Doctoral degrees: facts and figures

I recently came across the following infographic, and would love to share it with you!
The facts and figures are interesting to see, but I must say, that I'm not sure if you can make a distinction between "difficult" and "easy" PhD programs. Saying that a PhD in psychology is "easy" seems to be based more on perception than on data...


Source: Online-PhD-Programs.org

Learning from my Research Experience

Today I have the pleasure of hosting Vijay Thamarai who discusses his research journey, and what he learned to be crucial for carrying out research. Vijay is an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering department in SRM University, Chennai, India with research and design-professional interests in Finite Element Analysis, blast engineering, underground infrastructure and translucent concrete. He obtained his Master’s in Structural Engineering from SRM University, Chennai (2013) and Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from Anna University, Chennai (2010). His research in blast analysis and design received recognition from Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in March 2011. Besides receiving a ‘Best Performance Award’ for academics in M.Tech program, he also received many awards for national level service in scouting. He has published journals on blast resistant design, outrigger frames and pushover analysis and a book titled ‘Modern Heliport Design'. He runs his own structural consultancy firm ‘Trustus Structural Consultancy’ and started an educational foundation for helping the needy and empowering poor people.

My experience in carrying out research began when I was consistently tried to explore different projects in which I can learn more about structural engineering (I decided to choose Structural engineering as my specialization in the second year of my undergraduate studies) and that fire my imagination. During my second year of undergrad I got a chance to watch a movie with my family members and there was a scene in which the heroine dies in a bomb blast. That triggered my desire to design the structures that are resistant against blast load. The very next day, I started collecting journals, books and other articles related to the blast resistant design of structures. I was so excited and started learning with a good level of confidence. My undergrad project and postgraduate thesis are on the analysis and design of blast resistant structures. These research experiences have strengthened my intellectual ability and leadership qualities. I have published several articles, few journals and a book as a postgraduate , which taught me how to effectively convey my thoughts and research to the community.

The topics of my research have varied in structural analysis and design, nonlinear static procedures, strengthening of reinforced concrete members and Translucent Concrete , and the breadth of these topics will facilitate my future research. The common objective I have with my research is to produce a positive impact in society. Before joining the postgraduate course I was working as an Assistant Engineer for Design in an architect firm at Chennai, India. The learning process during the postgraduate pulled my mind out from returning to a corporate office after the course and pushed me in the direction of research. I am currently working as an Assistant Professor in the department of Civil Engineering at SRM University, India (Sri Ramasamy Memorial). Still I am learning and working towards joining a Ph.D program. My thoughts are widespread with different problem statements, selection of universities and funding. So, I am now in a stage of exploring various Ph.D opportunities. Let me share something I learned during my past years of research.

First of all, there is no recipe for good research. Some students expect or hope to be provided with step-by-step instructions or guidelines on how to find or tackle problems. Research is all about thinking, thinking and thinking again. Never hesitate to throw your mind at anything. Before looking up a book or paper, before asking anyone, think. Never be lazy about thinking. That's how you build up understanding and develop a bag of useful techniques. Thinking is fun.

In a second step, you will work on the idea that functions as a benchmark for your research. You pick up how research is done by seeing examples and extrapolating. Attending conferences, reading journal papers, and discussions with your advisor or peers are great sources of research material. Learn how to write a paper by looking at other papers. Make analogies. When you see a new problem, ask yourself which questions were asked previously and use that to ask questions about your new problem. Don't be narrow or concentrate only on your particular problem. Learn things from all over your field, and beyond. The facts, methods, and insights from elsewhere will be much more useful than you might realize, possibly in your thesis, and most definitely afterwards. Being broad is a good way of learning to develop interesting questions.

The third point is understanding your research question. It is more important to understand deeply what you know than to know a lot. Successful research comes from having a good understanding, especially of the basics. When you read a research paper, ask yourself questions. Understanding means the ability to go beyond the immediate. It means knowing not just what the item in question is, but how it fits into a larger context, what are its variants, and what happens if you perturb it one way or another. I follow the quote, “Know something about everything and everything about something”. Knowing everything about something will empower you on the research part you have chosen and will lead you to reach milestones.

The fourth and most important point is ‘Time’. How people allocate research time varies enormously, not only from person to person, but, for a given person, from week to week or quarter to quarter. Some people work on an inspiration or deadline basis, sometimes putting in long hours, then doing nothing for a few days. Others maintain a steady schedule, coming to the lab at a certain time in the morning and leaving a certain time in the evening. Neither is right or wrong or better or worse; it is a question of finding what works best for you.
I always look for long-term productivity. A successful researcher should display some degree of productivity and progress over the course of a reasonably long period, like a summer, a quarter, or more typically, a year. This would include signs of increased understanding, confidence and maturity, and some visible output or deliverable, like a complete paper.

Self-confidence comes next to time as an important asset as a fifth element. Self-confidence affects our performance and success in all walks of life, from sports to socializing to dating. It plays a role in research too. Lack of self-confidence leads to disinclination of work. Fear of failure leads to inactivity. People freeze up because they are so worried they aren't good enough. If this sounds familiar, at least you know you are not alone. Increasing your self-confidence is very much a personal issue, but here are some reflections from my experience. You can find confidence only within yourself. Don't expect to get it from others. Someone telling you that you did well is useful to boost morale, but in the end you must believe in yourself.

If you are afraid of failure you will have a hard time succeeding. You have to fall a few times to learn to skate or ride a bicycle. Research is worse. Once you learn to ride a bicycle you don't fall again, but in research you never stop failing. Failures increase your understanding and maturity. If you find the process of research fun, failure to solve a problem is not daunting. In fact, it leads to all kinds of discoveries. You should feel proud, because you are a problem-solver. One nice thing about research is that nobody needs to know when you failed. You write papers only about your successes. But that is also deceptive, because you don't see the failures of others. But they are there. Even the top people don't always succeed. Gauss failed sometimes, as did Einstein.

PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: Selecting a PhD program and supervisor

This post is part of the series PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: posts written for the Dutch academic career network AcademicTransfer, your go-to resource for all research positions in the Netherlands.

These posts are sponsored by AcademicTransfer, and tailored to those of you interested in pursuing a research position in the Netherlands.

If these posts raise your interest in working as a researcher in the Netherlands, even better - and feel free to fire away any questions you might have on this topic!

In our most recent post, we've looked at the benefit of your academic skills for finding employment after the PhD. Today, we take a step back in time, and look at the very beginning of your PhD adventure: finding a PhD program and supervisor.

The typical approach of finding a PhD program, is just by applying to a number of institutions, and seeing where you get accepted, with funding.

While getting into a program with funding is, in my opinion, one of the most important aspects of finding a PhD position, there are a number of other aspects to take into account as well. As a side note: almost all PhD positions in The Netherlands come with secured funding. In The Netherlands, a PhD student is considered an full-time employee of the university, with an OK salary, and social security. You won't got in debt over your PhD in The Netherlands, and you might even be able to save some good money if you live frugally. Besides the top-quality programs, this secure positions of PhD students could be one more reason to look for a PhD in The Netherlands.

