The Effortless Academic
Testimonials
Thousands of students, researchers and professionals have adopted the methods thaught in our courses. Read some of their stories here.
FULL STORY
Melinda’s story: From index cards to AI
Melinda Tourangeau
Phd Student
I am 58 years old and finally pursuing my doctorate in Strategic Leadership—a dream over 20 years in the making. My academic journey has been long and rewarding, including earning two master’s degrees: one in engineering and another in business administration. Achieving my doctorate is both a deeply personal goal and a way to honor my family’s legacy.
When I started my doctorate in March 2022, I discovered an online tool called PERRLA, which was a huge leap from my pen-and-paper days of taking notes and writing research papers. PERRLA helped me easily catalog sources and draft research papers without worrying about APA-7 formatting. Despite embracing this tool, I still clung to my trusty index cards, spiral notebooks, pens, graph paper, and stencils for creating mind maps. Here’s an example of one of my mind maps for a particularly complex literature review:
Earlier in 2024, someone had suggested that AI tools could write my dissertation for me. I was skeptical and defensive, unsure about the ethics of using AI in such a way. However, I decided to approach Ilya’s seminar with an open mind, thinking it might introduce me to new, legitimate research methods.
The seminar was eye-opening. In just four hours, Ilya introduced tools like LitMaps, Obsidian, and several other AI-driven platforms. As someone who had my first computer (an Apple II-Plus with a 5 1⁄4-inch floppy disk) at age 13, I’m reasonably tech-savvy for my age. However, I was unprepared for the sheer power and sophistication of these tools. By the end of the second hour, my head was spinning! I decided to pause the seminar midway to absorb what I had learned so far, knowing I could revisit the content later.
Ilya’s sincerity, clarity, and depth of understanding gave me the confidence to adopt these tools into my workflow. Switching to digital note-taking and semantic searches for sources was a monumental shift for me. Surprisingly, it brought a sense of relief—I hadn’t realized how stressed I was by my disjointed manual system.
I purchased Ilya’s Effortless AI (EAI) course and Effortless Academic Manual (EAM, [now renamed to “Effortless Note Taking”]) course, both of which were generously discounted for students. Starting with the literature review course, I dove into learning how to use Obsidian. It wasn’t easy at first—Obsidian has a steep learning curve—but I was determined. I created a trial vault to experiment with features like annotations, linking notes, and organizing workspaces. It was a lot of trial and error, but I allowed myself the freedom to make mistakes and repeat actions until they became second nature.
The effort paid off. I eventually mastered using Obsidian and other tools, such as SciSpace and Consensus AI, which saved me countless hours finding and analyzing articles. Learning these tools while developing my doctoral topic was challenging, but it deepened my focus and understanding of both my research and my workflow.
By the end of my eight-week term, I had completed a high-quality concept paper, feeling confident and far less stressed. I even created a Map of Content for a section of my literature review, linking paraphrased notes to streamline my writing process. Although I initially wished for an automated way to compile those notes into a draft, manually copying them turned out to be a blessing. It forced me to engage deeply with the material, helping me structure my Problem Statement—a crucial part of any dissertation.
I also found unexpected joy in using Obsidian. Each morning, I felt a pull to my computer, excited to explore new ways to organize and link my notes. I’ve since transitioned to Mendeley for my reference library and plan to adopt Zotero for its seamless integration with Obsidian.
My journey into AI tools has been transformative. Despite my initial doubts, I now embrace these tools wholeheartedly, knowing they enhance—not replace—my scholarly efforts. Ilya Shebanov’s courses have been instrumental in this transformation, providing not only knowledge but also confidence and ownership of my research process.
To anyone hesitant about using AI tools, I say this: the learning curve is worth it. These tools save time, reduce stress, and elevate the quality of your work. Even the challenges along the way become opportunities for growth and discovery. I am confident I will become Dr. Tourangeau in a fraction of the time it would have taken me with my index cards and pens!
