My Journey To A Degree Is Challenging
He applied for a PhD degree in Computer Engineering at the University of Western Ontario in Canada to study requirements engineering in the context of data-intensive software applications. There are big data applications.
Two years have passed since I received my PhD degree. It was one of the most time consuming and challenging things I have ever done. There is more than one way to get to the doctorate degree.
It was a journey of change. She wants to share her learnings and some advice from navigating the sometimes turbulent waters. Some of her journey will be shared with others. She has a lot of questions.
Soft skills related to emotional intelligence, perseverance, and patience will be the focus of this section. Emotional intelligence, perseverance, and patience are related to these soft skills in the graduate’s career.
PhD students have to deal with high-stakes emotions on a regular basis. She had to get involved in many tasks that challenged her emotional intelligence while working on her research project. PhD students are engaged in emotional intelligence training.
It can take a long time to get your proposal approved by your supervisor and the board of examiners. The fun starts at this point. The supervisor gave her a very harsh feedback on her first paper. The conference’s best student paper award was nominated for the article.
She realized how well she dealt with everything that came her way after the research project. She developed emotional intelligence to cope with the challenges she faced while working on her research project. She will talk about resilience and patience in the next section.
It’s difficult to measure research because it’s hard to see results. After 2 or 3 years into the PhD program, the tangible outcomes are usually seen. Students need to be patient. Keep working and check your to-do list.
The world of scientific research is not easy. PhD students will face a lot of challenges while working on their research. They must move forward despite the obstacles and accept that changes are part of the process. In the next section, I talk about a few pieces of advice that I believe could soothe your start in this amazing but challenging environment.
Choosing the wrong supervisor to work with is one of the most regrettable decisions one could make. Do research, talk to previous and current students, set video calls with the supervisor, and see if they would be a good fit for you. Follow your intuition.
Establish boundaries at the beginning of your program by having a meeting with your supervisor. The means of communicating with them should be established. In your context, define accountability and what a supervisor-student relationship should look like. If you want to wait for a revision, you should establish agreements on mutual expectations.
During your studies, your research project, idea or proposal will change a lot. Set clear objectives with regards to your main area of investigation, the contributions and the impact your research can have on the community and academia. Changing from an investigation problem to another idea is a bad idea.
The scientific world is not always nice. Building a thick skin and shielding yourself will help you absorb the comments and criticisms that will contribute to your growth. You will be able to ignore the things that won’t help you grow and improve if you shield yourself.
It’s impossible to avoid being busy while working towards a research degree. Time management can help you achieve more. If you want to organize and plan your activities, try to use such techniques. It helps build a collection of achievements.
It’s easy to get caught up in a situation where we over promise and under deliver. You should only commit to the amount of work that you can get done. Know what tasks you need to do and how much bandwidth you have.
Don’t wait until you have a fully developed research project with promising results to share with the scientific community. If you want to get feedback from the community about your work, you should present your preliminary results at the main conferences.
