1、Doing ResearchFor many new graduate students, graduate school is unlike anything else theyve done. Sometimes its hard to know exactly what it is youre supposed to be learning. Yes, you have to complete a dissertation, but how do you start? What should you spend your time doing?Graduate school is a v

2、ery unstructured environment in most cases. Graduate students typically take nine hours or less of coursework per semester, especially after the second year. For many, the third year - after coursework is largely finished and preliminary exams have been completed - is a very difficult and stressful

3、period. This is when youre supposed to find a thesis topic, if youre not one of the lucky few who has already found one. Once you do find a topic, you can expect two or more years until completion, with very few landmarks or milestones in sight.The following sections talk about the day-to-day proces

4、s of doing research, criticism and feedback, working on the thesis, and financial support for research.The Daily GrindBeing a good researcher involves more than merely coming up with brilliant ideas and implementing them. Most researchers spend the majority of their time reading papers, discussing i

5、deas with colleagues, writing and revising papers, staring blankly into space - and, of course, having brilliant ideas and implementing them.A later section discusses the process and importance of becoming part of a larger research community, which is a critical aspect of being a successful research

6、er. This section contains ideas on keeping track of where youre going, and where youve been, with your research, staying motivated, and how to spend your time wisely.Keeping a journal of your research activities and ideas is very useful. Write down speculations, interesting problems, possible soluti

7、ons, random ideas, references to look up, notes on papers youve read, outlines of papers to write, and interesting quotes. Read back through it periodically. Youll notice that the bits of random thoughts start to come together and form a pattern, often turning into a research project or even a thesi

8、s topic. I was surprised, looking back through my journal as I was finishing up my thesis, how early and often similar ideas had cropped up in my thinking, and how they gradually evolved into a dissertation.Youll have to read a lot of technical papers to become familiar with any field, and to stay c

9、urrent once youve caught up. You may find yourself spending over half of your time reading, especially at the beginning. This is normal. Its also normal to be overwhelmed by the amount of reading you think you should do. Try to remember that its impossible to read everything that might be relevant:

10、instead, read selectively. When you first start reading up on a new field, ask your advisor or a fellow student what the most useful journals and conference proceedings are in your field, and ask for a list of seminal or classic papers that you should definitely read. For AI researchers, a useful (i

11、f slightly outdated) starting point is Agres (see agre) summary of basic AI references. Similar documents may exist for other research areas - ask around. Start with these papers and the last few years of journals and proceedings.Before bothering to read *any* paper, make sure its worth it. Scan the

12、 title, then the abstract, then - if you havent completely lost interest already - glance at the introduction and conclusions. (Of course, if your advisor tells you that this is an important paper, skip this preliminary step and jump right in!) Before you try to get all of the nitty-gritty details o

13、f the paper, skim the whole thing, and try to get a feel for the most important points. If it still seems worthwhile and relevant, go back and read the whole thing. Many people find it useful to take notes while they read. Even if you dont go back later and reread them, it helps to focus your attent

14、ion and forces you to summarize as you read. And if you do need to refresh your memory later, rereading your notes is much easier and faster than reading the whole paper.A few other points to keep in mind as you read and evaluate papers:Make sure the ideas described really worked (as opposed to just

15、 being theoretically valid, or tested on a few toy examples).Try to get past buzzwords: they may sound good, but not mean much. Is there substance and an interesting idea underneath the jargon?To really understand a paper, you have to understand the motivations for the problem posed, the choices mad

16、e in finding a solution, the assumptions behind the solution, whether the assumptions are realistic and whether they can be removed without invalidating the approach, future directions for research, what was actually accomplished or implemented, the validity (or lack thereof) of the theoretical just

17、ifications or empirical demonstrations, and the potential for extending and scaling the algorithm up.Keep the papers you read filed away so you can find them again later, and set up an online bibliography (BibTeX is a popular format, but anything consistent will do). I find it useful to add extra fi

18、elds for keywords, the location of the paper (if you borrowed the reference from the library or a friend), and a short summary of particularly interesting papers. This bibliography will be useful for later reference, for writing your dissertation, and for sharing with other graduate students (and ev

19、entually, perhaps, advisees).Staying MotivatedAt times, particularly in the middle years, it can be very hard to maintain a positive attitude and stay motivated. Many graduate students suffer from insecurity, anxiety, and even boredom. First of all, realize that these are normal feelings. Try to fin

