“Physics Is In Eternal Chaos. You Have To Adapt To This Condition And Like It Or You Will Become A

Dissertation Writing: My Experience, Tips + Tricks

This is a long awaited post that I have procrastinated writing. I would like to start with a dissclaimer that there are two types of students in their final year of college/university who will be writing their dissertations - those who care and those who do not. If you’re reading this post and researching advice for writing a dissertation it means that you care (at least enough to not fail it). I am sharing advice that I have learned last year, as I had 9 months to write my dissertation and ended up doing it pretty well. 

Before I begin, I would like you to pay attention to other advice posts on Tumblr that I found useful last year - HERE, HERE and HERE. 

1. START EARLY. The summer BEFORE your final year at university is the most crucial reading period for your dissertation. I’m not joking. You will have to read  A LOT of research articles, maybe even books, while trying to figure out your topic and then your methodology, etc. so you need to start reading ASAP. I made sure I looked at (at least) 2 research articles every day and once I found something useful, I would archive the necessary articles in RefWorks or Zotero. I also maintained a running Word Doc with links and APA citations for references that I used. You can use extensions like Zotero/RefWorks to make a reference list of all of your readings. They also help you reference authors/texts while writing your sections. 

2. DEDICATE A NOTEBOOK. I dedicated a SEPARATE notebook for ALL of my dissertation notes! I would include information learned during the dissertation lectures, meetings with my advisor, research notes, any questions I had and then when I started data collection (because I did an experiment). Yours might be different but it’s a great idea to store all of the necessary information in one place and have access to it whenever you need it. 

3. HAVE A SEPARATE FOLDER. In the same fashion, I bought a separate acordion file folder like THIS ONE to store the dissertation handbook, printed research articles, etc. in one place. As long as it is A4 size and doesn’t have annoying handles it will work fine. 

4. FIGURE OUT DEADLINES. Pay attention to your dissertation handbook/syllabus (depending on your school) for important deadlines. I liked color coding my lectures and assignments in my planner, so I assigned a color for all tasks/events/assignments/presentations, etc. regarding my dissertation and wrote them down in my planner. I also use a monthly printable calendar, that’s pinned next to my desk, for a monthly overview of important things I need to remember to do. THESE are great, I also used THESE. 

5. SET MEETINGS. During the first week of lectures, schedule a meeting with your advisor to discuss your summer research and topic. Your advisor will be the most important person regarding your dissertation work, as they will be able to offer you advise, challenge you to think of better arguments regarding your topic, scold you when you will be procrastinating, praise you for when you will be doing well and most importantly read your drafts. And trust me, you will have a lot of drafts. That first meeting is crucial to start off work well, as your advisor may have more than one student to supervise. You want to make a good + lasting impression. 

6. WORK IN SECTIONS. If you’re worried about writing a big + long paper, this will help you out the most. Our professors emphasized working on sections before putting the whole paper together and this tip helped us keep sane. We started working on writing our literature review first, which included all of our references that we collected + read throughout the summer. We then moved onto writing an introduction, followed by methodology. These three sections were the most important for us to pass our research proposal and the course for the fall semester. During the spring semester, we worked on data collection and results, discussion and conclusion sections (in that order). Yes, work in sections is very detailed, but during the spring semester it was nice to know that I have already written half of my dissertation and needed to finish writing it. 

7. EDITING, EDITING + MORE EDITING. I have mentioned earlier that writing your dissertation will include of A LOT of drafts. I had at least 30 (I’m not joking). When finishing writing a draft take a break before editing your writing. You will constantly be thinking of ways to improve your paragraphs and arguments, so don’t worry about it not being perfect the first time around. For extra writing help, check out THIS and THIS blog post. 

