Notion Template for PhD Planning and Data Store

This template is designed to help you focus on the PhD rather than on the project management, data storage, and background administration.

Using an effective planner and developing systems can save weeks if not months of time.

Below is a screenshot of the Notion Template I've built for my students, and you can make use of it too.

Within this Notion template are sections to help you plan your

1. Supervision meetings and agendas
2. Work in progress
3. Chapter Drafts
4. Referencing, Bibliography
5. Acknowledgements
6. Images
7. Interviewing
8. Database and data management

And many other parts of the PhD...

Whilst the final PhD thesis submission is a single document, it is in fact made up of several smaller projects and components. Each of these elements needs a plan and driving forward.

This template provides a framework so you can navigate and successfully plan the series of mini projects that culminate into a PhD thesis.

The most powerful part of this template is the Database that is designed to contain and organise your findings. Whilst the database is aimed at students who are gathering datasets related to objects, buildings, artworks, literature, geographical sites, it is useful for recording other evidence and fieldwork. You can store your findings easily within this template and use it to produce catalogues, data presentations, and searchable databases.

This video sets out why a template is important so you can focus on the research:

Whilst a conventional spreadsheet is good for handling basic data and figures, this database can easily contain images, film, maps, drawings, and so on - without having to learn code or develop overly complex solutions. It is also designed to look good and be easy to navigate.

This video demonstrates the powerful database section and shows you how easy it is to build up the data:

The template also includes a section for your Figures/Images so you can keep track of where your images were sourced including copyright and acknowledgements. This section alone will save you days of work if you are planning on including lots of images in your thesis. Good record keeping and easy to deploy systems are essential.

Interviews: Many PhD Theses include interviews, focus group discussions and meeting notes/recordings that need to be carefully stored for future transcriptions or quotations. There's a section here to keep track of your interviews, including space for questions, ethical approval confirmation approval, and interview planning.

Film Repository: If you're planning on using your own films as an aide memoir or perhaps as a data source, you'll need to keep a record of the basic details relating to these moving images. There's a section here so you can keep track of dates, times. Don't waste hours searching for this data. Keep it all to hand so you can focus on the writing. Also good to keep the transcriptions with the recording.

Field Work Planner: Undertaking even short field trips involves a lot of planning and preparation. Keep track of the details here so you're not scrambling around for your passport at the last minute, or getting anxious over itineraries and schedules. Keep everything you need in one place and utilise the travel checklist so that you don't forget your documents or equipment.

Related to the Field Work Planner is an expenses and financial planning section. Use this to store your expenses, receipts, and research budget spending. Having to submit expenses claims is always dull - but it's essential and you need to keep good records to make sure you get refunded. The budget planner also has a foreign currency convertor to help you calculate what you're owed if working abroad/in a different currency! It's a nice detail and again helps to reduce the amount of time you spend on administration.

If you need something special adding, or a bespoke element to help your PhD please let me know. I'd be delighted to add new features and to help you become a better researcher.

Download it now.
Please download the Template and have a play. Just click duplicate in the top right hand corner and a copy will be stored on your account. Notion is free for individuals and if you haven't used it before its very intuitive and easy to use.

It's possible to build this Template yourself - but it will take about a day or maybe more. It's much easier to download this version and to modify it, especially at these low prices.

Make sure you spend the time working on your research, answering your research questions, and writing up your results - not on the mundane tasks of organising your work!

Download the template now and see it transform your working practice.