how to succeed as a research degree student

8/13/2019 How to Succeed as a Research Degree Student

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How tosucceed asa research

degreestudent

m

aintain

goodw

orkin

g

relat

ionsw

ith

supe

rvisors

havearealistic,

motivated

attitude

gethelpwhennecessary

manage

time

effectively

write

regularly


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How to succeed as a

research degree student

To succeed as a research degree student means to

complete your thesis in the required time and have it

favourably received by your examiners. It is important too

that your research is respected by your peers for example,

through seminar and conference presentations.

How do you achieve this success? Research shows that to

be a highly successful research degree student, you need

to:

maintain good working relations with your supervisors

write regularly

manage your time effectively

have a realistic attitude and stay motivated

get help when necessary.

These characteristics are discussed in the following pages,

with some additional information showing how they are

catered for at the University of South Australia (UniSA).


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Maintaingoo

d

workingrelations

Maintain good working relations with

your supervisors

Choose the right supervisors people with research

proles in your eld who are able to mentor you and work

professionally with you as you become an increasingly

independent expert in your eld.

If your thesis is interdisciplinary you may need additional

supervisors to cover all elds.

Meet and discuss problems regularly.

Set goals together.

Communicate regularly by email.

Talk openly about supervision concerns.

If your supervision is not working, deal with it sooner

rather than later. Discuss it with:

x your supervisors

x your school or institutes research education: porfolio

leader (or equivalent)

x your divisions dean of research.

Keep a written record of all discussions.

While relationships between students and academic advisers are more

exible and collegial these days, they remain hierarchical. Your supervisor

is still your primary academic guide and mentor during your candidatureand your relationship is of critical importance. (Mare Krone in Denholm &

Evans 2006, p. 24)


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Writeregularly

Write regularly

Set deadlines for written work and tell your supervisor

what they are.

Synthesise information and write something about your

research often.

Write about what you are reading.

Write regularly even when you think your writing is notgood enough.

Use the MS Word thesis template provided by UniSA (or

adapted other template) from day one.

Keep a research diary, journal, log book or lab book and

record every detail.

Get help if you are stuck.

Seriously consider publishing your research as you go.

PhD theses containing published research are almost the

norm in some disciplines.

Writing is a way of validating the underlying premise of the research

work that is, that you have a thesis or hypothesis and that your

approach and argument, or your experimental design will test these

ideas and provide new insight. Even if you are not sure that you have

anything new to say, it is still worth writing. Your supervisor understands

that it takes time for the new ideas to emerge and appreciates anywriting at all rather than nothing. (Robyn Owens in Denholm & Evans

2006, p. 176)


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Manage your time effectively

Treat your research degree as a job.

x Set regular hours and stick to them.

x Have a proper workplace at home, in addition to the

workplace provided at UniSA.

x Set deadlines and stick to them.

x Take breaks and holidays.

Avoid distractions.

x Make your research degree a major priority in your

life.

x Set goals and realise that you have to let some other

things go.

x Avoid over-commitment to distracting activities.

x Dont let anything interfere with your study

timetable.

Limit paid employment.

x The primary role of full-time research degree

students is to work on their thesis and complete

within the allocated time of candidature. It istherefore recommended that full-time research

degree students undertake paid employment of no

more than 8 hours per week.

x If you must work longer hours, switch to part-time

study.

Manageyo

urtime

effectively


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g

y

eff

ectively

Another strategy during thesis preparation where my main task was

writing full-time was to treat it like a job. I would be at the computer [or

laboratory] by 08.30, with a break for coffee at 10.00, with lunch at 12.30,another break at 15.00 and nish at 17.00. These breaks reect my normal

ofce routine, which gave me a sense of being back at the ofce. (Louise

Reynolds in Vilkinas 2005, p. 8)


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Have a realistic attitude and stay

motivated

Remember, its a research degree not a Nobel Prize

(although it could lead to a Nobel Prize). Your research

degree is one small step, not the answer to the meaning

of life.

Research something you are passionate about you

have to maintain your interest for at least 23 years.

It is better to research a question than a topic. In the

beginning this will be broad, but as you proceed it will

be rened. It is the itch you are trying to scratch in

your research.

