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PhD Research

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
T S Eliot

A PhD research project can be one of the most fascinating and exciting learning experiences open to any student. However, it can also be extremely challenging, demanding much hard work and a sustained personal commitment during three or more years. It is the purpose of the PhD Research sub-track to highlight some of the key features of this type of research and to indicate how a PhD project can be brought to a successful conclusion. The other two sub-tracks, General Skills and Student Learning, contain topics, such as creativity, problem-solving and mind-mapping, which are just as relevant for PhD students as for others, and so these should be closely studied too. Much of this material was included in a programme of Brainware workshops which I organised for PhD students. Click here for some of the students' comments.

Many PhD students use the metaphor of 'a journey' to describe the experience of their projects. Research can indeed be a high-risk journey into the unknown, with no guarantee of success at the end - hence the intense feeling of challenge and excitement which is experienced. Joseph Campbell used the term 'hero's journey' to describe such an intellectual adventure. The implication of this is that you leave the safety of your present existence to go out and undergo a series of trials, and that you eventually make your heroic return as a different person. And in many ways the heart of a PhD project concerns what happens to you along the way, rather than the completion of a specific piece of research work.

Key Features of a PhD Programme

The following are the key features which are covered on the PhD Research sub-track:

Topic

• The subject of the research

Supervision

• The guidance and support which is given

Thesis

• Writing up the research

Viva

• The oral examination

Failure and Appeals

• What to do if you fail your viva

To find out more about any of the above features, click on the appropriate heading.

Further Information

For further information about PhD research see:

Graduate Student Resources by Dan Horn
Open Directory Project - Postgraduate Research
The PhD Experience by Mihir Bellare
So long, and thanks for the PhD! by Ronald T Azuma

 

	Page last modified: 6 October 2005