Title: Managing Your PhD
1Managing Your PhD
2Aims of course
- Improve understanding of what academic research
involves - Introduce relevant management ideas
- Develop a support network
- Safely share fears and concerns
- Learn by doing
3Overview
- Demystifying academic research
- what, who, how
- Planning and Managing your research
- activities and tools
4Introductions
- Why am I here?
- Why are you here?
- Groups of about 4 get to know the people youll
be working with - who you are the area of your research
- why you decided to do a PhD/MPhil
- where you hope it will take you
5Your motivations.?
- Advance knowledge
- Undertake international level research
- Develop personal knowledge and expertise
- Develop research skills
- Acquire advanced qualifications for career
development - Important to know why you are doing research
6Research
- promotes a tolerance of uncertainty and debate
- fosters a questioning and inquiring attitude
- develops specific skills
- ultimately equips students for life-long learning
- You are not simply a means of ensuring that
academics keep up to date with literature !
7What is a PhD?
- original work
- displays knowledge of the field
- displays the exercise of critical judgement
- represents a contribution to knowledge
- a period of training to be a professional
researcher
8Most Definitions contain reference to
- Candidates ... are required to show ability to
conduct original investigations, to test ideas,
whether their own or others', and to understand
the relationship of their work and its themes to
a wider field of knowledge. - ... thesis . should exhibit substantial evidence
of original scholarship and contain material
worthy of publication.
9Your research proposal (where you come in)
- Description of proposed project
- problem, motivation and approach
- Account of any work done to date (by supervisor)
- Bibliography and short survey of the area
- And, for some funding bodies
- Approximate timetable with milestones
- Outline Table of Contents
10Your research
- Choose a partner
- Describe briefly
- The context of your PhD (literature and
background) - The aim of your research (what will you add?)
- The methodology
- Just 2-3 minutes each
11What is your role?
- What is expected of research students?
- What can you expect from your supervisor?
12Your mission (should you choose to accept it)
- Is to design the worlds first bionic research
student - Draw a picture of Polly or Peter Perfect PhD and
describe them to the rest of us - You have 15 minutes!
coffee
13What do the RCs think?
Research Skills and Techniques
Communication Skills
Research Environment
Networking Teamworking
Research Management
Career Management
Personal Effectiveness
14Defining the Students Role
- What should a PhD student take responsibility
for? - Discuss in your groups the range of activities
that should make up your role.
15Student
- conduct original investigations
- test ideas
- understand the context of work
- identify and learn necessary techniques
- ensure all work is related to the final goal
- keep a research log book, and keep it up to date
- regularly review their personal timeline
- get involved in research activities
- learn how to discuss their ideas openly
- heed the supervisor's advice!
16Defining the Supervisors Role
- What should a supervisor take responsibility for?
- Discuss in your groups what you expect from your
supervisor.
17Supervisor
- Interest in your research
- guide with encouragement
- be available for meetings
- ensure the final goal is realistic and
identifiable
- assess progress objectively and provide honest
feedback - support involvement in research activities
- encourage open discussion of ideas
- set a standard to follow
18What problems might arise ?
19Problems - Students
- Lack of guidance
- Not available for discussions
- Fault-finding
- Unreasonable expectations
- Not interested
- Lack of resources or facilities
- no attention to whole person
- lack of support in process of research
(techniques, data analysis)
20Problems - Supervisor
- Students lack independence
- poor written work
- not honest about progress
- lack commitment
- dont realise how much work it takes
- Lack of effort
- absent from lab/desk
- Oversensitive
- dont accept challenge
- No enthusiasm
- dont follow advice
21Basis of problems
- False expectations
- Failure to see whole picture
- Survival of the fittest?
- Personality clash
- Other pressures
- Lack of communication
22Overcoming problems
- Keep things in perspective
- supervisor is human
- shares your long term goal (completion of degree)
- may criticize your actions, not you
- Be organised
- organise FORMAL meetings if not happening
- prepare for meetings with points for discussion
- Be honest
- report any mistakes (before the grapevine)
- report on difficulties whilst they are SMALL
23Overcoming problems
- Be professional
- take criticism
- dont expect to always get on with colleagues
- Ask for feedback
- dont wait to be told what to do or read
- Show your enthusiasm
- Meet deadlines
24A relationship to consider the research student
/ supervisor balance
Developed by University of Leeds
25Starting your PhDSetting SMART Objectives
26Why Set Objectives?
- Set targets and deadlines
- Clearly express what you need to do
- Helps clarify the tasks to be done
- Help motivate yourself
- Assess progress against the plan
- Know when you have achieved the objective
27Outcomes and Objectives
- Outcome To make myself more employable before I
finish by PhD - OUTCOMES must be POSITIVE for the individual !