20、d a sympathetic ear - another graduate student, your advisor, or a friend outside of school. Next, try to identify why youre having trouble and identify concrete steps that you can take to improve the situation. To stay focused and motivated, it often helps to have organized activities to force you

21、to manage your time and to do something every day. Setting up regular meetings with your advisor, attending seminars, or even extracurricular activities such as sports or music can help you to maintain a regular schedule.Chapman (see chapman) enumerates a number of immobilizing shoulds that can make

22、 you feel so guilty and unworthy that you stop making progress. Telling yourself that you *should* have a great topic, that you *should* finish in $n$ years, that you *should* work 4, or 8, or 12 hours a day isnt helpful for most people. Be realistic about what you can accomplish, and try to concent

23、rate on giving yourself positive feedback for tasks you do complete, instead of negative feedback for those you dont.Setting daily, weekly, and monthly goals is a good idea, and works even better if you use a buddy system where you and another student meet at regular intervals to review your progres

24、s. Try to find people to work with: doing research is much easier if you have someone to bounce ideas off of and to give you feedback.Breaking down any project into smaller pieces is always a good tactic when things seem unmanageable. At the highest level, doing a masters project before diving into

25、a Ph.D. dissertation is generally a good idea (and is mandatory at some schools). A masters gives you a chance to learn more about an area, do a smaller research project, and establish working relationships with your advisor and fellow students.The divide-and-conquer strategy works on a day-to-day l

26、evel as well. Instead of writing an entire thesis, focus on the goal of writing a chapter, section, or outline. Instead of implementing a large system, break off pieces and implement one module at a time. Identify tasks that you can do in an hour or less; then you can come up with a realistic daily

27、schedule. If you have doubts, dont let them stop you from accomplishing something - take it one day at a time. Remember, every task you complete gets you closer to finishing.Getting to the ThesisThe hardest part of getting a Ph.D. is, of course, writing the dissertation. The process of finding a the

28、sis topic, doing the research, and writing the thesis is different from anything most students have done before. If you have a good advisor and support network, youll be able to get advice and help in setting directions and goals. If not, you may need to be more independent. If this is the case, don

29、t just isolate yourself from the world: try to go out and find the resources and support you need from professors, other graduate students, mailing lists, friends, family, and publications like this one.Finding an AdvisorFinding the right advisor can help you immeasurably in successfully completing

30、a thesis. You should ideally have selected the schools you applied to by identifying faculty members youd like to work with. If not, start looking around as early as possible. Of course, the ideal advisor will be in the area youre interested in working in, and will actively be doing high-quality res

31、each and be involved in and respected by the research community.Read research summaries by faculty members (which are usually published by the department), go to talks they give, and attend or audit courses given by professors you might be interested in working with. Talk to other graduate students

32、and recent graduates. Ask them how their relationships with their advisors are/were, how quickly the advisors students graduate, and how successful (well recognized, high-quality) their research is. What kinds of relationships do they have - frequent interactions, collaborative work, encouraging ind

33、ependence? handing out topics or helping students to create individual research areas, or a more hands-off style?Other things to find out about potential advisors:What is the average time their Ph.D. students take to finish their degrees? What is the dropout rate for their students?How long have the

34、y been on the faculty? There are advantages and disadvantages to being one of the first members of a new research group. On the positive side, you often have more freedom to choose your research topic and to influence the direction of the groups research. On the negative side, you may be more isolat

35、ed (since there wont be older graduate students in the group), and your advisor wont have as much experience.A good advisor will serve as a mentor as well as a source of technical assistance. A mentor should provide, or help you to find, the resources you need (financial, equipment, and psychologica

36、l support); introduce you and promote your work to important people in your field; encourage your own interests, rather than promoting their own; be available to give you advice on the direction of your thesis and your career; and help you to find a job when you finish. They should help you to set a

37、nd achieve long-term and short-term goals.Once you identify one or more potential advisors, get to know them. Introduce yourself and describe the area youre interested in. Attend their research group meetings if they hold them regularly. Give them a copy of a research proposal if you have a good ide

38、a of what you want to work on, and ask for comments. Ask whether they have any TA or RA positions available, or if there are any ongoing research projects that you could get involved with. Read their published papers, and the work of their students. Drop by during office hours and ask questions or m

39、ake comments. Offer to read drafts of papers - and do more than just proofread (see the section on feedback).The type of relationship that each student needs with an advisor will be different. Some students prefer to be given more direction, to have frequent contact, and to be checked up on. Others

