The different phases of a PhD student

1
The different phases of a PhD student

• Nervous and scared
• You think you know nothing about your field
• Ecstatic and a bully
• You think you know everything there is in your
  field
• Humble and depressed
• You have realised just how big your field is and
  thus how little of it you really know

2
Make sure you know

• Problem/research questions
• State what problem you want to solve, and give a
  small example
• Challenges why and how
• Why related work does not solve this problem, and
  thus fails the example
• Approach
• Novelty, Scientific
• Why do you believe it will solve the problem?
• Expected contributions
• What do you expect to learn?
• Validation
• Show how your solution solves the problem, and
  illustrate it solving the example

3
Write, write, , and write

• Write about absolutely everything you do about
  the problems you faced, the failed solutions you
  tried, the decisions made on the way until a
  right/good one was found
• You should write for three main reasons
• To structure your thoughts
• To remember the justification for your decisions
  (so that you will always be able to tell why
  other alternatives did not work)
• To very quickly write your thesis (because you
  have already mostly written it! ?)

4
Practical issues

• Literature review
• Ongoing effort
• Enumerating is not enough
• Classify
• Explain the difference
• At the beginning of the paper/thesis to set the
  stage
• Or at the end for in-depth comparison
• Annotate and summarize the papers you read
• Keep the references in a database

5
And to not forget to

• Create a network of contacts in your field
  (seniors and other PhD students)
• Take every opportunity you get to discuss your
  research the only risk is broadening your
  views
• ... And, no matter what you do, have fun. Make
  sure you have a life beyond your PhD studentship ?