advice to phd students

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• CAREER COLUMN
• 06 November 2018

Twenty things I wish I’d known when I started my PhD

• Lucy A. Taylor 0

Lucy A. Taylor earned her zoology PhD from the University of Oxford, UK. She is now a postdoctoral researcher at Save the Elephants in Nairobi, Kenya, and a visiting researcher in the Department of Zoology at Oxford.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Starting a PhD can be tough. Looking back, there are many things I wish I’d known at the beginning. Here, I have curated a list of advice from current PhD students and postdoctoral researchers from the Department of Zoology at my institution, the University of Oxford, UK, to aid new graduate students.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-07332-x

This is an article from the Nature Careers Community, a place for Nature readers to share their professional experiences and advice. Guest posts are encouraged. You can get in touch with the editor at [email protected].

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The Savvy Scientist

Experiences of a London PhD student and beyond

My Advice and Tips for New PhD Students

I started my own PhD exactly six years ago this week and looking back there are LOADS of things I wish I’d known when I started! Previously I’ve written a whole post about my PhD regrets . In this post I want to focus on actionable advice and tips which I hope will help out any new first year PhD students.

Even if you’re already midway through your PhD I hope that you find some of the advice useful. Do you have a piece of PhD advice yourself? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section below.

1. Set Up Regular Meetings with Your Supervisor

One of the main things which really helped during my PhD was having regular one on one meetings. Not only do you get an opportunity to check things with your supervisor, they’re also a useful way to stay focussed and disciplined.

Rather than set up ad-hoc one on one meetings when you need them, I’d really push for a regular slot. I had a recurring weekly meeting, mostly just with my primary supervisor but sometimes my secondary supervisor came along too. Some people may find this is too frequent but in any case regular meetings are crucial.

Supervisors will be familiar with many challenges you’re likely to face. They can offer invaluable advice  to not only solve the problem quickly but also offer perspective to put your mind at ease. It is almost impossible that you won’t have anything at all to discuss. In fact you are likely to end up receiving lots of other advice which you may not have been actively seeking near the start of your PhD, such as career guidance.

Some supervisors by default only have group meetings with their PhD students. Whilst they can be great for getting to know what everyone in the group does and for getting feedback, these really aren’t the place to raise a lot of issues to do with your PhD. For starters it isn’t an effective use of other students’ time to sit through you doing a deep dive into technical details. In addition, some topics are far better suited to a private meeting: mental health, a review of your progress etc.

For any prospective PhD students reading this, it’s a good idea to gauge how much support you can expect to receive from a supervisor ahead of time. If you’ve already recently started your project, now can be a great time to set yourself up with regular meetings.

2. Don’t Work Too Hard

When you’re new in the research group it is natural to not want to come across as a slacker to your colleagues and supervisor. However please don’t become that person who feels the need to hang around in the office just to be seen to be committed to the project.

A perk of a PhD is that they’re flexible: you should be able to control your own time and work when you want and take breaks when you want. Some people see this flexibility as merely theoretical and instead end up working really long hours. Please don’t!

Instead I suggest treating the PhD like a job (in a good way!). For me personally I found that working roughly 9-5 Monday to Friday was more than enough time to complete a PhD at a top tier university in less time than average. For more details, including my own calendar just over one year into the PhD, check out the separate post:

How much work is a PhD?

3. Work Smart and Learn to Take Breaks

Working in unison with the previous point about the number of hours you put in per week, a top tip for new PhD students is to learn to work smart and take breaks where necessary.

Repeat after me: don’t waste time being unproductive.

An effective PhD student shouldn’t need to chuck their entire life at the PhD. Instead, learn how you work best and use this knowledge to find a work pattern which boosts your productivity. Along with figuring out whether you prefer to start work earlier or later in the day, I personally found it useful to figure out how long I could sit at my desk before my productivity starting dropping. On the topic of working hours and productivity: no, PhDs don’t need caffeine .

Taking frequent breaks are great, not just for your productivity but also your sanity. By breaks I mean everything from a five minute walk through to a proper holiday away from work.

If you realise you’ve started procrastinating, take a break: reading a few pages of a fiction book or taking a short walk can do wonders for PhD motivation and your mental health. Breaks are particularly important for anyone starting to feel the potential effects of burnout. In fact it may be worth reading my whole post about PhD burnout .

PhD Burnout: Managing Energy, Stress, Anxiety & Your Mental Health

Beyond daily walks, take days off when you feel like you need them. While you no longer enjoy months off in a row like undergraduates, do be sure to take holidays too: yes PhDs should definitely take holiday. Here is how much annual leave I used up for holidays throughout my whole PhD .

4. Start Thinking About Publishing

Clearly you’re not going to be in a position to publish original research for quite some time (as first author at least), but your first year is often filled with a lot of reading. In addition to using this reading to help with your project direction, you could turn this into a writing exercise which can be useful for three key reasons:

• Boost your understanding of the topic. Writing things down in your own words will strengthen your comprehension.
• It can form the basis for the literature review in your thesis. Always useful! Also handy for any early stage milestones that your university has. Mine had a checkpoint at nine months where it can be pretty handy to demonstrate that you have some idea about your research field!
• A relatively easy and early publication: a review article. It’ll really help give you confidence in the publishing process.

One of the best research groups I collaborated with during my PhD had an initiative where all first year PhD students should try to publish a review article. I think this is a great idea and wish I’d considered it myself so consider publishing a review article a top tip for new PhD students!

Before I tried submitting my own first original research article , which wasn’t until over two years into the PhD, I found the whole publishing process quite overwhelming and intimidating. Had I dipped my toes in early with a review article I’d have realised it wasn’t as complicated as I suspected (as with most unknowns) and instead probably tried to submit my own research much sooner. I’ve since written an entire series of guides about publishing your own paper, check it out here:

Writing an academic journal paper

5. Get Some Good Habits Started

There’s no better time to get some good habits established than when you’re just getting started with your PhD.

Have a think about what kind of habits you’d like to have by the end of your first year as a PhD student and start putting plans in place to work towards them.

Good habits may include:

• Using a calendar so as to not be late to meetings or lab bookings
• Reflecting on times that you procrastinate and instead pushing yourself to take proper breaks
• Healthy and low-cost eating habits . Nothing is more important than your health, and what you eat is a key part of keeping yourself healthy. At least in the UK it can get really expensive really quickly if you buy prepared food (cafes, restaurants, takeaways) for all of your meals. Instead, I strongly suggest starting to cook for yourself. It is much cheaper and usually more healthy. I wrote a series of posts about cooking during a PhD, check them all out here:

Save money as a student: cook delicious & nutritious meals on a budget!

• Getting a good amount of sleep. I won’t prescribe how much sleep to get or when your bed time should be (I’m not your parent!) but just know that getting into a regular sleeping pattern to stay fully rested will do wonders during your PhD. I already mentioned how caffeine consumption is not a prerequisite for those of working in research and sleeping enough so that you don’t feel tired is a good starting point.
• Doing regular exercise . Try to make it something that you enjoy so that you stick with it. Want to be uber efficient? Combine it with your commute: I cycled to work during my PhD . Bonus points for any exercise which is sociable.

6. Get Involved

As interesting as your research may be, your PhD shouldn’t all be about working on your own in the lab. Take the opportunities presented to you. Such as:

• Collaborations. Working with other people can be much more fun than working on your own and could lead to some interesting developments for your own project.
• Presenting at meetings and conferences. It is a great experience. Scared of presenting? Even more reason to get started.
• Side projects. Got another idea you want to try? Give it a go!
• Make connections. I don’t want to bore you with networking spiel, instead I’ll just say that making connections (or hopefully friends!) with lots of people around your department, university or elsewhere can really enrich your PhD experience.
• Learn new skills. Not just “boring” lab stuff like analytical techniques, think about anything else in life you’ve always wanted to try. For instance you can join student sports clubs and societies like any other students at university. I tried scuba diving and gliding during my PhD and I’m so pleased that I got involved. Read my whole post here about opportunities during your PhD:

How to make the most of opportunities

7. Enjoy It!

There is no doubting that a PhD can be tough at times but do try to enjoy it and remind yourself how lucky you are!

As a PhD student you’re in an enormously privileged position. You’re getting paid to be a student, which in itself is pretty great but on top of that you get to become an expert in a topic you find interesting. It is pretty amazing really. My final tip for new PhD students is to savour the PhD experience. The years will fly by before you know it, so make sure to take a breath once in a while to appreciate where you’ve got to and where you’re going.

A Quick Summary of Tips for New PhD Students

• Set up regular meetings with your supervisor(s)
• Don’t work too hard
• Work smart and take breaks
• Start thinking about publishing
• Get some good habits going
• Get involved
• Most importantly: enjoy it!

Good luck to all you PhD students, new and old. Hopefully these tips for new PhD students help give you some ideas to make your PhD a more pleasant experience. Do you have any other ideas for tips to help out PhD students? Let me know.

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A guide for first year PhD students: Expectations, responsibilities, advice

The first year of a PhD can feel like a rollercoaster ride. First-year PhD students are ambitious and want to fulfil expectations. At the same time, they may be unsure of what these expectations and their responsibilities are. This guide aims to provide first-year PhD students with some directions and advice.

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase using the links below at  no additional cost to you.  I only recommend products or services that I truly believe can benefit my audience. As always, my opinions are my own.

The first year as a PhD student: Excitement, ambition, overwhelm

What to expect as a first-year phd student, responsibilities of a first-year phd student, a supervisor’s expectations of a first-year phd student, thesis/dissertation, academic skills, relationships and networking, health and well-being.

Starting a PhD is exciting. Securing a PhD position is a major life event, and often something that first-year year PhD students have been working towards for a long time.

Many PhD students cannot wait to start. They already want to prepare in the weeks and months leading up to their new positions. And once they do start, they are full of energy, ambitions and plans.

First-year PhD students want to do well, make progress with their projects and meet their supervisors’ expectations. However, it is not always clear what that means.

“Am I doing enough? Do I make enough progress? Am I smart enough? Did I bite off more than I can chew?”

Questions like these, and insecurities, often develop early on in a PhD journey.

Furthermore, starting in a new environment can also be draining. There are new colleagues, new processes, and many unwritten rules in academia. Coupled with open questions about the direction of one’s PhD research, the first year can feel overwhelming.

To avoid overwhelm, it helps to know that the first year of a PhD involves much more than just figuring out one’s research. And absolutely normal to feel lost from time to time.

Succeeding in academia has many facets, including your thesis or dissertation, but also learning new skills, and developing relationships with supervisors, colleagues and scholars in your field. All of that takes energy.

Set realistic expectations for yourself in the first year of your PhD. Not everything will work out as planned. Research takes time, and setbacks are inevitable.

Doing a PhD is often experienced as very stressful : many PhD students are perfectionists, and a PhD requires a lot of self-responsibility. Consequently, PhD work tends to feel very personal, and criticism can sting.

First-year PhD students can deal with ‘failures’ more constructively by realizing that failures are an inevitable part of academic work, and by adopting a more welcoming attitude to criticism and feedback.

First-year PhD students can also expect to read and explore a lot. At times, this involves going down the rabbit hole of academic literature: processing new information, frameworks and perspectives before discarding them again.

Thinking, researching, experimenting, writing and editing are not straightforward processes, and a lot of learning takes place along the way.

Specific requirements and responsibilities of a first-year PhD student differ from programme to programme.

However, frequently a key responsibility of a PhD student is to develop a firm research proposal in the first year, which is often coupled with an extensive literature review.

