sage-thephdstudent
Musings of a PhD Student
I am trying to be honest about the PhD process because no one told me what it would really be like.
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Completely and Utterly Obsessed
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Is it a PhD if you haven’t cried into a banana at your desk?
In all seriousness though, I hate the way that this is normalised. Why is it okay to leave my supervision meetings crying because they a) won’t let me do the research I want to do; b) tell me that the well-being of healthcare workers is “not worth investigating” and c) have a student who would be “really good at doing this project for you, I can supervise them so you don’t have to do any of the work” .
I’ve posted about PhD student exploitation before, but when, if ever, is this culture going to change?
Please feel free to share your similar stories. Big hugs, stay determined ❤️
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Still laughing at Brian May offhandedly writing the greatest understatement in the history of academia in his astrophysics doctoral dissertation:
Ah, yes - “various pressures.” Like being one of the greatest guitarists ever and playing/writing/singing for the most legendary rock band of all time.
Those various pressures.
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Back in the dating game after 5 years. I feel like I’m 15 again and have no idea how to talk to a guy. An attractive international student in my coding class waved at me as he walked out and I was like a deer in headlights. Why can I not interact like a normal human being.
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I’ve just enrolled in an undergrad class at my university in data science / coding. It is the first time I’ve done any kind coding. It’s also been almost four years since I was in undergrad myself, so I’m pretty nervous for the exam.
Does anyone have any study tips, particularly for data science / coding, which they would be willing to share? This topic is so different from anything I’ve ever done before I’m feeling pretty out of my depth.
#gradblr#phd#student#student life#studyblr#school#study tips#advice#coding#data science#programming#how to study
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How to set up a research journal
This is just one way you can set up a research journal but it's helping me tremendously so maybe it also works for you. My set-up is partially inspired by this video by Answer in Progress and I suggest you check out their curiosity journal.
Preparation
First you need a notebook. The trick is to find a notebook that you're not afraid to "ruin". We all want a really neat, aesthetic research journal, but the reality looks more like hasty scribbles, but that's okay, that's where the research breakthroughs happen.
I personally bought a cheap lined notebook from Søstrene Grene that I thought looked cute and put a sticker on it. That way I feel good about using it but I also don't mind when my handwriting gets messy because it was only like 3€.
You should also stock up on pens you like writing with. Different colour highlighters and post-its are also a good idea but not a must. Keep it cheap but comfortable.
Title Page
Here you should put down all the really important information: year, title, deadlines, word count, supervisors. Maybe add an inspirational quote to spice it up but keep it simple and relevant.
Key
This should either be your next or your last page. I personally use the last pages of my journal so I can add thing and find it easier. Your key is there to list abbreviations and symbols.
For example, I have different symbols for statistics, dates, new terminology, questions, breakthroughs, important notes and abbreviations for the most important terms in my field. It's shorter to write T9N than Translation.
The trick here is to have enough abbreviations and symbols to save time and effort but not so many that you constantly have to look back and forth between your page and key. They should be memorable and not easy to confuse.
Topic Mind map
If you hate mind maps you can skip this of course or use a different method but what helped me is to visualise all the topics that connect to my research project in a mind map. I then colour-coded the main groups of topics with my highlighters. It helps me to keep an overview on how many topics I need to do research on.
Proposal
If you're writing a thesis/dissertation it can be helpful to have a page set aside for your proposal and take some bullet point notes on methodology, chapter structure, research context, aims and objectives and think of some titles. You can also do this for your lit review and a list of works to include.
Hypothesis and Question Pages
I set aside four pages for this but you can adjust this to your needs. The first page is my hypothesis. It doesn't have to be fully formed yet, it can just be bullet points with five question marks. You can always revise and update it but it is important to keep an eye on what you're actually trying to find out.
The next idea is basically just stolen from Answer in Progress: a section for big questions, medium questions and little questions. These aren't necessarily hypotheses you aim to answer but questions you have about your topic that might be good to look into (maybe they lead somewhere, maybe they don't).
Research Notes
Now comes the big, fun part. Research notes are allowed to be a little messy but you should have some sort of system so you can actually find what you're looking for afterwards. I'm currently just looking at books and articles so that's what my system is based on. You can totally adjust this to include other forms of research.
What I do is that I put down and underline the author and title of my source. Underneath that I use my highlighters and mark the topic of the paper based on how I colour-coded them in my mind map. You might have to do this after you've finished reading. For example, if a text talks about censorship and dubbing in Germany, three of my topics, I will draw three lines in light blue, dark blue and red, the colours I chose for those topics. This way you can easily browse your notes and see which pages are talking about which topics.
When it comes to the actual research notes, I include the page number on the left and then take bullet point notes on whatever is relevant. These are often abbreviated and paraphrased but if something is especially important I will write down a full quote.
As mentioned earlier, I have a key of symbols I use so I can simply put down a '!' in order to differentiate a research breakthrough from a normal note. You can insert your own thoughts much more easily when you know you'll be able to tell them apart later on. At the end of each article, book or even chapter I write down my main takeaway.
Other Notes
This is your research journal and you can do with it what you want. I also added lists of films that might be relevant for my research, a list of databases and publishers to check for papers and tips on research strategy.
If you're working with interviews or surveys you could write down your questions. If you're nervous about your research you could include a list of reasons why your research project is important or why you're doing it. You can include a to-do list or a calendar to track meetings with supervisors. Anything that helps you with your research.
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“The marks humans leave are too often scars.”
— John Green; The Fault in Our Stars
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He’s a ten but can’t figure out where the ducks go during the winter
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lie with me by philippe besson // that girl has love - rooney // unknown // cigarette daydreams - cage the elephant // the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chbosky // nothing new - taylor swift, ft phoebe bridgers // one tree hill // editors letter by tavi gevinson // betty - taylor swift
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on childhood friendships ; fredrik backman, us against you / stand by me / bell hooks, all about love / richard siken, snow and dirty rain / perks of being a wallflower / avatar the last airbender / lorde, buzzcut season / frog and toad / the goldfinch / @ whitealbum
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Still laughing at Brian May offhandedly writing the greatest understatement in the history of academia in his astrophysics doctoral dissertation:
Ah, yes - “various pressures.” Like being one of the greatest guitarists ever and playing/writing/singing for the most legendary rock band of all time.
Those various pressures.
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There’s like 18003 thoughts happening independently in my head at any given time and it basically summates to this
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Hi, I'm a bit curious what RCT stands for in your post about being a PhD student. I didn't encounter it during my time attempting a computer science one, but since childhood RCT has to me meant Rollercoaster Tycoon, and my gut feeling is that this is not what you meant.
Hi there, thanks for the question! Definitely not relating to Rollercoaster Tycoon but thanks for making me smile! RCTs are randomised controlled trials - typically used for medical interventions, like testing whether a new drug works for a certain condition.
They work by randomising who receives the trial intervention vs. normal care - such as people randomly receiving either Drug A or Drug B to see which is better for a certain condition. The one I worked on was mental health focus - seeing if a mental health app would support people admitted to an inpatient ward.
You said you attempted a computer science PhD - I’d love to know more as mine is in mental health x AI. What area was yours in?
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