8. PROPOSAL. Don’t worry too much about it, as by now you’re the expert on your topic, so make a strong power point and slay the presentation. I made sure I had a good visual presentation (it was important for my topic), but I had to fit a lot of information in about 7 minutes (and it felt impossible). So I talked very fast and this was the only critique that I received from most of the professors in my department. Proposals are great for receiving comments about your dissertation and any improvements you can make regarding methods, etc. So think of it as a helpful step for you to better your dissertation to receive a good final grade. 

9. DATA COLLECTION. If you need to collect and analyze data, make sure you dedicate enough time for it! I needed to have 90 participants in my study and I struggled to collect data, because my campus consisted of only a couple hundred students. I ended up collecting data for a month, so make sure you have that extra time in case you will need it. Same goes for statisical analyses if you need to do them. For stats, a great resource is Laerd Statistics. 

10. DEFENSE. This is the most important step regarding your dissertation, so stay consistent for ultimate success. I’m not going to pretend that I was not nervous before my defense, we ALL were, but we could not really change anything about it. We just had to do it and knowing that other students have survived it made me feel better. I also listened to A LOT of Beyonce to calm my nerves beforehand, as I was the first one to present. Safe to say that my presentation was a horror story, because the professors on my judging pannel did not understand my topic, no matter how slowly and clearly I tried to explain everything (yeah, I don’t really want to talk about it)… So I genuinely thought I was DONE. My potential career as a researcher was ruined… However, I still ended up getting one of the highest grades for my year and this was all in the past, so now I feel much better about my first dissertation experience. But I have to admit that on the day I was not happy about it AT ALL. I should also mention that I was given the opportunity to present my research at an academic conference and I did really well there + other professors and professionals understood my topic well, so I did feel confident going into my defense and it ended up being a disaster 😂😂😂 

11. IT’S HARD. This is a bonus warning that the whole dissertation writing process is very lonely and stressful. Yes, your peers will be writing their dissertations as well, but we like to internalize the struggles and not care about our friends as much, even if we are all going through the same thing. People will also have different attitudes about writing their dissertations, as I have mentioned in the disclaimer, so stay focused on your work and DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS. Think of it as an adventure and a learning experience! I definitely learned a lot about what it is like to write a full research project and present it to other academics and learned that it is something I would like to continue doing in the future.😊 ALSO let’s not ignore how stressful last year was for me personally, so I would recommend scheduling a holiday after your dissertation defense/graduation, so that you have something nice to look forward to!

I hope these tips help some of you out! I wish you ALL THE BEST if you’re writing your dissertation/thesis this year! If I did it, you CAN TOO! Just believe + trust yourself! 

 If you would like to read more from me, click HERE to see other blog posts for back to school! You can also follow my studygram HERE for some inspiration!

Happy Birthday to moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, born as Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr. in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, on January 20, 1930. 

Since you guys asked me about my double column notes-taking method, here it is how it works. It’s very simple and easy to use when you want to repeat the subject before exams or when you have to study from a huge book text! :)

8 Things You Need to Chill Out About

1. The few things that aren’t going right. – When things go wrong, take a moment to be thankful for all the other things that are still going right. And if you’re struggling to be thankful for what you have, be thankful for what you have escaped. Sometimes the best gifts in life are the troubles you don’t have.

2. Trying to label everyone and everything. – Sometimes you’ve just got to take people and situations for what they are, appreciate them, and not try to label them or change them.

3. Worrying about what everyone else thinks. – The minute you stop overwhelming your mind with caring about what everyone else thinks, and start doing what you feel in your heart is right, is the minute you will finally feel freedom.

4. Wasting time on the wrong people. – You cannot make someone respect you; all you can do is be someone who can be respected. No matter how much you care some people just won’t care back. At some point you have to realize the truth – that they no longer care or never did, and that maybe you’re wasting your time and missing out on someone else who does.

5. Old wounds and grudges. – You will never find peace until you learn to finally let go of the hatred and hurt that lives in your heart. In order to move on, you must know why you felt the way you did, and why you no longer need to feel that way. It’s about accepting the past, letting it be, and pushing your spirit forward with good intentions.

