The Effortless Academic
Free Course

I have taken several of Ilya´s workshops on the how to´s and best practices of research for my dissertation and have been gladly surprised by how much new content he is able to convey in each of his workshops. Ilya´s knowledge of the research subject, methods, skills needed and tools available to facilitate the research project has been invaluable in my doctoral program, specifically in the last phase of my dissertation. I have been able to apply what he´s taught immediately, giving me a sense of security that no matter how daunting the research task, I can control it instead of the angst controlling me. I recommend his workshop to any serious student who sees learning as a life-long commitment.

Hedemarrie Dussan,

Affiliate Professor

Kairos University

After years of tentatively dipping my toes into Obsidian, the Effortless Academic Mastermind Cohort finally pushed me through. [...] I had a system I could only dream about: notes that form a living, interactive, searchable web rather than a digital dust pile. Two things moved the needle. The first was Ilya's advice to adapt his vault's system rather than copy it [...]. The second was letting properties, links, and Bases do the navigation rather than hierarchical folder structures. My reading library now files itself, every paper knows which project and manuscript it belongs to, each project note builds its own reading list, so that I get to spend less time managing files and more time reading and note-taking. What began as note-taking is helping me run my research projects, my manuscript writing, and increasingly my teaching prep. [...] I am confident in what Ilya helped me build, and confident it is nimble enough to ride the rapidly changing landscape of knowledge work, AI included.

Jesús E. Madrid,

Assistant Professor

College of the Holy Cross

I decided to join because literature reviews have always felt overwhelming, and after trying several other courses, I was still missing a clear, practical system. This course was by far the best — the strength of the solid, step-by-step framework combined with lots of concrete examples made everything easy to learn, follow, and adapt to my own research. Some real aha moments for me were the detective mindset after the seed paper, using reading intentions to stop hoarding papers, building atomic statements, and especially mapping concepts in draw.io to spot research gaps. The way tools (Obsidian, research oracles, SciSummary, etc.) are integrated with clear purpose and supported by impactful visuals moved the needle the most — it finally felt effortless instead of chaotic. This framework has already made my literature reviews much faster, less stressful, and far more strategic in my work. Highly recommended!

Assaad Dib,

Senior Academic

I really appreciate your workshop. It is rare to see the combination of (1) actual substance; (2) practical tips, but at a decent speed; (3) understandable explanations and (4) so much structure. I imagine that you either spent a great deal of time preparing this workflow or you must be a talented teacher. Either way, the workshop gave about 6 times the value I was expecting for the price […]

Julija Jerneva,

Specialist Counsel

Cobalt Law

Writing is a large part of the work academics do. Adding AI to the mix, especially AIs tuned to consumer levels, without a clear picture of what it can do and how it can be a reliable assistant for you, is a recipe for bad outcomes. In the webinar, Ilya shows how to think about what the writing process entails. From there, he goes on to demonstrate how to create AI assistants that you prompt to act as your own personal research assistant, colleague, editor, even reviewer number two! Your writing process is your own. This webinar gives you prompts and tools to make it more efficient, perhaps more fun, and you more productive.

Amanda Graham,

Professor, School of Social Science & Humanities

Yukon University

Ilya truly hits the nail on the head when it comes to the effective and responsible use of AI in academia. I attended the workshop hoping to learn how to better organize my literature and make the academic writing process more efficient using AI, and it exceeded my expectations! The seminar was highly informative and provided far more insights than I anticipated. I left with a range of practical ideas and tools that I can immediately apply. Ilya is an experienced and professional presenter who shares valuable examples from his own academic journey. He takes the time to answer questions thoroughly while maintaining an efficient and engaging pace. I highly recommend this workshop to anyone interested in using AI thoughtfully in academic work!

Lisa Wolf,

PhD Student

Victoria University of Wellington