#Phd tips

[salvadorbonaparte]

Hey, regarding the PhD path I can highly recommend it, and passion really goes a long way in the application. I have a PhD and I'm a researcher at a university, and I have a part in screening prospective students for our lab. The thing I can tell you with absolute confidence is that grades don't predict how good a person is going to be at a PhD, and the people hiring know this. People with immaculate grades aren't always cut out for the challenges of a PhD (and sometimes they are - grades alone aren't a strong predictor).

It's an entirely different skill set and the key skills are resilience, passion, and creativity. Passion being the most important by a long shot. During the course of the PhD any gaps in knowledge or weak areas will be filled. But PhDs are challenging and the thing that's going to get you to the end is passion and creativity. And that's what people are looking for most of all.

I'm not in Linguistics (but omg I wish I was, I love Linguistics so much I'm considering going back to uni and combining it with Arabic which I've been learning for a few years - your resources have helped so much!), but to give you an idea of numbers, I applied to 21 programmes here in the UK, I got 2 interviews, and I got 1 offer (I only went to one interview). But I didn't have a Master's degree, just the BSc, which was a disadvantage. The point being is to cast your net wide and don't give up or be too discouraged if it takes a while. If you want it to happen it'll happen - this stranger on the internet believes in you!

One interview tip: at the end, after you've pitched your thesis proposal and told them how passionate and dedicated you are, they'll say: "do you have any questions for us?". At this point, show them how serious you are and ask them: "given everything I've told you about my goals and intentions, is this the place for me? Can you provide me with the environment and resources I need to achieve my goals?". It shows that you aren't just desperate for any position, you're willing to look elsewhere, you have options. It might be a bluff, but it'll make them want you more, especially if they suddenly think you might go somewhere else.

Best of luck! Sorry for the long ask!

Thank you so much for the tips! And don't worry about the length of the ask :)

I'm definitely going to keep this in mind! I'm planning on applying for a handful of places with good funding opportunities and just hope I'm lucky (or try again next year) and I definitely have a lot of passion. Like a lot. I've been telling every living soul about my current thesis project for a year now.

Based on what I've been through I'm also very resilient. Everyone tells me how tough a PhD is and I definitely believe them but I've also been through a lot so I am very convinced my passion and resilience would make me ideal for that kinda environment.

[thephdpensieve]

July Goals

Work with more focus and become competent in one chosen skill

Read more articles and take complete notes regularly

Spend the first few hours of the day for your PhD

Deep work for 4 hours everyday - no distractions, devices or people

Mark the end of workday with a ritual

Spend an hour device-free before going to bed

Wake up early and have a relaxed, slow morning

[kittyperfectionist]

Cite as you go

[phdnote-blog]

PhD tips: Date your drafts

Don’t number the drafts in #1, #2, #3 ... simply put the date on the draft and save it as a new file. It’s more accurate, and you will find the latest version with little effort.

[field-biology]

This paper has examples of “before” and “tidied” datasets.

The three main points are:

1. Each variable forms a column.

 2. Each observation forms a row. 

3. Each type of observational unit forms a table.

[vuisivilay]

Top ten tips to success a PhD.

Here, my top ten tips:

1) Choose your project and your supervisor wisely (see [3] for more advice on this). Nothing can make your life a misery as an ill matched supervision or project.

2) If you are going to do experimental work, be prepared for unexpected setbacks. Despite your best efforts, things can (and sadly will!) go wrong at some point or other. Just stick with it and be patient. Also, be open to take a different direction if the original one proves unworkable.

3) Devote your mind and soul to your PhD. This is a unique time in your career as a scientist to work almost exclusively on your research project. You will hardly ever have the same luxury again! (Well, unless you start another PhD, that is).

4) Be reliable. Follow through with your words, stick to what agreed with your supervisor, and always communicate as early as possible if you are prevented from fulfilling your commitments for any reason (make sure it is a good one).

5) Ban perfectionism, but be professional! Be scrupulous, careful and accurate. Check, double check and check again your data and your results. Do not let your supervisor lose trust in your results, or worse, in you as a researcher. Reward yourself for major achievements and stop working when you are on holiday.

6) Write at every opportunity. Be it a report, a first year summary of your progress, a proposal to gain access time at international facilities for your research, a first draft of an article, always make sure you work at it with the highest dedication and professionalism. Do not make the mistake to assume that your year report is not worth the hassle. Look at it as a useful training towards the writing up of your thesis. Ask for feedback and act upon it. Most people are not naturally gifted writers, and writing well always takes far longer than expected. On the positive side, scientific writing can be learnt and luckily there are plenty of resources out there. (Check out my website http://marialuisaaliotta.wordpress.com/ for some useful posts on this topic; and for some useful links too).

