[Closed] new PhD advice

Notebooks - buy a load of them. Some big A4 ones for bulk of the work and meetings and some little A5 ones for small work packages.

You should also date every page, photocopy regularly and get some to co-sign them - apparently!

Literature - use a decent database which will do your referencing later on. File your papers well - I prefer by their topic of interest. If a paper fits in 2 categories then either double it up or leave a note pointing to another folder. That way one copy will have all comments on which may be helpful. Oh and I always print so I can write on papers. If you have a tablet then you can write on the screen - much better!

Buy a copy of "how to get a PhD"

Do not get a stack of papers with a note on saying "to read".

Read them, comment, make notes in your notebook for that work topic and then file. Set up email searches with science direct and keep on top of them. Allocate yourself set time every week for literature.

Literature review is vital - but you won't realise how vital until the end. And you won't really know how best to write it until the end. But persevere.

Lab work always goes wrong. Things always take longer. DIY whatever you can - adapt stuff etc etc. Do not rely on other people.

Organisation and planning - boring but VITAL. Set up small work packages - do not plan one large chunk as it might get held up or changed leaving you buggered. Small work packages with an A5 notebook with relevant literature notes at the front and then your thoughts, calcs, results etc for that package as you go. That way that work is all in that little book with no interruptions.

smartphone - check your emails on the walk in. Save time. Regularly turn off email to get stuff done.

Work towards conferences and papers - do not do a load of work and then not have tome to write a paper on it. Again work with your little work packages. Very soon you will have enough for a PhD and its all organised for you to write up.

What is your PhD in?

endnote.

oh and ditch Word.

I never did. Wish I had.

oh and I used Endnote - apparently there is better one that work with better word procesing packages. Some people used Laytex or something.

modelling-assisted wear and impact evaluation. I reckon it will focus on hybrid surface treatments.

thanks for the tips so far, especially to andyl. I've been looking at LaTeX... what do you think of this?

Congrats HansRey! I'm waiting to be told whether I've been successful in my PhD application. Had the interview yesterday and waiting to hear back!

edit: [s]What's the PhD title?[/s]

P.S. I got told at my interview that (in the Prof's opinion), a PhD is the hardest thing you can do (study/job wise I assume he meant 😉 )

Ditch word for latex if possible but lots of supervisors still hate it.

Not too many things to suggest that haven't already been but I'll double up on the notebooks and literature review!

Endnote is a winner - you can store all your references by number so no faffing with alphabetical filing.
I'd agree with yearly play of things you listed but the one thing I've seen time and time again is the 2nd year burnout. Students work like stink in the first year (but it normally comes to nothing) and then get annoyed with supervisors etc etc in the second year and then panic in the third. If you can take it steady and write while you go it'll hold you in good stead.
Good luck it's an amazing thing to do.

try not to rely on remote applications running from a server that's shared by 3 universities and requires all sorts of strange text based programming that is common to no other application on earth... to the extent that the jobs you submit dissapear into some kind of meta-world, never to be seen again.

this may explain why i have been more forum active today!

Actually talk to your supervisor/other members of your research group regularly about what you're doing/what it means/what to do next - basically don't disappear up your own ar$e on some dead-end avenue for months at time and regret the wasted time for the lack of a 5 min chat over a coffee.

LaTeX +1.

Use your first year to gain some skills (including writing in LaTeX!). Learn a new programming language if relevant (find out what is status quo in your field), brush up on your maths if needed. Don't forget it's as much about acquiring a skill set as getting the title, and you will never have such a rich opportunity to acquire random talents.

I'll stick my neck out and say if you're working in science then learning to use a Linux system is a solid step to take, though I guess some will disagree. You will find post doc positions in many fields that demand linux experience though.

Mind mapping software can be good for getting your ideas together.

Accept that some supervisors are crap, and need managing - try to find out early on (from their other PhDs) if yours is one of them.

Read PhD comics. [url= http://phdcomics.com ]here[/url]

as above actually. remember to leave your office/place of work and ask around.

i often acheive more in 5 min bursts by talking to people than in weeks sat on my own trying to reinvent stuff.

