Initiating Physics PhD Research: Getting Started Effectively

Initiating Research Work

It has been a while since the last installment of this series, so let’s recap where you are right now. You should have already chosen the physics subject area you want to work in, and you have picked an advisor who will be (i) supervising your Ph.D. research work and (ii) the chairperson of your thesis committee.

Expectations versus reality

We are now in the “meat” of the program — the part most physics students look forward to: doing front-line research in an area you picked and (hopefully) find fascinating. Because this is a major part of your Ph.D., I devote several chapters to it. I describe this mostly from the point of view of an experimentalist, so some advice is more applicable to experimentalists than to theorists. Still, the generic events and steps tend to be similar.

First, get rid of the notion that research is glamorous, 30-thrills-a-minute work. Nothing could be further from the truth. Much of the time you will be waiting — for an experiment to finish, for data to arrive, or for a simulation to run. You may work graveyard shifts, do physical labor (crawling under equipment, repairs), or sit in front of a monitor at 3 AM tracking down a bug in your code.

I’m telling you this so you don’t start with the wrong set of misconceptions. While research can be exciting and fascinating, most of the time it can feel mundane or even boring. Be prepared for that, and plan accordingly.

Survey the state of knowledge

One of the first things you must do after selecting an area is determine the state of knowledge in that field. You need to know:

• what is currently known,
• what is being actively studied,
• what the “hot” topics are,
• who the big names are and who is doing what.

This will likely require reading many papers and journals. Often you read a paper and then need to follow up on its references — which leads to more papers. That chain can be frustrating, but it is necessary to get up to date. When I began my Ph.D., I spent about 30% of my time during the first three months reading everything I could find on my chosen field.

Why this matters

Knowing the state of knowledge is important for several concrete reasons:

1. You do not want to replicate work that has already been done (unless you have a reason to believe there is more to be discovered).
2. You need to distinguish what is merely interesting from what is important.
3. You should be aware of hot topics and who works on them — hot topics are more likely to receive funding.

Your advisor may propose a specific project, or you may have already agreed on what you’ll do. Even so, keep a broader perspective. If, for example, you study tunneling spectroscopy of superconductors, stay aware of progress in superconductivity more generally. Advances elsewhere in the field often directly impact your work.

Be prepared to spend a lot of time reading and catching up. Don’t be surprised if, especially early on, you spend up to half your time reading journal papers. This effort prepares you for the next step in your research work.