Before zooming in to the aspects you should consider when selecting a program and supervisor, I'd like to share the two elements that made me pick my program and supervisor. The first factor that determined my choice, was interest. I wanted to do research on either buckling of concrete columns, or shear or torsion problems in reinforced concrete members. With that research interest in mind, I started to browse the pages of concrete research groups in various universities. I had given up on the idea of doing a PhD in the USA because of the crisis and the difficult funding situation (that was Fall 2008, and the confusion was complete). As such, my search was narrowed down to European universities. The second element that guided my search, was the reputation of the universities and their professors. I checked out the work of research groups of universities that I consider highly in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany and Sweden. Delft showed that they would start a large project on the remaining life capacity of concrete bridges, with shear as a mean topic, and that struck a chord immediately. Moreover, I was attracted by the reputation of the professor leading the research group. I sent an e-mail, then later sent my resume, and the rest is history.

Maybe I was extremely lucky to find a topic that really fit my research interest. Maybe the fact that I had a clearly defined research interest helped me find my position, which turned out to be a very positive experience.

Now that you know my story, let's look at a number of aspects to consider when selecting a PhD program and supervisor:

1. Your research interest

If you're going to spend 3 to 4 years of your life focused on one single topic, it'd better be a topic of your interest. Don't settle for a topic you are not interested in at all, just because you are getting funding. Don't settle for a topic that doesn't raise your enthusiasm just for getting a chance of putting "Dr." in front of your name.

2. Compatibility with supervisor

Before enrolling in a program, take a trip to your prospective institution to talk to your future supervisor in person. See if you share perspectives on your years as a doctoral candidate, see if you are on the same wavelength. While anything can happen along the road, such a discussion can give you an idea of how compatible your working style is with that of your supervisor.

3. Lab facilities

If you have an interest in experimental work, see what would be available to you when you'd join a given research group. Likewise, if you're more into numerical/analytical work, see what is available.

4. Learning opportunities

Every PhD is a learning journey. Inquire about the requirements with regard to technical courses, courses in which you train your soft skills, and more. Some PhD programs have a larger course load, some PhD programs are more research-oriented. Define what your learning needs are, and if these are in line with the opportunities at a given institution.

5. Post-PhD employment opportunities

Doing research for 3 to 4 years is lots of fun, but there's the truth of life after that too. Inform about the career paths of graduates from the program you are interested in. See if your prospective institution has good ties to the industry, which might give you more chances at finding employment after your PhD.

6. Location

If you are moving abroad for your PhD, consider the country and city you are moving to. Is it easy to find housing in that region? How high is the cost of living? What is the crime rate (aka is it OK to walk around with your laptop in your backpack?)?

7. Funding/Employment conditions

How is your research going to be paid? Will you be treated as a student on a scholarship, or a full-fledged employee of the institution with job security during a given amount of time and social security? Does your funding cover all years your PhD program is supposed to last?

8. Support for foreign students

If you are coming from abroad, inquire if the university is providing you with assistance for getting your visa, work permit, housing and all practical aspects of moving abroad. I can speak from experience that having to figure out all bureaucratic rules as a foreigner can be a long and confusing process...

9. Travel funding

What is the conference/field research travel policy of your prospective research group? Are you entitled to 1 international conference per year, or do you get to go wherever you feel like, as long as you write and present a paper? Is there funding to go and visit foreign labs? To participate in technical committees?

10. Research group

Last but not least, how is the atmosphere in the research group? Are people hanging out together for coffee breaks and lunch? Or do you feel that the cohesion in the group is rather small? Do you feel "at home" with those people, or do you think you'd be left alone?

These 10 aspects highlight different parts of your PhD research. From feeling well in your environment, to having the tools and resources to carry out your research, there are a number of topics to think of when you make your decision with regard to selecting a PhD program. Above all, trust your gut feeling: if you visit a research group, and your inner Big Nerd starts to get itchy fingers and shouts "Yes, yes, yes, this looks cool!", then go for it!

Effective Width in Shear of Reinforced Concrete Solid Slab Bridges under Wheel Loads

Just like last year, I've given a presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board. Last year, I wrote as well about navigating TRB for the first time, and how I enjoyed using the conference app.


Like last year, my presentation was in the section about Concrete Bridges. Here is the abstract of the corresponding paper, that is published in the Annual Compendium of Papers:

For the assessment of reinforced concrete slab bridges in the Netherlands, the shear stress resulting from the dead loads and live loads is determined in a spreadsheet or from a finite element model. In a spreadsheet-based approach, an assumption for the distribution of the loads from the wheel prints is necessary. When finite element methods are used, it is necessary to determine over which length (a multiple of the effective depth) the peak shear stress can be distributed for comparison to the design shear capacity.
To recommend a load-spreading method, experiments were executed on slab strips of increasing widths. The shear capacity did not increase with the increasing width upon passing a threshold. This threshold is compared to different load spreading methods, indicating that a distribution from the far side of the wheel print is to be preferred. This recommendation is also supported by the results of a statistical analysis and the stress distribution in nonlinear finite element models.
To find the distribution width in a finite element method, a numerical model is compared to an experiment on a slab subjected to a concentrated load in which the support consists of a line of 7 bearings equipped with load cells measuring the reaction forces. These measurements were compared to the stress profile at the support from the model, showing that the peak can be distributed over 4 times the effective depth.
These recommendations for the effective width and distribution width are research-based tools that replace the previously used rules of thumb resulting from engineering judgement.

Effective Width in Shear of Reinforced Concrete Solid Slab Bridges under Wheel Loads from Eva Lantsoght

Life After Graduate School: What happens next?

The topic of finding a job after the PhD, and life outside of the ivory tower has stirred reactions in a good number of people. Today, I have the pleasure of hosting Gemma Gaten, who gives her warnings and outlook for life after graduate school. Gemma is a literature major and works as a paper writer atuk.bestessays.com. She is a blogger, photographer, and traveler. She writes more about education, student lifestyle, writing, and careers. To know more about her please visit herblog and add her in google+.

People believe that obtaining a master's or a PhD degree is a good investment for a bright future. If you are a diploma-holder of a higher degree of education, there are more doors of opportunities that await you once you step off the portals of grad school. Having an advanced degree is a big advantage in almost all industries especially in the fields of education, social services, medical health, business management, etc. If you have a desired position in a professional field, you need to take an advanced degree. In our education and employment system, it is like you are required to get a higher degree of education to become qualified to the position that you want to attain.

Why you should go to graduate school and be a PhD candidate? Well, to put it simply here are the things that graduate school can give you. Graduate education will provide you the intellectual ability, work ethics, improved and advanced skills, in-depth knowledge, and well-related work experience to the field that you want to belong to in the future. As you know and learn these benefits, you became more driven to increase your career security, professional and personal development, right?

If you know and understand the positive aspects of getting into graduate school, you get excited to start a graduate education right away. But before you indulge yourself to the challenging and stressful life in grad school, there are things that you must know first. Life in graduate school is different from the life after grad school. What do I mean by that? Many students didn't know that the things that matter during their graduate education years don't matter anymore once they got their Master's or PhD diploma.

Let's say you have completed the years of your master's or PhD degree, you got your diploma, and you're done with all those academic paper works. As you bid goodbye to your alma mater, do you already know what awaits you in the real world? How are you going to face your new life? How are you going to address the transition after graduate school into the workforce? To give you a clearer perspective of what I am saying, here's a simple illustration.

