Chapter 8 - Choosing the right thesis topic!

We have already seen the importance and tips of choosing the right country, university, and professor. We will now move on to another important choice before any PhD aspirant, the topic of their thesis and how to choose it wisely. I feel many PhD aspirants doesn’t give importance to their choice of thesis topic as much as they give for the country / university / professor. While choosing a Professor somewhat defines your thesis area, choosing the thesis topic, according to me, is more than that! I will tell you why I think so:

 1.    Your thesis topic will stay with you for life in your CV or resume, throughout your career!

2.    Your thesis topic, to a greater extent, determines your early career years where you have limited flexibility to change your field.

3.    If you choose your thesis topic wisely, you could go on working through it for life, throughout your career and of course, building on and around it!

 I will talk about a few options that might be before you, the importance of it and a few tips of how to choose between them.

 Applying for a PhD position with a detailed project description

 Many of the US and European universities will have open PhD positions with detailed project descriptions. These project descriptions will talk about the background of the field, the challenges involved and what will the project solve aka goals of the project. Most commonly, the professor or a group of researchers have been granted a funding from the government or other non-governmental agencies to work on a specific project and the PhD positions offered are part of this project. In a way, it is easier for the student as they have their project goals defined already, the skills required for the project are known and can be learnt and it would be a smooth start. If you are someone who find it difficult to decide on a particular topic (you must anyway have a strong preference of what field you would want yourself to be in already – e.g., renewable energy, biosensors, water research, roman architecture, etc.), this is a good option for you. However, somebody else (the Professor or the group of researchers) have already ‘thought’ on your behalf and you will have limited leeway in working on your own ideas as the project goals, deliverables, and deadlines are already fixed! You can, however, bring your ideas on how to execute the project to achieve the desired goal. If you are someone who already has a passion on a particular field and you would want a little leeway to explore and find your passion, then this option might not be the right one for you! You could try the next option!

 Applying for a PhD position in a field of your interest

 There are other PhD positions that are offered as a scholarship or fellowship and it doesn’t come from a specific project grant. With these PhD positions, you will have a little freedom to navigate within the scope of your Professor’s research. For example, I work on Additive manufacturing and bioprinting for tissue engineering and other biomedical applications. My PhD students are admitted through an institutional PhD Fellowship and I always give them the freedom to choose a thesis topic / area within the broader field of my research. In fact, I encourage my students to do a thorough literature review of the sub-topics they are interested in, and come up with their ‘own’ ideas which I would then chip in and carve to make it a niche field. For example, it could be a new bioprinting method overcoming the challenges with the current techniques, it could be on novel bioprintable materials, it could also be using the current bioprinting methods and biomaterials but to address a specific disease condition or a specific tissue. I give that time for all my students to figure out but some students might not find their topic of passion and they come back to me asking for suggestions, I guide them by giving more clues pointing to the sub-discipline that they could work on and after several meetings and discussions, finalize a topic that is of interest to both the group in general and to the student in specific! If it is just of interest to the Professor and the group and not to the student, the student can’t stand 4 or 5 years doing ‘valuable’ research in that field!

 Most of the professors will be interested to allow you to pursue a new sub-topic within their field, without much diversion from their core area of research. Do not write to a Professor of Engineering and express your interest in pursuing a research on art history! I know nobody would make such an obvious mistake but the many emails that I get everyday actually tells me people can actually do this mistake out of desperation in getting a position! I get emails from people who had done their Masters and even PhD (those applying for post-doc positions) in a completely different area and seeking a position in my lab, without even mentioning how they could use their skills or align within the scope of my research. I can’t help but ignore such emails!

 If you already have an idea that you want to explore, write to or discuss with the Professors your idea and get their suggestions. You might think it is an idea worth pursuing but the Professors might not! It could turn out both ways! The first is that you are new to the field and the Professors being experienced and having constant touch with the experts in the field, they might be right! Don’t be adamant that your ideas are the best and it will definitely work. Try to get as much feedback and inputs as possible and shape / change / carve your ideas accordingly. The second is that the Professors might be wrong in thinking that your idea might not work! There might be various reasons, their core area of research might be different and the idea that you are proposing is an application of their core expertise where they might lack expertise, some might not have kept themselves up with the advancements in the field or even worse, their ego might prevent them from accepting your idea as novel or workable! I mean it and I have seen so many students suffer! If you are confident that your idea will work, talk to more people who align with your thoughts and support your ideas.

 Topics of basic research or applied research or of industrial relevance

 In one the points I mentioned above on the importance of choosing the right thesis topic, I mentioned about the impact of your thesis topic on your early career. It is always good to have an idea of where you want to get after your PhD, academia or industry? While some may be clear, some may not be able to decide this early on, I understand. Think of all the other factors including your family and financial needs, getting any kind of job that would sustain you and your family might be the priority for many! If that is the case, think of the varied opportunities that you could get into after your PhD. I will give an example. Being a Professor of Engineering, I couldn’t avoid giving examples from the same field, bear with me if you are arts or history majors! Doing a PhD on the topic of batteries would open up your opportunities to a wide range of industries including automobile industry (with the increased adoption of clean electric vehicles). Think and compare if you do a PhD on a topic of biomass gasification. Both are in the same field of energy but the former might increase your range of options post-PhD. Now, that doesn’t mean those who work on biomass gasification is low in the rank. They do a wonderful service to the environment and they could tune their research towards production and storage of hydrogen from biomass, which would be a huge hit! All I want to impress upon is that be wise in choosing your thesis topic!

 To give you tips on choosing, think whether you want to work on basic research, applied research or topics of industrial relevance! Basic research is much needed, unlike some giving undue importance to only applied research. How many of you know that the Professor who wanted to study the ‘extremophiles’ (organisms living in extreme conditions) in the hot springs at the Yellowstone National Park was mocked at first! A new bacterium, named thermus aquaticus, was identified, that could thrive even at 70 degree Celsius! Any idea how that is helping the world now in 2021? The enzymes from that bacteria that could survive higher temperatures is the key ingredient in the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests that are considered the gold-standard for testing the COVID virus! [Reference: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/21/covid-pcr-tests-made-possible-yellowstone-finding-thermus-aquaticus/4533258001/].

 So, be it basic, applied or topics of industrial relevance, you are working to change the world! Just think of which one might suit you and your needs better and give your best in whatever you choose!