Some Pointers My Prof Gave Me Before I Began Grad School

Some pointers my Prof gave me before I began grad school

Yesterday I visited my university (undergrad) after two years in order to collect documents since I’m moving to grad school. I contacted one of my profs there and asked for advice, as I was nervous about joining research after such a long gap. Here is the advice he gave me:

General tips:

1. Be truthful to your research. Do not copy down somebody else’s work, even if you know you won’t be found out. Trust me on this, being accused of plagiarism is the worst thing to happen to a researcher and if you are exposed later on in career, your entire reputation will go down the drain.

2. Don’t hesitate to ask for help. He screwed up an instrument and waited 6 months before asking one of his subordinate who fixed it in 5 minutes. Imagine the amount of work he could have accomplished in those six months.

3. Manage your time well. Grad school is extremely demanding and some days you may not have time for sleep. Do not put off important work if you have time else you’ll end up doing it all in a hurry and without quality.

4. Every professor/guide/supervisor has her own unique method of teaching. Respect that and try to adapt. Even if you don’t understand most of what they teach, just listen. You might get a fresh perspective on things.

5. Be in touch with your teachers from undergrad etc. and ask them if you get stuck. They might help you out or at least guide you to someone who can.

6. Choose your topic wisely. Study the trends and know what are thrust areas in your field. However, the choice of guide is a major one. Make sure you understand the ways of your supervisor. Ask around, google his papers etc. and make sure he is not someone you’d hate for the entire extent of your school.

Tips related to Science research:

1. Know that there are more than one ways to solve a problem. However you cannot try them all due to time/energy/resources restrictions (or simply because your guide advises you against it). You need to know your limits and try methods that are optimized to your situation.

2. Be like Feynman. He knew his theory but he was a good experimentalist too. Have a balanced approach and know your strengths. If you are experimentalist, interact with theoreticians in order to get an idea of their approach and vice-a-versa. Your goal is to get the result and understand how you got it.

3. You are in research not only to understand a theory/idea but also to apply it. It is not enough to know your books, you need to be able to solve the problem you are tackling. You won’t find a complete solution because nobody has solved it (thats why YOU are working on it, aren’t you?). You need to create/discover the solution.

4. Every problem in science completes a picture/theory. However not all of them receive the limelight. Find a topic you are interested in and know something about rather than chasing a “popular” one that everyone is talking about.

5. The biggest one: Do not feel inadequate for not knowing everything.

Nobody knows everything. You are in grad school to learn too. When you get stuck, get help/ask around; do not let the fear of being inferior get in the way of learning. You have got brains enough to understand things and you can.

6. Do not rely only on teachers/guides. Often your guide/supervisor will not know anything about the problem you are struggling with and will not be able to help you. In those times, find an expert (if there is) or consult books/papers. You should be able to study on your own, without somebody pushing you or deadlines.

Well, this is all I can remember. I hope it is helpful to those of you who are in a similar situation.

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I am extremly tired of school, of having the same routine everyday. I feel like my life is repeating itself. I have no energy nor power to study anymore or even to stay grounded on my feet and face the day. what can i do about this ?

Hi hon, what I would try first of all is a grounding technique, list 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 2 things you can hear and one thing you can taste. This helps me stay grounded. What you’re experiencing sounds a lot like burnout here’s a response i usually give in terms of advice when it comes to burnout:

The way I overcame burnout was putting all my work in piles of subjects and then arranging them in order from most to least important, most important put on top. With my non-paper workload I did the same thing but as a checklist in my journal. Once I saw VISUALLY how much I had to do, which never turns out to be how much you think you have in your head, it was so much easier to attack it.

Before you start on your work, please take your time to recharge, start devoting at least an hour to self care, whether it be going for a walk, playing with pets, playing a board game with family, taking a bath and reading cheesy romance novels. Whatever you need to calm down, develop your own mantra, my personal mantra is “I know I can face whatever comes my way, the worst that can happen isn’t that bad and there’s always alternatives. My anxiety is my drive, not my impediment” After self care, do one thing at the top of each pile. The next day do the next thing in each pile, working through it methodically and taking care of yourself.

more personalised advice on top of this:

I would take out a blank piece of paper and create a mind map of what you want your life from now on to look like. Write all your core values and beliefs, your aspirations, everything you think of when you think of where you want to be in 5 years and where you want life to take you. Then you can reassess whether what you’re currently spending your time doing is worth it and taking you where you want to be. Re-motivate your life, treat this like an opportunity to plant the seed for what will turn into a blossoming and flourishing you. Create networks that leave you with so much more than school, school is only one area of your life! Find other hobbies and passions that you can nurture when you’re sick of doing school work and make sure you always go back to that mindmap, or create a new one if things change and refer to that, always go back to where the current you is taking future you and make sure you’re paving the right path for you.

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