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Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD - Career (2) - Nairaland

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Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by Nobody: 9:30am On Mar 16, 2015
BiHung:
what do u mean? Did you mean distinction?

I learnt you must make certain grades if you ever think of moving to PhD.
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by emmykk(m): 9:34am On Mar 16, 2015
sunnshyn:

''..bother".
thanks brother just like forth for fourth
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by Nobody: 9:39am On Mar 16, 2015
Vicjustice:
Unfortunately, as there is no grant or supporting scheme in Nigeria, only the comfortable ones attain to this level, a poor person can not get there no matter how educationally smart s/he is or how much desire s/he has

This is totally fallacious!

There are hundreds of postgraduate scholarships (Masters and PhD) out there, if only you know where to look, and if you have the time and patience to sort through the rubble.

Don't always wait for the Government to do everything for you. Go out there and take charge of your life!

I greet you!

2 Likes

Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by Brunel(m): 9:40am On Mar 16, 2015
This is very timely for me as I embark on graduate study.
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by Drkul(f): 9:42am On Mar 16, 2015
Join you guys soon, Prof on the way
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by killsmith(f): 9:45am On Mar 16, 2015
I must have a phd in algebra....#mydream

1 Like

Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by topearos(m): 9:46am On Mar 16, 2015
A Prospective Student here.
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by Nobody: 9:47am On Mar 16, 2015
I especially like Tip 2 – Its YOUR PhD – Take ownership:

I'm in the last few months of my two-year Masters Programme, but I lost enthusiasm for the whole thing long ago, when I wasn't allowed to work on my area of interest for my Research Dissertation (Project), but was instead made to do something else, for which I have no love.

I swore that nobody would make me choose a research topic outside my area of interest for my PhD (which hopefully, i'll be starting very soon).

Nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction you get, when you're doing something you really like. cry
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by proudlysports: 10:06am On Mar 16, 2015
From personal experience, I always advice anyone planning on doing a PhD to ensure it's in a research area he/she likes and enjoys. Over the course of your 3 or 4 years research, there will be ups and downs. Your love for the research area is what will keep you floating when the downs come.

2 Likes

Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by Emax(m): 10:09am On Mar 16, 2015
Thanks for taking time to share your experience with us.
I learnt a lot...

2 Likes

Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by MarkJessy(m): 10:16am On Mar 16, 2015
abtywo:
let me do my master before Ph D.
As if u didn't know dat d info is for phd hopeful.
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by lonelydora: 10:18am On Mar 16, 2015
Vicjustice:
Unfortunately, as there is no grant or supporting scheme in Nigeria, only the comfortable ones attain to this level, a poor person can not get there no matter how educationally smart s/he is or how much desire s/he has

Take one bottle for my head.
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by NollywoodFreak: 10:30am On Mar 16, 2015
GEJ must be a very smart lad to have scaled through this hurdle. We are privileged to have someone as educated as he is as president of Nigeria.

