From unknown to known: making an impact

‘So young, and already so unknown’

Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958)

The start of a PhD is a very daunting time for many reasons, and one of the most humbling is the feeling that you are at the foot of a mountain of work to be done, things to read and understand, and targets to be met, not least the production of a thesis and other outputs that communicate your findings, such as papers.

It is hopefully comforting to know that as you stand there bewildered at base camp you have an experienced guide beside you, who has been up the mountain and indeed helped others to survive the climb: your supervisor (or supervisors).

They are hopefully known and established experts in their field, and presumably their reputation for their research is one of the primary factors that drew you to them in the fist place.

They are known; you are unknown.

Then you start reading, and you quickly become aware of the key figures in your field around the world, the names which most frequently appear on the publications you are finding and reading.

They are known; you are unknown.

For those PhD students who wish to build their career in research and stay in their field for their career, one thing is clear; the unknown must become the known.  But how?

To answer this requires acceptance of one simple fact; every single one of those names, near or far, that are intimidating you by their achievements were once unknown too, a novice researcher, perhaps at the start of their PhD just like you.

So, how do you get from unknown to known, and how do you know you are heading in the right direction?

We must again start with a basic principle, that advancement and recognition in any field depends principally on the quality of the research that one does and the effectiveness with which this is communicated widely through reputable (i.e., peer-reviewed) academic channels.  Other things count as well of course, such as the skills required to build networks, communicate informally as well as formally, and the under-rated skills of diplomacy in how you build relationships with those in your field (all topics to be covered in other posts on this blog), but the sine qua non is the quality of the research that you produce.

So, once you start to produce results and outputs that you think are of importance and interest to others, you seek to disseminate and share them as widely as possible; submissions to journals, posters and talks at conferences, letters and emails to other researchers seeking advice or reprints, and all the other channels of academic communication. 

At this point, the traffic is all flowing in one direction; from you to the world.  You are still the unknown, but raising your head above the parapet and hoping someone will notice, and care.

So how do you know it is working?

At some point, the traffic starts to flow both ways.  Every researcher probably remembers the first time they were communicated unprompted by someone about their research, perhaps asking a question or for a copy of a paper, or even by a journal (hopefully a respectable one!) to review a paper.

That is the day you can sit back and breathe a little easier; someone has heard of you, and what’s more they care what you have to say.  Unknown is becoming known.

This is when you know you are really making an impact, and when the novice becomes the professional.

PhD skill: list five outputs you could envisage from your work that will improve your professional profile and visibility other then academic papers.

Ten tips for (novice) conference presenters



A presentation to a farmer group on the Aran Islands on a wonderful summer's evening.
Not all presentations require slides!

Having recently attended a number of major international conference, I’ve seen a lot of good and not so good practices. If you are a novice presenter and willing to learn, here are a few pieces of advice, and some relevant further reading...

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1.  Know your main message. Communicate your main message, and repeat it for emphasis. Ensure that the audience receives your main message. Again, the the most important point here is that your presentation (and you) actually has a main message – I’ve attended a few talks in which I don’t think the speaker knew their own main message (and neither did I). A good sign that you don’t have a main message is when you have three finishing slides called Conclusions 1, Conclusions 2 and Conclusions 3! And why not finish with a tweetable 140 character summary of your work? (latter two points from @entoprof)

2.  Familiarise yourself with your environment. This includes the room, the pointer, the screen, the lighting etc. Check that fonts, formatting and any animations are compatible with the local software/hardware – long before your talk begins. Larger conferences often have a dedicated room where you can upload and check this. Even if there is not a dedicated room, use the time during the coffee or lunch breaks to familiarise yourself with the room and the equipment. Have a glass of water poured and nearby the lectern (and away from electronics!).

3.  Introduce yourself to the session chairman well in advance of the session. Don’t leave them guessing until the last moment about whether or not you are attending, whether you are in the room, or whether you’ve uploaded your presentation.

4.  Include your Twitter handle/blog address, and keep it apparent on a few consecutive slides where people can get enough time to record/type it.

5.  This is especially for novice presenters: spend less time on your background and methods, and more time on your results and why they are important/influential. This is extremely important when the amount of time spent on methods starts threatening the time that’s available to present the results – this happens far too often. Looking at experienced presenters at plenary talks, they spend the minimum of time on methods, and most of their time on results and the impact of their results.

