
Triple-check everything, okay?
“Your audience aren’t looking to make your life a misery. They’re humans too, they had PhD annual reviews too!”
Be careful when preparing your documents and / or presentation
The documents you turn in—and/or the presentation you give—will set the tone for your entire review.
Make sure they’re working for you, not against you. Here’s how to make them as solid as a rock.
First up: keep it clear and structured. Your panel members will be reading a lot of documents. They’ll be watching a lot of presentations too—very often back to back. Your review might be the first of the day… or it might be the fifteenth. By that point, everyone on the panel is just running on willpower and caffeine. Put yourself in the shoes of those poor panel members! Don’t make their lives difficult.
Use clear headings, straightforward language, and a logical flow. They need to be able to grasp your research really quickly. Make it suitable for a non-specialist audience, and keep in mind what you know about their research.
How might you need to adapt what you’re saying to resonate with them? What are some of the things they might pick up on?
Be upfront about challenges. If you’ve hit roadblocks, don’t panic. Nobody expects your PhD to have been smooth sailing. Instead of hiding any issues or leaving out the embarrassing stuff, explain what you did to tackle them. This shows resilience and problem-solving—exactly what the panel wants to see.
Before you submit your documents—or give your presentation—have a final check over everything. Typos, grammatical errors, and punctuation slip-ups can make your work look rushed… even when it hasn’t been.
So, give them a final proofread. Or ask your supervisor, or a peer, to do it for you before you send them in.
“Your review might be the first of the day, or it might be the 15th of the day. By that point, everyone on the panel is just running on willpower and caffeine. Put yourself in the shoes of those poor panel members! Don’t make their lives difficult. ”
In the review
Pace yourself.
Don’t rush through your presentation or your answers to the questions like you’re running to catch a train—or like you just want it to be over with.
Yes, we know you want to get it over with, but the whole process is going to be a lot less painful if you take your time, breathe, and let your points land.
It’s absolutely fine to pause between the points you’re making, to take a bit of a breather. Your audience will appreciate it—it gives them time to make a few notes.
It’s also important to read the room. If your panel looks confused, it’s because they are. So, take the time to pause and clarify.
You might even want to ask your audience every now and then, “Is this okay so far? Is there anything you don’t understand? Anything you’d like me to explain further?” Ask them—and pay really close attention to what they’re doing. If they’re frowning, tilting their heads, or melting into the desk (!), it might be a sign to slow down or explain things in a different way.
Stay cool under pressure, too. If you don’t know the answer to a question, that’s okay. Instead of panicking, try saying something like: “That’s an interesting point. I’ll need to explore that further,” or, “I hadn’t considered that perspective, but here are my initial thoughts…”
And don’t get defensive. If they criticise your work—and they likely will—it’s not personal. They’re here to help you refine your research, not tear you down as a human being. You’ve got to separate criticism of you from criticism of the work.
The annual review panel is all about critique of the work. Stay open-minded, stay professional, and keep the conversation constructive. Take in the feedback—even if it stings a little.
Question and answer session
Ah, the Q&A!
With this, it’s all in the preparation. It really is. Look over your work with a critical eye. If there are gaps or weaknesses, your panel will spot them. Get ahead of the game. Think about the tricky questions they might ask—then practice how you’d respond.
Actually say the words out loud. This is going to make you feel so much more confident going in.
Better yet, get a friend to play the role of a panel member and throw some questions your way.
The more you practice answering on the spot, the less intimidating it’s going to feel on the day.
One other piece of advice I always give to anyone going into their PhD annual review is: have a question ready to ask the panel.
Yep, they probably won’t be expecting it!
However—you’ve got a panel of people here who are experts in their respective fields. They’ve taken the time to go through the documents you submitted, and they’ve taken the time to sit through your presentation. So, shift the dynamic. Tap into their knowledge, and turn it into a more constructive discussion.
That way, it doesn’t just feel like a grilling!
Here are some questions you might want to ask them:
➡️ If you were in my shoes, what’s one thing you’d prioritise over the next six months?
(This encourages practical advice and might give you a clearer focus moving forward.)
➡️ If you were supervising a student working on this topic, what advice would you give them at this stage?
(This gives you a different perspective than the one your supervisor might have—and it may highlight key areas to focus on that you hadn’t thought about before.)
➡️ What do you think will be the biggest challenge I’ll face in the next year of my PhD?
(This helps you anticipate potential obstacles and plan for them before they become problems.)
After the review
Once your review is done, give yourself a moment—whether it went brilliantly or left you wanting to scream into a pillow!
Here’s how to make the most of the feedback you receive:
Channel your emotions.
If something someone said on the panel frustrated you or annoyed you, use that as fuel. Some of the biggest PhD breakthroughs come from proving people wrong! Take the negativity—or what feels like negativity—and make it work for you.
Turn the feedback into action.
Don’t just leave it as a vague list of criticisms and file it away. Break it down into clear, doable steps. What exactly needs improving? How are you going to tackle it?
Talk it through with your supervisor.
They’ve probably heard it all before, and they can help you figure out a game plan. They’ll also be really helpful when it comes to sorting out what feedback you actually need to act on… and what feedback you can just leave behind. Not all feedback requires action, and your supervisor can help you separate that out.
Found this helpful?
You might want to check out my other blogposts on all things PhD - here’s the link!