HOW TO SUCCEED IN GRADUATE STUDIES?

HOW TO SUCCEED IN GRADUATE STUDIES? Muhammad Taher Abuelma’atti Department of Electrical Engineering King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

What is Graduate Studies? • Graduate studies has become an entry-level requirement for many of the more desirable professional positions. • Whatever your reasons to join graduate studies, honor them. • Graduate studies is about transforming a “student” into a “scientist”.

Graduate and Undergraduate • The transition from undergraduate to graduate is when you go from primarily being a “student” to primarily being a “scientist”. • As a student your primary responsibility was to do what your professors told you. • High score in GRE and high GPA in undergraduate studies can not guarantee success in graduate studies.

Critical Thinking • As a scientist, your primary responsibility is to do good science; in theory, practice and research. • You still have to use the old techniques: to understand, to memorize and to show up in time. But this is not enough. • To succeed in graduate studies, you have to learn critical thinking. • Many students struggle in graduate studies, especially in the early years, because they are implicitly waiting to be told what to do. Do not wait-try to figure out what you should do and do it.

What Scientists Do? • Being a scientist is a back-and-forth process. • On the one hand looking at the big picture, learning the basics, thinking deeply, coming up with new ideas. • On the other hand digging into the details, getting your hands dirty and actually coming up with some tangible results. • Science depends on both.

Finding an Advisor • The ideal advisor will be: 1. In the area of your interest. 2. Knowledgeable and active in doing high quality research. 3. Involved in and respected by the research community. 4. Ready to act as your mentor as well as a source for technical information. He cares, understands and appreciates your research.

Finding a Thesis/Dissertation Topic • Do not select a topic because of its marketability. Markets change quickly. • Do not select a topic ONLY because it is in the area of your selected advisor. • Do not pick a narrow well defined topic. You may finish quickly but your work may not be exciting.

Finding a Thesis/Dissertation Topic (Continued) • Select a topic that you are truly interested in. If you do not enjoy the topic, you may end up unsatisfied in your life. • Select a topic to solve a real problem not a toy problem. • Select a topic that may branch out in a new direction (or directions). May be risky, but you may become a world leading authority in this area.

Hard Working • Have a clear sense of what you want to work on. • Large portion of research is about studying and testing many possibilities and finding out the combinations that work. • Weekdays are not enough – work everyday (and night) if possible. • Take some weekends off. • Do not forget your family.

Reading • Stay on top of literature. • Read selectively, broadly and critically; start by classic papers in your area. Ask for them. • You can not make a contribution to the literature unless you know what is already there and what is missing. • Know what has been done in your field. • Probably many of the problems you are facing have faced others before. • Add to your knowledge constantly. Learn what others are doing. This can give you ideas of new applications for your findings or help you improve them.

Thinking Out of the Box • Be innovative. Come up with new ideas. • Do not expect anyone to hold your hands at every step – use your brain to try to figure out what should be done next. • No advisor wants to work with a student who just does what he is told, even if he does it perfectly.

Thinking Out of the Box (Continued) • Take initiatives. Go above and beyond your assignments. • ِAlways ask questions like: What if? How could this be better? How can I apply this in the future? • Always set a criterion for comparison between different methods and approaches for solving a specific problem.

The Divide-and-Conquer Strategy • Setting daily, weekly, and monthly goals is a good idea. • Breaking down any project/large system into smaller pieces is always a good idea. • Implement one piece at a time. Do not forget interfacing problems. • Instead of writing an entire thesis/dissertation, focus on writing a chapter, section or outline.

Publishing the Results • Publications are the most important indicator of your performance as a researcher/scientist. • Share your research with the world. • Establish a track record of productivity by writing papers. It makes life easier. • The whole point of being a scientist is, indeed, writing papers and giving talks. • This will result in feedback which is very useful for your progress. • Interesting work + unpublished = nonexistent.

If Your Article is Rejected 1. Resend it to another journal preferably after revising it based on the reviewers/editor comments. 2. Abandon it only if reviewers/editor raised unsolvable objections to your hypothesis or methodology. 3. Never protest the Editor’s decision. Nothing will change. 4. If you protest the decision, never insult the reviewers, accept their valid comments and use strong evidences to support your arguments.

Increasing Your Visibility • Talk about your research with other researchers, your advisor and other professors. • Welcome opportunities to give seminars and presentations. • Participate in conferences whenever possible.

Building a Thick Skin • Do not leave your advisor in the dark. Keep him informed. Expect and accept criticism from him and from colleagues. • Do not spend your time complaining about heavy work load, uncaring attitudes of faculty and the constant pressure of being evaluated. You will end up getting a degree without actual learning. • Sometimes, particularly in the middle years, it can be very hard to maintain positive attitude and stay motivated. That is normal. Discuss it with your advisor, colleagues or friends.

Conclusion • Success in graduate studies requires: 1. Years of single-minded dedications. 2. Much energy. 3. Individual initiatives. 2. Responsible independent study. • The path to success will not be without setbacks. Be patient and you will succeed in sha’a ALLAH.

HOW TO SUCCEED IN GRADUATE STUDIES?