February 10, 2009 at 22:46The beginning of a scientific career (part 6)
Well, the story slowly begins to go beyond graduate work and, therefore, come to the limits of my competence :) As long as there are ideas on what to write about, and then you can move on to “readers' requests” - if there are requests to cover any stage or a question in more detail, it can be arranged.
In the same part, we will talk about the process of late post-graduate and early post-graduate activities.
When you no longer need to listen to courses, but write articles and prepare to defend a dissertation, a relatively “adult life” sets in. If you like what you are doing at this stage, you will likely enjoy it further. Although there are enough problems for a university employee, the “bonuses” are also great. In particular, there is a great chance to do what you love, and in a fairly free mode. As mentioned in some funny text, programmers get paid for what they would do for free. But if you really do something, why not get a little money for it? :) The obvious pluses include an average low level of stress. As a rule, stories related to malicious customers, missed deadlines, an obscure budget and other activities far from joy, do not arise inside the university.
Instead, it is required to meet the formal criteria of "goodness", which in practice is also not enough joy, but is quite feasible provided trained hands and brains.
“Goodness” for a graduate student is the ability to competently conduct scientific work and (equally important) to correctly report the results. For the later stages, another skill comes to the forefront - the ability to knock out money.
In any scientific research, 20 percent are actually “research” and 80 percent are all kinds of “polishing” associated with obtaining and publishing the results. At first it infuriated me, but now I relate to this fact philosophically. In the end, society feeds us and has the right to some kind of reporting. Yes, our reporting is bad, but we are not runners. We can’t be put in a row and forced to flee - whoever first ran, he did well. Unfortunately, nothing better than the banal amount of waste paper produced (if possible handed over to a decent receiver , that is, a magazine), as a report, mankind has not invented. Well, let's make them happy; anyone who is able to conduct competent research can learn to correctly present it. The wisdom of this science is described in the mentioned article of Chong.and the book of Phillips and Pugh (yes, the name of the second author is pronounced that way , I myself was not sure).
Thus, the main skill of a graduate student at the time of graduation (of course, my purely personal opinion) is the ability to competently divide a difficult task into smaller sub-tasks with clear “inputs” and “outputs”. The length of the “small task” is a maximum of two to three months. The shorter the better. According to the results of the "small subtask" you need to be able to write an article. Then the work is put on stream, and this is what needs to be achieved (except for the completion of a university career with graduate school).
Another important result is to make the necessary contacts. Unfortunately, at one time I spent much more time at the computer, and not in the coffee shop (it accelerated protection, but led to problems in the future), and as a result, I began to establish a real contact network much later.
A difficult moment for a graduate student who is graduating is the smooth flow of his studies into further scientific work. Roughly speaking, what status will you have after graduation. There are two main possibilities - to go “along the scientific” side (to be one or another kind of researcher, laboratory assistant) or along the “scientific and educational” (that is, to the teaching staff).
In any case, a wide network of contacts and a new "goodness" - the ability to knock out money for research - are useful.
Now about these two things in more detail. In order to continue any activity, money is needed. Shura Gomelsky writes in detail and sensibly about the process of their search . This old text is almost always relevant. Unless all the old links are already working, plus interesting new ones have appeared.
Now, from the whole Gomelsky narrative, I draw attention to the separation of “external” (stock) and “internal” (university) money. Any university has a certain amount of resources. Many universities are capable of supporting graduate students, post-docs, and teachers without seeking help anywhere "in the outside world." Of course, this money is intended for "their". If you manage to become “your” and secure yourself access to the distribution - great. This method requires known communication skills, but is the least nervous.
Even if the university does not have money, attempts are always made to dislodge “external” grants for a particular group project (carried out by several people). Specifically, “knocking out” is involved in two or three people, and it is not the fact that they see themselves in the role of project executors. Accordingly, some find money, while others get it (“group”). Will you be selected as a member of any group if the university gets a grant? The answer to this question, as you might guess, lies not only in the scientific plane.
From personal experience. Gomelsky's article describes the receipt of a postgraduate grant. In principle, in a very similar way, you can knock out money for graduate school itself. It is clearly seen from the article that the process is non-trivial and non-deterministic (the essence boils down to a simple formula - knock on all doors until they open). In my case, the magistracy smoothly transferred to (supported by the scholarship) graduate school. The supervisor waved his hand - they say, do not worry, we will solve everything. And indeed, he wrote a couple of statements, the authorities where he needed to be fussed - and voila. Conclusion: to be “your” is very profitable :)
Here, I will probably take a technical break, because the article becomes too long.