Oh, and don't be too proud to ask for help from other PhDs, staff, technicians etc, ask early and ask often. Many PhDs spend weeks working out how to do something that a 3rd-4th year could have explained in 5 mins!

For any mathematics based subject latex wins. Word documents look like a school report in comparison. There is a learning curve to using it but it's well worth it.

tht is quite linked in to what I did/do.

what kind of impacts/materials/surface treatments?

Mendeley is the new Endnote
Don't plan to do 4 years. Plan to write up in the second half of year 3.
Digital notebooks with online backup like evernote are where it's at now - buy an ipad
Learn to manage your supervisor early on.
Dont take a job before you have finished 😳
Good luck

oh and a stack of 10-12 sheets of A3 paper on your desk infront of you as your work surface in landscape format. Useful for scribbles and jotting stuff down - but remember to transfer stuff into your note book before you throw each sheet away (or file them).

Careers events - go for the free pens. Always useful.

Lined spiral bound A5 notebook - use it for daily/weekly to do lists - even "pay gas bill" and when you need a scrap of paper. Always carry it around with you. Again you can use it to jot stuff down when you don't have your proper notebook with you and you can rip pages out to leave notes on equipment etc. Do not rip pages out of your proper note books and used fixed bound ones. Maybe a tablet or smart phone can replace that but nothing provides the freedom of a pen and paper.

(as you can see I like to draw/sketch/write ideas down - they are what your phd is made of)

And remember, It's only a Ph.D. you don't need to change the world

And remember, It's only a Ph.D. you don't need to change the world

But if you don't you're a failure.

Good supervisor(s) or learn to manage them/him/her. 🙂

Learn how to manage your supervisor!

Some can be absolute tyrants!

Better a supervisor that is a tyrant, than one that doesn't give a @*%#!

atparry - Member

Some can be absolute tyrants!

Or they love themselves too much. 😆

brakeswithface - Member

Better a supervisor that is a tyrant, than one that doesn't give a @*%#!

Tyrant usually gives, as my Yankee mate said, jackshite as s/he is up their own arse so much so that s/he just wants to have a phd student to boost his/her career profile.

this is great, keep them coming. Good luck Kit, i hope you get the place.

The project title is still to be finalised, however I reckon we'll start to evaluate how grain shape(s) affect impact, erosive wear and adhesive wear behaviour of thermally sprayed WC-Co and it's derivatives. It's reasonably researched, but it fits into VTT research and modelling work where they need models validating, and allows me to get trained up on the equipment quickly.

Don't forget to enjoy it.... you have chosen to spend a large chunk of your life doing this work....

That being said my viva was the scariest thig I have ever done!!!! 😯

HansRey - Member

The project title is still to be finalised, however I reckon we'll start to evaluate how grain shape(s) affect impact, erosive wear and adhesive wear behaviour of thermally sprayed WC-Co and it's derivatives. It's reasonably researched, but it fits into VTT research and modelling work where they need models validating, and allows me to get trained up on the equipment quickly.

You passed as your PhD is related to engineering/science but if you are in the social sciences then you might have a nightmare. i.e. too many egos in Social Sciences ...

Graham_Clark - Member
That being said my viva was the scariest thig I have ever done!!!!

Eh!? Viva is the easiest! It's easiest because you have written the stuff yourself ... unless someone asks you to do a research not of your interest and in that case you are in deep shite.

It is putting the work together to make sense of them that drives people nuts or the hardest. Your view of a perfect might be someone's half baked.

Viva was scary at first but nothing more than a discussion in reality, so not worth getting scared about in the end. It's the years of self discipline, methodical work, keeping on top of the latest developments, going and presenting and writing and being challenged by leaders in the field that are the difficult bits.

VTT wouldn't happen to be Velo-Tout-Terrain would it?

Viva is ego boosting ... when the external starts to talk about him/herself instead. 😆

CharlieMungus, i wish it was... a phd of biking in france. Lovely thought. It's [url= http://www.vtt.fi/careers/vtt_graduate_school.jsp?lang=en ]this[/url] here...