7) If you are required to take on teaching commitments, choose courses which you feel genuinely interested in, or courses from which you can learn something useful for your PhD project (whether it is directly related to it, or whether it just allows you to acquire new skills). Also, make sure you strike the right balance between teaching and research.

8) When attending conferences or summer schools, use these opportunities to network and expand your circle of influential contacts and to increase your knowledge base. Ask questions and be interested in what others are doing. Focusing on others is the best way to make an impression and to get others interested in you and your work.

9) Be prepared and accept that there will be tough times. It is in the nature of doing a PhD and everyone goes through such times sooner or later. If this happens to you, try and keep the right perspective on things. Do whatever you can to address any specific problem that may have led to a hault. If you cannot solve the problem, adopt a constructive attitude: remind yourself that you are privileged to be doing a PhD and that soon enough you will see the end of it. If things get seriously worrying, ask for help. Many departments have organizations specifically designed to provide help and advice to students on all sorts of matters.

10) Be careful about initiating personal relationships with fellow students or other colleagues in your own department and for sure stay well away from your supervisor! It is often heartbreaking when a relationship ends. If this happens with someone whom you are likely to meet again every day, or worse, with someone who has some sort of power over you (as is the case with your supervisor) this can be the end of your PhD too. Do not risk it!

And finally, for as much as you can, enjoy it! It can be the beginning of a fabulous career.

References

[1] http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Philosophiae+Doctor

[2] http://neurochambers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/tough-love-insensitive-guide-to.html

[3] How to Choose Your Supervisor and Sail Happily Through Your PhD http://wp.me/p1YSjr-2x

[4] Top Ten Tips to a Great PhD Start (in two parts) http://wp.me/p1YSjr-3Z and http://wp.me/p1YSjr-4o

[lsesu]

PhD Week: The Presentations

If you missed any sessions during PhD Week that you’d wanted to go to, you can still access all the information - all the presentations are below.

Post-Doctoral Funding Workshop - British Academy

Networking For PhD Students - a 10-minute guide

PhD Careers - Moving on from a PhD

Who Represents You? Demanding Your Rights as a PhD Student

A Guide to Students’ Unions and Representation

[iscab]

posted by Ignatius S. Condro A.B. (iscab.saptocondro) on October 15, 2014 at 04:09PM in the year of Chinese Wooden Horse and Javanese Purwana / Alip. --- "All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray. I've been for a walk on a winter's day. I'd be safe and warm, if I was in L.A. California dreamin, on such a winter's day. Stopped in to a church I passed along the way. Well I got down on my knees and I pretend to pray. You know the preacher likes the cold. He knows I'm gonna stay. California dreamin' on such a winter's day. If I didn't tell her, I could leave today. California dreamin' on such a winter's day."

[bobbi-newman]

Top ten questions for the PhD oral exam A checklist of ‘viva’ issues that always come up

Value-added and originality

What are the most original (or value-added) parts of your thesis?

Which propositions or findings would you say are distinctively your own?

How do you think your work takes forward or develops the literature in this field?

What are the ‘bottom line’ conclusions of your research? How innovative or valuable are they? What does your work tell us that we did not know before?

Origins and the scope of the research

Can you explain how you came to choose this topic for your doctorate What was it that first interested you about it? How did the research focus change over time?

Why have you defined the final topic in the way you did? What were some of the difficulties you encountered and how did they influence how the topic was framed? What main problems or issues did you have in deciding what was in-scope and out-of-scope?

Methods

What are the core methods used in this thesis? Why did you choose this approach? In an ideal world, are there different techniques or other forms of data and evidence that you’d have liked to use?

Data or information

What are the main sources or kinds of evidence? Are they strong enough in terms of their quantity and quality to sustain the conclusions that you draw? Do the data or information you consider appropriately measure or relate to the theoretical concepts, or underlying social or physical phenomena, that you are interested in?

Findings

How do your findings fit with or contradict the rest of the literature in this field? How do you explain the differences of findings, or estimation, or interpretation between your work and that of other authors?

What next?

What are the main implications or lessons of your research for the future development of work in this specific sub-field? Are there any wider implications for other parts of the discipline? Do you have ‘next step’ or follow-on research projects in mind?

Read More

[gradschooliskillingme]

Tip time: Don't burn out!!

DEAR FRIENDS.

Another quick tip (wow! three in a week! she must be REALLY procrastinating).

It's January. You are tired. You just had a break where you might have stayed in your PJs all day long watching movies, and now you're finding it super hard to get back to your old work routines. Or maybe you worked really hard in the lab and now you just want to sleep for the rest of time. 

I feel your pain.

Time to get rejuvenated. And NOT burn out. 

