If you’re nearing the final stretch of your PhD, you might recognise how I’m feeling right now: a mix of excitement about finally finishing and seeing those letters after your name, combined with the creeping dread of how much work still lies ahead, and maybe even a flicker of anxiety about what comes next. Do you stay in academia, jump into industry, or try to carve out something in between? For me, these questions have come a bit later in life. I didn’t start my PhD straigh

If emotional intelligence is the heart of great consulting, agility is its rhythm. It shapes how research consultants think, plan, and adapt in real time. In research consultancy, no two days look the same. A morning might begin with a client call to refine project priorities, followed by quick data analysis to test a hypothesis, and an afternoon spent updating a brief based on new insights. This pace demands not only efficiency but also strategic responsiveness: knowing when

When we think about what makes a great research consultant, we often focus on the technical: the ability to design a strong methodology, synthesise evidence quickly, or analyse data with precision. But what separates a good consultant from a trusted one is not just technical skill. It is emotional intelligence . In research consulting, projects are rarely neat or predictable. They are more like poker than chess: there is uncertainty, multiple players, and plenty that is outsi

Earlier in July, one of our co-directors, Fran, presented at the Social Research Association (SRA) conference, on ‘Freelance Futures’,...

In September 2024, Kohlrabi took a bold step by applying for an evaluation contract that required the use of realist evaluation...

Federica Mossa is a final-year PhD student at Queen Mary University of London, conducting research at the Blizard Institute as part of...

Madhusudan Pokharel , a first-year student at the University of Manchester’s School of Health Sciences, won first place in Kohlrabi's...

In January 2025, Kohlrabi took a big leap—launching the first PhD Accelerator Programme at Kohlrabi. The idea was simple: give PhD...

Every PhD student knows the feeling—being rooted in your research one moment, and then blown in all directions the next. The challenges...

Last November, Kohlrabi delivered the annual Research Consultancy Training at UCL’s BaseKX , bringing together 70 doctoral students from...

When was the last time you paused to think about what truly makes life satisfying? While this might seem a deeply personal and subjective...

We’re still feeling inspired after our co-Director Fran Harkness’s recent session with Durham University Postgraduate Research students ...

Last month was the first time we hosted our new Systems Thinking training for cross-disciplinary PhD students, supporting PhD students...

Why I love working in consulting alongside my PhD and how this has improved my academic research

Early career researchers need to be shown the multitude of enjoyable careers that a PhD can open the door to.