#phdninja

So you have got the PhD checklist and you have brushed up on your time management skills but what other skills are you going to need to get through this PhD?

So that chart may look a bit scary (particularly as this is not even an extensive list) but here’s the good news – you must already have some of those skills otherwise you would not have come this far in your academic career.

However it is a good idea to identify any weaknesses you have at the START of your PhD. That way you can you can:

a)      Plan for where you have difficulties / tasks will take you a bit longer to complete

b)      You will be less stressed when it comes to the really important stuff like doing the data analysis, writing up and getting published.

c)       You will finish your PhD with more and / or stronger skills than you had before

One way of improving your skills (particularly IT skills) is through sessions that your University might provide. Although you may be tempted not to sign up to these sessions because they can take time out of your working week, they will be worth it in the end. So if you sign up to these early (in your 1st year) then at least these sessions won’t be eating into precious time to write up your work.

The careers service at your university should also be able to point you in the direction of workshops / seminars etc. both internal and external to help you with your personal development.

Sounds like a good idea? But wondering how you are going to fit it all in and keep track of it all?

Well there are tools that can help you with improving your skills and help you keep tabs on your progress!

One of the good resources that I know of is the Vitae Researcher Development Framework Planner

(http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/291411/RDF-Professional-Development-Planner.html)

This tool allows you to identify areas of improvement and keep records of what you have done to make improvements. What I really like about it is that it allows you to set deadlines for improvements which helps motivate you to actively change your skill set so you do make improvements at your own pace.

Alternatively you could set up plans / time scales using programmes such as Excel and Project planner*.

Well that’s it from me. I hope my final piece of advice is useful to you, putting you ahead of the game before you have even started. Have fun and good luck!

-Dr Fran-kenstein

Hello again ninjas, I hope your PhD searches are going well so far! As you may have guessed from the title, my post today is going to be all about writing a research proposal for a PhD. Not the most exciting of topics I know (and its going to be a long one too!), but a solid research proposal is a really important part of your application. It’s your first chance to really show off your knowledge, academic skills, and ideas to the folks who’ll be choosing between you and all the other bright young things vying for the same PhD. So, to help you get started, here’s my step-by-step guide to writing a research proposal. Also, there will be CATS.

STEP 1: DON’T PANIC!

Now I don’t know about any of you, but many peoples’ initial reaction to having to write a research proposal is something akin to:

 maybe if I hide under this newspaper long enough it’ll go away and write itself....

But there’s no need for this fear of research proposals! Hopefully, if you’ve been following the advice in our previous posts, then the PhD’s you’re applying for should be in subjects that you’re passionate about. Writing a proposal is a great opportunity to find out more about your chosen topic and really get to grips with the research area around it. Also, your PhD proposal isn’t fixed forever based on this proposal; you will be able to refine it once you’ve started, so try not to think of this as having to decide and plan your whole PhD right now, but more as a chance to explore possible research questions in your area. You should find reading around your topic and coming up with your own ideas to be an interesting, enjoyable and even inspiring process.

  STEP 2: READ THE GUIDELINES!!!

If you only remember one step from this blog then please make it this one. Different Universities and different departments will often have slightly different expectations for exactly what should be in a research proposal.  Most universities will have a section on their website with basic guidelines on what they expect from a research proposal, including things like: what sections you should include, the word limit, and what features they feel are important. Remember, your ideas may be brilliant but if you submit a proposal that doesn’t meet the university’s criteria then they may think that you either cannot follow instructions or haven’t bothered to read them, neither of which are desirable qualities in a prospective student!

This instruction manual is a very moving read but so far there’s not been much on how you actually kill mockingbirds...

STEP 3: RESEARCH & GENERATE IDEAS

If you’re applying for a PhD then odds are you’re probably fairly practised at researching a given topic AND you’re probably fairly familiar with the area you’re interested in already, so I’m not going to go into loads of detail here, just a few key things to bear in mind.

The first is to try and keep your research instinct under control! Of course you don’t want to have too little research in there, but it can be very tempting to waste a lot of time searching for the elusive “Perfect Paper” and end up not having enough time to write it up properly, or not having enough words to cram all your wonderful research and ideas into.

