Fulfilling the Potential of Your Doctoral Experience

Оглавление

Pam Denicolo. Fulfilling the Potential of Your Doctoral Experience

Success in Research: Fulfilling the Potential of Your Doctoral Experience

Contents

List of Figures and Tables. Figures

Tables

List of Further Resources. Activities

Information Boxes

Reflection Points

Top Tips

Voice of Experience Boxes

About the Authors

Acknowledgements

Prologue: Who Will Benefit from the Book and Why. Who is this book for?

What is unique about this book?

How can you best make use of the book?

Voice and vocabulary

1 What is the Point of a Doctorate in the 21st Century?

Vestiges of the past

The doctorate in the 21st century

Implications of the contemporary doctorate for newer researchers

A doctorate to meet your needs. Selection

Reflection Point 1.1. Does a doctorate fit into your life?

Activity 1.1 Criteria for selecting a potential institution for your doctorate

Preparation. Organising your personal circumstances

Getting up to speed

References and further reading

2 How Can You Make a Good Start?

Laying down the basics

Reflection Point 2.1. The basics for a good start

The people

The environment

The role

Activity 2.1 Expectations and anticipations

Making the most of your first 100 days

Activity 2.2 Your first 100 days – personal checklist

References and further reading

3 How Can You Develop Your Role as an Evolving Researcher?

Planning for success

Planning for the unexpected

Activity 3.1 Project Gantt Chart

Prioritising for balance and long-term success

Activity 3.2 Logging time on tasks

Activity 3.3 Evaluating time on tasks

Your research Dream Team

Reflection Point 3.1. Degrees of independence

Reflection Point 3.2. Research Dream Team

Developing your professional voice

Activity 3.4 Finding your stance

Activity 3.5 Developing your view within research debates

References and further reading

4 What Makes a Good Research Story?*

Understanding the role of writing in the research process

Initial researching and writing for personal reflection

Activity 4.1 Questions to direct your reading

Redrafting: turning the research journey into the research story

Visualising your thesis before you write it

Creating a macro framework

Acknowledging the personal aspect of the writing process

Free writing

Activity 4.2 Some guidelines for free writing

Writing a convincing story

Coherence

Reviewing literature

Clarity

Conciseness

Some cautionary notes

Knowing when and how to stop perfecting your thesis

References and further reading

5 What are the Potential Resources and Opportunities and How Can They Best Be Utilised?

What do you need?

Training needs analysis (TNA)

Reflection Point 5.1. Celebrating existing skills

Activity 5.1 Using the Vitae Researcher Development Framework to identify training needs

Step 1: Skill/attribute evaluation (shortened to simply ‘skill’ in what follows)

Step 2: Prioritisation

Step 3: Discussion with your supervisors

Locating resources

Activity 5.2 Resource-gathering exercise

Mentoring

A sea of opportunities: When to say ‘yes’

Activity 5.3 Creating ‘lucky’ opportunities

The power of ‘no’

Politely saying ‘no’ to others

References and further reading

6 How Can Relationships Be Developed to Enable Constructive Feedback and Support?

The myth of the lone researcher

Developing sensitivity to cultures and diversity

Reflection Point 6.1. Questions that come to mind

Activity 6.1 Developing your cultural awareness and sensitivity

Working with your supervisors

Accessibility and hard work

Responses and initiative

Responding to critical feedback

Building up sources of support

Dealing with disagreements and tensions

Managing your emotions

Becoming an authority

Special points for part-time and distance doctoral researchers

Special points related to different disciplines

References and further reading

7 How Can You Prepare for Successful Formal Reviews During the Doctorate?

Assessment of progress

Progress reviews: Why have them?

Reflective practice: A balance between the American and British versions

Reflection Point 7.1. Questions to ask yourself to review the success of your project

Moving forward

Mid-stage examinations: Understanding expectations and preparing for success

A critical skill

Activity 7.1 Learning to be critical

Arguing your case

Activity 7.2 The 5 Whys

Mapping the journey

Activity 7.3 Contingency planning

References and further reading

8 What are the Criteria and How Can You Prepare to Do Well in the Final Assessment?

Demonstrating doctorateness

Activity 8.1 Your institution’s regulations

An insight into the viva

Questions about questions

Activity 8.2 Viva practice: Thematic questions from viva voce examinations

Introductory questions

Literature review questions

Questions about methodology and data collection

Questions about your findings/conclusions

Questions on the significance of the work/contribution to knowledge

Concluding questions

Presenting your answers

Enjoying the final stretch

Special points for part-time and distance researchers

Special points related to different disciplines

References and further reading

9 What is Impact and How Can it be Built into Current Research to Enhance Future Opportunities?

What is impact and why does it matter?

Activity 9.1 The contribution of research to important aspects of life

Activity 9.2 Impactful research in your department

Reflection Point 9.1. Precursors to your own research

What does identifying, registering and promoting impact involve?

Consciously promoting and evaluating impact

How might impact affect you?