Thank you, Mr. Shabanov, for sharing your passion and expertise with researchers like me. Your work has made a profound difference in my academic journey.
Trying to keep up with your thesis while also keeping pace with endless AI developments in a limited amount of time? Having Ilya and his fabulous team help with the latter was one of the best decisions I’ve made! This course has allowed me to explore AI avenues clearly, so I can further hone my skills in what matters most: the creative side of writing.
Su Min Yeoh,
PhD Candidate
Victoria University of Wellington
I have attended a couple of Ilya's webinars. He provides sound information on systems and processes to maximise workflows around the academic process. As a result, at least for this neurodivergent individual who struggles with organisation, I now have checklists on where to start and finish that save me an enormous amount of time. I would highly recommend Ilya's courses.
Ric Raftis,
Doctoral Candidate
I instantly related to the workflow Ilya Shabanov has adopted. The workshop is an end to all my search and extensive researching on notetaking for academia. The seven rules of notetaking he details is something that made me feel – “It all makes sense now” after almost 3 years of trying to understand note-taking through Obsidian. I am thankful for the two wonderful courses with crystal clear explanations helping everyone become an effortless academic. Thank you once again, Ilya.
Vidya M.,
Phd
IIT-Madras
My first course with Ilya was the Literature Review course, which I took because I was struggling a lot with my PhD research. After that, I continued with Note Taking and Writing with AI. These three courses were essential in changing my mindset about how research can be done. Suddenly, the work started to make sense, and I knew what I needed to do to actually move things forward and get things done. Every one of Ilya’s courses is a gem, packed with practical material that helps you process information more effectively and work much more efficiently. And the best part? The support he provides and the community he has created. It keeps you updated, motivated, and helps you deal with all kinds of setbacks along the way. Money well spent.
Zdeněk Hlavsa,
PhD Candidate
Czech Technical University
Ilya's Academic Knowledge Management course was a game-changer for me. I've been using Obsidian for a while but couldn't quite get it to click for academic research. Ilya's course really unlocks the research potential of Obsidian. Highly recommended!
Chris Riedy,
Professor & Associate Director
Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS Sydney Australia
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
10/10 for the Academic Knowledge Management Workshop @Artifexx (Twitter/X). As a Doctoral Researcher, Ilya consistently delivers quality, practical research solutions via X and online courses/webinars to excel in your research. You need to check him out!
Helen Sara Johnson,
PhD Researcher
Loughborough University UK
I’d been using Obsidian to manage my PhD work for nearly three years before taking this course. Through YouTube tutorials, conversations with colleagues, and plenty of trial and error, I’d built a note-taking system I liked and felt comfortable with. Even with that experience, Ilya’s Information Management course changed how I think about organising knowledge. I haven’t found anyone who explains the key concepts as clearly as he does. He goes beyond showing you how to use Obsidian: he gives you a framework for thinking with your notes and connecting ideas across your research. What I especially appreciate is how the system reduces the effort of organising and maintaining your notes, leaving more room to focus on the research questions that matter most to you. I’m recommending this course to all my colleagues. I wish I’d had it at the start of my PhD, and I think it belongs in every academic’s starter toolkit.
Stefan ten Voorde,
PhD Candidate
Wageningen University
This is one of the most efficient methods of conducting a literature review. I took Ilya’s seminar in Jan and was blown away by it, especially the Obsidian integration.
Mushtaq Bilal,
Phd
Syddansk Universitet
My “aha” moments: the heuristic power of linking minimalist notes together in a research context. What tipped the scales for me: the flexibility of the program and Ilya Shabanov’s teaching skills. Why I decided to take this course: I was looking for a program that would allow me to easily develop a set of notes for my research. The course’s modular structure allows you to revisit specific sections at your leisure to study them in depth and fully grasp the material.