- Objective To become more employable by attending
a project management training course
28SMART Objectives
- Specific
- Measurable
- Agreed
- Realistic
- Time Bound
29Specific
- Make the objective specific
- Break large tasks down into smaller tasks
- X Write PhD thesis
- ? Write Results chapter of PhD thesis
- ? Write section 1 of Results chapter of PhD
thesis - Breaking large tasks into smaller ones makes it
easier to assess progress
30Measurable
- How do you know when you have completed the work
- X Make more contacts in the field of fluid
mechanics - ? Make 3 new contacts from other Universities at
the Scottish Fluid Mechanics Conference - X Publish a number of papers during my PhD
- ? Write two papers during my second year and one
in my third year - Make sure they are evidenced based you should
have a deliverable attached to the objective
31Agreed
- Get the agreement of the stakeholders in the
project - Especially your supervisor!
- X I think I will finish this set of experiments
by the end of May - X My supervisor thinks I will finish these
experiments by the end of January - ? We agreed that my objective will be to finish
the experiments by the end of April
32Realistic
- Will you achieve the objective?
- Unrealistic objectives can be very de-motivating
- Challenging objectives which are realistic can be
motivating - X Publish 20 papers during the course of my PhD
- ? Publish 3 papers during the course of my PhD
33Time Bound
- Set timescales on your objectives
- Deadlines and Milestones
- Review progress against these deadlines
- X Finish writing my literature review
- ? Finish the first draft of my literature review
by the 1st of December
34Time scales
- Set objectives at multiple timescales
- This week I will read 8 papers on mathematical
modelling - This month I will prepare a short report on
mathematical modelling - In the next 6 months I will review the three
principle modelling techniques and write the
literature review of these techniques for my
thesis - This ties into project management later today
35Plan your time
- Be professional, use your time efficiently
- 3 year program plan prepare at outset
- Annual year plan prepare annually
- Monthly and weekly plans prepare, revise
- A daily to do list prepare, revise
- Use your diary daily
36Some suggestions
- Define research project within 6 months
- pressure your supervisor if necessary
- Set a REALISTIC scope for the project
- Complete a literature review in 3 months
- Learn to be independent
- Stay abreast of new journal releases
- Maintain contact with your supervisor
- Weekly to two weekly
37An real-life example
38Objective Setting
- In pairs discuss what you are aiming to achieve
in your research in the next 6 months - Spend some time turning these into SMART
objectives - Check with your partner are these really SMART?
- After the course you could discuss them with your
supervisor
39Time for Lunch
- Project Management and Survival Tips after lunch
back 130
40Planning and Managing your Research Project
41Objectives
- Work through a process for planning projects
- Understand how to relate these to your research
project - Prepare questions for supervisor(s)
42What do projects look like?
- Has a clear and specific objective
- Is someones responsibility
- Is any sort of planned undertaking which is
finite and bounded
43Project Constraints
- Most projects operate under constraints
- What are the constraints on your project ?
44Possible constraints
- Time
- Clarity of scope
- Access to literature/resources
- Access to supervisor
- Funding
- Publishable quality
45Scope of your project
- What are you trying to achieve in your project?
- Are you clear on the limits of your
investigations? - How will you know when the project is complete?
46Project Management Tools
- Mind Map
- Drill Down
- Risk Analysis
- Gantt Charts
47Mind Map
- Useful at the earliest stage of a project
- Set out all possibilities and issues
- Helps gives structure to project
- Makes linkages more evident
48Constructing Mind Maps
- Use single words or simple phrases for
information - Print words
- Use colour to separate different ideas
- Use symbols and images
- Using cross-linkages
For more information http//www.mindtools.com/pag
es/article/newISS_01.htm
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50Mind Map back in groups of 4
- You have found a novel way to fund your research!
- It will require careful planning
- Brainstorm around the problem to identify the key
tasks, decisions and any questions you need to
present to the criminal mastermind backing you.
51Drill Down
- A technique to identify all tasks associated with
a project - Start on the LHS with the project objective
- Identify obvious tasks
- Break these down into smallest parts
- List questions or points to clarify
52Will the cash be identifiable?
Get a job in bank
Where will we buy construction equipment?
Involve a bank insider
Research what is in vault
Has anyone done this before?
Use press and financial knowledge
Rob Bank and get away
get plans of area
buy house nearby
Set up business to hide soil removal
Get into vault
Dig tunnel
Get plans of building
How will money be laundered?
Buy construction equipment
Get away
Where do we lie low?
53'Record' bank robbery in Brazil Thieves in
Brazil have stolen up to 65m (36m) after
tunnelling into a bank in what police say could
be the country's biggest bank heist. The thieves
dug a 200m (656ft) tunnel into the bank from a
nearby house in the northern city of Fortaleza.
Neighbours said between six and 10 men worked at
the house, rented in the name of a company making
artificial turf. The theft happened over the
weekend, but was not discovered until Monday
morning because the bank was closed. Neighbours
reported seeing vanloads of material being
removed each day. "It's something you see in the
movies... They dug a tunnel that goes underneath
two city blocks. They've been digging for three
months," investigator Francisco Queiroga told the
Reuters news agency. The Banco Central said the
robbers opened five containers with 50 real (22)
bills. The value of the stolen bank notes has
not been determined. However, police sources said
the heist may have yielded as much as 150m reals,
which would make it the biggest bank robbery in
Brazil's history.
