After my dissertation defense last August,
my adviser Jay asked me to write down some reflections on being a graduate
student. I am never one to pass up an invitation to pontificate (even if it is eight
months late) so here goes. As implied by the title, I took five (and a-half) years
to complete my PhD. True that was one year more than necessary, yes in Europe
they do it in three, and I know that Jay did it in four (Tamara probably did
too but I couldn't find her CV anywhere). I was not the ideal graduate student
for this and many other reasons. However, I had a fabulous graduate experience.
The counsel below is based on both successes and failures (both my own and
others') but I'll let you guess which is which. Since this post is pretty dry, I've added some photos we took today in and around Saint Vitus cathedral in Prague. I don't see any direct connection with the text but maybe you'll find something.
Be
thankful (and say thank you). Pursuing an advanced degree is a huge privilege. Feeling
and expressing gratitude gives you perspective and peace. It will also make you
easier to get along with. Feeling entitled makes you feel resentful and makes
others resent you. Better to be grateful.
Take responsibility for your education.
It is liberating (and scary) to realize that the content and quality of your
experience depends above all on you. Sure, your advisor, program, university,
and project play a role too, but I believe these are secondary factors. At the
end of your five and a-half years (however long that is for you) you will be
the one walking away with a degree. Decide what you want to learn and structure
your work to acquire that knowledge and skills.
Figure out what your question is and
why it matters. Science requires a painful amount of time and energy. Before
putting yourself through that, make sure you have a meaningful hypothesis and
that your experiment will actually test that hypothesis. Your work will
probably not resolve the issue or question completely, but as a wise PhD
advisor once said, "A weak test of a strong hypothesis is always better
than a strong test of a weak hypothesis." To identify a meaningful
question or problem you need to know the state of the science. Read the papers
that are cited in the research proposal that funds your work and then read
more. If you are like me, reading is difficult until you need it, and then reading
is fun. Realize you need to read early so that it is fun.
Interpret criticism constructively. It’s
easy to feel defensive and attacked when your work is criticized. You spent a
lot of time thinking through your ideas and writing them down and it’s not
comfortable to have someone pick them apart in a way that will likely require
rethinking, reworking, and rewriting. Whether or not the criticism was intended
constructively or given graciously, you can learn from it and it can improve
your work. Along these lines, you will probably get more input from your
adviser than anyone else during your graduate career (if this isn’t the case
don’t complain). If you don't have the right perspective, all that correction
can leave you feeling like your advisor is not your friend or not on your side.
“If only she wouldn’t get in my way I would be done by now.” “He keeps on
changing his mind!” In the vast majority of cases your advisor is your friend,
even if you (or they) don't think they are. In the rare case that they are not
your friend you can get a lot of mileage out of pretending they are.
Having a hard time getting along with
your adviser? Does she or he sometimes really bother you? Guess what? Unless
your adviser is Terry Chapin (who, as far as I can tell, loves everyone), there
is probably something about you that bothers them too. It is easier to be patient and tolerant with your
advisor when you remember that you surely will need their patience and
tolerance.
Be a good citizen. Don't think
exclusively about what you can get from this experience. Look around for
opportunities to serve and help others. When the department head needs
volunteers, volunteer. If your advisor is preparing for a site visit, offer to
help. You shouldn't just give service to get something back, but it is
undeniable that being a good citizen and saying yes when others ask for help or
participation opens doors and smooths the path.
This point may not make me popular with
the graduate student association, but I'm going to side with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn on this one.
Graduate school is a time “to defend not so much human rights as human
obligations." Worry about fulfilling your responsibilities before getting
caught up in asserting your rights. You can feel indignant about how you work
60 hours but only get paid for 20, or you can put those 60 hours to full effect
and get a heck of a lot more than just salary for your effort. All people
should be treated with respect and I am not saying to keep quiet if there is a
real problem or abuse. I am, however, saying that being adversarial about real
or perceived injustice rarely leads to a good place. If, after you have
fulfilled your responsibility, there is still a problem, try to resolve it by
talking individually with your advisor, committee, or appropriate
administrator.
You don’t really understand
something until you have written it down. This is as true for a list of field
supplies as it is for a hypo-deductive framework. Start writing as soon as you
have an idea, not after you have all your data. Write the introduction to your
papers before you do the experiment. Write when you read. Write every day. Writing
a lot will help you order your thinking and be more comfortable with changing
or cutting sections of text. It can be fun (I promise).
Rethink your results. After you have
discovered a significant relationship and have a nice story to explain it, stay
skeptical and keep thinking. Alternative interpretations of your data should be
welcomed, not suppressed. Could the relationship be an experimental artifact (Ioannidis
2005) or might you have reversed cause and effect (Gould
and Lewontin 1994)? Think and write broadly when discussing your findings and
invite others to give their opinions.
Enjoy looking for learning. Like the
Enterprise, good science goes where no-one has gone before. That usually
involves lots of dead-ends, breakdowns, and Ctrl+Alt+Del. These hang-ups can distract
you from the amazing experience of generating new understanding. You are seeing
things in a way that no-one has before. The long walks down dead-ends contribute
to your growth and increases your ability to effectively implement the
scientific method. Start out early so you can enjoy getting lost and fully benefit
from all the breakdowns. When you remember to breathe, this is a pretty rad job.
References
Gould, S.
J., and R. C. Lewontin. 1994. The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian
paradigm: A critique of the adaptationist programme. Conceptual issues in
evolutionary biology.
Ioannidis, J. P. A. 2005. Why Most Published Research Findings Are
False. PLoS Med.