Brieuc-Yves C.,
Former Social Scientist
llya Shabanov has designed and delivered an outstanding course that is accurately reflected in its title. This course is comprehensive in scope and crafted with careful attention to detail. The summary materials provided at the conclusion of the course exceeded my expectations. I would encourage aspiring researchers and writers to review the Effortless Academic website and take this course. One can only benefit from Ilya's treasure trove of practical knowledge and thoughtful guidance.
John D. Hipsley,
Scientific Consultant
I uhmmed and ahhed about whether to sign up for the Effortless Literature Review Webinar. I had been using Ilya’s Obsidian academic notes management suggestions for a while, and knowing how useful they had been for me tipped the balance in favour, and so I signed up. It was the right decision. I got much more out of the webinar than I expected, especially because Ilya covered some of the latest developments in the academic AI space that have got me seriously reconsidering not only how I plan to attack finding, selecting, and reviewing literature for my own research, but also the pedagogical implications for teaching research as well. I don’t write reviews often, but this webinar was so good it motivated me to leave this testimonial to encourage others who may be considering taking one of Ilya’s excellent webinars or courses.
Rachel Woodlock,
Lecturer & Acting Deputy Director
Asia Institute, University of Melbourne Australia
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
Ilya’s workshops are spectacular and his workflows life-changing. He does a fantastic job taking you through everything step by step so precisely. He documents everything so clearly that you can reference back and find any detail whenever you have the slightest of doubts.
Maita Goya-Arce,
MSc Managing Director
Fundación Maitetxu A.C. Mexico
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
I recently completed Ilya's AI course, and as always, it was an outstanding learning experience. I've been following Ilya's work since EA 1.0, and he continues to deliver content that is both insightful and practical. [...] I particularly value learning experiences that connect ideas across disciplines while maintaining both academic rigor and practical relevance. Ilya's course did exactly that. The course not only refreshed my thinking from academic and research perspectives but also provided me with new frameworks, concepts, and approaches that I have already begun to adapt in my work as an internal audit professional.[...] What sets Ilya apart is his ability to translate complex AI concepts into practical, actionable insights while encouraging deeper reflection on their broader implications. [...] I can confidently say that this course continues the high standard of quality, intellectual curiosity, and practical value that I have come to expect from him. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a deeper and more meaningful understanding of AI and its real-world applications.
Antonio M. Villamor, Jr.,
Head, Internal Audit Unit, MSc (Cybersecurity)
CITP MBCS
This short course was absolutely amazing and I tell you why you should not miss it: Ilya is an extremely knowledgeable scholar who not only knows about the tools he will introduce you to but he also knows what are the problems that these tool address when doing any kind of research. He is also a super generous person who shares what he knows in a very simple language so it is accessible to those not very techy like me for example :-/ The supportive material is also awesome, well designed, incredibly well articulated so that you can follow it through. And given that he is as he is, I guess that when I will ask him the most stupid quesiton because I really struggle when tackling new tools, he will be there to give me a hand! In short, take this or any other webinar, it is super good value!!
Caroline Kühn Hildebrandt,
Senior Lecturer
Bath Spa University, UK
Doing Ilya’s note-taking course and learning about Obsidian have been absolute game-changers for me. Ilya is an excellent teacher and his courses are really well-paced. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get more organised!
Siouxsie Wiles,
PhD & Associate Professor
University of Auckland
This course helped me to see my workflow clearly and also to improve it. It contributes at my aim of working better, no more. It also helps me to have finished notes, like lego bits, to put a keynote, paper, meeting much quicker without loosing track of what I have been doing.
Raquel Gonzalez,
Phd
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
It was awesome to realize how much time I could save using all these AI tools for academic writing. The webinar by Ilya was just what I needed!
Cecilia Cuellar,
Phd
University of Texas
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 have worked in academia for 29 years and it has been a while since I worked on a manuscript from start to finish. I joined the Academic Writing with AI because I wanted to learn what new methods of working on a paper are available to academics. Ilya's courses are chock filled with information. He shows you all his tips and shortcuts for writing AI prompts and explains how they work. It was really helpful to see the examples he provided. I would highly recommend taking this course if you want to reduce the time it takes to prepare a manuscript.
