An academy built for the PhD that nobody warns you about.

A PhD is one of the most isolating experiences in adult life. Supervisors are often distant, methodology training is uneven, peer cohorts thin out as people drift or drop, and life (work, family, finances) keeps competing for the hours the thesis needs. Most students who quit don’t quit because they’re not capable. They quit because the support around them silently failed.

Doctoral Compass was built to be that support. Not a replacement for the supervisor, but a structured second layer: a way to understand who you are as a candidate, what your specific risks look like, and what kind of help would actually move you forward, at the moment you need it, in the language you think in.

The academy is built around one idea: support at every stage of the doctoral journey.

Live workshops on the research craft PhD students in our fields actually need: systematic reviews and PRISMA, bibliometric analysis, research-question formulation, methodology choice, and academic writing. One session in French and one in English on the same topic. Every session is recorded and stays available.

Expert review: structured, confidential feedback on your manuscript from an experienced researcher, before it reaches a committee or a journal.

A free diagnostic (73 questions, about 18 minutes) that places you on five evidence-based dimensions of the doctoral experience and returns the archetype that best describes how you work.

Coming next: self-paced e-courses, one-to-one coaching tailored to your stage, and small-group cohort programs that walk a group of PhD candidates through a structured three-month arc together, with written feedback and a publishable paper as the final deliverable.

The paid products are how the academy sustains itself. Alongside them, we keep running free workshops, because that is how we stay connected to the wider PhD community.

Take the free diagnostic and read your archetype. Then browse what is coming up on the workshops page, which is how most people first engage with the academy. As e-courses, coaching, and cohort programs open, they will appear there too. No paywall, and no premium tier on the diagnostic itself.