This requires first-year PhD students to immerse themselves in the relevant literature. However, it is also recommended to read a bit outside of your field or discipline to gain new perspectives.

If a PhD programme involves course work, as is for instance the case in North America much more than in Europe, then planning and starting coursework is also often a responsibility during the first year.

All in all, a first-year PhD student is responsible to get organised and create a feasible plan for the coming years. The first year is meant to set the foundation for the PhD trajectory .

Unless the PhD programme is followed online, and unless there is a pandemic raging, first-year PhD students are additionally often expected to actively participate in the research group, lab or department in which they are based.

Active participation can range from simply showing up regularly, to attending lunches with colleagues, attending research events or presenting preliminary findings.

The internet is full of horror stories of PhD supervisors having extremely unrealistic expectations of first-year PhD students. For instance, several publications in the first year.

While this can certainly happen, I dare to say that this is not the norm.

Again, specific expectations or requirements in terms of performance and output of first-year PhD students can differ from university to university, and from supervisor to supervisor.

Beyond that, however, there are several expectations that many PhD supervisors have of first-year PhD students.

For instance, PhD supervisors tend to appreciate some levels of regularity and consistency. While it is absolutely normal to have periods where you make more progress (for instance in writing) than in others, it is not good to contact your supervisor every day for a month, and then fall off the earth for half a year.

Consistency goes hand in hand with good communication. Communication, respect and openness are fundamental elements in a good supervisor-supervisee relationship.

Many supervisors prefer first-year PhD students to ask for help and support if they experience roadblocks of any kind, instead of finding out that after a year no progress was made.

Lastly, supervisors often expect PhD students to take matters into their own hands. Instead of simply waiting for instruction, this means that first-year PhD students should be in the driver’s seat of their journey. Therefore, it is no surprise that proactiveness is one of the 10 qualities of successful PhD students.

25 things every first year PhD student should do

To turn the more abstract discussion on expectations and responsibilities into more concrete advice, the following list includes 25 things (divided into five categories) that every first-year PhD student should do.

• Read as much as you can. Write down your thoughts and observations.
• Develop a system to keep track of the literature you are reading (for instance through an excel file, notebooks, or a reference manager like Zotero ).
• Develop a literature review on your research topic.
• Familiarise yourself with your university’s PhD requirements (such as length, number of publications, required coursework, etc.).
• Read a few PhD theses from your field and university to understand what is ultimately expected from you.
• Get into the habit of writing . It does not have to be purely academic text. Write down your observations, write blog posts, and write a research diary. The more you write, the easier it gets.
• Develop a good system of communication and effective supervision meetings with your PhD supervisor/s.
• Get into the habit of talking about your research. Speak to your friends about your work, and discuss some readings with your colleagues. Try to formulate your thoughts in an accessible way. The more you do this, the easier it gets.
• Present something in a friendly environment (such as your research group) to practice public speaking .
• Learn how to prioritise tasks . Sometimes, prioritising one task means ruthlessly dropping others. Get comfortable with it. No one can do it all.
• Get to know your supervisor/s . Learn about their research and activities, their preferences and things like their preferred way of communicating. Don’t just expect your supervisor/s to adjust to your preferences, also adjust to theirs.
• Be present in your department, lab or research group. Chat with colleagues, exchange information, support each other and socialise. Collaboration is always better than competition.
• Develop a good support network outside of work. Even the nicest PhD trajectory can be stressful and frustrating from time to time. Know who has your back and can provide support and/or distraction when needed.
• Get to know the administrators and secretaries of your university. They hold a lot of power and you want them on your side!
• Start your online presence by filling out your university profile page, and setting up a professional Twitter account or a LinkedIn profile. You want people to be able to find information about you and your research online.
• Observe your energy levels and find your rhythm. Some people concentrate better in the morning, others late at night. Figure out when to tackle difficult tasks, when to schedule meetings, and when to take breaks. A PhD is not a regular 9 to 5 job. If you have flexibility in your time planning, optimise your routine so that it fits you .
• Be kind to yourself. When having negative thoughts, speak them out loud. Would you talk to your friends or colleagues the same way you talk to yourself? Probably not. Be forgiving and compassionate if you have a bad day.
• Foster an identity outside of your PhD by taking time for instance for hobbies, family and friends. It will help you to separate your self-worth from your PhD work.
• Prioritise your health and well-being . This involves for example getting proper sleep , exercising and eating healthily. Not only will you feel better, but your work will also benefit.
• Take proper breaks. Getting burnout is not a badge of honour or testimony to your dedication. Work smarter, not harder.

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• 12 . 16 . 20
• Find Your Direction

11 Pieces of Advice for PhD Students (2023)

• Posted by: Chris

Updated March 8, 2023

I was thinking today about good advice for PhD students, especially those just starting out. And I imagined what I’d tell myself all those years ago.

I stepped into a PhD with very little knowledge of how to do anything. I didn’t get the language used in academia, and I barely understood the program requirements.

I was just excited. Excited by the future. The possibilities. The life-changing experience I was about to go through.

And, although I was disappointed by the lack of a tenure-track job which–let’s be honest–was the reason I got into academia in the first place, I wasn’t actually disappointed by the experiences I’d had.

I learned a lot, grew a lot, and had a lot of fun. But still, I wouldn’t do everything the same.

Here’s what I’d tell myself if I were to start again, which is–surprise–also my advice for PhD students.

1. Achieving won’t make you feel worthy

2. you’re not going to be a professor, 3. define the type of relationship with your supervisor you want, and ask for it.

• Join us in our Career Advance Program and Community!

4. Apply for all the funding, then find more

5. you’re not going to know it all, 6. start building your non-academic exit ramp way before you need it, 7. grow your network right away, 8. treat academia like a job, 9. don’t wait for people to tell you what to do, 10. don’t forget your roots, 11. find your voice.

I published peer-reviewed articles. I won awards, big ones. I had international fellowships and traveled.

I still didn’t feel like I was good enough.

I told myself that the next publication would make me happy, the next grant would mean I was enough.

It never did. I kept running, kept chasing. I never rested, imagining that if I beat myself into a superhuman I’d get a tenure-track job. And then, I thought, I’ll have made it. I’ll feel worthy of being here.

I never got the tenure-track job, but I know for a fact it wouldn’t have made me feel good enough. It wouldn’t have conquered the imposter syndrome.

Because the gift of self-worth comes from me. It happens internally, not externally. And I could have given it to myself on day one.

You’re good enough to be here. You deserve it. You won’t be perfect, but you’ll learn.

And no matter what happens, you are enough.

No, you’re not. Some of you are reading this right now, and you’re thinking, Well he wasn’t. But I will be.

You’re wrong.

No, I’ll be the exception.

No you won’t.

I’ll work harder. I’ll publish more.

Even if that were true, it really doesn’t make a difference. You won’t get a tenure-track academic job.

Of course, I don’t know 100%. If tenure-track jobs exist ten years from now, not a guarantee, by the way, someone will be doing them. Perhaps it will even be you.

But starting a PhD with your vision set on being a professor is, frankly, dumb.

If you can’t look at the other possibilities for your PhD and get excited about them, then you’re chasing the wrong thing.

This is one of the most valuable pieces of advice for new PhD students.

One of the weirdest, new things about the PhD was the realities of working with a supervisor. Nobody ever really told me what this meant, and I’m still not sure I totally get it.

Most PhD students I see look at a supervisor as something between a parent and Gandalf. They look for affirmation, acceptance, approval, and applause from them.

And while it’s perfectly okay to want a good relationship with your supervisor, too many students just expect to fall into this type of close mentor relationship, and some get upset when they can’t have it.

The thing I wished I’d done when starting out was to sit down with my supervisor and ask:

• What does the supervisor/student relationship look like?
• How often should we plan to meet?
• What would you say your supervision style is?

These types of questions are totally fair game. Some supervisors will initiate this conversation. This is ideal. But if they don’t, you can. Get a clear sense of what to expect from working together.

And if you need something specific, say regular check-ins, don’t be afraid to ask for that.

Funding sets you free on this journey. Spend as much time as you possibly can applying for it. Find more. Find better ways to get funding.

When I was holding a major grant that couldn’t be held simultaneously to other grants, I realized that this didn’t include travel funding. So I applied for as much travel funding as I could, won a bunch, and then went and got paid to live overseas on top of my grant.

I straight-up made over $70k in funding that year.

This sounds sort of braggy, sorry. But I have two points:

• This is a game. Learn to play it well.
• You need time to work and get the thesis done. I’ve seen way too many people cram their funded years with teaching, TA work, RA work, etc. and then not have their thesis done when the funding runs out. Get the money and get it done.

I remember stepping into my first seminar. I didn’t know what was happening, and I said some dumb things that I kicked myself for later.

And holy crap, those other students were friggen smart! What the heck was I doing here? I didn’t deserve to be among them.

As we became friends, I realized how many of them shared the same feelings, even though I still think they were all ridiculously smart-er than me.

I spent way too much time in my first years trying to show that I was good enough. Trying to prove that I deserved to be there. Trying to tamp down the feeling of inadequacy.

I wish I’d just recognized that there’s a ton of stuff I don’t know, that’s okay, and that learning is half the fun. I wish I’d asked more questions instead of waiting for chances to spout off answers.

Don’t wait until the week before you graduate.

Like I said above, you’re not going to be a professor. Many students ignore this fact, pretend the end isn’t coming, stick their head in the sand, and finally–after the last academic job application falls through–ask themselves, “So what else can I do with this?”

If you’re going to have to face the reality of a non-academic job , and most of us are, you might as well get started early. It will make your exit a heck of a lot easier.

I made some suggestions in this article for how to get non-academic experience on your resume. Start exploring and figuring out where else you might go. Get involved in a non-academic project. See if there’s a policy report you can input on. Go start exploring your options. Being a PhD Candidate will open a lot of doors.

And that leads me to…

I wish I’d started growing a non-academic network right away. I mean, seriously, this doesn’t have to be hard stuff.

I’d tell myself to aim for one informational interview every month or two, but to make sure it happens consistently.

If I’d made the effort to start doing these informal networking chats right away , transitioning out of academia would have been a cinch. In fact, if I’d had one conversation every month with someone outside of academia, I’d have 60 people by the time I finished my fifth year.

In actuality, I had none.

I don’t know about you, but by the time I got to the PhD I’d been studying a long time. I’d also worked non-academic jobs.

So one of my pieces of advice for first-year PhD students is to treat it like a job. Stop thinking like a student, and start thinking like an employee.

What’s required of you to get a paycheck? How can you get more money? How can you be better at the work you do? What are the metrics of success in your new “workplace” and how can you reach them?

You can figure all this out, and take the steps you need to take to succeed at your new “job.”

This probably also means treating a supervisor like a boss and not like a parent. (Of course, this depends on the supervisor. Have that conversation about expectations.)

Speaking of treating academia like a job , the worst employees are those who sit around waiting for instructions. The best ones either know what to do and do it, or if they don’t, they ask what else they could be doing.

This is something like academia.

Don’t sit waiting for someone to tell you to apply for grants, to research, or to publish. You know this is part of your academic output, so get moving! If you need to get the all-clear from a supervisor, fine. But for the love of God, don’t wait to be asked!

I grew up working class in a small mining village in northern Canada. I’m sorry if I reference it a lot, it’s who I am.

When jet-setting around the world, hobnobbing with famous academics, and getting published in prestigious journals, it’s easy to forget who you are. To ignore where you came from, or to be embarrassed by it.

It’s easy to get mad at your family or the people in your town for being so backward and ignorant–if they are.

