Professor Emmanuel Tsekleves · 240K+ followers on LinkedInI've examined 45+ doctoral theses. I'll help you finish yours.
Mentoring for directors, managers, senior managers and working professionals doing a PhD or DBA alongside a full-time career.
Your supervisor helps you do the research. Your examiner decides whether it passes. Most candidates don't see their thesis from that side of the table until the viva/defense. Everything I do starts there: what your examiner will actually assess, worked backwards into a plan you can run on ten to fifteen hours a week.
35+
Working Professionals Mentored to PhD/DBA Completion
45+
Doctoral Theses Examined Across 15+ Universities
130+
Peer-Reviewed Publications
£9M
Research Funding Secured
Sound familiar?
"It just drags on and on."
A chapter comes back. You revise it. It comes back again, and months go by.
"You feel left on your own."
The taught phase ended, and the deadlines and the cohort went with it.
"Some weeks I do ten hours. Some weeks I do none."
Your doctorate lives in the gaps around a senior role, and it's the first thing to go when work spikes.
"Is it going to be good enough for the examiner?"
You've written most of it, and you can't answer that from the inside.
Those are my mentees' words. Almost none of it comes down to effort or ability. It comes from never having seen your work the way it will be judged.
How I Work
The Examiner's-Eye Method
1 · Start from the viva
What will an examiner in your field assess? A clear contribution, a sound method, one evidenced argument. We set your thesis against it first.
2 · Work backwards
That becomes a plan in fortnightly pieces, small enough to finish around a full-time job. You always know the one or two things that matter next.
3 · Read it from cold
I read your drafts the way an examiner does, with no history. You find out what's strong, what will draw questions in the viva, and how to fix it.
The method is the same whether you work with me one-to-one or in the Circle. What changes is how much of my time you get.
Work with me
Two ways to work with me
One-to-one or small-group mentoring. Choose by how much of my time you need, and how close your deadline is.
ONE-TO-ONE
1:1 Mentoring
Your thesis, read by an examiner, every fortnight.
- ✓Two one-to-one sessions a month
- ✓Written feedback on every draft you send
- ✓Email support between sessions
- ✓A maximum of ten mentees at a time
Rolling monthly, no long contract
Best for: a submission date, a viva or corrections you can't miss, or chapters you need read as you write them.
See 1:1 mentoringSMALL-GROUP MENTORING
The Doctoral Circle
Mentoring from an examiner, in a small group of working professionals at your stage.
- ✓Live sessions twice a week
- ✓Your questions answered within 72 hours
- ✓Writing retreats with live feedback on your document
- ✓Masterclasses recorded to a growing library
Best for: steady structure, people who know what you're juggling, and regular examiner feedback without a deadline setting the pace.
See the CircleNeed something one-off? I also read single chapters or full theses the way your examiner will, and run mock vivas. Ask about it →
What it's like to work with me
“When we started, I was a tributary, full of effort but without a clear channel, unsure whether my data, theory, or contribution connected in any meaningful way. You helped me see the shape of my argument, trust my findings, and finally flow as a coherent river with a destination. Working with you is the difference between circling in eddies and moving confidently toward the finishing line.”
Angella Bent Thomas
DBA Candidate and Chief HR & Operations Officer
“I could not have completed my Doctorate, I believe, without his guidance and professional support. I would tell any professional, very busy in their own career but determined to complete their Doctorate, to sign up and not wait.”
Holly Lyncooke
DBA, MBA, CDPSE, CSM, USA
“The support I am receiving from his coaching is what was missing in my PhD journey. Supervisors have no time, and many are involved on a very high level only. At least now I see progress.”
NJ
PhD Candidate and Senior Consultant
About
Professor Emmanuel Tsekleves
I was a lost PhD student once. Confused, overwhelmed, in my office at 2am drowning in papers. I promised myself that if I got through it, I'd help others through the same thing.
Twenty years in academia later, I've supervised 30+ PhDs and DBAs, examined 45+ doctoral theses across 15+ universities, published 130+ papers and secured £9M in research funding. I was a Professor at Lancaster University, where I'm now Emeritus, and I left my full-time post to do this work.
PhDtoProf is where I do it. Most of the people I work with are directors, senior managers and leaders in business, healthcare and education, finishing a doctorate alongside a career. They're capable people. What they were missing was someone who's sat on the other side of the viva table.
Free · Live · Once a month
Pass or Revise
Once a month, I take a real page from a real thesis and read it live, the way an examiner would. Then I say whether it passes or needs revising, and exactly why. In about an hour you see the criteria examiners use, applied to actual writing. Anyone can come, and you can send in a page of your own.
Get the next dateGuides and templates I use with my own mentees, free and paid.
Browse resourcesFAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Who do you work with?+
Mostly working professionals: directors, senior managers, consultants and leaders in business, healthcare and education, doing a PhD or DBA (and sometimes an EdD or DrPH) alongside a full-time career. The newsletter and Pass or Revise are open to every doctoral researcher.
Will you replace my supervisor?+
No. Your supervisor guides the research. I read it the way your examiner will, from cold, looking for what the viva will test. I work alongside your supervisor, never instead of them.
1:1 or the Circle: which is right for me?+
If you have a date you can't miss (submission, viva, corrections, an upgrade panel) or you need your chapters read as you write them, choose 1:1. If you want steady structure, people at your stage and examiner feedback on a schedule, choose the Circle. If you're still not sure, apply for 1:1 and say so. I'll tell you honestly which fits.
Can you help in my field?+
Almost certainly. What examiners assess (a clear contribution, a sound method, one evidenced argument) is the same across disciplines, and I've mentored candidates in a wide range of fields, at every stage from proposal to viva.
Do you offer one-off thesis reviews or mock vivas?+
Yes. I can read one chapter or your full thesis the way your examiner will, with written feedback, and a mock viva can be added. Ask through the 1:1 application and I'll tell you what fits.