54Risk Analysis
- Identify potential risks
- Assess likelyhood of risk
- Assess magnitude of risk
- Develop response
55Risks
- Get caught digging tunnel
- Tunnel collapses
- Route blocked by pipes/rock
- Grassed up!
- Vault empty/disappointing
- Forensic evidence left
56Sources of Risk in research ?
57Risks
- Discover someone else has already published your
work - My laptop with all my records is stolen !
- Physical hazards (chemical / biological)
- Access to equipment and resources
- Lack of motivation
- Supervisor leaves
- Illness / personal problems
58Risk Analysis
- Identify potential risks
- Assess likelyhood of risk
- Assess magnitude of risk
- Develop response
- minimise, eliminate or develop contingency plans
59Risk Management
Hazards
Lose Motivation
Access to equipment
Likelyhood
Work published by someone else
Illness/Personal Stuff
Supervisor leaves
Impact
60Risk Management
Likelyhood
Impact
61Structuring the project
- Use list of tasks to start Gantt Chart
- Identify relationships between tasks
- Estimate time for each task
- include project management, detailed planning,
liaison with experts, meetings, information
gathering - Ask for feedback on your plan
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63Gantt Charts
- lay out the tasks that need to be completed
- show when these tasks should be carried out
- assist the allocation of resources
- help you to work out the critical path for a
project where you must complete it by a
particular date
64Monitoring Progress
65Behind Schedule ?
- Report the implications of delays
- Discuss changes in plans
- Direct resources
- Avoid persecution
- Respond early
- Be flexible
- Involve your supervisor(s) and others
66Early problems
- Difficulty planning the project may indicate
- insufficient depth of understanding of project
objectives - not convinced of project objectives
- unsure of responsibility
- not enough experience
- Seek advice NOW
67Other factors
- Allow time for Warm-up
- Ideas come out at the planning stage
- so if you have an idea, make a plan
- Understand your role
- Review - achievement of task and process
68Key points
- Project planning and management should be a tool
not a straightjacket - It should be dynamic and have regular, fixed
reviews of progress - It can help with communication and to check on
common understanding - Between you and your supervisor
- You and your sponsor
- You and your colleagues
69Keeping research records
- Integrity
- Quality
- Reproducibility
70Research Ethics
- Personal integrity
- part of a professional community
- Quality of research
- worthy of publication
- Reproducibility
- If your work has the impact you hope it will, at
some point someone will want to repeat it and
develop it
71The research community
- Your subject area
- your research group
- conferences
- professional bodies
- Your institution
- seminars
- training support
- committees
- maximising investment
- Your stakeholders
- funding body (i.e. research councils)
- partners or collaborations
- related researchers
- YOUR SUPERVISOR
72Impact on you
- Early stages of research are often repetition
- When you try to repeat someones work make
critical judgements about the accuracy/validity
of their descriptions - Ensure your records will enable someone to repeat
your work
73Bear in mind
- Full and honest records will help you when
writing up - Write down everything relevant to the research
- Accurate, dated recording will support any IP
claims
74Things to include
- Date and time (write up immediately)
- Details of actions (repeat calculations from raw
data) and circumstances - Source of reagents
- Observations (informal and formal)
- Mistakes and action to rectify
- Results (clear links to raw data, print-outs,
back-up files etc)
75Remember
76Throughout your research
- summarise data and record initial thoughts
- write up methodology or data into paper / thesis
format - note ideas for future work and explain reasoning
- identify any points needing discussion or
clarification - leave room to add relevant information from
papers or conferences
77Attitude and realistic expectations
- Consider yourself as a research professional in
training, rather than a student - Strive for respect as a valued research colleague
through a mature approach - Remember that a PhD is a 3 year project and a
path to your next career stage
78What you are aiming for
- PhD candidates ... are required to show ability
to conduct original investigations, to test
ideas, whether their own or others', and to
understand the relationship of their work and its
themes to a wider field of knowledge. - ... thesis . should exhibit substantial evidence
of original scholarship and contain material
worthy of publication. - http//www.ncl.ac.uk/calendar/university.regs/phdr
.html
79Links
- http//www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/codeOf
Practice/section1/default.aspsupervision - http//www.grad.ac.uk/jss
- http//www.shintonconsulting.com/
- http//www.mindtools.com/
- http//www.businessballs.com/
80One last Mind Map
- For your research topic
- Set out a mind map which includes the key
information surrounding you and your project - Include any questions or areas of uncertainty
- Compare your approach to your partner and see if
their mind map adds any ideas to yours - suggested basic skeleton
81project
Why am I doing a PhD ?
for me
the future
Why is this project happening ?
risks
How is it happening ? (methodology)
impact
Who are the beneficiaries ?
Challenges
for me
project
82 Thank you !