But you’ve had the privilege of education. It doesn’t make you better than those people you’ve left behind, it just means that you’ve had opportunities they never did.

And don’t be ashamed of where you came from. It made you who you are.

I was about to hit publish on this article with 10 pieces of advice, and then I saw that my friend Stefanie Ginster at Career Conversations asked this exact question on Twitter–as I write this!

If you could go back and give one piece if advice to your 1st year grad student self, what would it be? Mine would be: "You are not expected to know everything. Ask more questions instead of being ashamed of your knowledge gaps" #phdchat — Career Conversations, PhD (@careerconversa1) December 16, 2020

It made me think of one more thing, especially as I reflect on the interview that I did with Stefanie.

I’d tell my first-year self to find his voice. I never did. To be honest, my imposter syndrome extended beyond the walls of my own academy and made me feel insecure about sharing ideas from my field online. So I never did.

Don’t be afraid to talk about what you’re learning. Do it on Twitter or LinkedIn if you want, or find community groups to share with! Find your voice. It will empower you to speak about your thing, even if you don’t have all the answers.

If you’re starting a PhD, I hope these pieces of advice to PhD students help! And if you’re already along the road, I’d love to hear on Twitter or LinkedIn what advice you would have. Just hit the share buttons and tell me!

Now Read: 10 Meaningful Alternatives to Academia (2023)

Consulting Secrets 3 – Landing Clients

Photo by Christian Sterk on Unsplash There’s a new type of post buzzing around LinkedIn. I confess, I’ve even made a few.  The post is

You’re Not Good Enough… Yet

Last year, I spent $7k on a business coach. She was fantastic. She helped me through sessions of crafting my ideas to become a “thought

$200/hr Expert? Here’s the Secret!

Photo by David Monje on Unsplash I was listening to Tony Robbins this week. He was talking about being the best.  Tony asks the audience,

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•       Resources       15 Tips on Surviving Your PhD Program

15 Tips on Surviving Your PhD Program

15 tips and advice on making it through a phd.

It can be extremely challenging to complete a PhD program while maintaining physical and emotional health. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that 50 percent of all doctoral students drop out of graduate school without completing their degree. Some schools report a 90 percent attrition rate. Common reasons for dropping out include academic shortcomings, students who change their career path, or those who lose interest in their pursuit. Some students have the ability to complete their degree but opt not to. One cause is the discovery of a poor job market for professors or private organizations in their fields. The Chronicle reports that math and science students leave in their third year. Some 25 percent of dropouts in Arts and Humanities occur after three years, potentially leaving candidates with high student debt and despair. This guide offers examples of concrete, accessible, and practical actions that can alleviate many problems that overwhelm doctoral students.

15 Tips on Surviving Your PhD

There is a legion of experts that offer advice on making it through the years of your PhD program. Many agree on the necessities of maintaining a balance of academic pursuits against routine personal outside activities that foster physical and emotional health. Here are 15 suggestions:

1. Establish a routine you can follow.

It’s crucial to stay on track. Your best option to do so and keep peace of mind is to create a schedule that you can follow – and commit to following it. Get up and do your work on schedule, just as you’d report for a job. Devote segments of your routine for research and reading pertinent literature in your field. Add time in your schedule to include sound sleep, good nutrition, exercise, socializing and recreation. Remember you’ll have other obligations such as attending lectures, symposia, commuting, parking, cleaning your living space, shopping for supplies, meeting with study groups and peer collaborators. At the same time, build a realistic schedule so you won’t work yourself into fear frenzy.

2. Start writing from day one.

Your writing practice and research methodology can put you ahead of schedule on your dissertation. That’s because learning to write comfortably in a scholarly fashion should become a second nature. To eliminate last-minute furies, organize your research times, round up and cite sources properly, and create a number of drafts. Writing at least 30 minutes daily can allow you to consolidate your notes and findings, and note discovery of areas that require additional research. Plus, much of what you write goes directly toward your understanding of your subject matter. Because of your other commitments to teaching, collaboration, and outside activities, keep a writing routine and stick to it. At the same time, read smarter, understanding how the literature fits to your purposes. In reading and writing, look for key points, not bulk.

3. Create a positive community.

Decide from the begging that you can’t afford to collaborate or socialize with friends or peers that exude negativity. Braggards or chronic complainers can sap your energy or even cause you to adopt negative thinking or comparisons with the progress of other PhD candidates. Lead your own research, but seek advisement from people that you can trust, who have your best interests at heart. Join groups involved in your major field of study with which you can share academic as well as social issues. A positive community can bring you out of isolation, and isolation can foster fear or despair.

4. Build effective networks.

Along with creating a positive community, get on with networking from the very beginning of your program. You’re going to spend four or five years at the university, giving you ample time to forge and grow partnerships with working professionals, educators, junior faculty, and peers that contribute to your evolving knowledge base. They can offer suggestions to explorer literature, research trends, and potential opportunities for publications, conferences, and workshops. Remember to investigate online tools and communities as part of your networking as a way to make yourself known as a colleague. Create your professional/research profile at places like LinkedIn or join a LinkedIn Discussion Group. Speak with presenters at seminars. Connect with authors you discover in your literature research and participate in career groups outside your usual sphere at the university. Finally, consider taking informational interviews as a means of understanding the workplace, getting your name out there, and connecting with potential employers.

5. Put money woes to rest.

Having ample money to get you through your program can be difficult, even excruciating. But just knowing solid funding resources can give you some comfort and save precious time. Have a financial plan and do the legwork vital to your economic survival. Don’t let finances overwhelm your primary purpose of discovering your interests, focusing on your expertise, and making progress. Financial aid options for doctoral students are available at the U.S. Department of Education . You may need to combine several opportunities to cover your total expenses, including grants, scholarships, loans, fellowships, housing costs, and securing teaching and research assistantships. Some grad students make money tutoring but you’ll have to consider the time against your routine and academic schedule. GoGrad provides detailed PhD cost estimates broken down by professional field, along with scholarship/grant/fellowship search tools.

6. Make sound nutrition your ally.

Rutgers University advises students to find other ways to palliate stress than by overeating – even healthy foods. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables and all your meals at the right portion sizes. Cut out junk food and sugary treats that create the craving to keep eating them. That goes for alcohol, too, which can contribute to a decline in your health and create another source of worry. Student and faculty events often include drinking, so proceed wisely, even if peers call you a wimp. Vary your meals and include a free day for eating what you want without guilt. WebMd suggests that students include berries, oats, milk or yogurt, salmon, dark green veggies, walnuts, beans, and dark chocolate. Coffee is okay in small doses (8 oz) and without lots of sugar. Latte and mocha drinks are satisfying but often contain large amounts of sugar. Green tea can wake you up, if you don’t want to overdo coffee, but eschew energy drinks or other stimulants that make you jittery.

7. Add exercise to your routine.

Exercise, even moderate, can do wonders for both your physical and emotional wellbeing. Among its benefits, regular exercise fights stress, improves memory retention, and boosts your mood (particularly in winter). Researchers at Colorado Tech report that exercise increases “the number of brain cells in the hippocampus, which controls the formation, retention and recall of memories – all essential for student success. In most adults, the hippocampus starts to shrink in the late twenties, leading to memory loss over time.” Exercise can also add to your social bandwidth if you have regular workout partners or participate in intramural team activities. Remember to stretch. Consider taking a yoga class or Pilates workout. Do some running, weight lifting, swimming, or join a rowing group. Hike with friends or colleagues. Get out the mountain bike. For best results, get in a 30-minute workout at least three times a week. Time Magazine reports that cardiovascular exercise can positively affect depression, anxiety and mood disorders. And you’ll sleep better, too.

8. Learn how to deal with rejection.

Rejection in an PhD program is a routine, unwanted emotional downer. But how you react to it is crucial. Unsolicited advice can feel abusive. Competition for internships, fellowships and publications can stress you out to the point of collapse. Coping tools include not taking rejection or undue criticism personally and chalking it up to experience. It can soften the blows as they come. Comparing yourself to other candidates can be toxic. As with athletics, there will always be someone better than you. But you’re not pursuing your colleagues’ goals, dissertations, or even the identical degree – you’re pursuing personalized knowledge and skills for your life after the doctorate. Barbara Robson, an Associate Editor for two academic journals, writes in Quora that most papers (80 percent or more) are rejected and that there’s an element of luck in getting published. If your paper is rejected by a journal, find another suitable place to submit it. If you’re passed over for a conference, don’t sent a hate letter or academic rebuttal. Move on.

9. Choose a qualified graduate advisor and mentor.

Finding the right mentor and dissertation advisor is pivotal to your academic success and survival. The Gradhacker Blog at Inside Higher Ed suggests that you choose an advisor that shares your research interests and career path. Ask about their success rate in graduating students that they mentor. Check out whether they walk the walk by viewing their list of publications, conference presentations, and other research accomplishments. Find out if they’re available for ongoing advising. Explore their aptitude as a mentor and the personal chemistry toward working together. Are they hard to communicate with, abusive or condescending? Are they unable to otherwise maintain a productive and respectful relationship during the time you’ll be in the program? Not all accomplished professors make for good advisors. Some may be too wrapped up in publishing or attending conferences to meet with you. You should leave advising sessions feeling more focused, energetic about your research and dissertation, and armed with strategies for accomplishment.

10. Build in time for family and friends.

There’s an old joke where a friend asks if you can hang out and you say, “I’m in a PhD program so ask me again in five years.” It’s vital to maintain relationships with family and friends. They can sustain you and keep you from deadly isolation. At the same time, they can be distracting. It’s useful to maintain balance by scheduling time with family and friends while sticking to the need to bear down on research and writing. The PhDStudent Forum says when possible to combine family or friend events around studying. For example, take study time for yourself during a longer visit to family to keep your academic momentum. Visit a coffeehouse where you can study along with family and friends that also like reading in public. Be sure to communicate clearly about your schedule and find ways to book in indispensable phone calls and visits. Join friends for exercise or recreation.

11. Set aside time to pursue non-academic interests.

Yeah right, when is that supposed to happen? It happens when you make it happen. To maintain a sane equilibrium, devote some time to routinely indulge in things you like doing. For example, work in the garden, take a massage class, learn photography, play live music, go kayaking, join a cooking class, volunteer in civic or advocacy activities or learn a foreign language. Build something with your hands. Play scrabble. Paint to indulge your playful or creative side. Take a dance class. Learn meditation or improve your ping pong game. Because it can be near impossible to turn off your PhD brain, relegate it to background noise. That way you might have breakthroughs or discoveries that emerge when you return to work.

12. Arrange and maintain a peaceful learning environment.

Living alone may create a peaceful learning atmosphere, but not if you have noisy neighbors above, next door, or below you. Yet you can develop a horrible sense of cabin fever if you isolate at home. Wherever you reside should be comfortable and workable. Clutter can be a source of stress. According to Inside Higher Ed , living with roommates can save on expenses, but comes along with its own set of challenges. Roommates can have other routines and schedules that introduce unwanted noise, emotional drama, unwanted guests, or social habits that can send you off the edge. Research potential housemates carefully, allowing a back-up plan for dealing with inevitable problems. Developing a friendly but direct communication strategy can help. Or, you can create a work zone in your bedroom that lends for privacy. If necessary, you can find a quiet study environment in a library carrel or small café. The same suggestions apply if you’re living with family.

