Starting a PhD: What to do in the first 6 months

Starting a PhD: What to do in the first 6 months.

I’ve just had a new PhD student start. As well as discussing the topic of the research we're also going to spend some time discussing how to get the most from the first 6 months of the PhD.

The starting point and initial direction is crucial for the PhD.?

I’ve seen many students fail to gain any traction during this time and it’s been a struggle to pick up the pace afterwards. I originally shared this as a LinkedIn Post, and have repeated it here as an article so it's a bit easier to find and share.

Here are 13 things that need attention:

1. People: Get to know some other PhD students.

2. Find out where the best coffee shops are and where the most interesting 2nd hand book shops are. Get some noise-cancelling headphones.

3. Reading and developing the Literature Review. Get to grips with?Worldcat ,?The British Library ,?The National Archives, UK ,?JSTOR , Ethos. Start with a list (spreadsheet) of the key books, articles, and thinkers/writers in your field. It’s easy to gather this info - but more difficult to process.?

4. Develop note taking skills and get to grips with software that can help you keep track of your data, ideas, tasks, websites, images, etc?Microsoft OneNote Training ?or?Evernote ?are both great. Think about using?Notion ?too [more on this soon]

5. Data management and Processes: You need a system - avoid having thousands of tabs left open and folders called ‘things to read’. Once you’ve a hoard of info STOP. Read, Process, Complete your notes. Avoid any sloppy working practices and develop disciplined habits for reading, writing, thinking.

6. Set up a folder system on the Cloud (stick with?Dropbox ) to store everything. e,g, 001: Bibliography 002: Chapter Drafts 003: Images 004: Archive Data… It doesn't need to be complicated but it does need to be organised.?

7. Did I mention Reading? “There’s more to life than books you know, but not much more”. It’s crucial to devote a significant portion of the first 6 months to reading.?

Read, make notes, extract quotes. Use this to develop a Literature Review. Keep a track of everything you read. Use citation software if you must. Excel /word / notion work just fine.

8. Establish the Project Parameters: What is the overall ambition of the project?

9. Develop your Research Questions.

10. Develop your Questions into a Table of Contents / Structure that will guide your writing. It will change and develop, but we need to have a ‘map’ and overall vision.

11. Project Management. What needs to happen and when. You need a Gantt chart and a set of targets to keep the project on track.

12. Fieldwork / Data Gathering Plan: Without data there isn’t a PhD. Make sure this is at the core of the project management. Ethical approval will take some time - so make sure you allow for that.

13. Non-PhD Time: this needs some attention too. Don’t neglect your family, friends. Get outside, go for some nice walks, and explore bits of the planet you've not set foot on before.

Please do follow me if you'd like more on my research, methods, and coaching: Iain Jackson . Reach out if I can be of assistance or you'd like some 1:1 advice on your projects, research, grants, and writing.