I've been told to make all my mistakes and learning in the 1st year, and then aim to perform all lab work in 2nd and 3rd year, and write in the fourth (in theory!).

The reason to avoid this is that your money will finish at the end of year 3, and so you find yourself self-financing in year 4. This is exactly what happened to Dr North, though I'm the one who financed her..!

In many ways I'd love to do one, but the self-discipline described above is what I lack and, as an observer, it's the most important thing along with a sheer determination to finish the damned thing.

finance isn't an issue. It's a 4 year contract. I have to finish in 4yrs because of the awarding Uni stipulation, otherwise it's reasonably relaxed. So, learning to use Linux... What for exactly?

Congrats on doing one - best thing I ever did.
a few random thoughts that stick in my mind...

+1 for notepads - buy a few very nice ones (and some really nice pens) and use them - write all your thoughts down - don't rely on a laptop etc as you will lose/trash it and you won't back it up properly.

The hardest part is writing the thesis. Especially the background stuff you do in the first year/18mnths. The exciting stuff you do later is easy to write up so try and document the background stuff as you go - try and get some papers published as it gets you into the habit of writing properly.

Don't get carried away with the ego side of doing one as you are essentially now at the bottom rung of a different ladder and it isn't easy. As mentioned, the most important part is sharing ideas with other research students - Looking back I think a degree teaches you how to learn stuff semi-independently, where a PhD teaches you to think/be creative on your own. It's nothing like doing a degree and by the end you should be the world expert in your niche. You should be directing what you do in the last year as you should know more than your supervisor.

3/4 years is a hell of a long time to spend on one niche area (with associated reading on related and non/related topics) so accept that you will get fed up at times. I recall a couple of weeks where I didn't leave the pub most days - I also spend many weeks working until 3am when things were going well - it's not a job it becomes your life.

Makes me want to do another one now 🙂

lit review - fundamental - don't go reinventing the wheel, use whatever software you like for citations and paper storage...

Objectives - no doubt you will be handed some - use to define the scope of project

Project Manage - you can only do so much - try and build a project plan, try to stick to or exceed it. If things are changing (they will) be realistic and replan.

Objectives 2 - as everythiing has now gone sideways and you can now prove you can't meet objectives, work out new objectives and timescale

Reading - Keep on top of reading, sign up to citation alerts, feed in all useful stuff to citation software and UPDATE YOUR LIT REVIEWS. No point submitting with somethiing 2 years out of date

Supervisor - yup, learn how to drive early on, communicate as much as possible, assess the risk of them wandering off halfway through (seen this alot)

Experiments - you're lucky, you should be ablre to break experiments into chapters/papers - makes life easier and is easier to project manage

Writing - always, always, always write up anything (even the more scribbly notes) as if you are going to include in a paper - chapter intro, lit, methods, results etc. Saves so much time, you can just cut and paste...

writing 2 - structure and justification - major things for examiners (they are not mind readers) and helps for you to spot flaws/weak areas

Data - get on top of it - analyse asap - see where you are going, what is working, you don't want to get a huge lump of work done only to find out it is irrelevent.

Stats and maths - major things in examination - examiners love pickiing holes in setup and analysis.

Software - identify the analysis packages yo will need and get happy with them

network - don't reinvent the wheel again

Treat it like a job - work regular hours, get in your 40 hours minimum a week. self discippline. Aim to finish within the period you are paid for or very soon after. Write-up almost certainly will get hellish though

Enjoy the Finnish girls 😈

Publish a couple of papers in leading Journals (or in reality have them accepted for publication) before your submission. IME this pretty much guarantees a successful outcome at viva time.

Get one of these...learn to fly it well.

[img] [/img]

You'll need something to do when things get tough and you need to relax.

Definitely use Latex, so much easier now than it was when I did mine (Theoretical Physics). It's a typesetting program, not a word processor. Add your references to the master bibliography as you find them.

If it's experimental work, accept that it won't work all the time. If it's theory, accept that you will get stuck. Try and work on two problems simultaneously that can help.

Don't overestimate the amount of work required for a PhD (Common mistake). The equivalent of ONE single author paper is sufficient.