13. Address your emotional health.

According to Inside Higher Ed , there is a mental health crisis in graduate education. Grad students are six times more susceptible to anxiety and depression than in the general population. The study found that “transgender and gender-nonconforming graduate students, along with women, were significantly more likely to experience anxiety and depression” than their straight or male counterparts. A poor work-life balance can be a powerful contributor to burnout and depression. The worst thing you can do when you experience mental health issues is to keep them to yourself or feel like a failure for having them. Seek out the campus counseling center (student health center) or a trusted outside mental health organization for personal counselling. Join their emotional support groups. The National Grad Crisis Line (877 472-3457) provides free intervention services, confidential telephone counseling, suicide prevention assistance, and referral services. Look into NAMI on Campus Clubs which are student-run mental health support organizations.

14. Deal with expectations

Who you are, ultimately, is not a PhD student. Your grad program is what you’re currently pursuing. The Indiana University guide to thriving in graduate school suggests that you shrink overwhelming expectations into bite-size challenges. It’s normal for doctoral students to think that they’re an imposter among experts. Johns Hopkins University found that striving to meet your expectations can cause low self-esteem, procrastination, guilt and depression. You may find yourself unable to meet your expectations for perfectionism, so modify your plans to hit deadlines with your best effort. The guide further advises to straighten out the expectations that others may have for you. This can be especially true with families and people who provide financial or emotional support.

15. Make conferences a part of life.

Opportunities to attend conferences and presentations are richly rewarding. First, you become part of the greater community in your research niche and you can build a lifetime network of colleagues. You can also gain a greater understanding of the professional options available to you. Even attending conferences out of your niche area can stimulate ideas and send you home refreshed. Participating in panels is a great way to network and demonstrate your expertise. Attending job fairs is another way to network while exploring the professional environment. By networking at conferences, you can set up additional meetings with experts by phone, virtually, or before the next conference. It doesn’t hurt to cite conferences and your own presentations on your CV.

From the Expert

What are PhD students afraid to talk about?

The number one thing that PhD students are afraid to talk about is the lack of progress that they are making on their PhD dissertation. This was certainly true in my case and also in the case of many of my classmates whom I spoke with. The dissertation is such a big project with different stages in it and requires such self-discipline over a sustained period of time. When I got past my embarrassment about it and started speaking to others about it helped a lot and I found a way forward.

Another thing that PhD students are afraid to discuss is their ambivalence about being in a doctoral program and whether they've done the right thing and whether they should continue. These are all important questions that such students need to be aware of and speak to others (counsellor, friends, etc.) about.

What was your greatest challenge and how did you succeed?

As mentioned, my greatest challenge in relation to completing my PhD was getting through the dissertation process. Two things really helped me get over the line (and came from speaking to friends and classmates). (1) Since my dissertation was quantitative, I hired a statistics advisor that I met with on a regular (weekly or fortnightly) basis and this helped me make good progress in that it served to provide much needed structure (and assistance with statistical analysis). (2) I fired my dissertation chair and found a new one that I had a much better working relationship with. My new chair was more knowledgeable about my dissertation subject area and also he was much more supportive. I made significant progress with him and thereafter completed my dissertation in a relatively short time frame.

What are good ways to alleviate stress and anxiety?

There are a number of ways that I think will help with stress while working on one's phd. The usual suspects are approaches such as regular exercise, good diet, fun activities (e.g. movies), counselling and/or talking to friends and/or family.

However, I think the best approach that one can take is to get steadily work through each aspect one-by-one of the PhD program towards completing it. A useful way to think about it (with both the dissertation and the PhD program itself), is to not get overwhelmed by the size of this enormous project but instead cut it up into separate pieces and focus on each piece at a time, complete it, and then move on to the next piece.

How did you handle the challenges of extreme competition?

My tip for students who are experiencing high levels of competition is to try put it all into perspective: Do your best to get the finest resources (internships, grades, etc) that you can but know that once you're out in the profession, some of those things might really matter that much in the bigger picture. So, one can be just a 'pass' in your doctoral program but then get out into their profession and make a big splash.

What can you recommend to keep interest or inertia up so you’ll finish the PhD/Dissertation?

‘Cut up the sausage' and focus on/work on it a piece at a time; Locate assistance or supportive individuals and meet with them regularly and ongoing throughout; Create 'deadlines' and milestones for yourself to work towards and have these other (helpful) individuals assist in keeping you accountable.

Find ways that work for you that help to bring structure into this enormous unstructured (or scantily structured) project called a PhD -- and especially its dissertation. At the end of the day, it's really about just getting through it and into the next (and bigger) stage of your profession. Just do your best while you're in it and don't get too caught up in the moment.

Additional Resources & Help for PhD Students

You should realize that you can’t do everything on your own. To do so is a recipe for financial despair, insurmountable academic challenges and poor overall wellbeing. At the same time, you may need to sift through the wealth of outside resources to find the one that addresses your concerns. The following links will connect you with financial options, bulletin boards in your field, and academic resources. Find tips for time management, exam preparation, and help with emotional issues that can and will arise:

• GoGrad Guide to Paying for Your PhD : Students are currently paying upwards of $80,00 in tuition to complete their PhD. Use our guide to research your financial aid options.
• PhinisheD : This free, comprehensive bulletin board is devoted to PhD students struggling with completing their degree. Find links for reference guides, financial aid, health and well-being tips, and writing guides.
• National Grad Crisis Line : It’s for when the going gets rough. The National Grad Crisis Line at (877) 472-3457 was founded in 1988 to provide free mentoring, confidential counseling, and referral services.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention : The CDC offers a pithy, wide-ranging college resource for maintaining wellness through sound nutrition and exercise. It offers diet plans, activity guidelines, and stress-prevention tips.
• U.S. Department of Education : Learn about financial aid for graduate or professional students including grants, loans and scholarships. The page links to government sites for applications and additional financial resources.
• ThoughtCo : This site is packed with articles on graduate school written by experts. Topics include prepping for comprehensive exams, time-management skills, and dealing with procrastination.
• Meetup : Student Meetups provide free, online listings for students to connect PhD candidates seeking peer support. Join an existing group or start one at your university.
• GoGrad : Discover tips for PhD students who want to complete their degrees online. Featured affordable online doctoral fields include business, computer science, criminal justice, education, nursing and psychology.
• The Grad Café : As host of graduate-school forums, the Grad Café operates a peer-run group that discusses the advantages and negative aspects of living alone or sharing housing.
• PhDJobs : Register for free and post your VC. Search among 1,600 current listings for PhDs and sign up for job alerts or information about post-doc programs.

101 Health and Wellness Tips for College Students Rutgers University

12 Tips for Surviving and Thriving in Grad School PsychCentral

CAPS Grad School Survival Guide Indiana University

Mental Health Crisis for Grad Students Inside Higher Ed

Modest Advice for New Graduate Students Medium.com

Surviving PhD and Postdoctoral Programs: Tips to Guarantee Success! Enago Academy

The Crucial Issue of Doctoral Non-completion The Chronical of Higher Education

Top 10 Smart Foods for College Students WebMD

Community Blog

Keep up-to-date on postgraduate related issues with our quick reads written by students, postdocs, professors and industry leaders.

5 Tips for A New PhD Student

• By Zebastian D.
• December 2, 2019

Starting your PhD can feel like a daunting, exciting and special time. They’ll be so much to think about – has all the paperwork been completed? Which desk is yours? Where’s the best place to get coffee? You’ll also need to think about how to best get going with your multi-year research commitment. Here are a few tips to help you get started:

1. Start Writing

You’ll no doubt get to writing up your research as papers for peer-review towards the latter half of your PhD but definitely get into the habit of regularly writing up your notes from day one. This could be something like writing a diary of your thoughts every day or a summary of your week on a Sunday – whatever works for you, as long as you can be consistent about it. For lab-based projects, in particular, you’ll need to keep a lab book which keeps a record of your experimental workflow; important for you, your supervisor and your examiners to refer back to.

Writing regularly early in your PhD will help you develop your scientific writing skills and help you think about your work analytically from early on. Along the way, you’ll also have written useful content that could be transferred directly into journal manuscripts and future grant proposals.

2. Know Your Research Field

A key element of your PhD is to develop knowledge that is novel and adds to the body of work by others in your research field. You need to have a good understanding of what others have already done and what new things are being worked on – this single best way to do this is to read papers. Lots of papers!

Staying up to date with current knowledge by reading papers will help you ensure the novelty of your work and avoid unnecessarily duplicating what is already known. You’ll also get a feel of the key journals that your peers publish in and the expectations of writing style, content and format for these papers.

3. Read More than Just Papers

Doing a PhD is an enormous commitment; one that will give you challenges in managing your time, money, motivation and energy. Reading papers related to your research is essential however looking into other material could be useful in helping you manage your life during the 3-5 years of research. Good resources to start at include Google Scholar and ResearchGate .

You’ll find there are A LOT of books published on the topics of productivity and general life skills so choose wisely. Better options may be to follow blogs and even listen to podcasts to pick up tips and advice on getting through your PhD smoothly.

4. Get Feedback

Whether it’s through meetings with your supervisor or discussions over coffee with your colleagues in the lab, getting regular feedback on your ideas and work is essential to keeping you on track with your project. It’s all too easy in this type of independent research to get lost down a rabbit hole which may not lead to the results you’re after. Sense checking with people you trust is always a good idea.

5. Set Mini Milestones

The big milestones will be clear for you: (1) pass the upgrade viva to transfer from being an MPhil student to a PhD student (a common approach in UK universities) and then (2) pass your PhD viva! A lot of things need to happen for you to hit these milestones and so setting smaller short-term goals can help both with focus and motivation – it’s all about the mini-wins! This could be things like your first meeting with your supervisor, your first abstract submission to a conference or collecting your first series of experimental data.

An abstract and introduction are the first two sections of your paper or thesis. This guide explains the differences between them and how to write them.

Need to write a list of abbreviations for a thesis or dissertation? Read our post to find out where they go, what to include and how to format them.

There are various types of research that are classified by objective, depth of study, analysed data and the time required to study the phenomenon etc.

Join thousands of other students and stay up to date with the latest PhD programmes, funding opportunities and advice.

Browse PhDs Now

Learn more about using cloud storage effectively, video conferencing calling, good note-taking solutions and online calendar and task management options.

The title page of your dissertation or thesis conveys all the essential details about your project. This guide helps you format it in the correct way.

Emma is a third year PhD student at the University of Rhode Island. Her research focuses on the physiological and genomic response to climate change stressors.

Helena is pursuing a PhD at the University of Vienna. Her research is centred around how we perceive, understand and share the suffering of other people around us, aka empathy for pain.

Join Thousands of Students

My Best Advice for Graduates: 12 Tips for a Happy Life

What useful advice did you receive when you were graduating.

Posted May 24, 2017 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

It’s graduation season.

I’m particularly aware of this because my daughter Eliza is graduating from high school in two weeks. The days are long, but the years are short .

I’m trying to hold back the urge to follow her around the apartment giving her little bits of advice and wisdom . To relieve my mind, here’s what I would tell her, or anyone graduating from high school, college, or graduate school:

1. Know yourself

Something that’s clearer to me every day is that there’s no magic, one-size-fits-all solution for building a happy, healthy, and productive life. You have to know yourself : your temperament, your interests, your values. For instance:

• Are you an Upholder, Questioner, Obliger, or Rebel?
• Are you a Lark or Owl?
• Are you a Marathoner or Sprinter?
• Are you a Simplicity-lover or Abundance-lover?
• Are you a Finisher or Opener?
• Are you an Abstainer or Moderator?
• Are you an Under-Buyer or Over-Buyer?

The better we know ourselves, the more readily we can construct a life that will work for us.

