I have been writing blog entries under this blog for many months. The aim was to give insight into issues faced by students during a PhD. I am hopeful that some of the entries may have been useful to some of you considering starting a PhD or in the middle of a PhD.
Jobs.ac.uk is now looking for some one to replace me and contribute to the blog with the general theme of a life of a PhD student. If you are passionate about passing on helpful information or like to write about your experiences, you may contact careers@jobs.ac.uk. The entries do not have to restricted to PhD. They may examine wider topics such as job search, academia, research etc. The main aim is that the reader may be able to get something useful regarding PhD and related issues. Although some of my entries were related to my research subject, the entries should be general enough so that a person from outside the subject may also find it interesting or useful.
Many of the graduate students are also interested in examining different career paths after their degrees. It will also be useful if you consider writing about different career options which you may come across because of your research or conversations with others. You can discuss all of this and more in your email to careers@jobs.ac.uk. They may ask you to write a sample blog entry just to get an idea of what to expect from you.
Project management does not always paint an exciting picture what with different Gantt charts and budget sheets. Recently, I was struck by some interesting quotes by Scott Berkun. Berkun is of the view that “Everything is a project“. And in case people (like me) say that but project management is not exciting, Burken has a ready answer: “project management is as boring as the thing being managed”.
Although I don’t entirely agree with the second part but Burken is definitely right that everything is a project and that project management does not have to be seen in a very restrictive way. For example, Burken observes that athletes manage a project everyday. There is no question that athletes don’t just do their thing in the field. They need to take care of strategies, training schedules, performance trends of their adversaries, traveling itineraries, budgets, financial issues etc.
Similarly, a PhD is not about just showing up at the department every day and doing some thinking. There are daily goals such as looking up a certain reference, meeting a relevant researcher or updating your collaborator. There are short term goals such as mini surveys, paper deadlines etc. And of course there is the long term goal of the thesis which is effectively writing and editing your own book. There may be bottle necks in the way such as you not knowing a certain technique to solve a problem. Extra effort is then needed to equip your self with new techniques.
There are many other non-academic things which need to taken care for example funding. One may have to write regular progress reports to one’s funding agencies. These updates need to be approved or signed by your advisor well before he/she leaves for the Christmas break. If one is running out of funding, new grant applications have to be made and these require a systematic and orderly approach. Similarly, conferences and travel schedules need to be planned properly. This can only be done with some idea of project management even if an Excel sheet is not being managed every day.
When students apply for a PhD program, their background and preparation for the PhD is considered mainly via the range of course work and performance in those courses. Letters of recommendation are also vital. However one thing which may make the biggest difference is demonstrating actual research experience. This can be
an impressive senior year project with some original research
a suitable project or survey in an advanced and directly relevant course
a summer working as an intern in an established research lab
research assistantship with an established researcher in the field
a research paper (even if it is in some student publication)
assisting in some large collaborative research project
The idea is that admission committees prefer candidates who have some idea about the well-motivated problems in the research area and have the maturity to formulate a research problem and come up with the ideas to solve the problem. These abilities are demonstrated more easily by actual research than course work. For example, any relevant preliminary research already indicates the research interests, writing skills and technical skills of a candidate. Such research is also a useful exercise for the applicant to get a feel of what kind of research they are interested in.
Familiarity with a research area can also be demonstrated by attending workshops and tutorials designed for pre-doctoral or doctoral students and going to relevant seminars. Similarly, one learns many useful things if one has already some research experience during the undergraduate years. One specially learns a lot by collaborating with more senior researchers. This makes the transition into a PhD program easier.
When some people outside academia ask about the role of a postdoctoral researcher, they expect that it is mainly a teaching job. It is surprising for them to find that many academic positions do not require any teaching. So what do these researchers who are not teaching actually doing? The answer is that research is a multidimensional activity which involves many responsibilities and skills:
Researchers spend a lot of time reading. This includes reading latest research papers, classic works, surveys, theses etc.
One also spends time thinking: formulating problems, analyzing previously known methods, considering alternative solutions, defining concepts, discussing problems, proving theorems etc. One may be more productive if one is thinking more than simply reading. However both activities complement each other.
Presenting takes up some time. Presentations are made at conferences, meetings and workshops. Professional researchers pride themselves in being able to present their own work in a clear way. Presentations could also be informal such as explaining your work to a colleague.
Grants are another important issue which researchers need to take care of. This includes writing applications to scientific organizations and funding institutes for research grants, academic fellowships, and travel scholarships etc.
Another activity is serving the scientific community. This includes reviewing papers and rating research proposals, serving on organizing committees, working in program committees, editing journals and books.
Supervising and managing is another important responsibility. The senior the position of an academic, the more significant is one’s supervising abilities. This can range from supervising a graduate student to take care of a huge institute.
Vivas can vary with the nature of research, attitude of the examiner and the flow of the conversation. However, there are some standard questions which one can easily expect:
Can you please give an outline of your thesis and why you got interested in this research area?
What is the context of your research?
How would you assess your own research?
Which are the strongest results in your thesis?
Which results of the thesis do you particularly like?
How would you judge the technical depth of the various parts of the thesis?
How would you judge the contributions of your coauthors in the different chapters of your thesis?
Can you tell which parts of the thesis will interest which research communities more?
Where do you see the research heading in the future?
What are the natural extensions of the research conducted?
Why is this term introduced here and not there? (justify the logical flow of your thesis)
Apart from standard questions, a few other things can make the viva a smoother experience:
Prepare a general description of the thesis. This will most likely be your first answer and a good start can calm the nerves.
Refresh the names of authors you have cited in the thesis. It can create a good impression if you can use the names when you are referring their paper during a conversation.
Highlight important parts of the thesis to make it more readable and accessible especially during the viva.
