What is Graduate School about? Goals and Survival

Skills

Acknowledgement: CRA-W Graduate CohortAnne Condon, University of British Columbia

How to succeed in grad school

How to manage common issues

Outline

Important to realize

Class performance is not as important as before – but you still have to do well

In research, no-one knows the answer! You’re in charge of your education and

career not yet sure of your destination need help – apprentice in research Colleagues you meet can be lifelong friends

Research Success

"If you want to make important

discoveries, work on important problems” - P.B. Medawar

Find problems that will have an impact and are fun to work on

Apprenticeship

Learn from all aspects of grad school Classes: engage in discussions, ask

questions! Projects: develop assessment,

writing skills Seminars: learn how to frame an idea

... and ask more questions! People: sound out ideas - colleagues Papers: learn the art of reading a

paper

Apprenticeship - cont

Attend seminars Attend Ph.D. proposal presentations Attend Ph.D. defenses

Broaden knowledge Might find an interesting topic or see a

relationship Listen to how others ask questions Pay attention to how people give

presentations

Get project experience Learn about likely research

areas Learn about important

techniques Learn about the profs ... and

impress them!

Select courses and profs strategically

Distill complex ideas down to a few clear, concise statements

Volunteer to present in seminars Get (and give) feedback Write multiple drafts of papers Practice, practice, practice!

By yourself In front of friends and family In front of colleagues

Communicate technical material well

Manage your time

Prioritize Decide what is most important Make time to think about and do research!

Eliminate context-switching overhead For TA duties, respond to emails in batches,

rather than being interrupt-driven For research, allocate several contiguous

hours & eliminate distractions

Plan ahead for departmental milestones qualifying exams, breadth requirements,

finding an advisor

Sometimes unanticipated situations arise when working closely with others...

Consensual relationships (or close personal relationships) with faculty are against policy, due to inherently unequal positions of power Best case scenario:

not a good forum for experiencing & evaluating a relationship

Worst case scenario: uncomfortable at best may color what other faculty think of you may compromise your career faculty partner may have to go – and you?

Not that you expect to, but...

Always believe in yourself

it’s normal to lose confidence sometimes

if you always excel, you’re probably not taking enough risks

find others who believe in you too ask about scholarships, travel

awards suggest paper deadlines celebrate each step forward!

How to succeed in grad school

Some common issues and how to manage them

Outline

Adjusting to grad school

Everybody arrives with different strengths & experiences But really, they are all in the same

boat With practice, you can get up to speed

Grad school is very “bursty” At times, it will demand enormous

amounts of time Give yourself time to recover between

the bursts

A major transition happens in grad school Classes are almost done Now, you have to define your own research agenda Self-driven schedule

Having a good support network will smooth this transition

Build relationships with mentors during first 2 years Turn to them for support and inspiration Re-introduce structure to your environment

reading groups monthly social lunches to build a sense of

community with peers

Growing as a researcher

You are in charge of your graduate career...

You need to make things happen

You CAN make things happen and if you need it, help is

there. Use it!