In the next part, which will appear very soon, we will talk about “external” funds and other aspects of post-graduate school.
In the same part, we will talk about the process of late post-graduate and early post-graduate activities.
When you no longer need to listen to courses, but write articles and prepare to defend a dissertation, a relatively “adult life” sets in. If you like what you are doing at this stage, you will likely enjoy it further. Although there are enough problems for a university employee, the “bonuses” are also great. In particular, there is a great chance to do what you love, and in a fairly free mode. As mentioned in some funny text, programmers get paid for what they would do for free. But if you really do something, why not get a little money for it? :) The obvious pluses include an average low level of stress. As a rule, stories related to malicious customers, missed deadlines, an obscure budget and other activities far from joy, do not arise inside the university.
Instead, it is required to meet the formal criteria of "goodness", which in practice is also not enough joy, but is quite feasible provided trained hands and brains.
“Goodness” for a graduate student is the ability to competently conduct scientific work and (equally important) to correctly report the results. For the later stages, another skill comes to the forefront - the ability to knock out money.
In any scientific research, 20 percent are actually “research” and 80 percent are all kinds of “polishing” associated with obtaining and publishing the results. At first it infuriated me, but now I relate to this fact philosophically. In the end, society feeds us and has the right to some kind of reporting. Yes, our reporting is bad, but we are not runners. We can’t be put in a row and forced to flee - whoever first ran, he did well. Unfortunately, nothing better than the banal amount of waste paper produced (if possible handed over to a decent receiver , that is, a magazine), as a report, mankind has not invented. Well, let's make them happy; anyone who is able to conduct competent research can learn to correctly present it. The wisdom of this science is described in the mentioned article of Chong.and the book of Phillips and Pugh (yes, the name of the second author is pronounced that way , I myself was not sure).
Thus, the main skill of a graduate student at the time of graduation (of course, my purely personal opinion) is the ability to competently divide a difficult task into smaller sub-tasks with clear “inputs” and “outputs”. The length of the “small task” is a maximum of two to three months. The shorter the better. According to the results of the "small subtask" you need to be able to write an article. Then the work is put on stream, and this is what needs to be achieved (except for the completion of a university career with graduate school).
Another important result is to make the necessary contacts. Unfortunately, at one time I spent much more time at the computer, and not in the coffee shop (it accelerated protection, but led to problems in the future), and as a result, I began to establish a real contact network much later.
A difficult moment for a graduate student who is graduating is the smooth flow of his studies into further scientific work. Roughly speaking, what status will you have after graduation. There are two main possibilities - to go “along the scientific” side (to be one or another kind of researcher, laboratory assistant) or along the “scientific and educational” (that is, to the teaching staff).
In any case, a wide network of contacts and a new "goodness" - the ability to knock out money for research - are useful.
Now about these two things in more detail. In order to continue any activity, money is needed. Shura Gomelsky writes in detail and sensibly about the process of their search . This old text is almost always relevant. Unless all the old links are already working, plus interesting new ones have appeared.
Now, from the whole Gomelsky narrative, I draw attention to the separation of “external” (stock) and “internal” (university) money. Any university has a certain amount of resources. Many universities are capable of supporting graduate students, post-docs, and teachers without seeking help anywhere "in the outside world." Of course, this money is intended for "their". If you manage to become “your” and secure yourself access to the distribution - great. This method requires known communication skills, but is the least nervous.
Even if the university does not have money, attempts are always made to dislodge “external” grants for a particular group project (carried out by several people). Specifically, “knocking out” is involved in two or three people, and it is not the fact that they see themselves in the role of project executors. Accordingly, some find money, while others get it (“group”). Will you be selected as a member of any group if the university gets a grant? The answer to this question, as you might guess, lies not only in the scientific plane.
From personal experience. Gomelsky's article describes the receipt of a postgraduate grant. In principle, in a very similar way, you can knock out money for graduate school itself. It is clearly seen from the article that the process is non-trivial and non-deterministic (the essence boils down to a simple formula - knock on all doors until they open). In my case, the magistracy smoothly transferred to (supported by the scholarship) graduate school. The supervisor waved his hand - they say, do not worry, we will solve everything. And indeed, he wrote a couple of statements, the authorities where he needed to be fussed - and voila. Conclusion: to be “your” is very profitable :)
Here, I will probably take a technical break, because the article becomes too long.
In the next part, which will appear very soon, we will talk about “external” funds and other aspects of post-graduate school.