Some Important Tips For Phd Students

Publish Regularly, But Not Too Much.

• The pressure to publish has corroded the quality of journals and the quality of intellectual life. It is far better to have published a few papers of high quality that are widely read than it is to have published a long string of minor articles that are quickly forgotten. You do have to be realistic. You will need publications to get a post-doc, and you will need more to get a faculty position and then tenure. However, to the extent that you can gather your work together in substantial packages of real quality, you will be doing both yourself and your field a favor.
• Most people publish only a few papers that make any difference. Most papers are cited little or not at all. About 10% of the articles published receive 90% of the citations. A paper that is not cited is time and effort wasted. Go for quality, not for quantity. This will take courage and stubbornness, but won’t regret it. The publishing article should be one or two carefully considered, substantial papers in good, refereed journals each year, you’re doing very well.

Write a Proposal and Get It Criticized.

1. A research proposal serves many functions.
2. By summarizing the year’s thinking and reading, it ensures that the researcher have gotten something out of it.
3. It makes it possible for the researcher to defend your independence by providing a concrete demonstration that you used your time well.
4. It literally makes it possible for others to help the researcher. What the researcher have in mind is too complex to be communicated verbally - too subtle, and in too many parts. It must be put down in a well-organized, clearly and concisely written document that can be circulated to a few good minds. Only with a proposal before them can they give you constructive criticism.
5. The researcher need practice writing. We all do.
6. Having located your problem and satisfied yourself that it is important, the researcher will have to convince your colleagues that you are not totally demented and, in fact, deserve support. One way to organize a proposal to accomplish this goal is:
7.  Write down a list of the major problems that could arise and ruin the whole project. Then write down a list of alternatives that you will do if things actually do go wrong.
8. It is not a bad idea to design two or three projects and start them in parallel to see which one has the best practical chance of succeeding. There could be two or three model systems that all seem to have equally good chances on paper of providing appropriate tests for your ideas, but in fact practical problems may exclude some of them. It is much more efficient to discover this at the start than to design and execute two or three projects in succession after the first fail for practical reasons.
9. Pick a date for the presentation of the researcher thesis and work backwards in constructing a schedule of how you are going to use your time. You can expect a stab of terror at this point. Don’t worry - it goes on like this for a while, then it gradually gets worse.
10. Spend two to three weeks writing the proposal after they have finished the researchers reading, then give it to as many good critics the researcher can find. Hope that their comments are tough, and respond as constructively as you can.
11. Get at it. The researcher already have the introduction to your thesis written, and they have only been here 12 to 18 months.

Manage Your Advisors.

 

Keep your advisors aware of what you are doing, but do not bother them. Be an interesting presence, not a pest. At least once a year, submit a written progress report 1-2 pages long on your own initiative. They will appreciate it and be impressed. Anticipate and work to avoid personality problems. If the researcher do not get along with your professors, change advisors early on. Be very careful about choosing your advisors in the first place. Most important is their interest in the researcher interests.