Activity 9.3 Exploring REF Impact Case Studies

What kinds of things could you do during your registration period to promote, capture and report your research?

Taking opportunities

How can you gain your supervisor’s support?

Activity 9.4 Persuading your supervisor of the value of your public engagement/outreach activities

Stakeholders and beneficiaries

Activity 9.5 Potential beneficiaries and stakeholders

Short-, medium- and long-term impact

Activity 9.6 Who/what might benefit from your research or find it useful immediately and in the future?

References and further reading

10 How Can You Make the Most of Your Research Experience at a Personal Level?

Enjoying your research experience

Reflection Point 10.1. The enjoyment of research

Activity 10.1 Mutual appreciation – your research and you

Appreciating the challenges of diverse experiences

Pro-actively seeking satisfaction

How can I get more from my research?

References and further reading

11 How Can You Make the Most of Your Research Experience for Your Professional Career?

What sought-after personal qualities will you develop as a successful researcher?

Professionally making the most of your research experience

Attributes to cultivate

Self-awareness

Networking

Being entrepreneurial

Being global in your outlook

Team working

Commercial awareness – business acumen

Raising your digital profile

Gaining a range of experiences

How to make the most of your experience and convince others!

Building your portfolio

Creating a flexible curriculum vitae (CV)

The importance of planning

References and further reading

12 What are the Key Features for Transitioning into a New Role?

Benefiting from iteration

Translating your transferable skills

Continuous professional development

Sharing experiences

Activity 12.1 Evidencing your achievements

Reflection Point 12.1. Your research success stories

References and further reading

Appendix I A sample Gantt Chart. Year 1: Aims, objectives, deliverables

Appendix II Summary diagram of the Researcher Development Framework (RDF)

Appendix III Non-verbal communication. A quick guide to some important signals. Bodily contact

Proximity

Orientation

Appearance

Posture

Head nods

Facial expression

Gestures

Looking

Non-verbal aspects of speech

Equilibrium processes

Appendix IV Advice on final assessment A. Summary of criteria used by many examiners for assessing the written thesis. Overall requirements

Sectional attributes

Abstract

Introduction

Review of relevant literature

Statement of research problems or plan for development of a creative piece

Approach and methods of enquiry adopted

Data collection

Analysis of data (where appropriate)

Presentation of data (where appropriate)

Discussion of outcomes or conclusions of argument

References

Appendices

Appendix IV Advice on final assessment B. Top tips for preparing for a viva. Throughout your doctoral registration

Pre-viva weeks

The night before

On the day

What will probably happen

The finale

In summary

Appendix V Policy information about impact. Guidance on the REF

Guidance from Research Councils UK

Appendix VI Authors’ doctoral experiences. Pam’s story

Dawn’s story

Julie’s story

Glossary

Index

Отрывок из книги

We would like to dedicate this book to every doctoral researcher, past, present and in the future. We hope this book honours your experiences from the true joy of idea creation and discovery to those moments of self-doubt and tainted thoughts of being an imposter. We, too, have had all these experiences and, through it all, we believe it is possible to ‘thrive with style!’ We also wish to dedicate this to those who passionately support doctoral researchers: the supervisors, mentors and support staff, who encourage, champion and stand with these newer researchers, helping them to fulfil their great potential.

Dawn Dukeis the Head of Researcher Development within the University of Surrey’s Doctoral College. She leads the team that supports the transferable/employability skills of postgraduate researchers and early career researchers across all disciplines, as well as delivers supervisor training. Dawn received her neuroscience PhD from Imperial College. In 2008, she moved from researching and teaching neuroscience to concentrate fully on researcher development. She has worked to embed and normalise skills training to better prepare researchers for the variety of opportunities available to them. Through her work at Surrey and a partial secondment as Director of Graduate Training for the Southeast Physics Network (SEPnet), she has focused on bringing researchers together with employers from a range of sectors, integrating this wider range of expertise into training, creating spaces for discussion and experience sharing. Dawn believes that the world would be a better place if the amazing research that is done within our universities had an even greater impact on policy, society and the economy and is dedicated to enabling the next generation of researchers to take on this challenge. Dawn met Pam through a mutual friend at University of Surrey, and they soon became not only colleagues but also good friends. Then Pam introduced her to Julie and the fun truly began!

.....

Everyone has a full-time life, with a variety of different commitments. To determine if doing a doctorate is right for you at this stage in your life, take a bit of time to reflect on where it will fit in with the rest of your daily and weekly activities for the number of years your programme will take. What are you willing to give up to make space for your doctorate? What will this mean for other aspects of your life?

If you are considering a full-time doctorate, you must think of this as a full-time job. For a part-time doctorate, you are still likely to need to dedicate at least 20 hours a week to your research. Can you commit this amount of time? Can you dedicate the necessary blocks of high-quality thinking time to doing research? Do you have the necessary support structures in place to help you achieve? If not, can you put them in place?

.....