2. Beware of drift.

“Drift” is the decision we make by not deciding, or by making a decision that unleashes consequences for which we don’t take responsibility.

You go to medical school because both your parents are doctors. You get married because all your friends are getting married. You take a job because someone offers you that job. You want the respect of the people around you, or you want to avoid a fight or a bout of insecurity, or you don’t know what else to do, so you take the path of least resistance.

The word “drift” has overtones of laziness or ease. Not true! Drift is often disguised by a huge amount of effort and perseverance. For me, law school was drift, and it was hard every step of the way, from the LSAT to my clerkship with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to the New York Bar exam. In the end, I’m happy I did go to law school—and that’s another tricky thing about drift. Sometimes drift does make you happy. But don’t count on it.

One of my drift-related Secrets of Adulthood is “You can choose what you do, but you can’t choose what you like to do.” And here’s another one: “Approval from the people we admire is sweet, but it’s not enough to be the foundation of a happy life.”

One of the problems of drift is that we try to deny we’re drifting. To see if you’re drifting, take this quiz .

3. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

I cribbed this from Voltaire, and I remind myself of it often.

I can’t let the perfect, fantasy Gretchen crowd out the actual, real Gretchen.

I remind myself that the 20-minute walk I take is better than the 3-mile run I never start; having friends over for take-out is better than never having people to an elegant dinner party.

4. Write (and re-write) your own set of personal commandments.

One of the most challenging—and most helpful and fun—tasks that I did as part of my Happiness Project was to write my Twelve Personal Commandments . These aren’t specific resolutions, like “make my bed,” but the overarching principles by which I try to live my life.

I think this is a great exercise—to distill your core values and hopes for yourself into a succinct list, so that they’re very clearly in your mind. And then you can re-visit them periodically, so you can update them as you grow older and your life changes.

As an example, here are my 12 personal commandments:

1. Be Gretchen. 2. Let it go. 3. Act the way I want to feel. 4. Do it now. 5. Be polite and be fair. 6. Enjoy the process. 7. Spend out. 8. Identify the problem. 9. Lighten up. 10. Do what ought to be done. 11. No calculation. 12. There is only love.

5. Identify the problem.

This idea seems so obvious, but it has been the one of my most important insights. Now I’ve disciplined myself to ask, “What’s bugging me? Why is something not working? What’s the problem here?”

A friend hated her law job so much that she was ready to quit. But when she “identified the problem,” she realized she actually hated her commute . She started listening to audio-books, and her life improved dramatically.

Usually there isn’t such an easy, dramatic solution, but nevertheless, it astonishes me how often it works.

I could never get myself to hang up my coat, and when I “identified the problem,” I realized that I didn’t like putting things on hangers. I added six hooks to our closet door—and problem solved.

6. Take care of your body: exercise regularly, get enough sleep.

I’ve done hundreds of happiness and habit interviews from successful, creative people. Almost all of them mention the importance of a regular exercise routine —and also that they wish they had started this habit sooner. They also frequently mention the importance of getting enough sleep.

Our physical experience always colors our emotional and intellectual experience. If we’re feeling exhausted or sluggish, it’s hard to be happy and productive. Get enough sleep , and get some exercise , and you’ll find it much easier to be happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative.

7. Don’t expect to be motivated by motivation.

I really dislike the word “motivation.” I try never to use it. And here’s why: People use the term to describe their desire for a particular outcome (“I’m really motivated to lose weight”) as well as their reasons for actually acting in a certain way (“I go to the gym because I’m motivated to exercise”). Desire and action are mixed up in a very confusing way.

People often tell me, “Yes, I’m very motivated to achieve this aim,” but when I press, it turns out that while they passionately wish they could achieve an outcome, they aren’t doing anything about it. So what does it mean when they say they’re “motivated?” No idea.

In fact, people aren’t motivated by motivation.

Expert advice often focuses on motivation, by telling people that they just need more motivation to follow through. This may work in a certain way, for certain people (see below), but not for everyone.

The bad result of this advice is that some people spend a lot of time whipping themselves into a frenzy of thinking how much they want a certain outcome, as if desire will drive behavior. And it rarely does.

Instead of thinking about motivation, I argue that we should think about aims, and then take concrete, practical, realistic steps to take us closer to our aims.

Instead of thinking, “I want to lose weight so badly,” think instead about the concrete steps to take, “I’ll bring lunch from home,” “I won’t use the vending machine,” “I won’t eat fast food,” “I’ll quit sugar,” “I’ll cook dinner at home at least four nights a week,” “I’ll go to the farmer’s market on Saturdays, to load up on great produce.”

Of course, in my book Better Than Before , I argue that the great thing about habits is that you don’t need to feel “motivated!”

In my forthcoming book, The Four Tendencies , I do talk about how thinking about reasons for action can help some people to act, and how desire does help some people to act—but that’s not the same as motivation.

For Upholders and Questioners , thinking about reasons helps.

For Rebels , thinking about desire helps.

For Obligers , outer accountability is the crucial element. What does this mean? It means that Obligers are the least likely to be helped by thinking about “motivation.” And guess what? They’re the Tendency that talks most about motivation! They keep trying to amp up their motivation, and then they get frustrated because that doesn’t work. Nope. Obligers should focus on systems of outer accountability.

We really can’t expect to be motivated by motivation.

8. Give time and energy to keeping relationships strong.

Ancient philosophers and modern scientists agree: the most essential key to happiness is strong relationships with other people.

We need enduring, intimate bonds; we need to feel like we belong; we need to be able to confide; we need to be able to get and give support.

Anything that tends to deepen or broaden relationships is likely to boost happiness. Things like:

• Attending reunions
• Going to weddings
• Remembering birthdays
• Keeping up a group chat with your friends who are spread across the world
• Starting a book club
• Making friends with the friends of your friends (this is called “triadic closure”)
• Having a standing yearly date to get together—for a few years out of college, my friends all got together for an Ides of March weekend. Somehow, we stopped, and I’ve always regretted that. Along those lines:
• If someone’s important to you, make concrete plans to see them; remember, something that can happen at any time often happens at no time.

9. Ask yourself, “Whom do I envy?”

Envy is a very unpleasant emotion , and we often don’t even want to admit to ourselves that we’re feeling envious .

But negative emotions play a very important role in a happy life, because they warn us that something needs to change. When we envy someone, it’s a sign that that person has something that we wish we had for ourselves. And that’s useful to know.

When I was considering switching from law to writing, I noticed that when I read in my college magazine about people who had great law careers, I felt a mild interest; when I read about people who had great writing careers, I felt sick with envy. That was an important clue.

10. Remember, everyone makes mistakes.

Everyone makes mistakes; it’s inevitable. And if you’re not failing sometimes, you’re not trying hard enough.

11. Know your “tell.”

In gambling, a tell is a change in behavior that reveals your inner state. Gamblers look for tells as clues about whether other players are holding good or bad hands.

And it’s common for people to have a “tell” in everyday life, too.

For instance, my “tell” is that when I’m feeling anxious or worried, I re-read books aimed at a younger and younger audience. Under all circumstances, I love children’s literature , and read it often, but when I’m reading these books as an anxiety tell, I inevitably re-read instead of reading books I’ve never read before. I want the coziness, the familiarity, the high quality of a book that I know I love.

Self-knowledge is one of the greatest challenges for happiness and good habits. Why is it hard to know that I’m feeling anxious—don’t I feel it? Why is it so hard to know myself? It seems like nothing should be easier and more obvious than to know ourselves—but it’s not.

Recognizing and watching for your “tell” can help you manage yourself better.

12. Collect your own Secrets of Adulthood.

For years, I’ve been collecting my “Secrets of Adulthood,” which are the scraps of wisdom I’ve managed to grasp as I’ve become an adult. It’s fun—and helpful—to keep track of these.

For instance…

• Outer order contributes to inner calm.
• Working is one of the most dangerous forms of procrastination .
• Over-the-counter medication is surprisingly effective.
• Self-regard isn’t selfish.
• Most decisions don’t require extensive research.
• Things often get harder before they get easier.
• It’s easier to keep up than catch up.
• Soap and water removes most stains.
• We can’t make others change, but when we change, a relationship changes.
• Don’t let yourself fall into “empty”: eat when you’re hungry, put gas in the car, keep some cash on hand.

What advice would you give to a graduate? Or what useful advice did you receive when you were graduating?

If you’re intrigued by the book The Four Tendencies and know you’ll want to read it when it comes out, I very much appreciate pre-orders—they really do make a difference for authors, by creating buzz among booksellers, the media, and readers; you can pre-order here .

Gretchen Rubin is the author of The Happiness Project and Better than Before, a New York Times bestseller that explains how to form good habits and break bad ones.

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How to write a PhD thesis: a step-by-step guide

A draft isn’t a perfect, finished product; it is your opportunity to start getting words down on paper, writes Kelly Louise Preece

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Congratulations; you’ve finished your research! Time to write your PhD thesis. This resource will take you through an eight-step plan for drafting your chapters and your thesis as a whole. 

Organise your material

Before you start, it’s important to get organised. Take a step back and look at the data you have, then reorganise your research. Which parts of it are central to your thesis and which bits need putting to one side? Label and organise everything using logical folders – make it easy for yourself! Academic and blogger Pat Thomson calls this  “Clean up to get clearer” . Thomson suggests these questions to ask yourself before you start writing:

• What data do you have? You might find it useful to write out a list of types of data (your supervisor will find this list useful too.) This list is also an audit document that can go in your thesis. Do you have any for the “cutting room floor”? Take a deep breath and put it in a separate non-thesis file. You can easily retrieve it if it turns out you need it.
• What do you have already written? What chunks of material have you written so far that could form the basis of pieces of the thesis text? They will most likely need to be revised but they are useful starting points. Do you have any holding text? That is material you already know has to be rewritten but contains information that will be the basis of a new piece of text.
• What have you read and what do you still need to read? Are there new texts that you need to consult now after your analysis? What readings can you now put to one side, knowing that they aren’t useful for this thesis – although they might be useful at another time?
• What goes with what? Can you create chunks or themes of materials that are going to form the basis of some chunks of your text, perhaps even chapters?

Once you have assessed and sorted what you have collected and generated you will be in much better shape to approach the big task of composing the dissertation. 

Decide on a key message

A key message is a summary of new information communicated in your thesis. You should have started to map this out already in the section on argument and contribution – an overarching argument with building blocks that you will flesh out in individual chapters.

You have already mapped your argument visually, now you need to begin writing it in prose. Following another of Pat Thomson’s exercises, write a “tiny text” thesis abstract. This doesn’t have to be elegant, or indeed the finished product, but it will help you articulate the argument you want your thesis to make. You create a tiny text using a five-paragraph structure:

• The first sentence addresses the broad context. This locates the study in a policy, practice or research field.
• The second sentence establishes a problem related to the broad context you have set out. It often starts with “But”, “Yet” or “However”.
• The third sentence says what specific research has been done. This often starts with “This research” or “I report…”
• The fourth sentence reports the results. Don’t try to be too tricky here, just start with something like: “This study shows,” or “Analysis of the data suggests that…”
• The fifth and final sentence addresses the “So What?” question and makes clear the claim to contribution.

Here’s an example that Thomson provides:

Secondary school arts are in trouble, as the fall in enrolments in arts subjects dramatically attests. However, there is patchy evidence about the benefits of studying arts subjects at school and this makes it hard to argue why the drop in arts enrolments matters. This thesis reports on research which attempts to provide some answers to this problem – a longitudinal study which followed two groups of senior secondary students, one group enrolled in arts subjects and the other not, for three years. The results of the study demonstrate the benefits of young people’s engagement in arts activities, both in and out of school, as well as the connections between the two. The study not only adds to what is known about the benefits of both formal and informal arts education but also provides robust evidence for policymakers and practitioners arguing for the benefits of the arts. You can  find out more about tiny texts and thesis abstracts on Thomson’s blog.

