when you reach PhD level, in almost every respect the system is not only different but the exact opposite of what you are accustomed to. There is no set structure, no set syllabus and no set timetable. You will not be told what to learn and when, and you will not take a standardised exam with set questions you can revise for. Because of these differences, we can’t think of a PhD as being simply a progression from previous studies. It is a different system, unlike anything you have done before, and it requires different skills to the ones that got you this far. (Location 78)
it doesn’t really matter how good you think you are or whether you think you’re good enough. The question is not whether you are the best of the best, but how to develop your skills and become the best researcher you can be. (Location 98)
Although I wrote several thousand words, I never actually finished that first literature review. With hindsight, failure was inevitable. I was trying to write a broad review, comprehensively covering every aspect of nanoscience and nanotechnology, but without first developing a broad range of expertise on which to base it. (Location 137)
By imagining I could write a publishable literature review right at the start, I was setting a goal far in excess of my ability and expertise. (Location 139)
you cannot improve your skill level under extreme stress. (Location 171)
Also, if you run into a difficulty and then immediately switch to working on something else, then you deny yourself the opportunity to adapt and learn. It is essential to stay with the problem, perhaps for longer than feels comfortable, if you want to make progress. (Location 174)
You will probably have heard that “practice makes perfect”, but it’s quite possible to spend years doing the same thing again and again without improving. (Location 180)
once a pattern is engrained in habit, it takes a lot of conscious effort to modify. If you are no longer thinking about the process, you might be trying very hard to achieve something, without realising that you need to change some basic aspect of your approach. (Location 182)
eventually the gaps in your fundamental knowledge will halt your development. (Location 187)
Before you can go any further you will need to revisit and re-examine things you already know how to do and deepen your understanding of why it is done that way, reinforcing the foundations before you can build any higher. (Location 189)
If you put yourself under pressure to get results immediately or to do everything perfectly on your first attempt or to show how good you are, then this doesn’t allow you any room for the trial and adaptation (or play) necessary for learning. You have to try your best, but without worrying too much about the result. (Location 197)
While some online PhDs may be good, the lack of direct contact with other academics can make it a very lonely process. (Location 236)
Had I never done similar experiments myself, there is no way I could have noticed those mistakes. Practical experience is essential This brings us to an important point; while reading is essential if you want to do good research, doing research also helps your reading. (Location 310)
If you have little or no experience of working with academic literature, or if you are entering a new field of research, then the simplest possible way to start is to try to read and understand a single paper. (Location 321)
It’s good to start with highly-cited, influential work, because these papers provide the foundation for other research. (Location 325)
Going beyond one paper: what are you trying to achieve? Obviously, you’ll need to read a lot more than one paper, but it’s important to know why you’re reading. (Location 343)
There is always a trade-off between breadth and depth. It wouldn’t have been possible to develop the same in-depth knowledge of every single author or piece of work within that broader category, but it was possible to at least develop an awareness of the kinds of research being done. (Location 364)
Whether you are you are trying to build your general knowledge of the field, or trying to check that your research idea is original, searching for research by a particular author, or looking for applications of a specific technique or investigations into a specific phenomenon, (Location 378)
I don’t know of any way of taking notes whereby you can adequately and usefully summarise a paper the first time you read it. (Location 475)
Different things will be useful to you at different times. It is only by deciding not to take note of everything that you can focus your attention on the details that are useful to you right now. (Location 478)
You can’t just read a stack of literature looking for a gap; you need to have a rough idea for a research project first, and then look at the literature to see what research has been done. Your initial idea may then change or evolve in response to the literature you find. (Location 499)
Rather than searching for a gap where there is nothing, it may be better to search for an edge to work on where you can take existing research further. One way to do this is to ask yourself after reading a paper: “is there a way to expand upon this research, or to approach it in a different way, or to apply the same techniques to a different subject?” If you do this with several papers, you’ll find that there is no shortage of ideas. (Location 552)
This means you will always be operating beyond what is comfortable; beyond your current knowledge; beyond what you know will work. There will always be doubt, because you cannot know what will happen until you actually do the research, and once you do the research you will often find that things don’t quite work out the way you expected. (Location 599)