6.  Take time to explain your main points/results/figures/graphs. You may be familiar with them, but the audience is not.

Rehearse your talk in front of people who have not seen your talk before, and ask them questions about your main points/results/figures/graphs. You'll very quickly discover that they will not quite understand you in the way that you expect! This can happen to the best of presenters – which is why the best of presenters always spend a lot of time preparing.

You should never have to begin your explanation of a slide with an apology- this is a sign that something is wrong, which is also sign that something needs to be fixed. The most common apologies are: “I know there is too much text on this slide but…”, “I know that there is a lot going on in this table, but…”, and “It’s not so clear here, but…”.

7.  Don't run out of time at the expense of your most important messages. As a presenter, this is a wasted opportunity for your work and you to make on impression on the audience. As an audience, it is a waste of our time.

If time is tight, then make sure you prioritise your most important points, and that they appear well before, for example, the 10-minute mark of a 12-minute presentation. If you do run out of time, be very clear (beforehand) about which slides you will sacrifice toward the end, without compromising your main message.

8.  Leave time for questions -questions from the audience are your most important reward for presenting. Questions and comments from your audience represent a wonderful opportunity to receive feedback from other experts.

9.  Don't interrupt someone who is asking a question. This is surprisingly common. The longer you let the questioner talk, the more likely they are to further develop, explain and even paraphrase their question. This helps you to understand their question, and gives you more time to consider a response. Let the person finish their question in its entirety before you say anything- and then give yourself a few seconds of silence to think. If it helps your answer, then go to the slide that addresses the question – not everyone will remember it, and it will almost certainly assist your answer. In addition, you should be able to anticipate some questions, so why not have a few additional slides that you don’t present in the main talk, but that you can refer to if needed?

10.  Make sure that your last slide contains your main conclusions (which should reflect your main message – see point 1). While the chairman intervenes to ask the audience for questions, your main points will remain up on the screen and be reinforced, as well as being a good prompt for questions from the audience. This is far better than leaving the acknowledgements slide on-screen. You can provide acknowledgements somewhere else in your presentation. Lately, I provide acknowledgements as my second slide (after the title), and get them out of the way as part of some introductory comments.

PhD Skill: Conference presentations are a wonderful opportunity to impress others with your work and your skills. Prepare and practice, and make the most of the 15 or 20 minutes when you are centre stage. 

Further online reading

How to Be a Successful Speaker at a Conference: Advice from the Experts (blog post from Search Engine Journal). This is a great resource with three tips from each of several different experienced presenters. A must-read!

DonnaM. 10 tips for conference presentations. A great blog post. 

Sharon Goldwater. Advice on designing and giving presentations (Especially conference presentations). Also includes some other useful links and some specific examples.

Get a life, PhD (blog). How to Give a Fabulous Academic Presentation: Five Tips to Follow

UPDATE: Next Scientist. How to improve the Presentation Skills of PhD Students. Comprehensive treatment by Susanne Ulm - well worth a read, and very engaging.

 

UPDATE: How to make the most of academic conferences- five tips (Jeannie Holstein)

 

How long is the average PhD dissertation? (link)

How long is the average PhD dissertation? This is a link to a blog post by Robert T. Gonzalez.
A question that everyone PhD researcher asks, and doesn't dare to answer...

This post compares thesis length across disciplines, with the reminder that length is not necessarily correlated with quality.

Ten tips for the first 100 days of a PhD

To date, we have focused more on issues that affect students in the later stages of their PhD. Here, we make ten suggestions on key activities for PhD students during their first 100 days.

1. Agree/develop a modus operandi with your supervisor(s) (e.g. agree where and how often you expect to meet, how to assess progress when the supervisor is away, the different types of feedback expected etc.).  In some universities, there may be a form to facilitate this (e.g. a learning plan or candidature plan). The following questionnaire may help you to investigate (and discuss with your supervisor) your underlying beliefs (and supervisors) about the student-supervisor relationship: Expectations in supervision questionnaire.

