October, 2015 - PhD Thesis Bangalore

At the Beginning of Your PhD…How Should You Approach the Dissertation?

Before your PhD, all your previous education gives you the structure on the platter. You grow up throughout your academics in an environment where you are told what to do in a nice and structured way. But when you move to doctoral education, that structure is withdrawn and you have to stand up and take charge. It sounds pretty exciting but at the same time it can be frightening. Do not take your dissertation as a challenge that cannot be met or it makes it a very daunting process for you. Avail it as a wonderful opportunity to develop your own study in an area that is of your interest.

There is a way to approach your dissertation. First and fore mostly, when selecting your area of doctoral study, do not divert yourself from your main area of study. During the course of your academics, you would have developed interests in multiple things and a lot of topics would have generated or kindled your interest for further exploration. Go back to those memories and pen down all your interest and likings. This is the preliminary stage where you need to further read and explore in order to finalise, you may need many options so don’t exclude any, write down all the preferences that you have because as you read more and more in detail, more new ideas will click and you may find more interest in some ideas in comparison to others and you may discover a great scope of further research in one viz a vis other. Be creative and think about how your choice of topic would help you in the future to develop more projects. DO not seek monetary gains or fame when choosing your topic, they are momentary, most importantly, since the dissertation is a long and challenging journey, you topic has to be good enough and you should be so much in love with your topic that you would survive through the journey with the support of your interest area. Remember it is a learning and would add value to your knowledge and learning in the time to come.

From the start itself, it is important that you follow a realistic approach towards your dissertation. Give yourself a timeline for each stage of the entire process of writing your dissertation and keep the timeline in your visibility as a constant reminder. Make sure that your time line is applicable and practical, fitting in your timeline, so that you succeed in getting things done.

Remember that the planning stage is the preliminary stage of dissertation writing, do it with a lot of thinking and understanding of the system and expectations so that this planning simplifies your entire PhD journey.

If You Don’t Have a Perfect PhD Supervisor, Where Do You Find Help?

What is an ideal supervisor like? An ideal supervisor is someone who is a bundle of infinite time and knowledge that is unparalleled. In addition he is patient and offers constant support and understanding. However, am I talking of a utopian figure does that really picture perfect supervisor does exist? I think they do not, as after all supervisors are also human beings who are fallible and subject to similar competing demands from time and competition. Consequently, the scholar feels the missing support that he needs for completion of his or her work. What is the alternative source of support that a research scholar can seek from outside? One option can be the many online communities that offer a forum to discuss problems and find solutions to those problems with sometimes more than one options.

Sometimes to bridge the gap that is created by a non-supportive or uninvolved supervisor can be filled by the various consultancy services that are available. These are like those private mentoring services that can take care of your typical doctoral work concerns for which you may not be able to find solution elsewhere.

Other than seeking help from external sources, develop ways and tactics to handle the difficult traits in your supervisor by empowering yourself in ways that are necessary.

If your PhD supervisor has the trait of being indecisive, you need to be assertive and take charge of your project. Become a leader but also try to seek the reasons for which you feel your supervisor isn’t able to support you in making decisions.

Peer and other professors in the department can be a blessing when the supervisor isn’t. A hands off supervisor can be replaced by seeking help from others in the department, informally and training yourself to become an independent researcher. This strategy is a way to look at the solution rather than draining yourself by brooding over the problem all the time. Stay away from people who all the time make you feel like with a bad supervisor, “You can’t do it!” Take your thesis in your own hands and switch groups as remember end of the day it is your independent research and you got to take the charge and credit of it. However, always give the deserving chance to your supervisor to respond and stay involved. Remember to not shirk your duty as a scholar, in any case.

The PhD Hazards That Come Without a Warning

Almost all the PhD students, during their first year feel a lot of ambiguity about their work and do not know in which direction to go this continuous as a vicious circle then as in the subsequent years they regret that they could have put the first year to much better use. The sad part … Continue reading “The PhD Hazards That Come Without a Warning”

Almost all the PhD students, during their first year feel a lot of ambiguity about their work and do not know in which direction to go this continuous as a vicious circle then as in the subsequent years they regret that they could have put the first year to much better use. The sad part is that all the hardships of PhD, which I call as “hazards” go completely unwarned. In some cases, the supervisors think it is their duty to make their scholars suffer as much as they did. Find here few survival tips:

Time Management: In your PhD ordeal, you would not find too many motivators. Self motivation is the most important task in the PhD. People who aren’t motivated themselves would not be able to establish a good work routine and would find themselves entangled in a complicated cobweb of depression, caffeine addiction, poor day routine and much more. Treat your PhD as a day time job with strict working hours and a schedule to follow. Work like an employee who imperatively has to work overtime for a task that did not finish in the stipulated hours.

Communicating with supervisor: Whatever be the characteristics and traits of your supervisor, it is necessary to build communication with him or her on regular basis. In the worst cases if you feel that a communication cannot be established, I would suggest that you change your supervisor and find someone you can relate to.

Learning to sustain in the Library: Majority of your hours in a day go in the library and it may not have the kind of environment you would want all the time. Prepare to adjust with the discomfort that the library gives you in terms of seating space, noise, light, rules or whatever it may be, it is the place to be for few years till the time your struggle isn’t over.

Comparing yourself with other PhD students: It’s a bizarre idea to compare yourself with other students and the progress in their PhD. It is always better to stay in the company of those people who have an optimistic approach and a helpful attitude. Stay away from the negative lot and socialise in a positive environment, even if that means attending social events outside the university.

Some Technology Aids to Make a PhD Scholar’s Life Easier

Technology has simplified the life of PhD scholars in a great great way. I can virtually not imagine how much a struggle it must have been for the researchers of yesteryears to manage without technology in their lives. Some of the tools that can of real help, can be: IPad: With the help of my … Continue reading “Some Technology Aids to Make a PhD Scholar’s Life Easier”

IPad: With the help of my supervisor, I got funds from the university to buy a Laptop/IPad. Since I already had a manageable laptop, I further invested in an IPad and since then, it has made my life easier manifold. It is handy, light weight, quick and helps me to do my research anywhere and anytime.

Google Drive/ Dropbox: As a research scholar who is on the move forever, there wouldn’t be another person thanking for the invention of Google Drive/ Dropbox and their likes. These are one place to store all your files and they are on the cloud and accessible anywhere you go without actually having to carry the data in a storage Dropbox. Dropbox is boon for researchers as it also supports a lot of software that I use for research. I am also able to share my data with my supervisor or peer group, anytime needed. This is super easy and super useful.

Google Scholar: Like I did, you would find most of the papers you need for you research on Google Scholars. It just so appears that Google scholar was created keeping in mind the need and the struggle of PhD researcher so we can’t thank them enough. I found more than 90 percent of the papers that I was looking for on Google Scholar rather than the physical brick and mortar library in my university.

Mendeley: Mendeley is the link that helps you to have an academic profile made virtual. It helps me to connect with likeminded researchers from all over the world, thus helping me to get constructive inputs from various places. To add to it, it connects itself with Dropbox and runs an automatic check with Google Scholar for verification. Awesome n surely a need for all research scholars. Just remember that it in an academic version of LinkedIn There you go with these five technological tools to make your PhD life much simpler. You could surely have a list specific to the android system. If you do so, we wait for your inputs here. Come n make researchers’ life simpler.