Some things I’ve learned in my first 12 months.

If you’re considering whether or not to apply for a PhD, you should think carefully about a few things. I recommend reading this article and this article (and simply googling or consulting academics and PhD students on “why you should or shouldn’t study a PhD”) before you make a decision to apply.

If, however, you have just accepted your offer for admission (congratulations!), I refer you to some hot tips. They are compiled from general advice I have received from post-docs, academics, second and third year PhDs as well as things I have learned myself as I have bobbed turbulently along my first year of candidature.

So to my first tip…

1. Get your hands on Ithinkwell’s “7 Secrets of Highly successful PhD Students“
And dive in! This is seriously good stuff, and one of the most valuable resources you’ll come across as a PhD student. Hugh Kearns (one of the authors of the works) often runs seminars and workshops at Adelaide Uni. So if you’re a student, head along and get a book when you attend. You’ll find endless support and advice within.

2. Socialise with your lab and other PhDs
You should always go to your lab meetings, but if your lab also take regular tea-breaks or after-work drinks, go to those too. These breaks are an opportunity for you to vent your frustrations, and also to realise your supervisor(s) (if they attend) are normal human beings. It is much easier to casually ask for help in these settings, but even if you aren’t comfortable to do that yet, go anyway. If nothing else, you’ll pick up bits and pieces of information just from listening to the jabbering-on, that could be very valuable to you (e.g. Jimbo has that equipment you need for your own project, or Alex knows of a course coming up to learn how to use that software).

3. Organise regular, frequent meetings
It is so important to organise regular meetings with your supervisor(s). It comes down to this: if you know you have a meeting coming up, you’ll get some work done. Prepare agendas (see the sample agendas from ithinkwell) and aim to leave the meeting knowing the next thing you need to do. When you are developing your research proposal, it’s a good idea to have weekly or fortnightly meetings and to draw up ‘skeletons’ of your research ideas and plans to discuss with your supervisors. This will help you to develop a clearer picture of your project.

4. Refer to your idealised time line
Creating a GANTT chart is part of the coursework for a lot of PhD students and might only be given a brief glance by your supervisor(s) or PhD coordinator, but it’s an important tool. Once you’ve made it, take it to your meetings, and continually check if you are on track. You will certainly fall behind – that’s normal in research (and day-to-day life), but if you keep planning and keep it up to date, you’re probably more likely to finish on time.

5. Put your leave in your GANTT chart
On that note, something not many students think to do is include their leave or holidays in their GANNT chart. I’m so glad I planned my leave into my GANTT chart 6 months ago. Here’s why; If a PhD is ideally 3 years (cue hysterical laughter from any post-doc) but you take 4 weeks’ worth of leave each year, that leaves you with 33 months to get everything done including writing up your thesis. It already sounds like far less time, doesn’t it? So plan for when you’ll take leave. Not only will it give you hope when you are in despair (your thoughts = “Oh god this is awful, but in two weeks I’ll be on holiday”), but it will also motivate you to get stuff done and help you to manage your time more effectively.

6. Get comfortable with failing and feeling like a novice
I once was having a lovely and encouraging conversation with a highly esteemed professional researcher, but I was utterly stumped when she told me I must do my first experiment as soon as possible so I can watch it fail. It might sound brutal, but it is inevitable that your first attempt at whatever you are hoping to do, will not go quite like you expected. It’s OK, this is normal in research – you aren’t a bad student! But the sooner you get that first experiment/expedition/field trip/survey/science thing going, the sooner it fails, the sooner you identify the problem that caused it to fail and the sooner you can alter it, fix it and move on. Remember, failed experiments can still be written up and form a part of your PhD. And if it all worked perfectly without a single hitch – well hoo-whey! Can you tell us how you did it?!

7. Set your proposal seminar earlier than you want to
This is one of the things I wish I had done. Similar to getting your first experiment/expedition/sciencey thing out of the way early, giving your proposal or seminar a bit early is a good idea for a couple of reasons. When I was preparing mine, I became suddenly aware of all the things I couldn’t explain or answer with confidence. All the things about your proposed research that you do and don’t understand become blatantly clear to you when you have to condense it all into a 12 minute presentation. So the earlier you prepare it, the earlier you can address those things. Giving your presentation a bit earlier also means you’ll get feedback earlier from other researchers. This is a good thing and will help you to formulate a more rigorous project plan in less time. It might seem scary but it is easier with practise. There are also lots of guides online on how to handle difficult questions after giving a presentation (included in ithinkwell guides).

8. Get the paperwork out of the way
Unfortunately, there’s quite a bit of paperwork you’ll have to do during your PhD. Most of us here at Spatial points never had to worry about ethics approval, but if you do, keep in mind that it can take quite a long time. For the other generic paperwork, allocate a few days to sit down and smash it out well before the deadline. Then take it to one of your regular meetings and go over it with your supervisor(s). I guarantee there is actually a bit more work involved than you realised – you don’t want to be panicking at the last minute.

9. Write everything down
OneNote is like my best buddy who I share almost every project related thought with. Every time I read a paper – I write down the full reference and some notes. Sometimes I include screen clippings of figures or sometimes just a few dot points. I store big conceptual diagrams, conference notes, plans and agendas from my OneNote notebooks. This already makes life much easier. So I advise it to you too! You can also use Trello (which we have recommended on Spatial Points before) or another task manager for when you’ve just remembered something you need to do but don’t have time right this second. Just remember to back them up.

10. Make a list of things you will NOT study
The same awesome researcher who advised me to get used to failing, also encouraged me to write down lists of all the things I could, but won’t study during candidature. I am the kind of person who gets excited about lots of different possibilities, falls down a rabbit hole and sometimes loses focus on just getting my own stuff done. This is a solution to that. Every time I get an exciting research idea I write it down and then go back to the current task at hand. I now have a list of over 20 “will not study” research ideas since I began my candidature. Yes, I’ve already got a PhD plan. But the best thing about this list is if that plan should fail, there’s a whole list of other ideas up my sleeve. It is a great comfort knowing that list exists.

11. Beware Imposter syndrome
The fear that at any moment someone will realise: 1. you are an imposter, 2. you don’t really know anything, 3. that the successful work you have produced so far was really a big fluke and nothing to do with your competency and is actually terrible. Sound a bit familiar? That’s imposter syndrome, my friend. Most people in research will experience times where they feel like an imposter. It’s real, it can be horrible and it can get in the way of your work. So make sure you learn to recognise the feelings in yourself and others, and reach out if you need help. Perhaps, like me, you can take some comfort from finding yourself feeling like an imposter – I think it is actually a sign of having good critical (or self-critical) thinking skills, which are better skills to have rather than not.

12. Bonus tip!
You can find lots of other great advice (e.g. articles like this) and even collaborative opportunities with other researchers if you keep your eyes peeled. Once in a while have a peek at profiles of other researchers on Research Gate, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn (but you don’t have to be across all of them). Seek relatable and interesting content. Some things I like browsing which remind me that the challenges I face in my PhD are mostly normal and possible to overcome are the Dr.ofWhat Instagram page and blog as well as @ithinkwellHugh, @ShitAcademicsSay, AcademicChatter and anything with the #PhDchat, #PhDlife, #AcWrite and #scicomm hashtags. Do yourself a favour and check them out, and you’ll discover even more.

So there you have it. Now get stuck in!

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know! You can find me on twitter @aurichthannah