Frances Aranda,
Senior Research Specialist
University of Illinois at Chicago
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
Ilya´s workshops are an absolute MUST-DO! If you are a researcher having to plow through endless publications and you need a system to keep track of all your notes and thoughts…then Ilya´s work and tips are a complete game-changer!! We have adapted it as a team and are absolutely in love with it. Super highly recommended, it´s worth every cent and second.
Suzette Flantua,
PhD & Project leader
PPF-Alpine University of Bergen Norway
Ilya’s AI Agents course completely transformed my Obsidian workflow. Through sharp, step-by-step video instruction, he demystifies complex integrations, showing you exactly how to deploy agents across both your local vault and the broader web. The payoff is immediate: buried connections surface effortlessly, turning Obsidian into a genuinely proactive second brain. Crucially, the system amplifies output without diluting ownership — you remain completely in command of your voice, perspective, and ideas.
Nigel Andrew,
Professor
Southern Cross University, Australia
FULL STORY
Turning note-taking chaos into a research system
Dave Thawley
Researcher
To be honest, I had to weigh up the cost of the courses. This review is for the Information Management and AI courses. My problem was that I had been trying to use Obsidian for a few years without success. I had thousands of notes, but there was no real structure, so I decided to invest and hope the courses would pay for themselves.
My experience has been very positive. Both courses are very well presented and clear. The AI setup needed a bit of extra help from ChatGPT, but at least I knew where I was going. It has been two weeks since I started. The first few days were spent watching the Information Management course and setting up my vault in the same way. After a week, I had my current research topic fully transferred over. I now have a clean system with icons and colours that help me quickly see what is going on. I had also developed QuickAdd routines that allow me to check whether a similar name or topic already exists in the repository, using note names and two layers of aliases.
My problem before was that I would create similar concepts or data multiple times with slight variations. That problem is now gone. For example, I am studying Hinduism. I can select, say, a character from scripture. The routine checks to see whether something similar already exists. If it does not, it works out the type of note — person, object, deity, concept, etc. — using AI, pulls the correct template, and autofills the name I give it. AI then finds the IAST and Sanskrit, adds a quick summary, creates likely aliases so I automatically reduce data loss, and adds a Wikipedia link. It generates five concept-specific questions and then creates the note. What would probably have taken me the best part of a day to set up manually can now be done automatically in three or four minutes. The course material was enough to allow me to set all this up, and with ChatGPT I was able to get it running properly. This week I have gone full-bore AI. I realised that there are going to be a huge number of notes I need to set up, so… enter Claude.
In the AI module, we learned about setting up agents. I worked with ChatGPT for a few days to create a list of all the people, objects, events and major concepts I am ever likely to use. The list is massive, so I have sorted it so that the most likely or important items are nearer the top. I have developed six Claude Skills which, when run together, act as a pipeline. I give the first part a name, the pipeline runs, and out comes a fully framed note with questions and more intelligent filing. For example, if Claude identifies a person, it pulls the Person template and fills in wikilinks to parents, children and other relevant relationships where these can be supported. I get an extensive summary, my five questions, aliases filled in, and a blank area for me to write my own notes when I eventually get around to studying the subject. Using ChatGPT, I now also have a local controller which feeds names into the Claude pipeline automatically. I am running it in small batches at the moment and it is working. Over the next few days I plan to let it run for longer, and it will eventually create thousands of seed notes, with the notes already linked to other notes. I will check everything, of course. I am using this as a learning tool rather than as a substitute for study, but having this structure already in place means I can simply get the books out and study instead of spending most of my time creating and organising notes. I have also found that Claudian can integrate seamlessly with Calibre, where I have a very large collection of papers and books.
At the moment, Claudian is running in the background tidying up the book metadata. In the next day or so, I am going to get Claudian to create individual notes for each book and pull short summaries of them. The plan is then to run another agent through all of my notes and get Claudian to link each note to candidate books where relevant research can be found. If that works as planned, I will be able to open a note and immediately have a list of relevant reading material associated with it.