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Write a plan

You might not be a planner when it comes to writing. You might prefer to sit, type and think through ideas as you go. That’s OK. Everybody works differently. But one of the benefits of planning your writing is that your plan can help you when you get stuck. It can help with writer’s block (more on this shortly!) but also maintain clarity of intention and purpose in your writing.

You can do this by creating a  thesis skeleton or storyboard , planning the order of your chapters, thinking of potential titles (which may change at a later stage), noting down what each chapter/section will cover and considering how many words you will dedicate to each chapter (make sure the total doesn’t exceed the maximum word limit allowed).

Use your plan to help prompt your writing when you get stuck and to develop clarity in your writing.

Some starting points include:

• This chapter will argue that…
• This section illustrates that…
• This paragraph provides evidence that…

Of course, we wish it werethat easy. But you need to approach your first draft as exactly that: a draft. It isn’t a perfect, finished product; it is your opportunity to start getting words down on paper. Start with whichever chapter you feel you want to write first; you don’t necessarily have to write the introduction first. Depending on your research, you may find it easier to begin with your empirical/data chapters.

Vitae advocates for the “three draft approach” to help with this and to stop you from focusing on finding exactly the right word or transition as part of your first draft.

This resource originally appeared on Researcher Development .

Kelly Louse Preece is head of educator development at the University of Exeter.

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Post-graduation advice you’ll actually use

Set a budget, don’t center your life around work, and other advice for graduates.

by Allie Volpe

Graduation season can be one of both opportunity and existential dread. You’re about to embark on a new chapter of your life and have seemingly endless possibilities ahead of you, whether you’re graduating from undergrad, are beginning your career straight out of high school, or have taken a non-traditional path. All that promise and potential can be just as liberating as it is terrifying. 

Almost everyone has well-wishes for new college graduates, advice ranging from trite (“Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life!”) to the ill-advised (any platitude with the word “hustle” in it; anyone who recommends you sacrifice sleep to be more productive). 

However, professors who actually work with students, financial experts, and people who’ve been at the crossroads of life say otherwise. Their advice for new graduates is all about relationships: your relationship with your job, your money, and yourself. If you’re looking for a little bit of guidance post-graduation, try a tip or two.

Responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.

Think about work as something that supports your life, not the other way around

“Rather than think of your job as the central axis around which your post-grad life will orbit, start with your vision of a life well-lived, and then consider how your work can support that vision. There’s no shame in prioritizing your career or life outside of work — you’ll likely have seasons of each — but it’s important to be intentional about your choice. If you consider what you value and what the market values, you’ll avoid the trap that exists by over-indexing on just one.” —Simone Stolzoff, author of The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work

Remember that your job will never love you back

“A company is not your friend! Don’t be fooled at a first job into doing so much work you exhaust yourself or burn out because you’re thinking of your boss or the company as a buddy. Protect yourself and join a union if you can. Make sure you’re getting all you can from the job: 401(k) matching, HR benefits, anything they offer. It’s for you. Do not be afraid to ask and get.” — Gabe Dunn , host of the podcast Bad With Money

Consider how you’ll make a mark on the world

“‘Find your purpose in life ’ is a common refrain at graduation ceremonies. If only it were that simple. A purpose in life is cultivated, not found. We cultivate purpose by taking the time to consider what we want out of our lives. What do we hope to accomplish? What matters to us? We cultivate purpose by reflecting on our strengths. What special skills or talents do we possess? What do we enjoy doing? We cultivate purpose by considering how we want to give back. How do we want to contribute? How do we want to leave our mark?

“Reflecting on these questions is a process rather than a one-time event, and it takes time. If we remain attentive, though, we will begin to notice that the answers to these questions draw us in a consistent direction, a direction that allows us to contribute to the world in a personally meaningful way. The world desperately needs the skills we each have to offer.” — Kendall Cotton Bronk , a professor of psychology at Claremont Graduate University

Have constant conversations about money

“Ask for a raise annually. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Talk to your friends about money. We’ve been told for far too long that it is rude, tacky, and taboo to talk about how much we make, how much we spend, and whether or not we invest. But staying silent only benefits corporations — not us. You know your BFF’s deepest, darkest secret, why don’t you know how much they get paid?” — Vivian Tu , former Wall Street trader, personal finance expert, and host of the podcast Networth and Chill

“Create your own curriculum at the University of You, and whenever someone makes you feel like you’re doing life wrong, just remember that they’re in another major at another school”

Accept that plans will change

“The advice that I wish I’d taken — and still remind myself of every day, if we’re being honest — is staying open to the idea that your path, your interests, your needs, and your ambitions will change. And that’s a good thing. There can be a lot of pressure to find the ‘right’ path and stick to that plan, so venturing off a so-called track is spun as failure rather than growth or curiosity. Sometimes it’s not giving up, it’s changing direction. It’s not failing at a dream, it’s meeting a new version of yourself and embracing new ones. Letting yourself change ensures your work and ambition grow as you do. And it means that doing what you can, and learning as you go, is enough.” — Rainesford Stauffer , author of All The Gold Stars: Reimagining Ambition and the Ways We Strive

Continue your education at the University of You

“When faced with the seemingly endless abyss of your post-grad future, break up that future into smaller ‘semesters’ and decide for yourself what the focus of each semester will be for you. Speaking up more in meetings? Taking a creative writing class? Pivoting your career? Spending time with family and friends? One of the hardest things about life after school is figuring out what you want to be doing with your life, and not just what others — parents, professors, coaches — have mapped out for you. 

“The sudden disappearance of the structure of school creates a vacuum. If you don’t designate goals for yourself and your life, you will get sucked into someone else’s goals and end up living someone else’s life. So create your own curriculum at the University of You, and whenever someone makes you feel like you’re doing life wrong, just remember that they’re in another major at another school.” — Cece Xie , privacy and tech lawyer, lecturer at Yale, and author of the forthcoming book Big Bad Law

Don’t compare yourself with others at work

“My first piece of advice has to do with your mindset: Remember that the only competition you have at work is with yourself. My second piece of advice is understanding that comparison is the thief of joy. You and your colleagues might work at the same place, but you have your own goals, dreams, and values. I suggest that you give yourself permission to take the time to assess what your career goals are in this season of your life. Be careful and intentional with the stories you tell yourself, because sometimes we put pressure on ourselves to over-perform.” — Minda Harts , workplace equity consultant and author of The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table  

Set a budget immediately

“It might be exciting to enter the corporate world and have a salary, but it’s never too early to learn how your compensation breaks down into net versus gross income. Be sure to implement a budget so you know that you have enough money to cover all your expenses and save some for a rainy day (read: unexpected emergencies and fun adventures). There are plenty of budgeting formats and ideas, so try them out to see what works best for you.” —Alyssa Mairanz, founder of the online platform and e-course Adulting in the Real World

Break larger goals into smaller ones

“As you prepare to graduate, please know that it’s normal to feel overwhelmed by the sudden shift into a career and the pressure to have everything together. The key is to break down the big picture into smaller, more achievable snapshots. As soon as you get out of bed in the morning, ask yourself, ‘What’s one thing I can do today to bring me closer to my goal?’ By committing to one small task at a time, you’ll be building up your mental muscles while you make progress. Over time, you’ll find it easier to make better choices that support your dreams.” —Joanna Grover, co-author of The Choice Point: The Scientifically Proven Method to Push Past Mental Walls and Achieve Your Goals

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Questions to Ask Before Heading to Law School

Some research and self-assessment can help J.D. hopefuls make the best decision about law school, experts say.

Questions to Ask Ahead of Law School

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Asking yourself some difficult questions about your law school aspirations can provide clarity.

Earning a law degree is a crucial step in the path to a legal career and requires a significant investment of money, time and energy. Before heading to law school , prospective law students should reflect on their motivations and determine if they'd find a legal job fulfilling, experts say.

This means asking questions that require self-assessment, such as why they want to be a lawyer, which school is best for their goals and when it would be best to start. It's also wise to speak with practicing attorneys and alumni of target programs, experts say.

"When you meet, find out why they are in their current careers and practice areas," says Katherine Scannell, vice dean for institutional success at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law in Missouri. "Learn what they do on an average day, what they love about their careers and what is the most challenging. Understanding both what does and does not interest you is incredibly valuable."

Here are some questions experts say J.D. hopefuls should ask before heading to law school.

Do I Really Want to Be a Lawyer?

Because law school requires a major time and financial investment, law school hopefuls should seriously consider why they want to be a lawyer, experts say.

"Are you attracted to law for the income potential, skill development, because you like a legal television series or you just don’t know what else to do with your undergrad degree?" Scannell says. "Think carefully and be intentional. You don’t have to have it all figured out, but you should consider the financial and time investment."

How Do I Know if I Should Become a Lawyer?

Unlike how it may appear on television, being a lawyer isn't always glamorous. For example, some lawyers spend the majority of their time drafting, researching and writing, Scannell says. Others, like criminal defense attorneys, spend significant time in court and meeting with clients.

Because there's a broad range of types of lawyers and practices, law school hopefuls should understand what drives them personally and then determine if there is a practice area that fits their personal values, experts say.

"If your reason to pursue a legal career is not in synch with your personal values, then you have to take a step back and reassess your career goals," Ro Lee, a prelaw adviser at Pitzer College and associate director of career and professional development at Claremont Graduate University in California, wrote in an email. "For example, if you are passionate about assisting underserved communities, you can become a legal advocate, or if you enjoy working with paperwork and not interacting much with others, you can do some document work in mergers and acquisitions."

Those considering law school should have long-term career goals in mind and know whether a law degree is necessary to reach them. J.D. hopefuls should identify specific jobs or areas within the legal profession that interest them and talk with those already working to confirm it's something they want to do and that a law degree is required.

“I think there are a lot of people who go to law school without that specific of an interest, just saying, ‘I’m interested in the law and I’m a good writer,’" says Andrew Willinger, executive director of the Duke Center for Firearms Law and a lecturing fellow at Duke University School of Law in North Carolina. "But I think the best thing you can do is make a list of specific lawyer jobs and try to reach out to those people to talk to them about their day-to-day life and figure out if it’s something you want to do.”

Before applying, it may be beneficial to shadow practicing attorneys or volunteer at a legal clinic or government office. This will not only help applicants determine if law is truly the field they want to pursue, but "gaining field experience before diving into writing a personal statement for law school can be really beneficial," says Kristen Willmott, senior private counselor and graduate school admissions director at Top Tier Admissions.

What Makes a Good Lawyer?

Successful lawyers are passionate and driven about their work, but they're also skilled in several specific areas, experts say. Strong reading comprehension and writing and analytical skills are key, as are the abilities to debate and think critically and creatively.

"A good lawyer has excellent communication skills, which requires strong listening skills and the ability to simplify and explain complex issues," Scannell says. "They will possess integrity and professionalism. They are able to strategize and problem-solve multifaceted issues. They have a strong work ethic and are self-motivated."

Those who don't enjoy reading will likely not cut it as a lawyer, Lee says. "Reading cases, facts, testimonies, applicable laws and reports all require an analytical mind to pick up information that favors your client and case."

Which Law School Is Best for Me?