Finishing on time is overrated. You'll be in the best cycling form of your life by the time you're done 8)

Learning latex is dead handy, especially for writing things for some science journals that prefer it.

Lyx is a very useful wysiwyg latex tool, which with some hacking can be used to produce pretty good latex output in a lot less time than hand coding it.

Talk to people and get involved in the department / team. Being able to work with / get help from others is vital, and often you'll need help from people who aren't your supervisors or anyone else who officially has to help you.

dont do your PhD during the foot and mouth crisis would be my advice, although I suspect yours is slightly different in this regard to a study of Pennine hay meadows.

Publish early would be my main tip.

A Ph.D. is much like a Rolls Royce, if you have to ask, you can't afford it

The advice on publishing is good. It is something my supervisor insisted on early, and it was of huge benefit.

Oh, and for light-hearted relief, read [url= http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php ]PhD comics[/url]. I don't know what the whole movie thing is all about, but I got a laugh from many of the strips when I was working on mine.

All good advice here!!

Coming to the end of mine now and I didn't do a lot of those things although I did buy a pen which was beautiful to write with and use some lovely note books to write in. It makes a difference to me.

Good luck, its going to be one hell of a roller coaster!!!

thank you for the tips and experiences... i've forwarded this onto a couple of mates starting phds soon too. Will obviously let stw how the phd/emmigration goes too

I can't give advice on doing a PhD so good luck with that but perhaps some survival tips in Finland.

Finns - good bunch, love being in the country and forest, like their booze, sauna, liqourice and berries. Generally considered quiet but most I've met love the opportunity to practise their high standard of english; I learnt about grammar in Finland.

Sauna - don't be surprised if you get invited mid party to get out of your kecks and into a Sauna, all perfectly normal and it will help build relations!

Liquorice - They love liquorice. As a liquer (must try Salmiakki), ice cream, chewing gum and sweets. It's quite staggering the range they have.

Finnish inventions - you'll get kudos for knowing finland invented the following, Sauna, Xylitol (sweetener thats good for teeth), Benecol (cholesterol reducing product), GSM900/1800 Mobile phone network, etc.

Forest - most have summer houses in the country where they like to spend a lot of time. Thats where they can forage the forest floor for wild strawberries and blueberries. Luvly jubbly.

hehe, as for inventions... you're also forgetting linux, anything and everything nokia and angry birds.

Sidney, have you had the tar icecream, or tar beer, it's pretty good? The salmiakki liquor... and jalluva (sp?) are pretty rank!

Well, looks like I'll be joining you in PhD-dom! 😀

Although reading the advice on this 'ere thread, I'm not sure what I've let myself in for... 8)

Good luck HansRey!

I finally finished my computational and theoretical physics PhD last year (still looking for work :o( ) and I seriously have to ask WHY do you want to do a PhD? I'm being serious, what gave you this idea?

It's not problem if you really really want to it or you really need it to get where you want to, but if it's not because of one of those it might not be a great use of your time of time unless you're very good/motivated (these points applied to me, but it's my next points that made mine a never-ending and over-running nightmare).

The biggest factor that you should consider in a PhD is your supervisor and then group and supporting dept.
If you can't get on with you supervisor whether on friendly terms or in terms of working in the same way towards the same goal, then don't bother as it's just too difficult. One of my friends is having such a bad time as her supervisor is just such a f@#ker.
If your supervisor is always away or too busy to spend much time with you, or retires in a few years, can you manage your self or do you have a good supporting dept/team (I didn't - it was just us two).
Also, consider how good you are at scheduling your own days and motivating yourself. I thought it was going to be fine, but if your supervisor doesn't give you goals to achieve with deadlines and just leaves you to it, forgetting all about you until the next time you mange to catch him, you soon begin get lost and demotivated.

Hopefully none of that counts for you, and it's going to be a Dream PhD!

Anyway, preparation tips!...

LaTeX is a must. Word couldn't even handle a chapter with equations and diagrams without going t!ts-up, let alone looking naff. I used MikTeX (free and built for windows) and either vi(m) in Linux as an editor and WinEdit or TeXnicCentre in windows as good latex based editors (I hated LyX).
Also, Excel though a great package, is similarly terrible looking for charts, like they've been drawn with crayons. I used sigmaplot which produces very tidy and clean graphs, just as you see in journals.

