Fulfilling the Potential of Your Doctoral Experience. Pam Denicolo
Activity 2.1 Expectations and anticipations
Take a blank sheet of paper and list your answers to the following questions (part-time researchers will need to adjust the time slots accordingly):
1 What do you expect will happen, what will you be doing in the beginning stage i.e., first year full-time/first and second years part-time?
2 What do you expect will happen, what will you be doing in the middle stages?
3 What do you expect will happen, what will you be doing in the final stage?
4 What do you expect from your supervisor?
5 What challenges (if any) do you anticipate?
Once you have constructed your list, compare it with the comments below provided by other researchers in their first few weeks at a university.
We have conducted the same exercise with research supervisors! Now, consider the supervisors’ views on these topics – notice how they differ from the researchers’ views:
When you compare the researchers’ expectations and responses with the supervisors’, it becomes clear that the supervisors are very much focused on the thesis and might even be described as ‘thesis-driven’! Individual supervisors may not be interested in or knowledgeable about useful things for helping their researchers with their financial problems or even time management; some might, but you need to consider how you would deal with the situation if yours does not. Similarly, although you may see your supervisor regularly, you may not see them every day as some researchers have expected. Indeed, although you may only be expected to see your supervisor once every two or three weeks in the first few months, you may only meet monthly thereafter or even less regularly depending on your subject. This aspect of ‘working as a researcher’ differs sharply with working in most other kinds of environment, where you probably would see your line-manager most days, if not daily. Indeed, if you are in a lab you may see a postdoctoral researcher (postdoc) more often than your main supervisor. On the other hand, you may physically work beside your supervisor but not actually be ‘supervised’ in relation to your own project.
The issue here is how you will respond if your assumptions, expectations or personal needs are not met. Examining your own expectations and challenging them – asking if your views are realistic or ill-informed – is the first sensible step. Learning to find out about others’ expectations and then adjusting to them if necessary, or negotiating a mutually agreeable alternative if possible, are part of the role process of any new professional.
Did you notice that the researchers left writing until a good way into the process, that is until years three or four? This is a major but common misunderstanding of the doctoral process – all three of your present authors and probably your supervisors agree that you should be writing ALL the time. You can find in Top Tips 2.1 many aspects of doctoral study that you can make a start on during your first few months. We will elaborate on these things next and in the following chapters.
Top Tips 2.1 Starting your doctorate well (your first month)
1 Get into the habit of working set hours:If you are full-time, that means full-time job hours.If you are part-time, work the hours you have agreed with your university and supervisor(s).Stick to these times even if you do not feel you have enough to do (see below for tips on what to do).
2 Plan your weekly reading:Pick a defined area to read about.Identify a doable amount of reading for the week.Put aside a few hours for reading every day.Do not try to read constantly for an entire day; this is too intense and your retention will be poor.Mix reading with other activities.
3 Write:It is not too early to start writing.Write notes about what your read, trying to put summaries into your own words.Write lists of words and concepts you do not understand.Write down your thoughts and ideas in a specific (private) notebook.
4 Start learning computer programs/technology/techniques:Even those in non-technical disciplines would be wise to learn how to use reference-managing software.There may also be analysis software you could start to learn.For those of you in lab-based disciplines, shadow more senior PhD students and postdocs to learn as many lab techniques as you can.(These skills you develop will be helpful later in your research life.)
5 Explore:Take time every week (every day, if you are full-time) to explore resources available to you within your department, your faculty and the larger university.If you are on a campus, take different walks and see what you can find.Take time to introduce yourself to administrators, support staff, technicians, fellow doctoral researchers, librarians, fellow researchers.If you are working at a distance, explore virtually. Find resources, and perhaps make phone or Skype appointments to establish contacts and support.
6 Build your relationship with your supervisor:Share with your supervisor your expectations.Plan meetings.Talk with them about what you are reading.Set some initial objectives.Ask questions.
7 Develop yourself:Identify training workshops that may be helpful to you and sign up.Identify seminar or lecture series and put those into your diary.
8 Enjoy:Plan time to reflect on what you are learning each day.Think about your subject and let your mind wander.Make time for those activities that help you feel energised.Do make sure you are getting enough sleep; your brain will be working hard and you will need to take care of it.
From those tips, you can recognise that, as much as you need to get into the habit of reading and regularly checking what is going on in your research area, you also need to get into the habit of writing and reviewing your work (Chapter 4). This achieves two things: first, it will improve your writing skills and proficiency, and, second, doing a doctorate is an iterative process, not a linear one, so developments in the procedures and in your thinking, can usefully be logged as a record.
One of the things that new researchers may not expect is how much of an emotional and motivational roller-coaster the process of researching for a doctorate can be. A doctorate is a long project full-time and even more so if you are part-time, and a lot of life can happen in that period – think about the ups and downs you may have enjoyed and endured over the past three years, and this will give you some insight into how you may need to manage the doctoral process over the forthcoming years. Knowing that there may be times of complete boredom, irritation and frustration as well as those of complete joy and a sense of real accomplishment, as there are in other parts of life, means you need to think as much about how you will manage the high points as well as the low ones. See what others from the world of research have said in Voice of Experience Box 2.1; perhaps none of the comments is an inspiring or glamorous one, but certainly they are realistic. Start as you mean to go on: use your first 100 days to find out what might be useful to know about the rhythms or life-cycle of the doctorate in your discipline, including key milestones, expectations and conventions – more advanced researchers can be a vital source of advice in this respect.
Voice of Experience 2.1 Doing a doctorate
A PhD is as much a test of character as it is about ideas! (Postgraduate researcher)
You get a doctorate because you can stick it out for three years. (Postdoc and developer)
You should treat a PhD like doing a job – you need to work consistently as you would in any 9-to-5 job. (Supervisor)
You get a PhD because you REALLY WANT one! (Associate Dean of Research)
To help you work your way through the doctorate (or eat the elephant) you need to develop good habits and work routines as quickly as possible. If you treat your doctorate as a job, establishing a standard working day, this can be highly beneficial. Ideally,