2. Take responsibility for arranging meetings with your supervisor, and provide an agenda in advance of the meeting, ideally with a few short explanatory notes about each topic. This will help your supervisor to understand the issue, and give them more time, subconsciously at least, to spend more time thinking about your agenda items. Make written notes (minutes) of the plans that are agreed with your supervisor.  Even a quick email to your supervisor can be very helpful to enquire ‘this is what I think we agreed, am I on the right track?’  Thinkwell provides a Thesis Meeting Template that should help you structure the main outputs to be achieved from meetings.

3. Write a project plan listing some key initial research objectives and preliminary deadlines (at least). This is easier said than done! This can then become the basis for more detailed planning. See Chapter 3 of Getting a PhD, which addresses project management for PhD students, and there is a multitude of project management resources available online. Remember that a key feature of the assessment of the PhD degree is based on the quality of work - see our earlier post and resources therein for more on this. For planning within shorter timescales, here is a template for a weekly planner.

4. Produce a Gantt chart based on the above for your project activities for the first, say, 6 months. This is a tangible output from your planning, and can serve as the basis for useful discussion with your supervisor.

5. Read journal articles, take notes and write a short literature review (even a few thousand words). You will learn a lot more by writing about what you read than by reading alone, and there is a huge satisfaction in feeling you have a folder on your computer labelled ‘my thesis’ with something in it.  This also makes sure you practice academic writing - a key skill- from your first day.

6. Get feedback from your supervisor(s) on this literature review; on your writing style and how to improve it where necessary; on whether you have read the right articles and; whether you are understanding the knowledge and uncertainties associated with your topic.

7. Read recent PhD theses in your topic to see what is ultimately expected of you. It is amazing how many PhD students do not do this, or leave it until they are almost finished their thesis!

8. Learn and practice new methods that you will need to use - before you start your research. Ensure that you can implement methods correctly - there is no point in progressing with methods and work if you cannot rely on the outputs and results.

9. Develop good professional habits for keeping all your information and data safe and organised (hard copies, papers, data, electronic files etc.). Think about everything that could go wrong (fires, floods, computer viruses) and make sure that data loss will never happen to you.  Increasingly, funding agencies require researchers to protect and archive their data in a secure manner. Check what storage facilities or formal requirements for data storage is available in your lab or institution.

10. Formally or informally review your skills (probably with your supervisor) and do a self-assessment of your training needs. This should help you to work out what skills you need to develop and what opportunities are available to develop these. Then, make a plan to participate in any relevant training events as soon as possible, and before you get really busy. In a previous post, we highlighted resources that should be essential reading, and another post discussed various forms of training.

Of course, there will be many other activities that you should be doing, and different people will have different priorities. Please let us know what other issues or resources that you think are priorities for settling in during the first 100 days!

PhDSkill: Actively manage the early stages of your PhD. The time in your first three months of your PhD is as precious as the last three months - use it as productively as possible! 

John Finn and Alan Kelly

Useful resources 

John Finn. 2005. Getting a PhD: an action plan to help manage your research, your project and your supervisor. Routledge. (Contains lots of advice on starting a PhD, and develops many of the above points in more detail.)

Bench 21. Starting well: how to do a good first year in your PhD. (Blog post)

Introduction to resources by Thinkwell: Seven Secrets of Succesful Students

photo credit: emdot via photopin cc

Dealing with reviewers' comments on submitted manuscripts

Addressing reviewers' comments is a milestone in the publication process. This post follows from a recent training event at which we discussed the role of reviewers in journal publishing with PhD students who had not yet published their research in a journal. Here, I introduce the role of reviewers in the publishing process, and share some of the lessons from the questions posed by PhD students about how to address the comments from journal reviewers. 

Surviving the politics of a PhD: think The Hunger Games looked tough?

Diplomacy is a key skill for PhD students. Help others and you never know when they will help you back.  At a critical time, you will need them more than they will probably ever need you.

Six reasons why PhD students should make poster presentations

When visiting other institutions, I love learning about people's research  by reading their posters. Here's a picture of the wall outside my own office...

Are research posters a good use of time and effort? I've been intending to write a post about posters since PhDSkills began...so here it is! I've been putting it off because there is so much to talk about, and this will be the first of several posts on posters. Here, I outline six advantages of posters.