THE EXPECTATION

Some graduate students thought that they don't need to work harder and exert much effort in searching for job opportunities since they already got a ticket, their PhD diploma, to get the job that they wanted. This can be possible for PhD graduates who already have a career while taking their master's or PhD education. But for those beginners or those students who do not have a job in their prospective field, they have to start looking for a job immediately that would best fit their skills and educational attainment. Because even though they are Master's or PhD degree-holders if there are no available positions for them in the market place or in non-academic careers, it would take a while before they land a full-time position. But for those in line with research and academic work, there are plenty of job opportunities that they can apply for.

THE HARSH REALITY

Even if you are a graduate student or a PhD candidate, you need to keep your options open. Whether it's a non-academic or academic work, you have to understand that the real world doesn't only look at the diploma that you are holding or the years that you've spent in the academy. There are already many students who pursued their graduate education and not all of them were given good academic jobs. Becoming a graduate from a prestigious graduate school is a good credential, actually being a certified Master's or PhD graduate is already a big accomplishment. But the sad part here is that the school you graduated from and the degree that you have don't matter anymore once you go to the workforce. Companies need your advanced knowledge and abilities so you have to show them what are the things that you can do for them because if they don't see you as a good contributor to the success of their business they will not going to hire you.

THE ACCEPTANCE

You have to accept the truth, real world is far different from the life that you had in graduate school. Whether you like it or not, you have to understand how the real world works. You will obtain the career that you want with the help of your good credentials, advanced education, and the professional network you have built. But the promotions, recognition, high salary, and good benefits that you will receive will depend on the contribution that you will make to the company.

Happy PhD: Thinking Positively in an Ocean of Criticism

Amber Davis is a political scientist and PhD coach, who studied at the London School of Economics and Leiden University, and holds a PhD from the European University Institute in Florence. She teaches stress-management and productivity seminars for PhD students and created the HappyPhD Online Course to help you write your PhD (almost) effortlessly in a couple of hours a day. On her blog, she is giving away the online course twice to celebrate the New Year. Click here to enter the contest.

In the first blog post of this series I discussed how to take care of your brain, and create optimal physiological conditions for doing academic work. It’s the first and most basic level of productivity. The second level of productivity relates to the work structures and habits you have in place. In the second blog post I discussed how to create a workday that boosts your productivity. The third level of productivity is about attitude. In this blog post I will discuss how to enhance your emotional experience of writing a PhD. Creating a new, more positive attitude towards your PhD (and life) is a process. It requires a daily commitment and is not something you can figure out in a couple of soul-searching sessions. But the rewards are very much worth it. There is a way to live and work more effortlessly. You only have to decide to give it a go. And keep at it.

Writing a PhD is difficult, but often it is not the work itself that presents the main challenge, but our thoughts about our work. It is the criticism inherent to academic work, the constant trying to do the near impossible, and then being criticised either by ourselves or others for failing, that gets us down. It can be hard! An academic friend of mine compares working in academia to eating shards of glass every single day. You have to be a bit of a stoic to be able to do it. In fact you have to be an über-stoic. That is bad news for us non-stoics. How to cope when you don’t have insides of steel?

The best strategy for mental and emotional resilience in academia has two components: the first is to become more professional by creating space between work and self. As academics, with minds on overdrive, and highly individualistic work, it isn’t surprising that the distinction between work and self becomes foggy. It’s a recipe for disaster. To help separate ourselves from our work the strategies mentioned in my previous posts (physiology and work day) are crucial: you need to create a time-structure in your day that will make the distinction between work and play for you; and you need to train your mind (using exercise and meditation) so it will be easier to focus on work when you want to, and to relax when so you so choose. Taking control of your time and your mental energy and focus will start making the difference between being stuck in the zone of procrastination and guilt and feeling down, or being in the zone of getting things done and sustaining momentum. Try it.

The second is to start appreciating the positive more, and start taking it as seriously as you take criticism and negativity. Our brain has a negativity bias: it registers what it perceives as a threat or a problem more forcefully than it does positive experiences. It may feel like the absolute objective truth that everything sucks, including your PhD, especially when you are processing a lot of criticism (the job description of being an academic). It is not.

Seeing and experiencing the positive in a situation, and cultivating these qualities in your life will start lifting you out of any PhD blues you happen to sink into. The nice thing about being a non-stoic is that you can use your feelings to lift you up and soar. If negativity impacts you in a major way, so can positive feeling states. Cultivating these feelings is a skill you can develop. It is not about positive thinking, or positive affirmations, or any other sort of constructed positivity. It is about finding and appreciating real excitement, beauty, joy, or wonder, or whatever your positive flavour of choice happens to be. It’s next to impossible to give you a roadmap, as this is such a personal process, but I can suggest a few simple strategies to get you started. Start by choosing to give energy to the things that are going well, and the things and people that make you feel good. Take note of these small positive things daily. Give yourself compliments for every small achievement. And be compassionate with yourself when you feel you are falling short. This may sound too obvious, but if you honestly give it a go, you will see that your experience of life (and your PhD) will change for the better.

Another important aspect of creating an experience of effortless flow in your work is to find out more about your inner drive. Why are you doing this work in the first place? What aspects of your work get you excited and ready to go? Working with our feelings and motivation in this way, helps us shift from a mode of working from fear (deadlines, criticism, failure, aaargh!), to a mode of working from inspiration.

How to do it: Create a workday that works for you, and train your mind (see my previous posts: part 1 and part 2). Start balancing the negative with the positive: actively ask yourself what uplifts you in any situation. Start paying attention. These tiny shifts will keep adding up. It is a muscle that academics, especially, need to train and grow. Finally, reflect on the aspects of your work that excite you. How do you feel when you are truly engaged with what you are doing? How could you cultivate more of this feeling in the way you work? Start to be more aware of whether you are working in the ‘old’ way – that perhaps feels like forcing, pushing or clenching, and see whether, in those moments, you can be aware enough to recalibrate. Take a short break, find your excitement, and choose to work from there.

If you are interested in boosting your mental and emotional resilience, and find more effortless flow while working on your PhD, have a look at the HappyPhD Course I created. It will walk you through it step-by-step, day-by-day, for 6 weeks. To celebrate the New Year (it’s still January after all), I am giving away the course for free twice on my blog.

Happy PhD: Optimizing your Workday for Writing

Amber Davis is a political scientist and PhD coach, who studied at the London School of Economics and Leiden University, and holds a PhD from the European University Institute in Florence. She teaches stress-management and productivity seminars for PhD students and created the HappyPhD Online Course to help you write your PhD (almost) effortlessly in a couple of hours a day. On her blog, she is giving away the online course twice to celebrate the New Year. Click here to enter the contest.

In the first blog post of this series I discussed how to take care of your brain, and create optimal physiological conditions for doing academic work. It’s the first and most basic level of productivity. The second level of productivity relates to your workday and the work habits you have in place. Writing a PhD is often approached as a standard office job: we work 9-5, or even worse, we sit at our computer from 9-5, realise we haven’t gotten anything done, then frantically try and get some work finished, followed by worrying about how little we got done for the rest of the evening (and night if you’re particularly unlucky). We think we are ‘behind’, we will never ‘catch up’, we feel bad about ourselves for being less than productive and start wondering why the hell we are writing a PhD anyway. Obviously we are not cut out for this. Obviously it is doomed to fail!