Research cat WILL find the “Purrfect Paper”!

My second tip is to keep notes as you’re researching, which should include the name and authors of the paper you’re looking at, and the key points you want to take from it. This may seem ridiculously obvious but keeping notes will help you keep track of things you want to mention and where you found them. It will also help you to organise your thoughts and arguments when it comes to writing up your proposal, and I promise you will appreciate having them when you are writing your reference list. Along with scribbling down notes about what you’re researching, also make a note of questions and ideas you have as you go, as these will help you to generate your research questions.

When it comes to generating ideas for your proposal, you must make sure that your idea is both novel and testable. As you research, try to find gaps in the literature which would be within the realms of possibility for you to test/investigate, and which would bring something new and valuable to the area.

Finally, try to keep your ideas as simple as you can; if your question is too huge or complex then your application may not be accepted simply because they didn’t feel that it would be achievable within 3 years.

It’s so simple!!

STEP 4: CONTACT SUPERVISORS

Contacting potential supervisors before applying is a great opportunity to check how well your research interests match up with theirs and whether they would be interested in your ideas about the area.  Discussing your ideas with potential supervisors will also help you to narrow them down into coherent research questions, and it will give you the opportunity to begin articulating them in an academic style, both of which will help you when you come to writing them up.

So tell me more about this ‘Liquid Cat’ theory of yours

STEP 5: PLAN -> DRAFT -> WRITE

This is another point that you’ve probably all heard before but I really cannot stress enough how valuable planning is to academic writing, and this is especially true when there are defined criteria you need to meet and a word limit to keep to. Try sketching out your plan within the framework of the guidelines for the proposal, so that you have some idea of what you will be writing for each section. Then each subsequent draft will simply involve fleshing out your original plan more and more.

Most universities will expect you to include the following sections in your research proposal:

Title: Your title should give the reader a clear and concise view of the intent of your research (i.e. remember to include key words and make it obvious what you will be focusing on)

Overview: This section should give a BRIEF overview of the key issues in your research, why they are worthy of investigation and what sort of approach you will take. Many universities will also want you to include in this section why you want to work in that specific department or with a specific researcher (they want to see how your project will complement the strengths of the department or supervisor).

Brief literature review: This should ground your ideas in the previous literature and show the context of your ideas.This section should be structured so that you go from broad to narrow, beginning with a review of the major topics in the field and then slowly narrowing the focus until you arrive at your research question. You should also make sure that your argument highlights the novelty and importance of your question; a research proposal is a lot like a persuasive essay in that your aim is to persuade the reader that your research will be valuable, so you want to make it very clear what new and interesting things you will be bringing to the area with your work.

Proposed Design, Methodology & Timescale: Generally this section would include: the exact questions/hypotheses, the main research methods you plan to use, the main stages/timescale of your investigation, and any problems, challenges or delays you may face.

References

  Don’t forget that part of the reason universities want you to write a research proposal is so that they can assess your academic knowledge, critical thinking/analysis skills and writing skills. They will be looking for you to display a good academic/scientific writing style, a cogent analysis of previous literature, and a well-supported and well-argued proposal. They will also expect it to be clear, concise and coherent. Planning and drafting your work will help you to achieve this, as having something in which the order and flow of your ideas is already decided makes it much easier to focus on your style and tone when writing up.

  STEP 6: SEEK FEEDBACK

 Find some people you trust to give you truly honest feedback and ask them very nicely to proofread your work (here is where it really pays off to have made good contacts in your time as an Undergraduate or Masters student). Ideally, you would want both: someone who is familiar with the field (such as a lecturer or previous supervisor) and someone to whom the area is completely new (such as a relative or a friend from a different department) to read your work. This will allow you to get feedback both on how good your academic content is and on how clearly you have expressed yourself.

STEP 7: REVIEW

Before you send your proposal off, always be sure to make time for a final proofread. I personally like to leave it a few days/a week between finishing a piece of work and proofreading it, as it allows me to look at it with fresh eyes and makes it easier to spot mistakes.

