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Hi Everyone,
I thought I would start a new thread on Tips that past and present PhD students may have for current PhD students. My goal is to get to 1,000 tips (ambitious, I know!) on any aspect of the PhD process.
Topics may include :
1. Taking courses
2. Teaching/Research Assistantships
3. Planning
4. Using Web 2.0 Portals for Research
5. Research topic selection
6. Literature reviews
7. Networking
8. Bibliographies
9. Attending Conferences
10. Job search
11. Supervisor relationships
12. Avoiding Burnout
Let the Tips Begin!!
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Joined: 5/29/2009
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Tip #1: Prepare for a lonely journey, which at times, might make you want to quit. The PhD is a quintessentially a lonely endeavor.
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Tip #2.
The best dissertation is a finished dissertation
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Tip #3
Establish a study group
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Rank: Guest
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Tip #4: To obtain a Teaching/research Assistantship, do the rounds (visit Dept. Chairs and Professors in person) - don't depend on a submitted resume.
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Tip #5: Plan to have a few conference and 2-3 journal publications before graduation. That is key to getting a Assistant Professor position in good schools now.
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Tip #6: Get familiar with your Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the IRB process if your research will be dealing with human subjects. The IRB will review the ethics of biomedical and behavioral research involving humans in order to protect the rights and welfare of the research subjects.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Tip #7: Meet regularly with your Thesis Adviser and keep her/him apprised as to your progress and the status of your research efforts. Communication is key.
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Tip #8: Remember that politics is a part of the process in dealing with your adviser and committee. Recognize departmental politics and be very tactful - it is a different weight class and you should not try to box in it.
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Tip#9: Figure out the main contribution of your thesis and try to express this concisely in one paragraph. Everything else builds around this. Share it with colleagues, your adviser and committee members for feedback.
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Tip#10: Try to think about your problem all the time (and may be explain what you have done recently to one of your friends). This will make you get involved in your work and you may also get some new ideas.
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Tip#11: Remember that novelty need not lie in a single great idea, but also in collection of small ideas. This is what research is. So don't wait for that single moment to come.
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Tip #12: Your thesis doesn't have to change the world. It just has to get you your PhD. Don't get the two mixed up or you may never graduate.
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Tip #13: You have to be ready, willing, and able to multi-task. You'll be working on several projects for your adviser, several of your own ideas, teaching classes, taking classes, and dealing with your personal affairs. A multitasking ability is necessary.
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Tip# 14: Beware of Copy Right Acts and avoid plagiarism.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Tip# 15: If you want to leave the PhD program, don't broadcast it. People talk way too much. If you get a job elsewhere-in industry perhaps, leave after giving the shortest ethical and legal notice. It is not beyond Department Heads and Deans to give you 3,000-student sections once you become yesterday's news.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Joined: 5/29/2009
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Tip# 16: Don't be afraid to ask for help. You are not a one-man or one-woman army. It'll prevent you from "reinventing the wheel" and much unneeded effort. It will also improve you in the area of humility! 
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Joined: 5/29/2009
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Tip# 17: Have regular deliverables and share deliverables with your adviser and committee as you go. The more you share, the less likely there are to be unpleasant surprises at the end.
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Tip# 18: Separate yourself from your PhD. It's a collection of thoughts on a piece of paper. It's not you. Keep things in perspective.
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Tip #19 Take some time out for your self and family.
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