Avoid becoming strangled by perfectionism. Just do

your best and accept your strengths and limitations.

Have an I can do it attitude failure is not an option:

x A research degree is 90% persistence and 10%

intelligence (Einstein who, incidentally, failed his

PhD on the rst attempt).

Have a plan with built-in milestones eg researchproposal, ethics approval, literature review, conferences,reviews of progress.

x Stick to your plan.

x Develop supports.

x Reward goals and milestones when you attain them

in your research. Keep at it.

Havearealisticattitude

&

staym

otivated


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Remember, your research degree provides you with anopportunity to engage with a research project of yourchoice for an extended period. Such opportunities in thefuture may be limited by the demands of employers orresearch organisations.

Make the most of this opportunity and gain maximumbenet from it.

Havearealisticattitude

&staym

otivated

One way to stay motivated is sustained tracking of progress.

Tracking your progress means that you can push yourself into action to

meet a deadline or plan a reward or a well-earned break, when you know

that you have reached a signicant milestone in the doctoral journey.

(Jacqueline Rowarth & Pam Green in Denholm & Evans 2006, pp. 115-6)


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Get help when necessary

A research degree is a supervised training program. Accept that its OK to get help sooner rather than

later.

Ask your supervisor.

Talk to your school or institute's research education:

portfolio leader (or equivalent). Talk to a lecturer in research education (Learning and

Teaching Unit).

Talk to other students.

Join a peer support group or online community.

Attend on-campus RESA (Research Education Support

Activities) workshops.

Work through RESA online support materials.

Network with other researchers in your eld.

Attend conferences.

Gethelpwhen

ne

cessary

As a mature-aged candidate, separated, with a young family, teaching

full-time and enrolled in a doctorate part-time at a university over 600

km from my home, I knew that setting up my own peer support group

was the only way I would survive. Indeed, during my long, eight-year

candidature I belonged to four such groupsI continue to belong to one

group with two fellow academics, a number of years since graduation.

(Kath Fisher in Denholm & Evans 2006, p. 41)


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Resources

Your supervisors are your best resource. However, during your degree you

will also benefit from the following resources.

Websites

These UniSA websites are key resources for your studies.

Research degrees students

www.unisa.edu.au/researchstudents for life cycle information,

administrative processes, key policies and contacts

Research Education Support Activities

www.unisa.edu.au/researchstudents > Workshops & resources

(left menu)for on-campus and online workshops and resources

Resources for Research Degree Graduate Qualities

Research Education Support Activities > Research Degree

Graduate Qualities(left menu) for support in completing yourreviews of progress and developing the qualities you will need in your

future career

Books

As a research degree student (particularly if you are a doctoral student)

you will nd the following Australian books useful. UniSA Library hasmultiple copies of each.

Denholm, C & Evans, T (eds) 2006, Doctorates downunder: keys to

successful doctoral study in Australia and New Zealand, ACER Press,

Camberwell, Victoria.

Full of valuable information about every aspect of doing a doctorate.

Buy a copy and refer to it regularly as you progress through yourresearch degree.


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(This resource is based on Kearns, Hugh and Gardiner, Maria 2006, The 7secrets of highly successful PhD students, Flinders University)

Produced by the

Graduate Research Centre

City West campus

University of South Australia

April 2013

Gardiner, Maria & Kearns, Hugh 2010, Turbocharge your writing:

how to become a prolic academic writer, Adelaide, S. Aust. :

Thinkwell

Kearns, Hugh & Gardiner, Maria 2006, Defeating self-sabotage:

getting your PhD nished, Adelaide : Staff Development and TrainingUnit, Flinders University.

Kearns, Hugh & Gardiner, Maria 2006, The 7 secrets of highly

successful PhD students, Adelaide : Staff Development and Training

Unit, Flinders University

Anything by these authors will be relevant full of practical tips. They

also run workshops.

Vilkinas, T (ed) 2005, The thesis journey: tales of personal triumph,

Pearson Education, Frenchs Forest, NSW.

CRICOS provider Number: 00121B


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how to succeed as a research degree student

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