Think about:

Have you met all of the university/department’s criteria?

Have you addressed any problems that came up when you were getting feedback?

Is everything referenced properly?

Is my spelling and grammar absolutely perfect? – this is especially important as at PhD level you will be expected to have extremely good writing skills. A research proposal that is littered with typos looks sloppy and will make you stand out for all the wrong reasons.

This is not the cat you’re looking for.

This is the cat you’re looking for.

STEP 8: SEND! And breathe a sigh of relief...

Your proposal should now be ready to send off with the rest of your application, so be very proud and put your feet up for a bit. Unless this was only your first proposal of many you have to write... in which case: back to work you sluggards!

One helpful link:

http://www.findaphd.com/advice/finding/writing-phd-research-proposal.aspx

Some examples of different university’s proposal criteria:

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/sociology/postgraduate/research_degrees/apply/how_to_write_an_MPhil_PhD_research_degree_proposal.page

http://www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/phd/PhDproposal/

http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/edres/study/postgrad/proposals.htm

So you are filling out that application form and a CV is being requested. As if there are enough ways of formatting your CV it’s slightly different when applying for jobs in academia. For jobs academia (including PhDs) you are really being asked to produce your academic CV. As I’m sure you have already guessed this type of CV should be focused on the academic work such as your undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations and any relevant experiences.  This is not to say that you cannot mention a part time job that wasn’t in an academic environment such as being a sales assistant, but that this type of work should not take priority on your academic CV.

So what should you include?

Education

For your undergraduate and / or postgraduate degree(s):

 -What was your degree?

 -What degree classification?

 - Title of your dissertation

 - Who supervised this project?

 - What grade were you awarded for your dissertation?

Relevant Employment

In this section you need to mention any paid employment that is relevant to the job. For example if the PhD that you are applying for is in the field of Dementia then you would want to mention any relevant experiences such as working in care home for people with Dementia.

-          Position held

-          Name of organisation

-          Start – end of employment mm/yyyy  e.g  June 2013-December 2013

-          Brief description of your role. Note the emphasis on keeping it brief. Potential employers will have several CVs to read. Therefore you want to make sure that they have a good idea of who you are and what experience you have without having to trawl through pages and pages of info!

Other Employment

This is where you can mention part time / summer jobs that you have held but aren’t relevant to the field of work that you are trying to enter. It’s still important to mention this type of work because usually they demonstrate that you have other key skills such as working in a team or using supervision effectively. However as previously mentioned you don’t want to end up with a CV that is more than 2 or 3 pages at the most*! So if you already have your CV filled by the above sections and your contact details then consider not including this section.

Academic Achievements

This is actually quite an important section. This section is where you need to include conferences that you have presented your work at, any publications or if you were awarded any scholarships for your undergraduate postgraduate degrees.

Voluntary Work / Other Achievements

So if you have done some voluntary work that’s great! It’s a great way of gaining some experience and may give you an advantage when you are looking for paid work. But it is generally not rated as highly as paid employment. Therefore this is another section that you may not wish to include if you feel that it does not add anything to your CV other than to the length of it. 

(You can format this in the same way as you have done for paid employment).

Contact details and Referees

So hopefully you have a professional email address by now! If not now would be a good time...

Your contact details are important – so make sure you get them right. You want them to contact you, particularly if they are going to invite you to an interview right?

You may want to include referees on your CV but you need to think about this. First of all if you want to list referees and contact details make sure that the referees are happy for you to do this beforehand. Second, by doing this you are basically giving out the message to potential employers that you have referees that are

a) going to give you a good reference

 b) happy to be contacted at whatever stage in the application process – meaning that the potential employer could assume that you are giving them consent to ask for references. Therefore employers may not notify you that they have done this until afterwards. This works for some people but others may want to check that they are still going to get a good reference first. You may want to check this if it was some time since you worked with that person. Do they still remember you?  Are you still on good terms? If you are using a referee you worked with a some time ago are they still appropriate?