It sounded like you're doing computational work, so learn Linux at least to the level of a user, but to the level of basic admin would be very useful.
Also (no one else has mentioned this, but really it's a must!), get some sort of SVN backup repository sorted for your code, work, results and thesis sorted out so that your programs/work are always chronologically backed up and a full backup of each version is available at any time.

Make sure your English, grammar, punctuation, etc., is very good, particularly if your dyslexic. I am and until i got this sorted out it caused me a lot of problems...

Make sure you can afford all this, don't get into the trap of having to work too! You don't have the time or the energy to do both! When i started the funding was terrible and I had to work to be able to afford to do mine and it was just to much, it made it drag on...

While doing the PhD remember to:
-Seriously document every thing you do in the day, even small problems about finding a tricky bug in the code, it's bound to crop up again and you'll have it written down.
-Any time you meet with your supervisor take you note book with you. I just took along big sheets of paper for us both to jot on and put details on, which got stuck in my log book, not only does this say copying time but it also serves as a back-up (or evidence ;o) ) of discussions and what you did/discussed in meetings.

Good luck!

The best advice I can give is to make friends with a good postdoc in the group (if there is one, most aren't good IME). They have recent experience in your own esoteric field and can probably help you more than your supervisor.

You'll probably get depressed/disillusioned in the second year, this is normal but make sure you have a support mechanism to cope with it.

Have a plan what to do afterwards, if there isn't a directly related job you may find yourself over-specialised (and academia is not easy to enter - as I'm currently discovering).

Don't expect to party like you did as an undergrad, you won't have the time and you probably won't have the drinking buddies.

Learn to speak confidently in front of an audience.

Some excellent advice here, particularly what Gruff said at the start of his post (the rest was good too though!).

I'm in the 5th year of my PhD - this is the summer of hell for me as I have to get it finished now. Don't do what I did - funding disappeared at the the end of year 3 and the work wasn't finished and neither was much written. I got a job, full-time and very well paid thinking I'd find time to finish and write up. Turns out the job was quite demanding and the 2 hours of commuting on the train weren't great for PhD work. I left that job as I found it very dull (patent attorney-ing). I often wonder if the PhD hanging over me had something to do with my non-enjoyment or if it was really that dull. I've spent the last 9 months doing my PGCE and have loved the teaching but still have the thesis hanging over me.

Basically, don't start a proper job until it's all done and dusted, or at the very least submitted awaiting viva.

Practically speaking...

LaTeX will make life easier. Not to begin with but in the long run. I used MikTex and TexnicCenter (with all the random capitals) on a Windows machine. Some purists mocked it but it worked so I don't care. [url= http://www.andy-roberts.net/misc/latex/ ]This website[/url] is brilliant for learning how to use it and set me in good stead. You can search for most errors that you encounter and find solutions to most of your typesetting needs on the internet but I found [url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guide-LATEX-Technologies-Computer-Typesetting/dp/0321173856 ]this book[/url] very handy to have for quick reference (see if you can find an earlier edition as they're much cheaper).

For referencing, I used [url= http://jabref.sourceforge.net/ ]JabRef[/url]. This has a user interface for throwing in all your references and can import references also. It stores them as a bibtex file ready for use in your LaTeX document.

Get used to writing. Do some every day if you can. I didn't but found that when I was forced to (time pressures) I got used to writing and it became easier and easier. You don't have to write about your work every day, just write. It really does help.

Manage your supervisor. Again, I didn't and I really should've. My supervisor's guidance was rarely forthcoming and I sometimes think I wouldn't be in this situation I am now if he had actually taken more of an interest in my research beyond the "yay, we have funding" stage.

Er...not much else to add to what's been said already. Try to enjoy it. Don't feel bad about taking a day off mid-week if you're getting really ground down by something you're working on. I found that the odd day away from the whole thing helped. And make sure you take some holiday. I don't know about your funding body but mine recommended 8 weeks a year. I didn't take all of this but remember you are entitled to time off.

