Unit2Howtobeagoodgraduatestudent王立新张泳李丽.docx
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Unit2Howtobeagoodgraduatestudent王立新张泳李丽.docx
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Unit2Howtobeagoodgraduatestudent王立新张泳李丽
Unit2HowtoBeaGoodGraduateStudent
MaríeDejardíns
[1]Whygotograduateschoolatall?
TheusualreasonsgivenarethataPh.D.isrequiredorpreferredforsomejobs,especiallyresearchandacademicpositions;thatitgivesyouachancetolearnagreatdealaboutaspecificarea;andthatitprovidesanopportunitytodevelopideasandperformoriginalresearch.Wantingtodelayyourjobhuntisprobablynotagoodenoughreason.Graduateschoolisalotofworkandrequiresstrongmotivationandfocus.Youhavetoreallywanttobetheretomakeitthrough.
[2]Ithelpstohaveagoodideaofwhatareayouwanttospecializein,andpreferablyacoupleofparticularresearchprojectsyoumightliketoworkon.Lookforbooksandcurrentjournalsandconferenceproceedingsinyourarea,andreadthroughthemtogetanideaofwho'sdoingwhatwhere.(You'llbedoinga*lot*ofreadingonceyoustartgraduateschool,soyoumightaswellgetusedtoit.)Thisiswhereadvisorsfirstenterthescene:
facultymembersoughttobewillingtotalktoundergraduatesandhelpthemfindoutmoreaboutresearchareasandgraduateschools.Trytogetinvolvedinresearch:
askprofessorsandTAswhethertheyneedsomeonetoworkonanongoingproject,orstartanindependentresearchproject,withguidancefromafacultymember.
[3]Formanynewgraduatestudents,graduateschoolisunlikeanythingelsethey'vedone.Sometimesit'shardtoknowexactlywhatitisyou'resupposedtobelearning.Yes,youhavetocompleteadissertation,buthowdoyoustart?
Whatshouldyouspendyourtimedoing?
[4]Graduateschoolisaveryunstructuredenvironmentinmostcases.Graduatestudentstypicallytakeninehoursorlessofcourseworkpersemester,especiallyafterthesecondyear.Formany,thethirdyear--aftercourseworkislargelyfinishedandpreliminaryexamshavebeencompleted--isaverydifficultandstressfulperiod.Thisiswhenyou'resupposedtofindathesistopic,ifyou'renotoneoftheluckyfewwhohasalreadyfoundone.Onceyoudofindatopic,youcanexpecttwoormoreyearsuntilcompletion,withveryfewlandmarksormilestonesinsight.
[5]Beingagoodresearcherinvolvesmorethan``merely''comingupwithbrilliantideasandimplementingthem.Mostresearchersspendthemajorityoftheirtimereadingpapers,discussingideaswithcolleagues,writingandrevisingpapers,staringblanklyintospace--and,ofcourse,havingbrilliantideasandimplementingthem.
[6]Keepingajournalofyourresearchactivitiesandideasisveryuseful.Writedownspeculations,interestingproblems,possiblesolutions,randomideas,referencestolookup,notesonpapersyou'veread,outlinesofpaperstowrite,andinterestingquotes.Readbackthroughitperiodically.You'llnoticethatthebitsofrandomthoughtsstarttocometogetherandformapattern,oftenturningintoaresearchprojectorevenathesistopic.Iwassurprised,lookingbackthroughmyjournalasIwasfinishingupmythesis,howearlyandoftensimilarideashadcroppedupinmythinking,andhowtheygraduallyevolvedintoadissertation.
[7]You'llhavetoreadalotoftechnicalpaperstobecomefamiliarwithanyfield,andtostaycurrentonceyou'vecaughtup.Youmayfindyourselfspendingoverhalfofyourtimereading,especiallyatthebeginning.Thisisnormal.It'salsonormaltobeoverwhelmedbytheamountofreadingyouthinkyou``should''do.Trytorememberthatit'simpossibletoreadeverythingthatmightberelevant:
instead,readselectively.Whenyoufirststartreadinguponanewfield,askyouradvisororafellowstudentwhatthemostusefuljournalsandconferenceproceedingsareinyourfield,andaskforalistofseminalor``classic''papersthatyoushoulddefinitelyread.Startwiththesepapersandthelastfewyearsofjournalsandproceedings.
[8]Beforebotheringtoread*any*paper,makesureit'sworthit.Scanthetitle,thentheabstract,then--ifyouhaven'tcompletelylostinterestalready--glanceattheintroductionandconclusions.(Ofcourse,ifyouradvisortellsyouthatthisisanimportantpaper,skipthispreliminarystepandjumprightin!
)Beforeyoutrytogetallofthenitty-grittydetailsofthepaper,skimthewholething,andtrytogetafeelforthemostimportantpoints.Ifitstillseemsworthwhileandrelevant,gobackandreadthewholething.Manypeoplefinditusefultotakenoteswhiletheyread.Evenifyoudon'tgobacklaterandrereadthem,ithelpstofocusyourattentionandforcesyoutosummarizeasyouread.Andifyoudoneedtorefreshyourmemorylater,rereadingyournotesismucheasierandfasterthanreadingthewholepaper.