An important thing to understand is that you cannot write a PhD like it’s an office job. You cannot sustain mental productivity for 8 hours a day. By trying you are setting yourself up for failure. Of course, there are always things you could do to fill those 8 hours – don’t we all know how to fill 8 hours staring at the computer screen -, but on the whole it’s a paradigm that needs reconsidering.

The key to being a prolific academic is to shape your workday in such a way that it sustains your productivity. Consider the comparison with physical training: you would not go to the gym for 8 hours a day. That would probably be a waste of your time, and you will end up in worse, instead of better shape the next day, let alone in a week or month’s time. It’s impossible to keep up. Even top athletes only work out about 4 hours or so. And then they rest and recuperate, as that is half the work! It’s quite similar for doing challenging mental work. As a top mental athlete, you may be able to sustain 4-6 hours of focused mental work a day, at the very maximum, on a very good day. But in my experience less is more. Once you understand how the brain works, and that it is not a machine that works in a linear fashion, you can make the most of your mental energy. Your productivity will soar when you work hard for a set length of time, followed by a period of relaxation. The relaxation is as important, as the ‘hard work’ put in. In fact, for many of us, the relaxation part is also the hardest! Try working on your thesis for a couple of hours a day. Two or three hours, say. It is enough. Then relax! Give yourself full permission to not work on your PhD once your time is up. It works much better than trying to put the maximum number of hours in.

How to do it: Choose how many hours you want to devote to working on your thesis today. Be a minimalist: less is more. Do not work continuously. Instead, work in intervals. Work for 30-90 minutes (maximum!), followed a break. Repeat until your hours are up. That’s it. Productivity saved! Now you have time to relax, exercise and meditate.

If you are interested in increasing your PhD productivity, have a look at the HappyPhD Course I created. It will walk you through it step-by-step, day-by-day, for 6 weeks. That is, until productivity has become a habit. To celebrate the New Year (it’s still January after all), I am giving away the course for free twice on my blog.

Happy PhD: Using your Physiology to your Advantage

This week, I have the pleasure of hosting Amber Davis, who is sharing her knowledge on 3 important aspects we need to take care of to facilitate the process of writing the dissertation. Amber is a political scientist and PhD coach, who studied at the London School of Economics and Leiden University, and holds a PhD from the European University Institute in Florence. She teaches stress-management and productivity seminars for PhD students and created the HappyPhD Online Course to help you write your PhD (almost) effortlessly in a couple of hours a day. On her blog, she is giving away the online course twice to celebrate the New Year. Click here to enter the contest.

What if writing a PhD could be easy? Granted, easy may be too much to ask. But easier it can be. That is, if you get yourself in the right zone for doing academic work physiologically, mentally and emotionally. I know it can be done – and you can do it too - but I found out how to do it the hard way. I spent quite some time thinking I would never finish my PhD, when health issues forced me to drop out of the PhD programme and the rest of life for several years. Even after the worst was over, I was left with a fraction of the energy I had had before I fell ill. I decided to finish my PhD anyway. Why not? I had nothing to lose. In the process I discovered that writing a PhD can be easier, and a lot more fulfilling. I also discovered I had to radically changed the way I worked to be able to succeed.

My old working habits - which included a lot of worrying about my PhD instead of working on my PhD, stressing over deadlines, and much time spent in a mental twilight zone in which the PhD was always sitting on my shoulder telling me off for ‘being behind’ – were not exactly conducive to finishing my thesis. Let alone do my best work and finish it with a smile on my face (was writing a PhD with a smile even possible?) There had to be a better way. Against all the odds, I set out to find a more productive and kinder way forward. Long story short: I devoured everything I could find on stress-management and productivity, and set out experimenting. The experiment was a success. I finished my PhD working an average of 2-3 hours a day. I made all my deadlines, and rather astonishingly my PhD was selected the best of its year. Although it wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination, it had been easier than I could have envisioned. I now teach PhD students to do the same.

Eva has kindly asked me to write a couple of blog posts to outline how you too can write your PhD more effortlessly. In my search I discovered three levels or aspects of productivity that, when addressed, will significantly improve your focus, output and mood. You can work on them independently, but if you manage to address all three, the rewards will multiply. The first is the level of physiology: or how to create the right physiological conditions to do your best academic work, and keep your mental energy high over time. The second is the level of working habits and structure: or how to organise your day to be most productive. The third level is that of attitude: or how to work from a place of ease and flow instead of forcing yourself forward.

Today’s post will be about level 1: Physiology. When we think of academic work, we mostly think of our minds as somehow independent from our bodies. But our brain, the home of the mind, is an organ. It is physical and has physical needs. If you take care of it well, it will reward you with those three things academics need most: the ability to focus and do challenging mental work, the ability to be creative and come up with new ideas and arguments, and the ability to switch our attention to other things when we choose to do so. With these three in place we can solve complex academic puzzles, using both rational logical analytical thought and creative intuitive insight, and (very important) be able to switch off and do something fun (or useful…if we really have to) once we decide to call it a day.

There are a number of strategies to help your brain function optimally, and the two most basic ones, which I believe should be priorities for every academic, are exercise and meditation. I find it amusing that the activities most beneficial to our mental performance are traditionally thought of as belonging to the physical and the spiritual realm. Going to the gym and sitting on a meditation pillow is for gym bunnies and hippies, not for scholars! Except they are. Very much so. I believe every academic should have a so-called ‘take-care-of-your-brain’ routine in place, consisting of these two activities. Exercise and meditation are the best ways to keep your brain healthy and stress-free. The difference in mental clarity and focus will astound you.

How to do it: To start with exercise: 20 minutes 3x a week is the absolute minimum. It’s important to get your heart rate up for this amount of time. It will help your brain recharge and renew. The activity you choose is up to you, just make sure it’s cardiovascular activity to at least a certain degree. Walking is not intense enough, jogging (elegantly or not) is fine. Or sprint if you want. Do something you enjoy doing. That way you’ll have a better chance of succeeding at all. If you really hate exercise, you can comfort yourself with the thought that 20 minutes really is enough for positive changes to occur, if that’s all you want to do. Turn the music up. Jump around, sing, and dance for a couple of songs and exercise is done.

Meditation is the more difficult habit to learn, mostly because of our beliefs around it. Some people have to get over the ‘spiritual’ nature of meditation first. If that is you, just drop it (I say that in the kindest way). See it as a brain exercise, much like you would see solving an intellectual puzzle. It’s just a different way of exercising the brain. Secondly, we think that meditation is about ‘emptying our mind’. We should be Zen, chilled out and blissed out, which is a very nice idea, until we try to sit still for 5 minutes and find out how difficult it is. Our busy minds won’t shut up. So many things to do today, so many things to worry about, so many distractions! The most important step in meditation is to realise that ‘emptying the mind’ is not something we can strive towards. It is something that just happens, if we create the right conditions for it to occur. And if it doesn’t happen that is also OK. You can’t really force anything. But you can practice just sitting (with a busy mind, if need be). That’s where the beauty lies. If you sit for 10, or 20, or 30 minutes in stillness every day, the mental (and other) rewards will show up. That’s a promise. But they will come unannounced, not when you are willing them into being. The practice of meditation is simple: sit in silence and focus on your breathing (there are many other techniques, but this is the most basic one). Whenever you notice your attention has wandered into thought, bring it back to the breath. Do it for your chosen length of time. That’s all. It’s very simple. Meditation done.