6. Superficial judgments. –Every human being is beautiful; it just takes the right set of eyes to see it.

7. Letting small disagreements snowball out of control. – Don’t let a single poisonous moment of misunderstanding make you forget about the countless lovable moments you’ve spent together.

8. Showing a lack of self-respect. – Decide this minute to never again beg anyone for the love, respect, and attention that you should be showing yourself. Choose to be your own best friend.

Source: http://www.marcandangel.com/2012/12/14/9-things-you-need-to-chill-out-about/ (Abridged)

The surface of Mars, pictured by NASA’s Viking 1 lander on July 24, 1976. (National Archives)

you all know how much i hate the idea that you have to be super rich to run a successful studyblr. i already have a tag for studyblr discourse and tips to run a studyblr on a budget, but i still love the look of all the expensive stationery - so here’s a masterpost of dupes for the big name brands!

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Astronaut Journal Entry - First Days on Space Station

Currently, six humans are living and working on the International Space Station, which orbits 250 miles above our planet at 17,500mph. Below you will find a real journal entry, written in space, by NASA astronaut Scott Tingle.

To read more entires from this series, visit our Space Blogs on Tumblr.

At 22:00, after initial “safing” and unpacking of Soyuz, we finally retired to our quarters. It was very hard to sleep, and I think the busy days leading us to the International Space Station (ISS) were beginning to take their toll. We were scheduled for a full day of work to include familiarization of safety equipment as well as beginning to prepare several science experiments for action. 

The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft arrived to ISS a couple days before we did, and its cargo included several experiments that needed to be conducted promptly upon arrival. I was doing a great job of floating from one module to another. Since I was a little behind schedule due to having to learn where everything is, I decided I could speed up my floating to be more expeditious. Well, we know how that usually goes and this time was no exception. I gathered a “bag of knots” (aviator slang for “going really fast”) and began a healthy transition from Node 2 into the Columbus module – where I predictably hit the top of my head. Ouch. The following three days (Tuesday-Saturday) were challenging as we worked to integrate all of our new knowledge and increase our efficiencies. The senior crew was very helpful and understanding. I was very grateful of how they managed our arrival and how they slowly passed down the information we needed to get started. Everything was different from life on Earth. Everything. We quickly figured out that we needed to think differently as we began to adapt to life in space. Drinking water, preparing food, eating food, using the toilet, working, physical training, etc., all different. I had a good handle on the differences and what to expect before I got there. But I didn’t expect that when operations got very busy that my reflexes would respond naturally as they did on Earth. The light bulb came on. I was going to have to move slower and think about everything before I took action. This is why space fliers new to this environment appear to be less efficient than most managers and/or operations planners would like. Adaptation to life in space takes time, and you can’t rush it.

On day three, I finally had the opportunity to look out the Cupola (window facing Earth). My Lord, what a beautiful sight. I could see the sun rising in front of us, darkness below and behind us, and a bright blue ring highlighting the curvature of the Earth as the sun began to rise. Absolutely amazing!

We wrapped up our busy week and celebrated Saturday night by enjoying some rehydrated meats and instant juices! Christmas Eve, we had a few tasks that kept us busy, and the same on Christmas Day. Fortunately, we were able to have video conferences with our families over the holiday, and it was really nice to talk with them. We also had a very short celebration for Christmas after work was done. Our wonderful Behavioral Health Professionals at NASA had sent us Christmas stockings in the SpaceX cargo delivery. I added the small gifts that I brought for the crew – superhero socks! Mark got Hulk socks, Nemo (Norishige Kanai) got Spiderman socks, Joe got Deadpool socks, Anton got Superman socks, and Sasha and I got Batman socks. NOW, we are ready to conquer space!  

Find more ‘Captain’s Log’ entries HERE.

Follow NASA astronaut Scott Tingle on Instagram and Twitter.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.  

South Demerdji, Crimea by Alexander Trashin

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