Good luck. I hope you enjoy it and it really is for you. If you find yourself spending more time browsing the STW forums than doing work, something isn't right 😉

edit: I have copies of "How to get a PhD" and "How to write a thesis" that you can have for a minimal cost (postage - unles you're in Sheffield, in which case you can have them for free).

thank you everyone for your help. guitarmanjon, ygm.

Seen as there's been lots of help, i'll let you all know about the phd!

I'm doing it at [url= http://www.vtt.fi/research/ama/ ]at VTT in Espoo, Finland.[/url] They're a government research group with EU, national, internal and global research projects on a variety of different scales. I'll be looking at modelling and wear/impact characterisation of [url= http://www.twi.co.uk/content/surf15.html ]thermal spray[/url], [url= http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1558 ]physical vapour deposition (pvd)[/url] and other processes for certain materials, to see how they behave under certain conditions. I'll be doing most of the experimental work, but i'll be working with coders and modellers to validate data and create new knowledge.

It's supervised day-to-day by my boss at VTT, and her colleagues. However, the supervisors at Sheffield will be involved and dictating direction too. Managing that situation will be an effort!

It's gonna be hard work, but it gives me some travel, vacations and an expense account. 😀 And, i'll get lots of industrial exposure from working with Kone, Fortrum and a plastics manufacturer.

Can't wait to start, feel like i'm ticking away and wasting time atm!

@Hansrey - quite like the tar ice cream. usually have it when i go back. Had salmiakki liquor a few times - it makes for an interesting change but would only drink it on special occasions. As for beer, not tried that yet, must look out for it next time and give it a blast....

As most above have said, get to grips with LaTex and some kind of referencing software as soon as you can, it will stand you in good stead.

For most people, the first year is largely getting your head round the background to what it is you're doing, lots of reading, learning software, trying things out.

I'd agree with not trying to plan too much as you may find the direction you end up going in is vastly different from what you envisage at the outset as you end up following interesting things in other directions.

One thing i really wish I'd done is to write up and document what I was doing little and often. It's amazing how what you've done and what is missing in order to make a solid argument crystallizes when you stop and write it all down.

Finally, enjoy it! Doing a PhD is unlikely to get you rich or better paid than if you'd spent that time working, but the lifestyle is pretty good and it should be a damn sight more interesting than most jobs!

So, learning to use Linux... What for exactly?

This is a point that always baffles me in such discussions on here. Your thesis simply needs to be well presented, not a work of art. Any papers you write will more than likely be copy-edited at the journal anyway so no need to spend time formatting etc there either. I appreciate word can be a pain, but these days it's surprisingly good for most things, and had no issues with my 300 page tome a couple of years back.

I agree with the comments about referencing software though. It's a step I didn't take, and as I stayed in academia, seem to be too busy each day to take the time out to learn when I really should. That said, you, like me, may be a person who prefers to read off paper and scribble notes etc. In which case, what someone said right up top is a must - summarise the paper in a few words at the top, then file it in the correct category. If it goes in two categories, reprint the front page a s a placeholder to remind you to look at it in the other category.

Some people get really hung up about actually writing a complete lit review in the 1st year (and for some institutes, it's a formal requirement). If it isn't a formal requirement where you are, don't. Instead, make sure you read lots, take notes, and get yourself a long summary of useful points and references, having planned a rough layout. Your field will have moved on somewhat in the 2 years or so until you come back to it, so don't waste weeks wordsmithing it now, use that time more productively to plan and start your investigations. As others have said, working whilst writing if worst comes to worst is difficult. However, working in the 4th year is a must for some, and it's a damned sight easier to work and write, than to work and try to finish off experimental work whilst trying to keep food on the plate.

As for papers, the most efficient way if it suits your discipline will be to write your chapters as papers. No point writing them twice, and if you want a career in academia or research, every Tom, Dick and Mohammed has a PhD these days, so your publication record will be taken into account. Mine got me to a permanent position within 2 years of passing my viva, so it is worth it. And for the record, I doubt I'd be on half of what I'm on now without the PhD, so it can be worth it monetarily too.

But most of all, good luck!