Formatting

As if knowing what you should / should not put on your CV, how you should / should not phrase it (and actually having the motivation to do it) wasn’t stressful enough, there is the issue of formatting it.

Key point of your CV – It’s to get you SHORTLISTED for an interview. Therefore you want to make sure that the format that you use makes your CV clear, simple and easy to read. Let the information do the talking not the format. That means don’t do things such as using different coloured text to make your CV “stand out” or to make you appear “creative”. (Yes people have been known to do this for these purposes and it has made them stand out as UNSUITABLE)!

There are some pretty cool websites out there like visualresume.com that can help you build / format your CV. Although it may be tempting to go for one of those funky looking formats they are generally not suitable for academia.  

Just keep it simple:

-Black text, 12pt in fonts that are widely used such as Times New Roman, Arial and Calibri.

- Separate section with spaces (not too large though) or with horizontal lines (they don’t need to span the whole way across the page).

-Make headings / titles clear using bold or making the text slightly larger.

Finishing touches

Finally when you have developed enough motivation to write your CV, using a checklist (such as the one below) may help you feel that you produced something that you would be proud to show others, a sense of achievement and confident that it will shortlist you for that interview.

CV Checklist:

-Is your name is on it? (Ideally at the top)

- Checked it for grammar and spelling?

- Do you have a copy to keep?

-Does it accentuate your skills?

-Does this CV give an overall positive impression of you?

- Should you get shortlisted for interview would you be happy be asked questions about the information on your CV? (You haven’t lied have you)?

  Hopefully this has inspired you to get writing your CV for that application. So open up that word document and get typing!

 -Dr Fran-kenstein

If you are reading this then I take it you have decided you want a career in academia. Well if you want to do a PhD knowing where to look for these opportunities is a good start. One of the main places to find opportunities is through websites such as findaphd.com and jobs.ac.uk. These websites are really good at helping you find PhD opportunities in any academic field including psychology. With these websites you can sign up for regular updates / alerts for PhD adverts in your field. This is really useful as it saves you having to search through lots of adverts that may not be relevant to you or that you may have seen before.

Websites like jobs.ac.uk (as the name suggests) show other academic jobs like research assistant posts which you may also want to consider as these types of posts will provide you with experience to put on your CV (more about that later!)

Here are some links to websites advertising PhDs:

http://www.prospects.ac.uk

http://www.postgraduatestudentships.co.uk

http://www.myscience.org.uk

http://www.phdportal.eu

  Another good place to look for opportunities is on the websites of Universities and the department you are interested in. They usually advertise all of their opportunities on their own websites as well as elsewhere.

Lastly sometimes (but not very often) these opportunities get circulated through University emails. However as I said this does not happen very often so be proactive and search for yourself!

I am certain I want to devote the next 3-4 years of my life doing research and working hard to earn my PhD.

I know which area(s) I am most interested in.

I know that I have the skills / have a plan to develop the skills I will need to do my PhD.

I know where to look for PhD programmes that I might be interested in.

I have explored funding options and I know where to get the money I need for my PhD.

I’m ready to dive into a world of mass amounts of reading, writing and work.

Ready? Good!

Working as an academic; is it for you?

A career in academia is not the right choice for everyone. Applying for a PhD is something you have to think about carefully to see if it is right for you. I will try to answer the age old philosophical question of: what does a PhD student actually do?

  Well, the most crucial aspect of a PhD is research. Most of your time as a PhD student will be spent laboriously in the lab with a cup of coffee (*other hot beverages are available) slaving over SPSS until nightfall.  I hope this doesn’t sound too disheartening, but a PhD is 99% research related. The most influential person in regards to your project, ideas and making sure you are on track is YOU. PhD’s are for those that are truly dedicated and self-motivated in achieving what needs to be done to get the project finished. This doesn’t always work right the first time, so you need to be patient and diligent in order to keep things moving. Plus this will prevent you from hating your PhD.