1 Like

Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by charmingeyes(m): 10:30am On Mar 16, 2015
I spent close to 1,000,000naira in my M. Sc Biochem both fees and research plus time and headache.
I really need to gather funds for my Ph. D b/4 venturing into it.
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by economia: 10:40am On Mar 16, 2015
Tip 1 – Academics need you: Most are keen to
speak to any potential student who has a good
research idea as a good record of successful PhD
supervisions is essential to build a successful
academic career. Don’t be afraid to approach a
potential supervisor directly. There were not any
suitable advertised studentships in the are which
I live (and I did not want to move as I have a
young family here), so I decided I needed to
make my own opportunity. I developed a
rudimentary research proposal and emailed every
academic I could identify in my local region
whose research interests seemed to fit. In the
end I worked up a proposal with
Newcastle University which we submitted for an
ESRC 1+3 studentship in the open competition (I
was awarded the scholarship but did not take it
up, instead I opted to study via a different route
– more on that in a subsequent post – but I
thought the advice may be useful).
Tip 2 – Its YOUR PhD – Take
ownership: Whether the research idea is your
own, or you have been appointed to research a
topic as an advertised position, YOU are the one
working day and night and living the research.
Whilst your supervisors will have opinions or
perhaps an agenda which will shape the direction
of your research, It is YOU alone who will have to
defend it in the viva. I have spoken to many PhD
researchers who felt that their research was
not their own and they were merely doing the
bidding of their supervisor. The result can be
mixed – some drop out as the lack of control
leads to a lack of interest or focus, some work
day and night to please their supervisory team
and burn out, many are successfully
awarded their PhDs but feel that they are a sham
as their work was not entirely their own.
Tip 3 – Write up as you are going: I am always
amazed when I speak to PhD students who are in
the third year and entering their “writing up
stage” and tell me that they havent written more
than a few thousand words. They feel daunted
and overwhelmed by the huge task of meeting
that 40-80,000 plus word count (depending on
the discipline). “But you must have the literature
review almost completed at least?” I say – but
many just have pages and pages of notes. I had
written complete drafts of my Introduction,
Background, Literature Review, Methodology
and Scoping Study by the Midpoint of my PhD –
18 months since I began. Sure, I would have to
update and re-draft these sections – some of
them extensively, but the knowledge that I had
written about 40,000 words of what became a
90,000 document was of great comfort to me. I
could also then pass these sections off to my
supervisors for review whilst I embarked on my
data analysis.
Tip 4 – Love to Hate your Thesis: You will at
some point hate your thesis, trust me…This is OK,
its normal – most people seem to go through it
at some point – usually about two-thirds of the
way through. This is completely normal and to be
expected. Don’t panic, take a break – yes a
break. PhD students need a holiday too, even if
its just a break from the research to do
something different. When you return your brain
will have sorted out some of the problems you
are struggling with on its own.
Tip 5 – Finished is better than perfect: I am a
perfectionist by nature – but I have had to learn
over the last few years the finished is better than
perfect. Perfection, like beauty, is in the eye of the
beholder. If you are lucky enough to reach the
mythical land of perfection (which only exists in
your own head), it is still highly likely that
readers, and more importantly, examiners will find
fault. This is what examiners are paid to do. The
same advice applies to writing papers too. This
leads into Tip 6 below…
Tip 6 – The written Thesis is just part of the
PhD: The majority of PhDs have some form of
wording on the fist page which states something
like the document is “submitted in
partial fulfilment of the requirements of
the University for the degree of Doctor
of Philosophy” . Spot the
keyword? “partial”. Before and during the viva the
examiners will be considering many criteria in
addition to the thesis such as
the administration of the PhD, your training
record, publications and impact activities to
name a few. The point is, the Thesis does not
have to be – nor is expected to be – perfect. The
examiners will always have an opinion on how
you have presented the results or the approach
you took. You will not know what this opinion is
until you put the work in front of them – so don’t
try to second guess but ensure that you can
defend why you took a certain approach as
opposed to another. You made the decision (see
Tip 2) based on the evidence in front of you at
the time and you are the expert in this subject.
So defend.
Tip 7 – Enjoy the Viva!: No, really. This is your
chance to comunicate your research, your
passion, to at least two leading academics –
sounds scary, but they will
be genuinely interested in what you have done.
Most examiners want to pass a student – despite
the horror stories that are popular amongst PhD
students. The truth is in the majority of cases
they will have already made a decision about
whether to pass you or not. I will be following
this up with a more detailed post on my viva
experience later.
Tip 8 – Have a plan for life post PhD: By this I
dont mean start looking for a job etc…although of
course this is important – more how are you
going to fill the void? And it is a void. You will
have been immersed in a particular subject and
culture for at least 3 years, probably more. Once
you have completed any changes demanded post
viva and submitted the final completed thesis –
the silence is deafening…
Tip 9 – It is worth it: Completing the PhD, for me
at least, was an anti-climax. There were no
trumpets or angels, no being carried through the
university on the shoulders of my peers, no huge
pay-rise or immediate offers of employment, not
even any champagne (although there
was, strangely, many flavours of Schnapps..).
However 6 months on from the viva and
corrections it feels worth it. Its a validation of
your research skills and prowess., you feel a little
more authoritative when speaking to peers or
students (although inside you know that you are
not any smarter that before), and you have
survived – almost mentally intact
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by elhafeez(m): 10:46am On Mar 16, 2015
Thank you OP for sharing your experience. I am about to start my PhD in one of the federal universities in Nigeria. And I'll make sure I hold on to this tips all the way.
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by umarc19: 11:01am On Mar 16, 2015
Omo...no b small tin oo.
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by husseinjnr: 11:42am On Mar 16, 2015
Vicjustice:
Unfortunately, as there is no grant or supporting scheme in Nigeria, only the comfortable ones attain to this level, a poor person can not get there no matter how educationally smart s/he is or how much desire s/he has
This is not true Vic, from personal experience, in as much as i spent a fortune doing my Masters, my PHD journey is based on availability of scholarships. A search on PHD positions will reveal to you that there are lot of funding out there. Note that most German universities have very low tuition. The Scandinavians Universities are also of low tuition.
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by IconicMe: 11:43am On Mar 16, 2015
I love the part where you said "it is your Phd"
I'm on a Phd program too and except you make the work your own, you may never come off it. Nice article.
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by Nobody: 11:47am On Mar 16, 2015
This is the best thread since Buhari returned from Chatham House grin
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by Vicjustice: 11:51am On Mar 16, 2015
husseinjnr:
This is not true Vic, from personal experience, in as much as i spent a fortune doing my Masters, my PHD journey is based on availability of scholarships. A search on PHD positions will reveal to you that there are lot of funding out there. Note that most German universities have very low tuition. The Scandinavians Universities are also of low tuition.
What's the percentage of the poor Nigerians who are fortunate enough to enjoy these benefits especially if they have to travel abroad to attain it?
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by Vicjustice: 11:55am On Mar 16, 2015
TheRainmaker1:


