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HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL PG STUDENT

HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL PG STUDENT. Dr Ard Louis Theoretical Physics University of Oxford. Advice from Peter Harrison and Mark Berner Time management R elationship with supervisor F orm cohorts P articipate in graduate seminars, even if it is not exactly what you do

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HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL PG STUDENT

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  1. HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL PG STUDENT Dr Ard Louis Theoretical Physics University of Oxford

  2. Advice from Peter Harrison and Mark Berner • Time management • Relationship with supervisor • Form cohorts • Participate in graduate seminars, even if it is not exactly what you do • In 1st year it may all be quite uncertain. • Pay attention to writing style – guilds

  3. outline • A bit about me • Tips on Oxford PG life • Success in academic science?

  4. Biological self-assembly • Self-assembly of multi-component structures • Can we understand? • Can we emulate? (nano-science) http://www.npn.jst.go.jp/ Keiichi Namba, Osaka

  5. Biological self-assembly • Self-assembled from identical subunits (capsomers). • Characteristic number T. • Capsid T: 12 pentamers, 10(T - 1) hexamers. T=3 T=1

  6. Self Assembly of “computer viruses” Iain Johnston

  7. Playing with legos?

  8. outline • A bit about me • Tips on Oxford PG life • Success in academic science?

  9. We’re not in Kansas anymore • With the exception of a few professional degrees, the majority of programmes at Oxford Uni concentrate around research. • Undergrad: you learn to consume knowledge • Postgrad: you learn to generate knowledge

  10. Navigating the Oxford maze • Get to know your supervisors • You will learn more from fellow students than from anyone else • The system is very informal and very flexible …. but hard to understand sometimes..

  11. Navigating the Oxford maze Personal Challenges: • Loneliness • Time management/stress • The system • Other students

  12. Aim high! Have fun! • It would be a supreme irony if a demanding educational system served mainly to eliminate many of the most talented. ... We don't need just more facts. We do need more deep understanding. ... There is no money for simply sitting in the library and thinking. • Thomas G. West (1997) In the Mind's Eye. New York: Prometheus books

  13. outline • A bit about me • Tips on Oxford PG life • Success in academic science?

  14. #1 Key to my success as a scientist: Forming a good team

  15. ?How do you become an academic supervisor? The bad news: A sum rule: Probability you will produce DPhil students ~ 1/(# of DPhils per supervisor lifetime) Ambition, focus, drive,passion,sacrifice .... obsession? David will probably not be an outstanding philosopher, because he is too well-rounded and interesting a person to succeed in academia, lacking the single-minded obsession and personal insensitivity that facilitates brilliant work. a Princeton assessment of a philosophy PhD student ...

  16. ?How do you get there?

  17. a few tips.... Most important research skill: Ask the right questions! why do you do what you do?

  18. what is the big picture?

  19. a few tips.... Most important research skill: Ask the right questions! why do you do what you do? Maximise your creativity know yourself

  20. a few tips • The first principle is that you must not fool yourself--and you are the easiest person to fool. So you have to be very careful about that. After you've not fooled yourself, it's easy not to fool other scientists. You just have to be honest in a conventional way after that. -- R.P. Feynman, “Cargo Cult Science” (1974) • http://www.physics.brocku.ca/etc/cargo_cult_science.html

  21. a few tips

  22. a few tips.... Most important research skill: Ask the right questions! why do you do what you do? Maximise your creativity know yourself Get out of the house/lab/department: collaborate, talk to visitors, go to conferences

  23. a few tips A DPHIL/MPHIL/MSc/M… is training, not a life work ... publish or perish .... (learn how to write) polish your talks .....

  24. focus on getting results

  25. Don’t be too mercenary ...

  26. Don’t be too mercenary • measures of success? • publications in high impact journals, citation counts, H index, • How much funding you brought in • What committees you are on .... • What is academic success? • What is success in life?

  27. Sharpen your axe

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