If you are interested in creating your own ‘take-care-of-your-brain’ routine as discussed above, have a look at the HappyPhD Online Course. It will walk you through it step-by-step, day-by-day, for 6 weeks. That is, until it’s a habit and has become a part of your daily routine. To celebrate the New Year (it’s still January after all), I am giving away the course for free twice on my blog.

PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: Leveraging your Job Seeking Position by Highlighting your Academic Skills

This post is part of the series PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: posts written for the Dutch academic career network AcademicTransfer, your go-to resource for all research positions in the Netherlands.

These posts are sponsored by AcademicTransfer, and tailored to those of you interested in pursuing a research position in the Netherlands.

If these posts raise your interest in working as a researcher in the Netherlands, even better - and feel free to fire away any questions you might have on this topic!

After 3 or 4 years of hard work and study, you have received your PhD degree, and you wonder: "What is next in life?".

Very few PhD graduates remain in academia after obtaining their doctoral degree. Most of us will go to the industry.
And every so often, especially in the Netherlands, the following remark comes up during the hiring process:

"Why did you spend your time on doing research, while you now want to come and work in the industry? Shouldn't you have gone to work straight after your Master's degree and used these years to get real-life experience?."

When this question, or a similar remark comes up, don't feel offended or misunderstood. Instead, highlight your academic skills as a function of your job search. Needless to say, think thoroughly about this subject before you walk into the interview room...

While a number of years of experience in practice are certainly very valuable, these years in academia, especially while working towards a PhD degree, provide you with skills that might make you a more attractive candidate for the open position.

Let me restate that clearly: your doctoral training has made you an independent researcher, with an array of unique skills that are highly valuable in industry.

Depending on your field, you can think of the following skills that put you ahead of other applicants:

1. Analytical skills
Whether your PhD research relies on qualitative or quantitative data analysis, there is almost always a large chunk of analytical work involved in PhD research. Being able to handle large amounts of data is a skill needed by consultancy offices, private labs as well as many large technical companies.

2. Autonomy
Getting a PhD is all about becoming an independent researcher. No third or fourth year doctoral candidate has his/her adviser watching over his/her shoulder while working. You might be working weeks on end on something, trying out different paths, iterating, and making your own decisions. This large level of autonomy gives you the ability to work on larger projects, all by yourself, while being able to communicate your decisions and the reasons for these decisions to your superiors later on.

3. Ability to learn new topics and skills
A very typical situation during your PhD studies is one in which you run into a subject that you don't know much about, or one in which you seem to be needing a different computer program or programming language to continue your research work. Instead of lifting up your shoulders and thinking: "Well, too bad, I don't know that...", you head out to the library to pick up a book on the subject, read a couple of papers on the subject, follow an online tutorial or start getting involved in a programmer's forum. This ability to learn by yourself new topics and skills, combined with your autonomy, gives you the ability to advance quickly in your career in almost any given field.

4. Deep understanding of your field
Since a doctoral degree is the highest level of education you can achieve, you can pride yourself in the fact that you know more about a certain topic than most other people. In fact, when it comes down to your sub-topic of research, you can claim that you are the expert in your field on that topic - you simply are the only person who knows all the ins and outs of the topic you chose for your PhD studies.

5. Teamwork skills
A PhD degree is always the result of cooperation: with your supervisors, with funding institutions, with other researchers, and with laboratory technicians. Nobody ever graduated by brooding in his/her room in complete isolation for a couple of years and then spitting out 1000 pages of innovative research material. Being able to work in teams is one of the great skills you learn during your doctoral studies.

6. Writing skills
Those papers and that thesis didn't write themselves, and they certainly did not get written without developing sound academic writing skills. With all the writing practice you get during your doctoral years, you will be able to whisk together reports and briefings faster and in a clearer style than your peers who did not go into a PhD program.

7. Presentation skills
Just like you got a good training in (academic) writing during your PhD, you also got a good training at giving presentations. Remember your very first presentation in graduate school? Remember how nervous you were, and how afterwards you learned how to better structure your talks until it almost became second nature? You need to realize that this communication skill is again very valuable to prospective employers.

8. Extra skills you learned during your PhD
During your PhD years, you certainly picked up a few extra, general skills besides your analytical and communication skills. You might have taught yourself a programming language, you might have learned how to speed-read, or you might have taken a number of courses to sharpen your soft skills. Think about all these extra skills, and use them to your advantage to show the benefit of your years of doctoral study.

As I said earlier, make sure that you go well-prepared to your interview, by thinking about the additional benefit you can bring to a company through the skills and topics you mastered during your PhD research. Highlight the value of yourself and your skills as a function of the company where you are applying for a position: show them clearly what unique characteristics you are bringing into the company, and how the company will benefit from this.

Time management in Academia: Balancing teaching and research

Spring 2014 is my first semester in which I have a full course load to teach - and from now on, I'll (most likely) be teaching 3 courses in Spring and 3 courses in Fall. This semester. I'm teaching 3 new courses - courses that I'm developing from scratch for the students at USFQ.

As we saw earlier, it takes about 4 hours to prepare an hour's worth of lecture. Since I'll be teaching 9 hours a week, that puts me already at 45 hours a week (1 hour teaching + 4 hours preparing => and this 9 times a week). Add in some time for grading, and regular admin stuff, and replying emails, and you can imagine that my time is running out quickly.

And all of that is just teaching - what truly matters, on the tenure-track, in my field, for my institution and for my overall career, are my publications. I made an ambitious schedule for churning out a large number of journal papers based on the novel elements in my dissertation (and the massive amount of test data that we produced), but I'm already experiencing that, even though everything is written in my dissertation, it takes more time to write the papers.

With a number of papers in the submission process as well, I forgot to keep time and space in my planning to deal with the comments of the reviewers. Overall, I'm now slowing down from initially wanting to submit a paper per month of 1,5 months to a paper per 2 or 3 months.

Nonetheless, given my part-time appointment in Delft, I want to carve out at least 10 hours per week for research and writing. Ideally, I'd love to up that number to at least 20 hours per week, but I'm afraid that will be hard in my first semester.

As I was scratching my head, and wondering how to fit teaching and research into my schedule (and still find time to eat, play music, play with my cat, given some attention to my husband, exercise, meditate, read for pleasure, sleep at least 8 hours per night, maintain this blog and explore this country), I turned to Twitter for advice. You can find the Storify of the tweets at the bottom of this post.

The main take home message from the tweets was to plan time for writing. This advice closely corresponds to the idea of making the weekly template, as I saw earlier on the blogs of Tanya Golash-Boza and Raul Pacheco-Vega.

As such, I made a weekly template for myself. Over time, I'm planning to change this template in line with ideas from Alisa Vitti's monthly cyclic approach (as outlined in her book WomanCode) and Laura Vanderkam's 168 hours mathematics (see 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think). I'm also planning some trials of writing first thing in the morning, from 6am to 8am, as well as going to the gym first thing in the morning.

Taking into account my previous reservations, and highlighting that this schedule is in its experimental face, I'm here sharing my current weekly template.