This is totally fallacious!

There are hundreds of postgraduate scholarships (Masters and PhD) out there, if only you know where to look, and if you have the time and patience to sort through the rubble.

Don't always wait for the Government to do everything for you. Go out there and take charge of your life!

I greet you!
What's the percentage of the poor Nigerians who are fortunate enough to enjoy these benefits especially if they have to travel abroad to attain it?
Most poor people just want to struggle and get their bachelor degree and then start earning a living.
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by Nobody: 12:06pm On Mar 16, 2015
Vicjustice:

What's the percentage of the poor Nigerians who are fortunate enough to enjoy these benefits especially if they have to travel abroad to attain it?
Most poor people just want to struggle and get their bachelor degree and then start earning a living.

I can tell you that the problem most of us have, is that we are intellectually lazy.

Most people have smart phones, but all they do with them is chat on Facebook, Nairaland, twitter, etc

If the time we spend on social networking is used to search for more useful information like these scholarships, more Nigerians would get them.

3 Likes

Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by Ishilove: 12:18pm On Mar 16, 2015
charmingeyes:
I spent close to 1,000,000naira in my M. Sc Biochem both fees and research plus time and headache.
I really need to gather funds for my Ph. D b/4 venturing into it.
One million ke? Which school did you run it?
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by tk4rd: 12:29pm On Mar 16, 2015
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by ADAMUdaCOWBOY: 12:41pm On Mar 16, 2015
Vicjustice:
Unfortunately, as there is no grant or supporting scheme in Nigeria, only the comfortable ones attain to this level, a poor person can not get there no matter how educationally smart s/he is or how much desire s/he has
not true. there is the ptdf. give it a try. thats if your msc is science based.
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by DebateNigeria: 12:42pm On Mar 16, 2015
This is good. Following
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by Nobody: 1:05pm On Mar 16, 2015
I see nothing about publishing results in peer reviewed journals. You don't have to start writing the thesis at an early stage because results may change your scope and consequently the entire plot of your thesis. Besides if you publish four to five articles, you already have a thesis, unless of course you're involved in some kind of 'Okrika' Ph.D degree where research publication is not really essential.
kinibigdeal:



http://thesiswhisperer.com/2012/07/16/surviving-a-phd-10-top-tips/

1 Like

Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by BigBenoski(m): 1:36pm On Mar 16, 2015
Vicjustice:
Unfortunately, as there is no grant or supporting scheme in Nigeria, only the comfortable ones attain to this level, a poor person can not get there no matter how educationally smart s/he is or how much desire s/he has

This is not entirely true. There are few funding opportunities here in Nigeria though you'd have to collaborate with your supervisor (assuming you are not a lecturer already) to qualify for most of them. Aside that, who says you can't apply to international organisations for funding as a Nigerian student?
Re: Some Important Tips Needed To Survive A PhD by BigBenoski(m): 1:42pm On Mar 16, 2015
ADAMUdaCOWBOY:

not true. there is the ptdf. give it a try. thats if your msc is science based.
The last time I checked ptdf only considered academics for PhD funding.

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