Your advice to first-year PhD students

[annaphys]

What advice would you give a first-year PhD student in physics?

Another question: If you could go back and do your PhD again, what would you do differently/better?

 

[nuuskur]

Stay sane. If possible, don't work outside the institute. Being a TA is fine, but working for another entity AND doing PhD studies at the same time is asking for trouble.

 

[nuuskur]

Why is it "asking for trouble" especially if this entity could help your PhD? E.g. software dev or electrical engineering internships.

Indeed. Let me rephrase it to "avoid working a job not related to your research". E.g hospitality, transport and what have you. Reason is, if your attention is divided, then it's likely your progress in research is slower.

There are people that can work a job and stay on top of their phd work, but those are rare cases.

 

[Choppy]

• Take your time in choosing a supervisor. Get to know the options you have first and to the best of your ability, try to find someone whose mentoring style matches up with your learning style.
• Take your time in choosing a project. Get to know the options you have first and to the best of your ability, try to find one that you're both passionate about and will develop the skills that you want get out of your PhD.
• Explicitly define expectations with your supervisor. How often will you meet? What hours are you expected to keep? How autonomous are you expected to be? Make sure you have similar timelines and project milestones.
• Make sure you find balance in your life. Sleep. Eat properly. Exercise. Socialize. Take vacations and incorporate down time into your schedule. Working through a PhD takes years. There's no point in putting the rest of your life on hold for that time.
• Start writing up your project(s) as if you're writing a paper(s), early.
• Read. A lot.
• Develop a solid plan B if academia doesn't work out. If you get through your PhD and need to enter the commercial world, what is that going to look like? How will you market yourself? What skills will you want to have?

 

[annaphys]

You did ask for

And I replied to this. I did not advice you do to this. I wrote "I would" twice, I did not write "I advice you and everybody else to do this". If you ask questions, be prepared to get replies - even if you do not like or agree with them. If you are not interested in what we would have done differently, then don't ask the question.

Its not about time, it is about divided attention - nuuskur wrote something in a smiliar fashion.

That is why gym was the optimal for me, it was physical and social and I had no appointment to worry about etc

Ah ok I gotcha. It wasn't clear what question you were answering. And @simphys bud just doing those two things doesn't sound to be on top of one's game. Having a balance in life is being on top of one's game. I know enough PhD students who do something similar and are miserable and depressed. Gotta do more than just PhD and gym.

 

[gleem]

Grad school is academically a continuation of college but up a notch. What worked in college should suffice for grad school. However, grad school is a research oriented degree so follow the advice of @Choppy.

From my own experience, Choppy's advice about choosing an advisor and project is key to success in a reasonable time. Make sure that you establish and can maintain good communication with your advisor. If you have any misgiving about your advisor, project, or area of research act quickly to resolve it. You must be able to maintain enthusiasm throughout the program.

 

[annaphys]

• Take your time in choosing a supervisor. Get to know the options you have first and to the best of your ability, try to find someone whose mentoring style matches up with your learning style.
• Take your time in choosing a project. Get to know the options you have first and to the best of your ability, try to find one that you're both passionate about and will develop the skills that you want get out of your PhD.
• Explicitly define expectations with your supervisor. How often will you meet? What hours are you expected to keep? How autonomous are you expected to be? Make sure you have similar timelines and project milestones.
• Make sure you find balance in your life. Sleep. Eat properly. Exercise. Socialize. Take vacations and incorporate down time into your schedule. Working through a PhD takes years. There's no point in putting the rest of your life on hold for that time.
• Start writing up your project(s) as if you're writing a paper(s), early.
• Read. A lot.
• Develop a solid plan B if academia doesn't work out. If you get through your PhD and need to enter the commercial world, what is that going to look like? How will you market yourself? What skills will you want to have?

Thanks for the advice. What in particular do you mean by read a lot? Read science papers in subfields most importantly in the field of study or do you mean just in general?

 

[haushofer]

I would try to enjoy it more.

 

[Choppy]

Thanks for the advice. What in particular do you mean by read a lot? Read science papers in subfields most importantly in the field of study or do you mean just in general?

A little of both really.

You need to read as much as you can in your subfield (which is another reason to make sure that it's one you have a passion for). I've seen students who read precisely what they are assigned and not a word more, and students who read voraciously in their field. The latter tend to be more successful in the long run.

You also have to avoid developing too narrow of a focus, and so it's important to read in other areas too. New ideas often come from applying something that's being applied to a different problem to one in your own subfield. This is often where review articles are helpful.

It's also important to read the "editors' picks" and top papers of the year, not just because the science is great, but because those will help you to develop a feel for what referees and editors are looking for when it's time to develop your own work.

The biggest problem of course is that you can never read "enough." At some point you need to start making choices. Your supervisor is usually your best resource in guiding your focus, particularly in the beginning.

 

[gleem]

The biggest problem of course is that you can never read "enough." At some point you need to start making choices. Your supervisor is usually your best resource in guiding your focus, particularly in the beginning.

This is an understatement.^* The period before the qualifying exam along with courses and prep for the exam will occupy much of your time. If in addition you are an experimentalist and decide to work with a group that uses very specialized equipment or has ongoing equipment development or shares equipment with other groups you will be pressured to give a "hand" in the lab. With regard shared equipment senior students have priority in general and time may be at a premium so be fully prepared to make efficient use of the time allotted to you. Other duties may include taking data for more senior students, or equipment maintenance. Be sure to volunteer or contribute as much as you can.

^* Be careful about projects that use equipment or resources that are not at least somewhat under your control you may have more time than you expected to read.

 

[berkeman]

Thread locked temporarily for Moderation...

 

[berkeman]

Due to a number of issues, the OP is no longer with us. Thread will remain closed; have a nice day.