40、are more independent. Some may need contact but be self-conscious about asking for it. Other things that vary include what kinds of feedback is preferred (lots of random ideas vs. very directed feedback (pointers), working individually vs. in groups, working on an established research project vs. a

41、new, independent effort; working in the same area as your advisor or doing an outside thesis.You may find that your thesis advisor doesnt always give you all of the mentoring that you need. Multiple mentors are common and useful; they may include other faculty members in your department or elsewhere

42、, senior graduate students, or other colleagues (see the section on networking). You may want to seriously consider changing thesis advisors if your advisor is inaccessible or disinterested, gives you only negative feedback, doesnt have the technical background to advise you on your thesis, or haras

43、ses you (see the section on women).The most important thing is to ask for (i.e., demand politely) what you need.Finding a Thesis TopicDoing a masters project is often a good idea (and is required by some schools). Although choosing an appropriately scaled-down topic may be difficult, having the idea

44、l topic is also less important, since you will have the chance to move on after only a year or so. If you have a good idea of what you want to do your Ph.D. dissertation on, choosing a masters project that will lead into the dissertation is wise: you will get a head start on the Ph.D., or may decide

45、 that youre not interested in pursuing the topic after all (saving yourself a lot of work and grief farther down the road).A good source of ideas for masters projects (and sometimes for dissertation topics) is the future work section of papers youre interested in. Try developing and implementing an

46、extension to an existing system or technique.Generally speaking, a good Ph.D. thesis topic is interesting to you, to your advisor, and to the research community. As with many aspects of graduate school, the balance you find will depend at least in part on the relationship you have with your advisor.

47、 Some professors have well defined long-term research programs and expect their students to contribute directly to this program. Others have much looser, but still related ongoing projects. Still others will take on anyone with an interesting idea, and may have a broad range of interesting ideas to

48、offer their students. Be wary of the advisor who seems willing to let you pursue any research direction at all. You probably wont get the technical support you need, and they may lose interest in you when the next graduate student with a neat idea comes along.If you pick a topic that youre not truly

49、 interested in simply because its your advisors pet area, it will be difficult to stay focused and motivated - and you may be left hanging if your advisor moves on to a different research area before you finish. The same is true for choosing a topic because of its marketability: if youre not persona

50、lly excited about the topic, youll have a harder time finishing and a harder time convincing other people that your research is interesting. Besides, markets change more quickly than most people finish dissertations.In order to do original research, you must be aware of ongoing research in your fiel

51、d. Most students spend up to a year reading and studying current research to identify important open problems. However, youll never be able to read everything that might be relevant - and new work is always being published.Try to become aware and stay aware of directly related research - but if you

52、see new work that seems to be doing exactly what youre working on, dont panic. Its common for graduate students to see a related piece of work and think that their topic is ruined. If this happens to you, reread the paper several times to get a good understanding of what theyve really been accomplis

53、hed. Show the paper to your advisor or someone else whos familiar with your topic and whose opinions you respect. Introduce yourself to the author at a conference or by e-mail, and tell them about your work. By starting a dialogue, you will usually find that their work isnt quite the same, and that

54、there are still directions open to you. You may even end up collaborating with them. Good researchers welcome the opportunity to interact and collaborate with someone whos interested in the same problems they are.To finish quickly, its usually best to pick a narrow, well defined topic. The downside

55、of this approach is that it may not be as exciting to you or to the research community. If youre more of a risk-taker, choose a topic that branches out in a new direction. The danger here is that it can be difficult to carefully define the problem, and to evaluate the solution you develop. If you ha

56、ve a topic like this, it helps a lot to have an advisor or mentor who is good at helping you to focus and who can help you maintain a reasonably rigorous approach to the problem.In the extreme case, if your topic is so out of the ordinary that its unrelated to anything else, you may have difficulty

57、convincing people its worthwhile. Truly innovative research is, of course, exciting and often pays back in recognition from the research community - or you could just be out in left field. If you have a far-out topic, be sure that people are actually *interested* in it, or youll never be able to sel

58、l it later, and will probably have trouble getting your work published and finding a job. In addition, it will be hard to find colleagues who are interested in the same problems and who can give you advice and feedback.In any case, a good topic will address important issues. You should be trying to

59、solve a real problem, not a toy problem (or worse yet, no problem at all); you should have solid theoretical work, good empirical results or, preferably, both; and the topic will be connected to - but not be a simple variation on or extension of - existing research. It will also be significant yet manageable. Finding