Many J.D. hopefuls may have their sights set on attending a highly ranked program , but experts say applicants should focus more on finding the right fit for their goals .

That decision may also depend on which schools an applicant can realistically get into based on their academic profile. While law schools consider an applicant’s extracurriculars and “ soft skills ” gained through work or military experience, admissions decisions are largely based on an applicant's undergraduate GPA and their scores on the Law School Admission Test, or LSAT , or the Graduate Record Exam .

Some schools have adopted a test-optional approach. Schools that require or accept scores typically publish on their website the median scores of accepted students.

Law school hopefuls "should have three categories of law schools – our dream schools , realistic admissions and safety schools ," Lee says. "Schools in each of these categories should also be ranked."

In addition to considering which school is the best fit academically, applicants should determine which school is best for them socially and culturally and will provide the best opportunities for launching a legal career, experts say.

"Consider the school's specialty courses, reputation and alumni network," Lee says. "Most applicants put too much emphasis on the ranking of a school without researching on the law school's programs and connections within a certain field or industry."

How Will I Pay for Law School?

In addition to finding the right academic and cultural fit, students should determine which school, if any, fits their budget. Law school can be expensive , from tens of thousands of dollars to more than $200,000 total in some cases.

Students should consider schools where their LSAT score and GPA can help them land scholarship money , experts say. Some programs also offer tuition help through grants to help offset the cost.

“If you’re going somewhere you don’t have scholarship money, generally you’d be taking out loans and that can be something where you limit the options you have after you graduate,” Willinger says. "If you take out loans, generally that means you’re going to go to a bigger law firm to make the money to pay them back, or potentially public interest."

In some cases, students can complete internships or jobs with local law firms, legal clinics or judges that can count as class credit, but it's important to weigh the trade-offs of working on top of attending classes, he says.

When Should I Go to Law School?

Whenever you decide to attend law school, it's best to apply early in the cycle because the rolling admission process of evaluating applications roughly in the order they are received could improve your odds the earlier you apply, experts say.

While some students go straight from an undergraduate degree to law school, that's not always necessary, and some may benefit from a gap between the two for various reasons. Law school hopefuls can use that time to ensure their LSAT or GRE scores align with their target schools' median scores and to bolster their resume, Willmott says.

Some may do that by taking time to work, and it's not always necessary for that to be in the legal field, Willinger says.

"I really think that experience of being out in the real world and working a 9-to-5 job is quite valuable in terms of time management," he says. "Having that experience when you apply to law firms or government jobs and even going into those internships, I think it can give you a leg up to have the experience of working a job for a full year or longer."

Tips to Boost a Law School Application

Tags: law school , law , LSAT , graduate schools , education , students , GRE

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Thinking of Pursuing a PhD in Economics? Info on Graduate School and Beyond

Kasey Chatterji-Len and Anna Kovner

Becoming a PhD economist can provide a fulfilling and financially secure career path. However, getting started in the field can be daunting if you don’t know much about the preparation you’ll need and the available job opportunities. If you’re wondering what it means to be an economics researcher or how to become one, please read on. We’ll review how to prepare for a career in economics research, what an economics PhD program entails, and what types of opportunities it might bring. Economic education is a core component of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s mission to serve the community. To empower would-be economists, this post provides information for students who seek a career in economics research. We hope this information will be helpful to students interested in economics, regardless of their background and economic situation.  This information is most applicable to students applying to programs in the United States.  

The Breadth of Economics Research  

Academic disciplines conduct research in different ways, so it’s important to have a basic understanding of the types of questions economists ask and how they approach answering them. There are many definitions of economics, but a broadly useful one is the study of how people, organizations, and governments make decisions under different constraints, and how those decisions may affect their outcomes. 

When answering these questions, economists seek to ground their analyses in models and to be quantitatively precise about the effects they assign to any given cause. The range of topics economists can study is wide, but the accepted approaches to answering questions are stricter. Some examples of what economists might ask: 

• How do different public housing programs affect the children who live there? 
• Does a certain type of law encourage businesses to innovate? 
• How will a change in the interest rate affect inflation and unemployment rates? 
• How much does affordable health insurance improve people’s health? 
• How can poor countries eradicate poverty? 

There are many different subfields within economics, including, but not limited to behavioral, econometrics, energy/environmental, development, financial, international, monetary, public, and urban economics. You can familiarize yourself with the latest work in economics by subscribing to working paper series, such as NBER’s New This Week or the New York Fed’s Staff Reports . To get an idea of the breadth of questions economists can answer, you could listen to Stephen Dubner’s “ Freakonomics Radio ” podcast. You may also want to explore the Journal of Economic Perspectives , the New York Fed’s Liberty Street Economics blog, VoxDev , or VoxEU .  

What Is a PhD Program Like?    

Economics PhD programs typically last five to seven years. Unlike masters programs, they are often fully funded with a stipend, though most require students to complete teaching assistant and/or research assistant (RA) work as part of their funding package. In the first two years, students take classes, many of which are mathematically demanding. The rest of the program can include additional classes but is primarily devoted to original research with the aim of producing publishable papers that will constitute the dissertation.  

Faculty advisors are a central part of PhD programs, as students look to them for guidance during the research process. Economics PhD programs are offered within university economics departments, but there are similar programs in public policy and business schools. You can look at their websites to understand any differences in coursework and subsequent job placements. 

What Can You Do with an Economics PhD?  

Upon graduation, students can obtain jobs in a variety of industries. Many PhD students hope to become university professors. Governments and public policy-related institutions such as the Federal Reserve System, the U.S. federal government, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also hire economists to work on policy, lead programs, and conduct research. Finally, economics PhD graduates can also find employment at a variety of private sector companies, including banks, economic consulting firms, and big tech companies. The pay for these different positions can vary. According to the American Economics Association (AEA), the average starting salary for economics assistant professors in 2022-23 was approximately $140,000 at PhD granting institutions and $98,000 at BA granting institutions. 

Programs often publish the placements of their PhD graduates, so you can look online to see specific employment outcomes. See, for example, the University of Maryland’s placements . Ultimately, economists are highly regarded as authorities on a variety of topics. Governments, nonprofits, philanthropic foundations, financial institutions, and non-financial businesses all look to economists to answer important questions about how to best achieve their goals. Thus, earning an economics Ph.D. can potentially help you to influence issues that are important to you. 

Preparing for an Economics PhD Program  

There are several components to an economics PhD program application: college transcripts, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, and personal statements. Please download the Appendix linked below to learn more about transcripts and letters of recommendation. The Appendix details ways in which you can select coursework, obtain research experience, and develop relationships to position yourself for success as a PhD applicant.  

If you feel that you are too far along in your academic career to take enough of the classes described in the Appendix, this does not necessarily preclude you from pursuing an economics PhD. For example, it’s possible to take some of these classes through a master’s program, or through a pre-doctoral RA job. Some pre-doctoral RA jobs, such as the one here at the New York Fed , may enable you to take classes in preparation for graduate school. If you are concerned about your transcript, reach out to an economist at your university for advice; program standards for coursework and grades vary, and it’s a good idea to get more personalized advice. 

Research Experience   

If you’re interested in becoming an economics researcher and applying to PhD programs, it’s best to get research experience as soon as possible. Working as an RA is a great way to learn how to conduct research and get a better idea of whether it’s the right career path for you. Additionally, it can help you obtain a letter of recommendation for graduate school applications and improve your qualifications.  

All types of academic research can be enriching, but it’s beneficial to gain experience working directly with an economist. To find a position, you can reach out to professors whose work you find interesting or find an RA program at your school. Typical RA tasks may involve data collection and cleaning, as well as running analyses and creating charts to represent results. This is where coding skills become crucial; having taken math, statistics, and econometrics courses will also enable you to take on more responsibilities. 

You may also have the opportunity to conduct your own research, possibly under the supervision of a professor at your university. This research could be self-initiated or part of a course such as a thesis workshop. Self-directed research is a great opportunity to learn about all stages of the research process. It’s also an excellent opportunity to create a writing sample for graduate school applications. Ultimately, though, your motivation for conducting your own research project should be that you want to answer a question.  One thing economists have in common is a love of answering questions using data and theory. 

Research experience is also often obtained after completing an undergraduate or master’s degree. Taking on a full-time RA position before applying to PhD programs is very common and can make you a more competitive applicant. You may either get an RA job working for a professor or participate in a pre-doctoral RA program.  

Research assistant programs are more structured than positions with individual professors or projects, which could be helpful. Universities, parts of the government, think tanks, research organizations, and the Federal Reserve System are all good places to look for research assistant programs. To help you decide which opportunities are most desirable, you may want to ask potential employers : Where do people in this program tend to go afterward? Will I be working directly with an economist? How much of my time will be spent on academic research work? Will I be able to take classes as part of this program? Considering whether an economist will be able to evaluate your performance is an important factor for recommendation letters. The ability to take classes, either through tuition reimbursement or waivers, can also be an important benefit. 

The Research Analyst program here at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one example of these programs and you should check it out here . The Federal Reserve Board of Governors also has a large program, and many other regional Federal Reserve Banks have similar programs. In addition, the PREDOC website and the  NBER post listings of RA opportunities. J-PAL and IPA also tend to recruit RAs for economic development projects. Another source of RA opportunities is the @econ_ra account on X. 

Who Should Get a PhD in Economics?  

A PhD may not be for everyone, but it is for anyone—people of all genders, religions, ethnicities, races, and national origins have PhDs in economics. Many economists majored in economics, but others majored in math, physics, or chemistry. Because economics is such an integral part of policymaking, it is important that economists come from a wide range of backgrounds so policy can be stronger and more effective. The inclusion of differing perspectives helps ensure that the contribution of economists to work in public policy, academia, and beyond effectively serves the broadest range of society. 

• Coursework Appendix

Kasey Chatterji-Len is a research analyst in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Research and Statistics Group.

Anna Kovner  is the director of Financial Stability Policy Research in the Bank’s Research and Statistics Group.

How to cite this post: Kasey Chatterji-Len and Anna Kovner, “Thinking of Pursuing a PhD in Economics? Info on Graduate School and Beyond,” Federal Reserve Bank of New York Liberty Street Economics , May 31, 2024, https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2024/05/thinking-of-pursuing-a-phd-in-economics-info-on-graduate-school-and-beyond/.

You may also be interested in: AEA: Resources for Students

PREDOC: Guidance for Undergraduates

RA Positions-Not at the NBER

Disclaimer The views expressed in this post are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System. Any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the author(s).

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Liberty Street Economics features insight and analysis from New York Fed economists working at the intersection of research and policy. Launched in 2011, the blog takes its name from the Bank’s headquarters at 33 Liberty Street in Manhattan’s Financial District.

The editors are Michael Fleming, Andrew Haughwout, Thomas Klitgaard, and Asani Sarkar, all economists in the Bank’s Research Group.

Liberty Street Economics does not publish new posts during the blackout periods surrounding Federal Open Market Committee meetings.

The views expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the position of the New York Fed or the Federal Reserve System.

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CS Senior Spotlight: Eleftheria (Elli) Beres

Continuing her passion for research, beres will begin a phd in computer science at the university of washington this fall.

Eleftheria (Elli) Beres didn’t hesitate to contact professors whose work fascinated her. Eager to gain crucial research skills, she jumped into two laboratory positions supported by Summer Undergraduate Research Grants from the Office of Undergraduate Research and a 2023 Northwestern Computer Science Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

In Professor Sam Kriegman’s Xenobot Lab , Beres simulated rigid-body virtual robots that can grow as they interact with their surroundings. Beres developed evolutionary algorithms that model natural selection, providing novel functionality which enables the simulation of robots capable of evolving their own morphologies, behaviors, and growth progressions in a virtual environment.

