Strengthen your research project before investing months of work.

A well-timed external perspective can often save weeks or even months of unnecessary work.

The Research Design Clinic is an intensive one-to-one session for researchers who need an experienced external perspective on a thesis, PhD proposal, article, grant application or policy research project.

It is not a proofreading or editing session. We examine the architecture of the research: what the project is really asking, why it matters, what contribution it can make and whether its conceptual and methodological choices form a coherent design.

Why work with me?

The Clinic draws on more than fifteen years of experience in international research, qualitative methodology, interdisciplinary projects and academic publishing. Rather than offering generic advice, I work with the underlying logic of a project—its research questions, conceptual framing, methods and contribution.

This may be useful when

your research topic feels too broad
your question is unclear or keeps changing
you have extensive material but no analytical focus
your project appears descriptive rather than original
you are uncertain about methods, cases or fieldwork
you need independent feedback before submission or data collection

What we will explore together

research problem and question
scope and case selection
originality and contribution
conceptual or theoretical framing
qualitative and comparative methodology
interview and fieldwork strategy
thesis, article or proposal structure
publication potential and next steps

Before we meet

a project summary (up to three pages)
a proposal, outline or draft (if available)
the questions you would most like to discuss

What is included

01advance review of your materials
02one 90-minute Zoom session
03a concise written roadmap within three working days
04recommendations and priorities for the next stage

Expected outcomes

a clearer research direction
stronger and more focused questions
a more coherent research design
concrete priorities and next steps
greater confidence in your methodological decisions

Who it is for

Master's students
PhD candidates
Early-career academics
Independent researchers
Policy researchers
Professionals moving into academic work