When something unexpected happens, focusing on a rigid plan or specific outcome limits your ability to think creatively. So it is better to let go of the end target and focus instead on the point of failure, because this is where your efforts can have an effect. (Location 617)
The only way to manage this increasing complexity is to make decisions about which branches to explore and which ones not to. If you try to explore every single possibility, you won’t be able to explore any of them in any real detail. (Location 637)
it comes from accepting the uncertainty and doing it to the best of your ability regardless of the outcome. (Location 648)
if the stress never abates, and just grows and grows the further you get into your PhD, this is not sustainable. It is a warning signal that something is wrong, and if you assume that this is just the way a PhD is meant to be, then you are likely to ignore it and just try to work harder. (Location 923)
There are plenty of reasons not to ignore stress, but I’m just going to focus on one; it drastically affects your ability to perform even the simplest of tasks. (Location 931)
This was the default pattern I fell into; whenever I hit a barrier in my work, checking email was my first response. (Location 990)
The key to creative problem-solving is to think beyond the first thing that comes to mind and to consider alternative options. (Location 1002)
This requires a certain amount of time and freedom from pressure to make an instant decision. (Location 1004)
also realised that I had been rushing many of the experiments, not just because of the pressure to get results, but also because I didn’t really believe that they would work, and this made me just a little bit careless in my approach. As a result, the experiments were less likely to work, and that reinforced my negativity. (Location 1030)
PhD as a whole, I could at least control the amount of care I put in. I decided to focus on that rather than worrying about whether I would get the results I needed, or whether I would be able to finish in time, or whether I would fail my PhD. I genuinely stopped caring about failing my PhD. Realising that I would be OK if I quit, it was only a small step further to realise that I would be OK if I failed. (Location 1033)
I trusted in my ability to find a job, to deal with the disappointment, and I trusted in my ability to cope with whatever happened. (Location 1036)
you have to commit, but there is one absolutely crucial caveat: the PhD is not everything. (Location 1045)
The importance of success and the consequences of failure aren’t as great as you might think. (Location 1056)
You can say that you took on the challenge because you believe in stretching yourself, and although it didn’t work out you learned a great deal from the experience. (Location 1062)
when you reach PhD level, in almost every respect the system is not only different but the exact opposite of what you are accustomed to. There is no set structure, no set syllabus and no set timetable. You will not be told what to learn and when, and you will not take a standardised exam with set questions you can revise for. Because of these differences, we can’t think of a PhD as being simply a progression from previous studies. It is a different system, unlike anything you have done before, and it requires different skills to the ones that got you this far. (Location 78)
it doesn’t really matter how good you think you are or whether you think you’re good enough. The question is not whether you are the best of the best, but how to develop your skills and become the best researcher you can be. (Location 98)
Although I wrote several thousand words, I never actually finished that first literature review. With hindsight, failure was inevitable. I was trying to write a broad review, comprehensively covering every aspect of nanoscience and nanotechnology, but without first developing a broad range of expertise on which to base it. (Location 137)
By imagining I could write a publishable literature review right at the start, I was setting a goal far in excess of my ability and expertise. (Location 139)
you cannot improve your skill level under extreme stress. (Location 171)
Also, if you run into a difficulty and then immediately switch to working on something else, then you deny yourself the opportunity to adapt and learn. It is essential to stay with the problem, perhaps for longer than feels comfortable, if you want to make progress. (Location 174)
You will probably have heard that “practice makes perfect”, but it’s quite possible to spend years doing the same thing again and again without improving. (Location 180)
once a pattern is engrained in habit, it takes a lot of conscious effort to modify. If you are no longer thinking about the process, you might be trying very hard to achieve something, without realising that you need to change some basic aspect of your approach. (Location 182)
eventually the gaps in your fundamental knowledge will halt your development. (Location 187)
Before you can go any further you will need to revisit and re-examine things you already know how to do and deepen your understanding of why it is done that way, reinforcing the foundations before you can build any higher. (Location 189)
If you put yourself under pressure to get results immediately or to do everything perfectly on your first attempt or to show how good you are, then this doesn’t allow you any room for the trial and adaptation (or play) necessary for learning. You have to try your best, but without worrying too much about the result. (Location 197)
While some online PhDs may be good, the lack of direct contact with other academics can make it a very lonely process. (Location 236)