Trust me, I'm feeling the burn out myself. In my case, I have gone nonstop from high school to undergrad to masters to PhD. I'm about to collapse. And you might be too.

So here are some tips on how to survive the winter, and how to survive a potential burn out!

1.  Slow down!

If you feel like there is a giant pack of wolves chasing you around campus (the wolves being your research, your thesis, your TAing etc), slow down and think about what is going on. Try and single out the triggers for your fight or flight syndrome. Constantly running away from whatever it is that is making you do so is going to wear your down both physically and emotionally. By assessing the situation, you might be able to put things in perspective and stop running all the time!

3. Take a mental health day

Yep. They generally work! I've probably mentioned this in other entries, but taking a day of doing nothing research related can be the best thing you do for yourself. Just sit around, read a book, watch a movie. Relax! Your mind will thank you.

4. Exercise, but in moderation!

In my undergrad I used to stairclimb at the gym every single day. Then I would run at night. While this seems like a great way to burn off stress, it was actually slowly killing my immune system. Over exercising  in general is not good, doing it while you're doing something as equally intense as grad school is extremely BAD.  Don't over do it. When your body says stop, stop! It will only wear you out and leave you tired and incapable of  focusing on your work. Over exercising can also harm your immune system, making you more susceptible to colds and flus and other not so great things, in turn making you lose more time being sick, where you could be doing some work.  

If you are feeling REALLY stressed out, try activities like swimming, yoga, walking, light running and hiking. These can do some good in preventing the old grad school burn out.

5. Meditate!

This isn't an easy one for lots of people. Sometimes if can make you fall asleep. 

Try this: Close your eyes. Try focusing on one word. Repeat it over in your mind. Do this for as long as you feel relaxed. Alternatively, you can think of a place you would like to be.

This really helps me whenever I need to remove myself from whatever is stressing me out.

OK! There you go. Go forth and rejuvenate! 

[pgr-tips]

Talent to Burn

A friend of mine shared this phrase with me, "build up talent to burn." What he meant was that it was great to practise things in a safe environment, like a workshop, and then you can take that experience away with you, you can use it in other settings.

So, I guess my tip is that you should try things out on workshops - but actively reflect on what has happened!

[lsesu]

The 10 Most Useful Facts from PhD Week

From all the sessions of PhD Week (Tuesday 26th to Thursday 28th May 2015), we bring you the best info and most useful tips.

1. When applying for Post-Doctoral funding, read EVERYTHING – so many applicants don’t read the guidelines at all So give yourself the best chance possible and it could make all the difference. (British Academy talk on Post-Doctoral Funding)

2. Contact your host institution way in advance of your funding application – you’ll need their support early in the process. (British Academy talk on Post-Doctoral Funding)

3. Your funding referee should ideally be your Viva external examiner: this person is seen as independent enough to give you the best reference.

4. Don’t underestimate the importance of peer reviewing – it will continue throughout your academic career. It’s a good idea to start with your funding applications!

5. Complete your application in good timing. You should be looking at it a minimum of 6 months in advance to get all the desired criteria ready.

6. It’s ok not to be ok - everyone is in the same situation even if they don’t admit it. A lot of people have the same issues – and talking about them can make a huge difference to how you feel. (Mental Health and Wellbeing Workshop)

7. Don’t miss out on the conversation that is happening online! Research papers are read, on average, six times. If you can increase your paper’s reach with social media, it will have a much bigger impact, and increase the level of citation hugely. Use The Conversation and Journal Map. (‘Social Media and the PhD’, with Professor Andy Miah)

8. Take an hour out every day to clear your mind – it has a huge impact on your clarity of thought and your productivity. Many don’t do this because it is genuinely hard to stop thinking. But training the brain is like training a muscle – it’s hard as first but rapidly gets easier. (Mindfulness Workshop)

9. Whatever issue you’re facing, it’s definitely not the first time, and you’re definitely not the only one facing it. PhD students have representatives within the Students’ Union, elected by the student body, who are passionate about your issues and here to help you take action. Email Salma Raheem or Mahamid Ahmed (Research Students’ Officer and Postgraduate Students’ Officer) as a starting point. Don’t stay quiet – the reason LSESU doesn’t act on things is because they don’t know about them. (Demanding Your Rights as a PhD Student at LSE)

10. Networking is key to securing a good career, but there’s no point forcing it. Raise your confidence by talking to people you don’t know well: it will benefit you when you’re looking for new connections. If you say to someone ‘Hi, I am at LSE in the Management department’ they’ll never respond with ‘Why are you talking to me?’ (Post-Doctoral Careers Session)

[field-biology]

This site lists really great advice for grad students/prospective grad students - I found the "time management" section especially helpful.