The possibilities are endless. I have to say that these courses, although expensive, have been some of the best money I have ever spent.
FULL STORY
It's never too late to learn: Debby's journey to a PhD at 65.
Debby Luzia
Phd Student
At the age of 65 I decided to go back to university to pursue a PhD. I am a late academic bloomer. I did my M.A. at the age of 47 in the field of culture research, with focus on the art world. Over the years, I have been an active agent in the Israeli art world, as a gallery owner, curator, writer and independent journalist. It took me a long time to realize that my passion was in research and not in business but I had no plans to do a PhD after a bad experience I had with my thesis counsellor. The shift occurred as a result of my work as a guide at the 2024 Venice art biennale. Many topics related to this event aroused my passion for deep learning. With encouragement from some close friends, I embarked on my journey in October 2024 at the Department of Culture Studies at Tel-Aviv University. It was the best decision I could have made.
My personal knowledge management journey began back in 2022, with Tiago Forte’s book “Building a Second Brain”. That was when I discovered that I was a knowledge worker. As a writer of a weekly newsletter on the art world and a biennale tour guide, knowledge is my business. I started using Notion to organize my various knowledge bases and built a database for my Venice Biennale work. But when it came to my PhD, I felt I needed a tool that could handle the complex, interconnected nature of academic research, to make it easier to create a synthesis between ideas. I discovered Sohnke Ahrens’ book “How to Take Smart Notes” and the Zettelkasten method, which led me to the concept of linking notes. That led me to Obsidian and to Nick Milo, from whom I initially learnt the basic principles of “Linking your thinking” in Obsidian. But his teachings didn’t address the specific needs of academic learning- especially regarding citations and PDF annotations.
Enter Ilya Shabanov! From the first email I got in January 2025, I haven’t stopped learning from him. I have purchased all of his courses and frequently go back to various course materials. There are so many mentors out there and I feel lucky that I found Ilya. His way of thinking and teaching suits the way my mind works perfectly. His teachings are crystal clear and easy to implement.
I think Ilya’s strength is in basic academic note taking – creating the right mindset for making the most out of what you read and learn. Before Effortless Academic, I was a passive reader, simply collecting articles in Instapaper. Now I read with purpose, actively engaging with texts through strategic annotation, using Ilya’s method of PDF annotation. From Ilya, I’ve also learned to create literature notes that capture not just what authors say, but how their ideas connect to my research questions. My writing process has been revolutionized – instead of staring at blank pages, I now write by linking and developing ideas that have been growing in my vault for months.
One of my favourite things is to look at my Obsidian graph and see the connections and evolving ideas. It reveals unexpected links between concepts that I would never have discovered with traditional linear note-taking. I’ve developed templates for different types of notes and use tags strategically to create multiple access points to my knowledge. It’s so satisfying!
Ilya’s teaching develops together with technology. Since I joined the Effortless Academic community, I have learnt how to use AI tools to process my academic knowledge. Specifically, I’ve mastered tools like ChatGPT, building custom bots that are unique to my needs. I have learnt how to use SciSpace for analyzing complex papers, and various Obsidian plugins that enhance my pleasure in using this tool.
The concrete outcomes have been remarkable. What used to take me days of searching through scattered Instapaper articles now takes hours. Perhaps most importantly, I’ve regained my joy in learning. Unlike my previous thesis experience, I now feel empowered and confident in my research abilities. I wake up excited to dive into my Obsidian vault and see what new connections might emerge. The stress and overwhelm I once felt when facing academic research has been replaced by curiosity and systematic progress.
To any fellow late bloomers or knowledge workers hesitant about embracing these new methods: the investment in learning is absolutely worth it. Ilya’s courses don’t just teach tools – they transform how you think about knowledge itself.
At 65, I’m proof that it’s never too late to revolutionize your approach to learning and research.
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