Had I never done similar experiments myself, there is no way I could have noticed those mistakes. Practical experience is essential This brings us to an important point; while reading is essential if you want to do good research, doing research also helps your reading. (Location 310)
If you have little or no experience of working with academic literature, or if you are entering a new field of research, then the simplest possible way to start is to try to read and understand a single paper. (Location 321)
It’s good to start with highly-cited, influential work, because these papers provide the foundation for other research. (Location 325)
Going beyond one paper: what are you trying to achieve? Obviously, you’ll need to read a lot more than one paper, but it’s important to know why you’re reading. (Location 343)
There is always a trade-off between breadth and depth. It wouldn’t have been possible to develop the same in-depth knowledge of every single author or piece of work within that broader category, but it was possible to at least develop an awareness of the kinds of research being done. (Location 364)
Whether you are you are trying to build your general knowledge of the field, or trying to check that your research idea is original, searching for research by a particular author, or looking for applications of a specific technique or investigations into a specific phenomenon, (Location 378)
I don’t know of any way of taking notes whereby you can adequately and usefully summarise a paper the first time you read it. (Location 475)
Different things will be useful to you at different times. It is only by deciding not to take note of everything that you can focus your attention on the details that are useful to you right now. (Location 478)
You can’t just read a stack of literature looking for a gap; you need to have a rough idea for a research project first, and then look at the literature to see what research has been done. Your initial idea may then change or evolve in response to the literature you find. (Location 499)
Rather than searching for a gap where there is nothing, it may be better to search for an edge to work on where you can take existing research further. One way to do this is to ask yourself after reading a paper: “is there a way to expand upon this research, or to approach it in a different way, or to apply the same techniques to a different subject?” If you do this with several papers, you’ll find that there is no shortage of ideas. (Location 552)
This means you will always be operating beyond what is comfortable; beyond your current knowledge; beyond what you know will work. There will always be doubt, because you cannot know what will happen until you actually do the research, and once you do the research you will often find that things don’t quite work out the way you expected. (Location 599)
When something unexpected happens, focusing on a rigid plan or specific outcome limits your ability to think creatively. So it is better to let go of the end target and focus instead on the point of failure, because this is where your efforts can have an effect. (Location 617)
The only way to manage this increasing complexity is to make decisions about which branches to explore and which ones not to. If you try to explore every single possibility, you won’t be able to explore any of them in any real detail. (Location 637)
it comes from accepting the uncertainty and doing it to the best of your ability regardless of the outcome. (Location 648)
if the stress never abates, and just grows and grows the further you get into your PhD, this is not sustainable. It is a warning signal that something is wrong, and if you assume that this is just the way a PhD is meant to be, then you are likely to ignore it and just try to work harder. (Location 923)
There are plenty of reasons not to ignore stress, but I’m just going to focus on one; it drastically affects your ability to perform even the simplest of tasks. (Location 931)
This was the default pattern I fell into; whenever I hit a barrier in my work, checking email was my first response. (Location 990)
The key to creative problem-solving is to think beyond the first thing that comes to mind and to consider alternative options. (Location 1002)
This requires a certain amount of time and freedom from pressure to make an instant decision. (Location 1004)
also realised that I had been rushing many of the experiments, not just because of the pressure to get results, but also because I didn’t really believe that they would work, and this made me just a little bit careless in my approach. As a result, the experiments were less likely to work, and that reinforced my negativity. (Location 1030)
PhD as a whole, I could at least control the amount of care I put in. I decided to focus on that rather than worrying about whether I would get the results I needed, or whether I would be able to finish in time, or whether I would fail my PhD. I genuinely stopped caring about failing my PhD. Realising that I would be OK if I quit, it was only a small step further to realise that I would be OK if I failed. (Location 1033)
I trusted in my ability to find a job, to deal with the disappointment, and I trusted in my ability to cope with whatever happened. (Location 1036)
you have to commit, but there is one absolutely crucial caveat: the PhD is not everything. (Location 1045)
The importance of success and the consequences of failure aren’t as great as you might think. (Location 1056)
You can say that you took on the challenge because you believe in stretching yourself, and although it didn’t work out you learned a great deal from the experience. (Location 1062)
