Please share some advices for PhD students based on your experience.
Thanks in advance.
I strongly recommend to PhD students to focus on a specific research stream and do not work on wide range of topics. They should act like a laser to contribute knowledge frontier in a specific area.
Do not spend too long on the Background. Present what is new. Emphasize the novelty of your research. If you do not know the answer to a question, say so and make it your duty to find out.
PhD students must seize every opportunity to learn.
They must seek for excellence and originality in their research and academic work
They must intrinsically motivate themselves
They must understand the research they want to pursue
According to my experience, Supervisor's ideas are the most important.
Before starting PhD, choose supervisor accordingly. Next thing is the facilities available to do the research.
If ideas has novelty/important in the practical filed, then share it to the some relevant industries to solve that problems.
Be punctual, hard work, honest, and good attitude.
Keep patience time to time (when need).
- Choose an idea/topic to work with
- Choose a mentor of your interest whose work you admire and who is aptly supported by grants / departmental infrastructure etc.
- Reading the literature in the selected area (both current and past),and around it so that possibly you can make an original contribution to the literature .
- Plan your days and weeks carefully to perform experiments so that you have a minimum amount of downtime.
- Work hard but don't burn out yourself
- Besides you must be smart, motivated, creative, hard-working, skillful and sometimes lucky
Dear Professor,
Some suggestions for Research
1. Study more literature and know the current trends
2. Work for an hour Daily, your research will progress
3. Discuss with people to know about quick responded journals and facilities to carryout the Research
4. Be patient
5. Target the right journal for your research work and u can succeed!
Do not pursue the doctor diploma as a wall decoration only. Carry what learned to contribute to the world is more important than the diploma.
I think there are two key elements for success in research at PhD level.
1. Finding a right supervisor who has already worked on that topic.
2. Focusing on the research topic without messing around and going in depth of that.
Hi Alma,
Here are some suggestions for you:
1. Get to know the department secretary really well. He or she will have a wealth of knowledge about what/when regarding administrative processes.
2. Pick a supervisor with whom you get along.
3. Ask you supervisor for committee recommendations -- he or she will probably have a list of folks with whom they get along. The last thing you need would be conflicting committee members.
4. Get to know your supervisor well.
5. Don't take anything personally.
6. Don't consider the thesis/dissertation as yours. Instead, view it as the institution's document. You're just the lucky person who gets to write it according to the requirements of the grad school, committee, and supervisor.
7. Don't argue with your committee. Just do what you're told.
8. Don't argue with the graduate school. Just do what you're told.
9. Regardless of what your committee tells you, the main one you need to satisfy is the supervisor/chair. You're done when your supervisor/chair says you're done.
10. Don't procrastinate. Do something every day that contributes to your ultimate goal -- graduation.
11. The goal is to graduate with a degree, not to change the world. The goal is to graduate, and not to write the biggest or thickest dissertation. The goal is to graduate, and not to show off your ability to craft an extremely complex study. Basically, pick a straightforward dissertation topic that is realistic, that will satisfy your supervisor, and that will get you across the finish line in the least amount of time possible. In other words, pick a realistic topic that can be accomplished in a timely manner. After you graduate, then you can do bigger things.
12. You'll be told to make several revisions. At some point, a later revision may result in your being told to change something back to the way you had it before in an earlier version. I suggest saving a weekly version of your document so you'll be able to bounce between materials as necessary. Don't argue with your committee if they make you do this -- just grin, nod, and keep plodding along ...
13. Just do it. :-)
Hope these suggestions are helpful ...
Have a great day!
--Adrian
1. Work on a specific topic/area. Don't try to do so many things.
2. Check the feasibility of your work at your institute or reachable institutions near you.
3. Also look at financial feasibility of your research. From where you will get funding for your research.
4. Also look at social satisfaction of yourself at your workhi place.
5. Also look at food environment of your choice.
Hi all
I share my main important insights from doing supervisions since nearly 20 years. Especially for PhD students there is a first step, which is crucial and so imporant, that I now make the pain of doing advertisement for it:
You choose a topic, fine, this is often not a real step. Now the step:
You need to "cristallise" your topic. Shape it as if it would be of clay, probe with data and possible designs, be not happy with a first sketch, shape further and do it a long long time - it can be for 3 - 6 months. I see many of you are now tempted to contradict, but when you really take that pain to shape your research topic properly, you will go through it with much less pain and you will be less lost during the process. Try also designs that do not seem to fit with your departement, but be only content, when you know that it best answers your main research questions. So much from my side, hope that some can profit from it.
Never start your research without a reasonable scholarship, otherwise you will feel frustration. Moreover, your supervisor must be rational and able to suggest new ideas in your work.
