Education

Thoughtful guidance for navigating academic and intellectual development.

What Is Education About?

The material shared here is grounded in real academic practice: supervising and mentoring students, sitting on admissions panels, reviewing funding applications, and working across disciplinary boundaries.

Some resources are practical and structured. Others are reflective. All aim to clarify how academic systems operate—and how individuals can engage with them more deliberately, ethically, and effectively.

This is not a comprehensive curriculum, nor a promise of outcomes. It is an attempt to make opaque processes more intelligible.

PhD Applications Masterclass

A structured series explaining how doctoral selection really works, from first screening to final decision.

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Who decides If you get in?
Who decides If you get in?

Who really decides whether a PhD application succeeds?

This short lecture explores the structure of admissions panels, how decisions are made under real constraints, and what applicants must understand to position themselves thoughtfully within academic selection processes.

Part III: Watch here

The 4 Stages of PhD Application Review
The 4 Stages of PhD Application Review

Most PhD applications do not fail because of weakness alone, but because of how review systems operate under real constraints.

This lecture explains the four-stage process through which doctoral applications are screened, evaluated, discussed, and shortlisted—and where effort genuinely matters.

Part II, Watch here

PhD Applications Masterclass
PhD Applications Masterclass

How do PhD selection committees actually evaluate candidates under real constraints of funding, supervision, and completion risk?

This opening lecture explains the decision logic behind doctoral admissions and why outcomes depend on far more than grades or rankings.

Part I: Watch here

The Complete Guide to PhD Applications

The Complete Guide to PhD Applications : A structured framework for understanding doctoral admissions.

This guide distils over two decades of academic experience—including supervising PhD students, serving on highly competitive admissions panels, and mentoring applicants across disciplines—into a clear framework for understanding how PhD applications are assessed.

Rather than offering templates or generic advice, it focuses on how decisions are made: how research potential is evaluated, how fit is judged, and where strong applications distinguish themselves beyond grades and CVs.

The aim is clarity, about the process, the expectations, and the choices applicants face when navigating doctoral study.

Cover image of the book “The Complete Guide to PhD Applications: A Comprehensive Framework for Competitive Doctoral Admissions in 2026” by Prof Hashem Koohy.

Mentorship and Application Support

I offer a small number of individual PhD application reviews and mock interviews each year.

These sessions focus on research direction, selection dynamics, and interview readiness, drawing on experience from supervision, admissions panels, and mentoring across disciplines.

A limited number of places are provided without cost for students facing significant barriers to access.

Support for Iranian Scholars in a Time of Crisis

In the present moment, particular attention is given to applicants in Iran who are pursuing academic paths under conditions of significant uncertainty and constraint.

A small number of application reviews and mock interviews are therefore offered each month without cost to Iranian students preparing for doctoral study, as a gesture of academic solidarity and the continuity of intellectual life.

Iranian students who feel this support may be relevant to their current situation are welcome to apply here.

Continue The Conversation

Education, guidance, and mentorship here are intended to evolve gradually — shaped by real questions, real applications, and real intellectual journeys.

If this work resonates with where you are now, you are welcome to reach out and continue the conversation.

If you would like your application materials and research direction to be considered within this mentorship initiative, you are welcome to share a brief expression of interest below.