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However, milestones can always be identified, because (obviously, I hope!) any
substantial project can be meaningfully described as a collection of smaller activities.
Two points here are worth emphasizing. First, while the components of a research
project should be identified in advance, they do not necessarily have to be completed
in turn. Second, we should plan research with the following attitude: what evidence
must we collect to convince a skeptical reader that the results are correct?Asuccessful
research outcome rests on finding a good answer to this question.
Having identified specific goals, another purpose of research planning is to esti-
mate the dates at which milestones should be reached. One of the axioms of research,
however, is that everything takes longer than planned for.
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A traditional research strat-
egy is to first read the literature, then design, then analyse or implement, then test or
evaluate, then write up. A more effective strategy is to overlap these stages as much
as possible. You should begin the implementation, analysis, and write-up as soon as
it is reasonable to do so.
For the long-term research activity of a Ph.D., there are other considerations that
become significant. A typical concern in the later stages of a Ph.D. is whether enough
research has yet been done, or whether additional new work needs to be undertaken.
Often the best response to this question is to write the thesis. Once your thesis is more
or less complete, it should be easy to assess whether further work is justified. Doing
such additional work probably involves filling a well-defined gap, a task that is much
better defined than that of fumbling around for further questions to investigate.
Thus, rather than working to a schedule of long-term timelines that may be unre-
alistic, be flexible. Adjust the work you are doing on a day-to-day basis—pruning
your research goals, giving more time to the writing, addressing whatever the current
bottleneck happens to be—to ensure that you are reaching overall aims.
Students and Advisors
Advisors are powerful figures in their students' lives, and every student-advisor
relationship is different. Some professors at the peak of their careers still have strong
views—often outrage or amazement—about their own advisors, despite many years
of experience on the other side of the fence. Tales include that of the student who saw
his advisor twice, once to choose a topic and once to submit; and that of the advisor
who casually advised a student to “have another look at some of those famous open
problems”. Thankfully these are rare exceptions.
The purpose of a research program—a Ph.D., masters, or minor thesis—is for the
university to provide a student with research training, while the student demonstrates
the capability to undertake research fromconception towrite-up, including such skills
as working independently and producing novel, critical insights. A side-benefit is that
the student, often with the advisor, should produce some publishable research. There
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Even after taking this axiom into account.