In Professor Josh Leonard’s Lab for Cellular Devices and Biomolecular Engineering , Beres conceptualized and developed an easy-to-use Python package for synthetic biologists to rapidly analyze batches of flow cytometry data. She presented a poster of this work at the 2023 Engineering Biology Research Consortium’s Annual Meeting.

Recently named among 12 ‘ outstanding CS seniors ’ for academic excellence and contributions to Northwestern CS, Beres served as a peer mentor for two years. She supported a range of courses, including BME 220-0-20: Introduction to Biomedical Statistics , COMP_SCI 396, 496: Artificial Life , COMP_SCI 349: Machine Learning , DATA_ENG 200-0 Foundations of Data Science , and GEN_ENG 205-1: Engineering Analysis 1 .

We asked Beres about her experiences at Northwestern Engineering, opportunities for impactful collaborations, and her advice for current students.

Why did you decide to pursue the CS major at McCormick?

In high school, I competed with my robotics team as the programmer. In that role, I fell in love with programming and computer science. At Northwestern, I found the department to be an incredibly welcoming environment full of passionate, caring, and interesting people.

How did the McCormick curriculum help build a balanced, whole-brain ecosystem around your studies?

The Engineering First classes at Northwestern gave me a strong base of STEM knowledge and engineering experience that I could build from to be successful in my computer science degree. The Design Thinking and Communication course gave me unique practical experience focused on quarter-long team projects for real clients. What's more, by taking Engineering First classes with other engineering students, I gained friends across McCormick that I otherwise wouldn't have met who have stayed with me all throughout my time here.

What are some examples of collaborative or interdisciplinary experiences at Northwestern that were impactful to your education and research?

One of my favorite courses was COMP_SCI 397: Computer Science Education , an interdisciplinary computer science + learning sciences class taught by Professors Mike Horn and Paula Hooper . This course made me more passionate about computing education research — the area I aspire to focus on in my PhD. I've also had amazing experiences collaborating in the programming languages classes I've taken. In both COMP_SCI 324: Dynamics of Programming Languages and COMP_SCI 396: Programming Languages Seminar , I worked on self-directed projects alongside PhD students in programming languages.

What skills or knowledge did you learn in the undergraduate program that you think will stay with you for a lifetime?

The most important skills I've learned at Northwestern have been soft skills. I've learned how to better collaborate on programming projects with others and how to do research as part of a group. These collaboration skills, in addition to the communication skills I've gained by presenting research and projects to classes, research groups, and conferences, will stay with me for a lifetime.

What's next? What are your short- and long-term plans/goals in terms of graduate studies and/or your career path?

In the fall, I'm starting a PhD in computer science at the University of Washington's Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, working with Michael Ernst , Amy Ko , and R. Ben Shapiro . After completing the PhD program, I aspire to become a professor to focus on both teaching computer science and researching computing education, programming languages, and software engineering.

What advice do you have for current Northwestern CS students?

Don't be afraid to reach out to professors. My research experiences all started by contacting professors whose work interested me. I've found professors to be more than happy to talk about their work and to help students get involved with projects. I've gotten invaluable research, personal, and professional advice from Northwestern Computer Science professors.

And make sure to take breaks and take care of yourself. The quarter system can be brutal sometimes, and it's easy to get overwhelmed. Don't be afraid to take things at your own pace, do things outside of classes for fun, and reach out for help if you're struggling.

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Statistics and Actuarial Science

Information for new graduate students in actuarial science, data science and statistics at the university of iowa..

Welcome New Graduate Students!

Information for NEW graduate students in Actuarial Science, Data Science and Statistics at the University of Iowa. 

Last Updated, May 31, 2024.                                   Additional  updates will be sent this summer!

Important Information for International Students

The Office of International Students and Scholars does an incredible job helping you settle into Iowa City and the University of Iowa.  They have webinars to help with:  

1. Getting Started and Making Travel Arrangements

2. Achieving Success: On-campus Involvement and Cultural Adjustment (undergraduate students)

3. Graduate Student Professionalization and Support

4. Understanding Orientation Expectations, Responsibilities, and Placement Tests (graduate students)

5. On-campus Housing Assignments and Move-in Tips (undergraduate students)

6. Student Employment

7. Money Matters - University Billing

Do you need to take the SPEC (Spoken Proficiency of English for the Classroom)?

All students for whom English is not a first language (as self-reported on their admissions application) and who have first-time appointments as graduate teaching assistants (TAs) are required to go through a testing process to assess their effectiveness in speaking English before they are assigned assistantship responsibilities. Beginning in Fall 2024, there will be a new test to assess communication in English in a classroom context called SPEC (Spoken Proficiency of English in the Classroom).  This is replacing ESPA and ELPT.  Details will be coming soon.

Any graduate student who is included in the following categories needs to have their oral English proficiency tested by the TAPE Program:

• Students whose first language is not English (i.e., learned another language first) as self-reported on their admissions application, and
• Have been appointed as a Teaching Assistant

Exemptions (may change):

• Students with an official valid (within the last two years) iBT Listening score of 25 and an iBT Speaking score of 26.
• Undergraduate degrees and/or     
• Continuous attendance of English-language schools since the age of 12 (or younger)
• Students who served as teaching assistants at other institutions of higher learning in which the language of instruction is English, if they were listed as the instructor of record for a course or led a discussion section in English for at least one year, with a year defined as either two academic semesters or three academic quarters.
• Requests for exceptions regarding the SPEC  can be submitted for evaluation to a committee consisting of the Director of ESL Programs, the Associate Dean for Administrative Affairs in the Graduate College, and a representative from University Human Resources.

Requests for exemption and exceptions must come from the department by the deadline, not the student.   Deadlines to register students for the SPEC are:

• March 1  

NOT Exemptions:

• Students who come from a country where English is one of the official languages.
• Students who are U.S. permanent residents or U.S. citizens whose first language is not English.

Testing Procedures & Results

 To be announced soon!

Graduate/Professional International Students Important Dates

July 12, 2024:  Earliest date you may enter the U.S. in F-1 or J-1 status. August 11, 2024:  Latest date by which you should arrive in Iowa City August 12 - 16, 2024: International Student Orientation August 26, 2024:  Classes begin.

Housing Information for All Students

The department has a housing webpage, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. If you are looking for a roommate, please let us know and we can update this web page!

Looking for housing options ?

All US citizens that are financially supported (TA, RA) need to be here on August 21.

All students will register for classes the week before classes start.  International students must complete the required Orientation Program before  they can register for classes.    

____________________

Fall Classes Advising will be August 19-23

All NEW UI students must meet with their advisor prior to registration.  There is no worry about getting into any of the classes we teach.  

• IF you are an Actuarial Science MS or PhD student you will need to meet with Professor Shyamalkumar.  Email him after August 12 at [email protected] to set a time to meet to discuss what classes to take, it may be on Zoom or in his office (233 Schaeffer Hall).
• IF you are a Data Science MS, Statistics MS, or PhD student you will need to meet with Professor Boxiang Wang.  Email him after August 12 at [email protected]  to set a time to meet to discuss what classes to take, it may be on Zoom or in his office (261 Schaeffer Hall).

New Graduate College Welcome and Orientation, August 21

The Graduate College Fall 2024 Graduate Student Orientation event will take place on Wednesday, August 21, 2024.  A registration form will be sent to your UI email sometime this early summer from the Graduate College. All new doctoral and master’s students are invited to attend.  

New Teaching Assistant Orientation, August 22- required for all new supported students

Sponsored by the Center for Teaching

This event will introduce participants to the role of teaching assistant at the University of Iowa and prepare them for the first week of classes and beyond. 

Participants will discuss evidence-based teaching strategies for lesson planning, inclusive teaching, and more with Center for Teaching staff. Participants will also choose two workshops of interest to them out of several options; these will be facilitated synchronously by experienced TAs.  This is a virtual event for 9-noon.

• Sign up before August 21!

New Student Department Orientation, August 23 at 9 a.m., Room to be determined.

• All New Student Orientation —Group Introductions and General Policy Procedures.

New Supported Graduate Assistants Orientation, August 23 at 1 p.m., Room to be determined.

• Our Director of Graduate Studies will have a department review of expectations and your specific roles in our department. Teaching and grading assignments will be explained, as well as preparation, teaching tips, problems and questions, quizzes and exams, weekly meetings, grading, appropriate office use and the Sexual Harassment Prevention Education

Mailbox in 241 Schaeffer Hall 

All graduate students will have a mailbox in our main office.  The faculty do as well.  Please check your mailbox at least once a week!

Office Desk Assignment

Nearly all supported students will have a desk in one of our offices.  The assignment priority (in this order) includes Ph.D. and Fellowship candidates, research assistants, half-time teaching assistants, quarter-time teaching assistants and lastly graders.  Having a desk is a privilege and should be used only for university business.  Office assignments will be given to students on, August 23.  Keys are checked out ONLY after that time.  Please remember to keep the rooms clean and take out all trash to the large bins in the main hallways.

Set-up your University of Iowa Email

All University of Iowa students are required to activate their assigned uiowa.edu email address, as all official communication from university offices are now sent via email, rather than hard copy. This address usually follows the pattern [email protected]   (However, often a number is also attached.) 

To activate the account:

• Log on to  MyUI
• Click on My UIowa / My Email / Request Email Account
• Complete the specified steps.

Students who prefer to maintain only their work or home email addresses can do so by routing the uiowa.edu email to a work or home account. To do so, follow these steps:

• Click on My UIowa / My Email / Update Email Routing Address

Important Notes:

• If your uiowa.edu email address is routed to a different account, you will  not  need to change your address in ICON, as your messages will already forward to your routed address.
• Log on to MYUI.
• Click on My UIowa / My Email / Email Account Filter bulk mail.
• Make sure that none of the categories are checked.

Required Graduate Assistants Teaching Courses:

• ONLINE CLASS Requirement: Sexual Harassment Prevention Edu.  Use your HawkID and password to log into Employee Self Service. Click the Personal tab, next (under Learning and Development) click on Sexual Harassment Prevention Edu., follow instructions.
• ONLINE CLASS Requirement:  Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Use your HawkID and password to log into Employee Self Service. Click the Personal tab, next (under Learning and Development) next click on Available Online Icon Courses, next FERPA Training, then click on View Details twice and the last click will be to Enroll in this ICON Course Session.
• A six-hour orientation program will be required of all students who are certified at level A or B and are teaching for the first time.  This orientation helps new teaching assistants understand the culture of the U.S. classroom and treats topics such as student expectations, teacher-student relationships, and understanding and answering student questions. Discussion focuses on suggestions for maximizing comprehensibility in spoken English. This course meets twice for 3 hours early in the semester. Both meetings are held in the evening.

Administrative Department Staff:

Professor aixin tan (until july 1, 2024).

Director of Graduate Studies, Statistics and Data Science Graduate Advisor: [email protected]   (319) 335-0821.

Professor Boxiang Wang (beginning July 1, 2024)

Director of Graduate Studies, Statistics and Data Science Graduate Advisor: [email protected] (319) 335-2294.

Professor N.D. Shyamalkumar

Actuarial Science Graduate Advisor:  [email protected]    (319) 335-1980

Margie Ebert

Academic Services Coordinator ,  [email protected]  (319) 335-2082

Heather Roth

Administrative Services Coordinator  [email protected]   (319) 335-0712

Tammy Siegel

Department Administrator ,  [email protected] , (319) 335-0706