[9]Keepthepapersyoureadfiledawaysoyoucanfindthemagainlater,andsetupanonlinebibliographyIfinditusefultoaddextrafieldsforkeywords,thelocationofthepaper(ifyouborrowedthereferencefromthelibraryorafriend),andashortsummaryofparticularlyinterestingpapers.Thisbibliographywillbeusefulforlaterreference,forwritingyourdissertation,andforsharingwithothergraduatestudents(andeventually,perhaps,advisees).
[10]Attimes,particularlyinthe``middleyears,''itcanbeveryhardtomaintainapositiveattitudeandstaymotivated.Manygraduatestudentssufferfrominsecurity,anxiety,andevenboredom.Firstofall,realizethatthesearenormalfeelings.Trytofindasympatheticear--anothergraduatestudent,youradvisor,orafriendoutsideofschool.Next,trytoidentifywhyyou'rehavingtroubleandidentifyconcretestepsthatyoucantaketoimprovethesituation.Tostayfocusedandmotivated,itoftenhelpstohaveorganizedactivitiestoforceyoutomanageyourtimeandtodosomethingeveryday.Settingupregularmeetingswithyouradvisor,attendingseminars,orevenextracurricularactivitiessuchassportsormusiccanhelpyoutomaintainaregularschedule.
[11]Berealisticaboutwhatyoucanaccomplish,andtrytoconcentrateongivingyourselfpositivefeedbackfortasksyoudocomplete,insteadofnegativefeedbackforthoseyoudon't.Settingdaily,weekly,andmonthlygoalsisagoodidea,andworksevenbetterifyouusea``buddysystem''whereyouandanotherstudentmeetatregularintervalstoreviewyourprogress.Trytofindpeopletoworkwith:
doingresearchismucheasierifyouhavesomeonetobounceideasoffofandtogiveyoufeedback.
[12]Breakingdownanyprojectintosmallerpiecesisalwaysagoodtacticwhenthingsseemunmanageable.Atthehighestlevel,doingamaster'sprojectbeforedivingintoaPh.D.dissertationisgenerallyagoodidea(andismandatoryatsomeschools).Amaster'sgivesyouachancetolearnmoreaboutanarea,doasmallerresearchproject,andestablishworkingrelationshipswithyouradvisorandfellowstudents.
[13]Thedivide-and-conquerstrategyworksonaday-to-daylevelaswell.Insteadofwritinganentirethesis,focusonthegoalofwritingachapter,section,oroutline.Insteadofimplementingalargesystem,breakoffpiecesandimplementonemoduleatatime.Identifytasksthatyoucandoinanhourorless;thenyoucancomeupwitharealisticdailyschedule.Ifyouhavedoubts,don'tletthemstopyoufromaccomplishingsomething--takeitonedayatatime.Remember,everytaskyoucompletegetsyouclosertofinishing.Evenifyoudon’tmakeanyobviousprogress,you’llhavelearnedsomething,althoughitmaybe“don’twasteyourtimeonthistaskagain.
[14]Inordertodooriginalresearch,youmustbeawareofongoingresearchinyourfield.Moststudentsspenduptoayearreadingandstudyingcurrentresearchtoidentifyimportantopenproblems.However,you'llneverbeabletoreadeverythingthatmightberelevant--andnewworkisalwaysbeingpublished.
[15]Trytobecomeawareandstayawareofdirectlyrelatedresearch--butifyouseenewworkthatseemstobedoingexactlywhatyou'reworkingon,don'tpanic.It'scommonforgraduatestudentstoseearelatedpieceofworkandthinkthattheirtopicisruined.Ifthishappenstoyou,rereadthepaperseveraltimestogetagoodunderstandingofwhatthey'vereallybeenaccomplished.Showthepapertoyouradvisororsomeoneelsewho'sfamiliarwithyourtopicandwhoseopinionsyourespect.Introduceyourselftotheauthorataconferenceorbye-mail,andtellthemaboutyourwork.Bystartingadialogue,youwillusuallyfindthattheirworkisn'tquitethesame,andthattherearestilldirectionsopentoyou.Youmayevenendupcollaboratingwiththem.Goodresearcherswelcometheopportunitytointeractandcollaboratewithsomeonewho'sinterestedinthesameproblemstheyare.
[16]Graduatestudentsoftenthinkthatthethesishappensintwodistinctphases:
doingtheresearch,andwritingthedissertation.Thismaybethecaseforsomestudents,butmoreoften,thesephasesoverlapandinteractwithoneanother.Sometimesit'sdifficulttoformalizeanideawellenoughtotestandproveituntilyou'vewrittenitup;theresultsofyourtestsoftenrequireyoutomakechangesthatmeanthatyouhavetogobackandrewritepartsofthethesis;andtheprocessofdevelopingandtestingyourideasisalmostnevercomplete(there'salwaysmorethatyoucoulddo)sothatmanygraduatestudentsendup``doingresearch''rightupuntilthedayortwobeforethethesisisturnedin.
[17]Thedivide-and-conquerapproachworksaswellforwritingasitdoesforresearch.Aproblemthatmanygraduatestudentsfaceisthattheironlygoalseemstobe``finishthethesis.''Itisessentialthatyoubreakthisdownintomanageablestages,bothintermsofdoingtheresearchandwhenwritingthethesis.Tasksthatyoucanfinishinaweek,aday,
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- Unit2Howtobeagoodgraduatestudent 立新 张泳李丽