Managing the research process

Today, I have the pleasure of hosting Helen Kara who wrote a guest post in which she highlights some elements of her recently published book about saving time in research. Helen Kara has been an independent researcher and writer for the last 14 years. She is an Associate Research Fellow at the Third Sector Research Centre, University of Birmingham. She is also on the Board of the UK's Social Research Association with lead responsibility for research ethics. She studied for her own PhD part-time while running a busy research business, and was so successful at managing the process that she needed special permission to submit her thesis just 2 years and 10 months after registration. Her PhD was awarded in 2006. She writes about and teaches research methods, and is always happy to answer any questions on Twitter: @DrHelenKara

Research methods books often treat research as if it exists in a bubble, separate from work, family, and social life. However, in reality, research has to be managed alongside all other activities. This is particularly the case for a long and involved project such as a PhD.

When I was writing my book Research and Evaluation for Busy Practitioners: A Time-Saving Guide, I interviewed 20 researchers in depth to find out how they managed the process. Many of them had done, or were doing, PhDs. I also drew on relevant research and my own doctoral experience. I found that there are four keys to successful management of the research process: plan, be organised, manage your time, and look after yourself.

My interviewees were unanimous about the need to plan carefully. Start with an outline plan for your whole PhD. Work out when you would like to submit your thesis for examination, and work backwards. My outline plan looked something like this:

Jan-Jun year 1 – read as much as possible, make notes, decide on methodology, write first draft of methodology chapter
Jul-Dec year 1 – read more, pilot and review data collection method, write first draft of literature review
Jan-Jun year 2 – collect data, begin analysis, read more, write second draft of methodology chapter, write first drafts of findings/discussion chapter and introduction
Jul-Dec year 2 – finish analysis, read more, write second draft of literature review and findings/discussion chapter, write first draft of conclusion
Jan-Jun year 3 – read more, write third drafts of literature review, methodology and findings/discussion chapters, write second drafts of introduction and conclusion
Jul-Dec year 3 – read more, write third drafts of introduction and conclusion, polish, proof-read, check references

Then break down each chunk into monthly goals, taking into account other commitments such as holidays. At the start of each week, check your monthly goals and make a to-do list for the week, then refer to this list daily to make sure you're on track.

Being organised will help you to put your plans into practice. If you can, set aside a space to work, and make sure you have everything you need at hand. Keep accurate records of your reading, data collection, and so on; this will save you time and stress.

You need to block out time in your diary to do research. Make sure you allocate enough time and use it effectively. Sitting at your computer, fiddling about on Facebook while exchanging text messages with a friend, does not count as effective use of time! One surprising finding from my research is that more time does not necessarily equal more productivity. People are often more productive when they work in short bursts in between other activities. A key skill for researchers is learning to use small chunks of time effectively. In half an hour you could read a journal article or write 250 words of your thesis. In 15 minutes you could make a phone call or two, or search the Web for relevant information. In five minutes you could read a page of a book or enter some questionnaire data into a spreadsheet. And if you have some spare time when you're not at your desk – e.g. waiting in a queue, standing in the shower, on the bus – you can think about your research, try to find solutions to any problems you may be facing.

And look after yourself. Remember to say 'no' – or learn to say 'no', if this is not a skill you've already acquired. Put your PhD first wherever necessary. You're making a major investment in your future which deserves to be a priority in your life. Network with other doctoral students for peer support – and don't feel you have to stick to students from your own discipline, as cross-disciplinary input can be very useful. If you haven't discovered #phdchat on Twitter, I would urge you to join this very supportive global community of doctoral students.

But at the same time, don't become too obsessive about your PhD. You need to stay in touch with your family and friends; take time off; reward yourself for hard work. Different rewards suit different people, so identify those that will suit you. Make them proportionate: for example, when you've reached your daily word count, you could take a break with a cup of tea and the newspaper; when you've finished a draft chapter, you might decide to have a good night out with friends. Doing a PhD is a major challenge, and every step along the way is a real achievement, so get in the habit of celebrating as you go along; it will boost your motivation. Best of luck!

There is more about this in chapter 4 of my book, and I have also written a short e-book called 'Managing The Research Process' which is currently available for 60p on Kindle and Nook and 98p on Kobo (prices may change). Other e-book titles are: Collecting Primary Data, Analysing Data, and Writing for Research.

Eurocode design sheets for structural engineers

Every now and then, I review structural engineering software here at PhD Talk. The last review is from a time ago, and dealt with Codeform and Codeproof, sheets that help designers and that are based on the Eurocodes.

Today, I'm reviewing Carlo Sigmund's Eurocodes Spreadsheets. This January, the Eurocode Spreadsheets are available for sale, and I've had the chance to have a look at these sheets before they were released to the market.

To software of the Eurocode spreadsheets is aimed at students, novice engineers as well as licensed professional civil engineers, designers and architects.

If you want a quick idea of what the design sheets look like, watch this video:



Let's now look at the advantages and disadvantages of the software

Advantages

Helps interpreting the Eurocodes

As the spreadsheets contain all the requirements from the Eurocodes, and let the user select what is applicable for the design he/she is working on, the software has taken on the task of sorting out those issues of where the Eurocodes aren't really clear. As you can see in the following screenshot, if you select, for example, your consequences class, the sheet will continue with the associated reliability index and safety factors.



Additional information

Here and there, the sheets have a built-in textbook function, which describes some concepts that might not be familiar to all practicing engineers. An example is the explanation of a gamma distribution:



Ready to be printed for reports

The sheets have a printing functionality, so that you can simply click the button and get a printed version of the sheet, which can be added to a design report.

Teaches you to use the Eurocodes

For those designing engineers who didn't grow up with the Eurocodes, and need to make the step from previoulsy used national codes to the Eurocodes, the suite of spreadsheets can be a great tool to learn using the Eurocodes. With the additional information, as well as with the fact that the sheets help the designers interpret the codes, the sheets can be a great tool to understand what the requirements of the Eurocodes are.

Comprehensive software

The software is very comprehensive. It is organized per Eurocode, and of every Eurocode it contains all the subcodes and annexes. There's nothing left to the designer to go and look up in the code. In fact, for all that is programmed, the sheets function as an interactive version of the code.

Disadvantages

Not geared towards member design

Since the sheets are organized in exactly the same way as the Eurocodes themselves, the sheets are not fully geared towards member design. The goal of the sheets is to facilitate design (manual or through finite element software), and as such helps the designer make the choices for, for example, input of the right load and resistance factors. However, the designer will have to either cobble together pieces of the spreadsheet to help him with member design, or take some information from the sheets and then use that as input for a design calculation.

An Expat Scholar’s View from the Gulf

Since I wrote a post about the topic of finding a job after the PhD, I've been receiving a lot of feedback from you guys (thanks so much!). One of the people who approached me to discuss the employment debate a little further is John Laprise, a Visiting Professor in Residence at Northwestern University in Qatar. He's about as interdisciplinary as you can get with degrees in Media, Technology and Society; War Studies; History; Religion; and Interdisciplinary Studies. He has also worked as a consultant in the private sector for a decade in the logistics, telecommunications and higher education sectors. John contacted me and told me about his story. Since I'm now a professor at a young university in a country that might be considered as "off the beaten path" as well, my curiosity was triggered, and I asked John to share his story on PhD Talk.

