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nature上一篇好文章《如何做一个好PhD》) F9 {' H# ~0 `: K) z5 R
What makes a good PhD student?) B2 z% z$ j2 E7 I
Georgia Chenevix-Trench1
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! O! v( i) [- b- P3 ySome tips for PhD students." C, l; r% m6 u# J: x
Doing a PhD shouldbe fun and rewarding, because you can spend all your working timediscovering things and pursuing ideas — and getting paid for it,without any administrative responsibilities. Those who stick with acareer in science do so because, despite the relatively poor pay, longhours and lack of security, it is all we want to do.( e5 E7 I n$ P+ b
Unfortunately mostnew PhD students are ill-prepared, and as a consequence very few willfulfil their aspirations to be independent scientists. The main reasonsfor this are the 'grade creep' inherent at most universities, making itdifficult to identify the really talented first-class graduates fromthe rest, and the pressure on universities to graduate as many PhDstudents as possible. The consequence is that we enrol far too many ofthem without telling them clearly what doing a doctorate should entail.We therefore set ourselves, and the students, on a path of frustrationand disappointment.$ F6 ~0 ^. d# [7 y8 Z9 q
So what should we be telling prospective PhD students?& B" B% }% u: n2 E' r2 U2 t
+ V0 G, p* E: u' O. E2 q9 R! YChoose a supervisor whose work you admire and who is well supported by grants and departmental infrastructure.
6 G$ z: ~, A4 r0 H3 e P* OTake responsibility for your project. # T1 [+ o- r, j5 h( N: q+ u, U
Work hard — long days all week and part of most weekends. If researchis your passion this should be easy, and if it isn't, you are probablyin the wrong field. Note who goes home with a full briefcase to work onat the end of the day. This is a cause of success, not a consequence.
: D' y) i( j: sTake some weekends off, and decent holidays, so you don't burn out.
5 J* Q7 Z7 U! CRead the literature in your immediate area, both current and past, andaround it. You can't possibly make an original contribution to theliterature unless you know what is already there. # q, r# y- `; t
Plan your days and weeks carefully to dovetail experiments so that you have a minimum amount of downtime. ; ?! Y: M$ L. ^' F |& U
Keep a good lab book and write it up every day. 5 m, @0 I- p0 n+ B
Be creative. Think about what you are doing and why, and look forbetter ways to go. Don't see your PhD as just a road map laid out byyour supervisor. 4 B7 j% p b1 N
Develop good writing skills: they will make your scientific career immeasurably easier.
: u0 J, c0 X uTo be successful you must be at least four of the following: smart,motivated, creative, hard-working, skilful and lucky. You can't dependon luck, so you had better focus on the others!
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GeorgiaChenevix-Trench is principal research fellow at the QueenslandInstitute of Medical Research, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Herston,Australia. |
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发表于 2010-7-24 16:01