Dedicate your time to read literature.
Never compare your output (research paper, citation etc., ) with researcher working in other field (as it is a trap: researcher will come to know soon).
Choose your lab wisely. A higher degree (e.g. PhD) is an apprenticeship; you are learning the trade, and it is crucial to learn from a master. There is no substitute for time and experience, and you will need both from your supervisor. Most importantly, don't choose a lab because it is "famous", with multiple publications in top-tier journals, and especially avoid a lab if the Principal Investigator has more than 5-6 students and postdocs. That PI will simply not have the time to give you the careful, thorough, training required to build a solid, understanding of the research method.
Greetings
You need always write your ideas and try to find the proper previous research which can give you more related ideas and increase your knowledge....By doing that you can find your research path and increase your contribution for specific field and direction.
Additionally, READ MORE AND MORE, BUT be careful for time management when you go deep and deep in following one idea.
Good Luck
1. The topic you work on must fit your way of thinking.
2. The good supervisor forces you to work. The medium supervisor let you work. The bad supervisor hinders you to work.
3. The key to success is work, work, and some more work.
4. You shall never get a good idea if you don't do anything. Good ideas come from work.
5. If you don't like thinking, then forget PhD.
Student and guide should identify the useful research work leading to new innovation required in life changing products
I agree that a PhD thesis is an important and life-changing part of you. I think the main task is to complete the PhD and it is open what to do with it. The PhD should be a basis for your future work - so you can identify parts to further develop and areas, which you might have not considered. Lets face it, we all would do certain things differently, if we had the knowledge beforehand, but that is the crucial thing: to learn new things, which changes our way to deal with things.
Do not try to get the degree as early as possible anyway, as it may be actually delayed for this!
Forget about the desire to perform any exhaustive work or any short cut, try to do the scheduled works sincerely. Degree will come in your hand automatically.
Thanks.
Persist in the face of adversity and never make execuses for failure.
A lot of patience, having good communication with your mentor and your colleagues, accepting ideas and criticism, you always have to look for the positive side
Hard work, patience and determination. PhD students should always look for originality. They have to listen to the guidance and recommendations of their supervisors. They should be confident in themselves and their abilities to arrive at sound results that could be useful for other people.
Try to publish at least two research papers before submission of your Ph.D. thesis; and always remember that hard work, patience and perseverance are key to success.
If you something is not clear, wait with writing about it.
Think, consult, do not hurry up.
Do not waste your time on some academic thesis. Do your best to work on practical issues in which they have capability to solve a problem in this wide world.
I firmly believe that a phd is more related to perseverance than to other aspects. I also believe that a phd will always be perfectible, at some point you have to make the decision to reach this point. Knowing how to finish is part of the skills to acquire.
In Chinese culture view, the most knowledge people should use his knowledge to serve the country or even the world. It's not serving for the "money" and "reputation". He needs to have enough braveness to against the big mistakes.
Alma Braimllari Spaho
Clarify your target. Whatever it is, try to achieve it. Manage your time properly.
Best of luck!
(1) Read more article in the field of your study
(2) Prepare important points from the literature and try to prepare review paper
(3) Attend / present papers in conferences
(4) Participate in seminars / workshops / short courses in the area of research
(5) Do the courses based on your research topic
(6) Make a schedule and work accordingly
(7) Conduct the research work / analysis sincerely and accurately
(8) Follow the words of guide/research advisors/ research team members
(9) Any doubts, ask others without hesitation
(10) Prepare research articles after completion of analysis and experiments
Try to study a bit regularly and try not to take long break. Otherwise, you may loss concentration. Remove distractions while studying like mobile.
I remember when I was being funded to research and another nurse covered my post. She telephoned me to see how I was doing and was very surprised to hear that I was repotting a plant.
I had been working hard and at depth, but in front of me was a plant saying 'repot me!'. So I did, and then returned to my analysis feeling much fresher (and so was the plant).
So, as Jebunnesa Jeba wrote above, short breaks and remove distractions.
I was initially researching before mobile phones, but I had some games on the computer and I removed them. Too much temptation.
I expect that I would have to have limited my ResearchGate time, or, like my games, I would have spent too long!
As Jebunnesa Jeba has said, build in regular short breaks and provide for thinking time and consolidation. This could be time to go for a short walk, make a cup of tea or some other drink, even a ten minute nap, prepare dinner, water plants or whatever you want to do. This way the information taken in will be processed and you will be refreshed to take on the next piece of information.
Always bear in mind that every PhD journey starts with enthusiasm which fades away throughout the years leaving room for seriousness.
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