I recently re-entered the job market for the first time in ten years from Doha, Qatar. In 2003, I began my PhD at Northwestern. Five years later, they approached me and asked me to join the faculty of their new campus following my graduation. I was fortunate. I was the right person at the right place at the right time. I could teach needed courses, my research was portable, I had lived previously in the Middle East, I did not have a family to complicate relocation, and I had a solid reputation as a graduate student. I was also an older graduate student having spent ten years in the private sector consulting before returning to university.

In 2009 I arrived in Doha and for the past four years, I have been part of an amazing project. There have been many challenges. Starting a university campus is no small feat but the faculty, staff, and students have produced a truly remarkable program over the intervening years. Along the way, my faculty position has afforded me amazing opportunities. Northwestern supports active global scholarship at international conferences which has enabled me to stay connected with disciplinary colleagues and build new international networks of contacts and collaborators. Moreover, I have had truly unique opportunities for interaction ranging from a serendipitous coffee with Vint Cerf to chatting with cast members from Kevin Spacey’s touring production of Richard III. I have had the incredible good fortune to work with ictQatar, the government council that regulates and sets policy for information and communication technology. Many if not most of the amazing interactions I have had here are unthinkably improbable if I were a junior faculty member in the United States.

It is thus with some regret that I confront the end of my time in Doha and look forward to new challenges and opportunities. Unlike many colleagues who have written about the dismal state of the academic job market, I have a decidedly rosier if broader point of view.

I will never be unemployed unless I choose to be.

As an international academic, I quickly realized that as a holder of a US PhD, I would always be able to find a job if I did not limit myself to US academia. Start-up universities are eager to fill newly created faculty positions while existing universities are always interested in improving the prestige of their departments. While US universities receive significant criticism within the US, they have a strong global brand and a US PhD is prestige. PhD holders from US universities are globally rare and sought after, regardless of discipline. A PhD can be a credential for non-academic employment. International organizations and governments are eager to hire PhDs.

PhD holders are trained to be creators of new knowledge and in an information society that skill set is highly valuable.

Our information society thrives on the creation of new knowledge and PhD holders are an important part of that ecology. A PhD announces expertise at creating and sharing new knowledge in a critical and intellectually rigorous way. Disciplinarity is in some ways less important than the skill set that comes with the discipline. These skills are also very valuable outside of academia. I am a historian of computers and the same skills I use to sift through archives and construct narratives is equally useful when I consult on trends in technology policy.

I want to be paid for doing intellectually challenging work with people I like.

My happiness is important to me and I value it highly. Crucially, I do not define who or what or where my employer might be. I think of myself as a renaissance artisan or condottiere whose work is supported by a patron. When the funding runs out, the contract ends, or the interests of patron and scholar diverge, I must find a new patron. This does not diminish the quality of my work or my professionalism. This is the situation I find myself in currently. Northwestern has established itself in Qatar and is now developing a strong regional research program while I study White House computerization. “It’s nothing personal. It’s just business.”

Non-tenure track faculty are underpaid academic consultants.

Post-docs, visiting and adjunct faculty tread academic water hoping for a tenure track line, but most will drown without ever landing that position. If these academic consultants decided to ply their trade in the private sector, they would almost certainly command equal if not better compensation and work-life balance but this is not an easy choice because:

Academics tend to identify with their knowledge rather than their skills.

Academic position are frequently advertised by looking for scholars with knowledge in particular areas. The private sector is interested in what skills you have. For many academics, setting aside their knowledge in a subject and identifying with the skills of an archival researcher for instance can be difficult. One big exception are scholars who are methods pioneers. They tend to make the jump without a problem. This is compounded by the fact that:

Academia does not encourage taking risks.

Graduate students spend five or more years at the mercy of their committees. In some cases, this is a benevolent tyranny but in others it’s more like the Terror. Tenure-track faculty are no less ruled by tenure review committees. So for ten or more years, academics are encouraged to take some risks but only within circumscribed bounds. It’s no wonder that many academics fear a private sector job search.

It has never been easier to search for a job.

Internet ubiquity and the global hunger to fill challenging positions means that employment and networking opportunities abound. Spread your wings and move a little outside your comfort zone. Odds are your comfort zone is actually bigger than you thought it was.

Silver Linings: Binaural Beats for Study and Writing

For some time now, I've been using binaural beats to help me focus while I am writing. I am not convinced that the binaural beats themselves help me focus, but for some reason the ritual of putting a binaural track, taking my headphones and committing to finish something makes my productivity soar.

The "science" behind the effect of binaural beats seems to be incomplete at most, and very often fishy. Most likely, using a white noise generator would give me the same results - and I don't think I'm experiencing anything else than a placebo effect.

Nonetheless - when I really need to start cranking out a lot of words, and music makes me irritable because I start to listen to the lyrics or decipher the notes that every instrument is playing, I use these binaural beats to reach a state of elevated focus.

With that said, and -hopefully- convincing you guys that I'm not the person to take any spiriwiri mumbojumbo that has not passed some rigorous testing and that is back by Good Science, I would like to invite you to try out binaural beats and see if they help your study and writing too (or a white noise generator sound).

What are binaural beats?
Binaural beats result when two nearly similar frequencies are played in each ear when you are listening to headphones. Your brain will process this information, and you will "hear" a third frequency. For example, when one ear hears 100Hz and the other ear 110Hz, you will hear 10Hz as a result.

What do binaural beats do
According to the alternative medicine community, if you hear this 10Hz difference, your brain waves will increase by 10Hz too. Because there are different frequencies of the brainwaves, it is said that the binaural beat that you hear, can induce a certain state of mind.

Benefit of binaural tracks
Binaural tracks are similar to white noise generators, although they seem to have a little more variation to themselves. I quite like the binaural tracks that are combined with sounds of running water. Since most tracks on YouTube are either 30 minutes or an hour long, you can commit to finishing a certain task within half an hour or an hour, take your headphones, switch on the track and finish it before the track ends.
It's a trick you are playing on your mind, but one that you might like to try out and see if it improves your productivity, for example with this track"



Have you tried using binaural beats during study or writing? How is your experience?

PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: Getting Started with Working in a Research Lab

This post is part of the series PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: posts written for the Dutch academic career network AcademicTransfer, your go-to resource for all research positions in the Netherlands.

These posts are sponsored by AcademicTransfer, and tailored to those of you interested in pursuing a research position in the Netherlands.

If these posts raise your interest in working as a researcher in the Netherlands, even better - and feel free to fire away any questions you might have on this topic!

So you've found yourself a great PhD program and supervisor, which is part of your Plan for Your Academic Life, and now you're supposed to get started with your experiments in the lab of your research group.

After a few days of taking care of the basics of getting started in your program and doing all the paperwork, you're excited to get started working in your research lab.

You start with a smile on your face, maybe even whistling while you work.

And then you break something.

And then all your experiments go wrong.

And then you stay up all night trying to fix something.

And then you just want to go back to mom and pop and give up on it all.

Before you go down this road, which some might consider as your lab baptism, you might as well sit down and reflect first. Sharpen your pencil, and get planned. I can't repeat it often enough, but planning is an essential part of getting sh*t done.

Even though some productivity gurus might claim that planning takes too much time and that it is not productive time, I beg to differ. In academia, in experiments and in research, there's no point in getting start without making a plan.