  But in order to know whether a PhD is right for you, you have to weigh up whether a career in academia is something that you’re suited to.  Most academics fill their time with a combination of research, teaching and admin things, like marking. Academics tend to going to conferences; apply for funding, network and work alongside fellow researchers. As you could imagine, these duties are all quite time intensive. So, if a life in academia is really for you make sure you are passionate about your research, fanatical about organisation, like networking and are flexible with working hours. As an academic the days will start early with meetings and end late with readings (so make sure you keep up with the literature within your field). 

What does life look like after a PhD?

After a PhD most students take up a Postdoctoral (Postdoc) position within a university which is 9/10 times research based. Then, after Postdoc training a lectureship is usually the next step. 

Ok so still unsure if a life in academia is right for you? Take my 2 minute quiz – it’s just like the ones we used to obsess about in the 00s in Shout and Kerrang magazine!!! It won’t tell you who your dream celeb date is, but will give you some things to think about to see if you’re suited to a life in academia.

Hi Internet! We’re FLED, the team behind ThePhDNinja. Over the coming weeks we’ll be posting all sorts of facts, guides and helpful hints about applying for PhDs, including: deciding whether a PhD is for you, where to look for PhDs and funding sources, how to present yourself on paper and in an interview, and much more. By bringing all this information together in ThePhDNinja, we hope to create a useful starting point for anyone thinking of pursuing a PhD. Our main focus will be on PhD’s relating to Psychology (as that’s what we know best!), but the information should be generalisable to other subject areas too.

-Hi, I’m Lucy and I’ll be posting on topics such as: ‘Is a PhD for you?’, ‘Writing a Research Proposal’, and ‘Interview Questions: The good, the bad and the mind-freezingly terrifying’. My main interests lie in the areas of neuroimaging, social neuropsychology, sci-fi, kittens and procrastination (which is why I’ll be teaching you all what NOT to do in my time management post later on). If you would like to know more about any of the topics I cover then please leave a comment under the post and I’ll do my best to answer your question.

Dr. L

-I’m Daniella, one of the PhD Ninjas, paid (I wish… I am actually doing this voluntarily), to help fight the demons of anything and everything PhD related. Ok, so let me introduce myself: I am a Big Bang Theory worshiper, a cognitive neuroscience geek and a massive foodie!!! Oh and a postrgrad psychology student. I am also an aspiring Neuroscientist so, if you want to know what’s what in regards to having a career in academia, I am the girl to ask. As well as this, I’ll give you a breakdown, tick by tick, of the ominous timeline of events leading up to becoming a PhD student. Trust me; they are not as scary as they sound!!!!! Along side my fellow Ninjas I will tweet, blog and post words of advice, caution and warning on various topics to help you find perfect the PhD.

Dr. Double D

-Hi I’m Fran and I’m another member of the PhD Ninja team. I am mainly interested in neuropsychology! When I’m not studying I am doing artsy crafty things, photography, baking (and eating) cakes. But for the next few weeks I am here to help you on your quest to become a PhD student. In particular I will be helping you start your search for a PhD studentship as well as hunting for the elusive project funding. Once that part is complete I will help you seal the deal with prepping your CV and brushing up those presentation skills. Hopefully with this week by week guide we will make this process a little less daunting!

Dr. Fran-kenstein

-Hey there! My name’s Elena and I’ll also be taking you through the whirlwind journey that is finding and bagging a PhD! I’ve been working as a research assistant in a cognitive neuroscience lab whilst also doing my masters in clinical neuropsychology for a year or so now, and I’ll be starting my PhD in the same lab in February 2014. Through this blog I’ll be taking you through a few important things you need to know about getting a PhD, including: approaching academics/potential supervisors, giving presentations on your work, interview Dos and Don’ts, as well as how to survive your PhD! In between I intend to keep you fully entertained with pictures of kittens, posts about pizza, and anything else I find on my journey of procrastination whilst preparing for my own PhD.

Happy hunting followers!

Dr. Neo

You can find us on http://bit.ly/1efkPAr, right here on Tumblr, and we’ll be tweeting about it all as we go @ThePhDninja. We hope you find our posts helpful as you make your way through the dizzying world of PhD applications and, of course, we wish you all the best of luck!