So what should your plan for getting started in a research lab contain?

1. Basic literature review
Before you get started, make sure you have at least a basic grasp of the topic you will be studying. Just spend a few afternoons with a delightful cup of coffee or tea to work your way through a few seminal research papers before you start pottering around in the lab. You might not understand all the details of these papers, and that's perfectly OK. Make sure you can produce about 5 pages of text describing what you want to test, why you need to do this, and what your possible outcomes could be.

2. Materials needed
List the materials and equipment that you need for the experiments you want to carry out. Go to the lab to take stock of what is available, and bug someone to order whatever you need if it's missing or almost running out.

3. Planning of your (first series of) experiments
Yeah right, planning experiments? As if that ever goes according to plan... Well, you need a planning even though you might find yourself adjusting your planning throughout your lab days. Making a planning for your experiments helps you to determine which parameter you want to study, and what really matters to your research question.

4. Gantt chart for your experiments
If your experiments consist of different steps, make a Gantt chart outlining which actions should be taking place when. For example, if you are doing research on concrete specimens, you'll need to schedule time for preparing the reinforcement and formwork, then casting the specimen, then waiting 28 days, and then testing the specimen.

5. Setting up your labbook
How will your labbook be? Make an overview of what you want to note down of every experiment. I made a sample sheet and predictions for every experiment, and printed this before every test. During the tests, I would scribble down my notes, and have my predictions handy in case somebody passed by to ask what the theory said.

6. Starting a research diary
Start a document that serves as your research diary, in which you track what you did throughout your experiments. This can be part of your labbook, or you can start a notebook in EverNote.

7. Set up a processing protocol
What will you do with the raw data of your experiments? Have a plan in place for processing your data, before you have gigabytes full of raw data and no time to start coding a way to process your results into graphs. Set up a sheet that can read your raw data and process it into visual information. I used Matlab, because I prefer to see my code rather than having it hidden in awful cell-based formulas (as in MS Excel).

8. Set up a storage protocol
How are you going to save your data? Are you going to make a folder per experiment, or will you save things together per parameter? Set up a protocol and stick to it, so that you can easily find everything back once you're in the full swing of your experiments. Oh, and now that we're at it, include a protocol for making back-ups of your data as well. If the world succumbs to a zombie apocalypse, you might still want to have your data, instead of needing to repeat your experiments.

9. Plan time for writing
If you have a protocol for processing your data into visuals, you also need a protocol for preparing your research report. Set up the skeleton of the report of your testing, outline the data you need to write about, and start filling it out every single experiment to stay on course.

For experiments in a research lab, having a good plan is a great starting point. You might feel tempted now to run into the lab and start tackling your research. I'll have to bring you to a halt again, and point out the following things to consider before you really hit the ground running:

1. Learn from the more senior researchers
Get together with more experienced PhD researchers in your lab over lunch or coffee, and ask for their advice. If possible, ask if you can work along with them for a few days to learn from their routines. You'll sure learn a few tricks and hints you didn't think of when preparing your Lab Plan.

2. Make friends with the technicians
I credit the success of my PhD to the wonderful support of my daily supervisor and lab technician. You're part of a team, so show your team spirit and learn from the technicians - some of them might have been in your lab for 20 years and know exactly what all the noobs do wrong when they start.

3. Ask someone for a tour
Ask a senior researcher or lab technician to take you on a tour and show you what's inside of every cupboard, and what every machine does. You might not need everything at day 1 of your experiments, but it's good to know what is available and where to find it. Heck, you might even get a few ideas by seeing what is possible in your lab.

4. Know where to find products
When you get a tour, and you know that your brain is not so good at remembering things, take notes of where to find whichever product you might need for your experiments. Nothing is as annoying as having to explain the newbie 4 times in a row in which cupboard the markers are hiding.

5. Get acquainted with the lab etiquette
How does your lab work? When do people start working, when do they take a coffee break? When do you clean up after experiments? Learn about the customs of the lab, and adhere to the unwritten rules of your lab. Again, you're in a team, you're not a lone wolf looking for mischief.

Above everything, remember that having the opportunity to touch science with your own hands is a blessing. Even though you might get stuck and feel overwhelmed by the vast amount of experimental work that there is to be done, remember how privileged you are. And above all, remember that science is fun!

Writers' Lab: On where PhD Research gets published

Recently, I was browsing the #phdchat hashtag, when I found a great question by @larkened :

As a PhD student, is it best to publish as much as possible even if in low impact factor journals? I'm being encouraged that way :s #phdchat

— louise (@larkened) November 25, 2013

I typically use a waterfall technique: I shoot for the publication in which I'd love my research to appear, and if that gets rejected, I try to submit elsewhere.

Admittedly, I don't always follow up so well. I have a paper sitting on my hard drive that got rejected in 2012, and I haven't come to the point to rework it yet. To my defense, I have to say that I wrote the paper for a special edition of a journal, aiming at comparing European and North-American practice, so I'm still in doubt as to where else it would fit. It's one of those looming tasks on my to-do list - and since it was my first rejection ever, it has some -ahum- emotional baggage on it.

Anyway, let's focus on what matters to PhD students who want to publish. (Read: you gotta publish, it's so important!):
Be bold.
Aim high.
Ditch the imposter crap.

I think aiming high might encourage you to go the extra mile (it does for me, at least, I figure that some people might see it as unmotivating to try and reach for that extra bit).

And here's the Storify that has excellent comments from more experienced researchers on this topic - absolutely worth reading:

Setting goals for 2014

2013 was the first year for which I set goals - unfortunately I moved to another continent and left the diary behind which had my list of goals. Oops.

For 2014, I made goals, added a timeline and actionable steps to them, and saved them as well in my Todoist account. It might be a lot that I'm trying to achieve, but I like keeping my standards high. Even if I only get a fraction of everything done, I will still have done quite a number of things.

And because accountability is scary and all that, I decided to share my goals, and review at the end of the year how well or poorly I fared.

My academic goals for 2014 are the following:
- try a month of writing daily from 6am to 8am
- start up a laboratory at the university where I'm currently employed
- get involved in a bridge design project
- teach awesome courses to my students
- organize a science communication course
- graduate 4 thesis students
- write a grant proposal
- submit at least 6 journal papers for review (priority number 1!)
- learn Spanish

My health/personal goals for 2014 are the following:
- get back onto the FLO living protocol for eating and time management
- try a month of going to the gym daily at 6am
- eat vegan for a month
- revisit the Silva course
- find friends in my new city Quito
- give up refined sugar for 40 days
- buy an apartment
- exercise daily
- meditate daily
- journal daily
- read 60 books

And for PhD Talk, I'd like to do the following:
- transform PhD Talk
- write a book
- teach a social media workshop
- write 10 guest posts for other blogs

And a few fun activities that I want to do:
- go hike in a national park
- run a race
- play more music
- go horseriding in nature
- volunteer a couple of days on an organic farm and forest-keeping project
- get involved with the local TEDx community
- write a bundle of poems and publish them
- go for a singing weekend
- study an NLP course
- climb the Cotopaxi volcano
- attend a meditation workshop
- do one handscraft project
- go on a yoga weekend
- draw 7 mandalas

What are your goals for 2014? Have you made a list of fun things that you would like to do as well, to get enough downtime?