Having compelling ideas

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TODO

Clean up the following:

Writing is the process of communicating thoughts and ideas, not having the thoughts and ideas in the first place (through writing can catalyze structure and further thinking). Before research or writing begins, we first need an interesting research idea to write about.

This is one of the hardest skills in academia, and ability to form interesting ideas is often used as a marker of when a PhD student is ready to graduate. So how do we have ideas? - Read the literature, both for breadth (high-profile, interesting papers—like in a reading group/seminar) and depth (have one or two areas closely related to your “expertise” that you’re keeping up with). - Related to the above: popular science books can be good ways of getting the gist of other fields without having to go deep. As a CS person, I’ve found this particularly useful for biology and physics. Books often lay out more interesting and sweeping theories than papers, too, since they’re not necessarily making truth claims and have the space to work with (e.g., Gelenter). - Talk to people (collaborators, conference attendees, authors of papers you like). Ask them about challenges/big problems in their (sub)field. - Have life experiences outside academia/your area of study (especially important for interdisciplinary connections). Travel. Volunteer. Join a club. Get involved in politics/advocacy. Do things. For people thinking about but not yet committed to PhD, what about doing a summer in Alaska or backpacking in a new country (privileged, but valuable)? International students coming to the US are ahead, already gaining the experience of self-reliance and adaptability to new cultures and experiences.

It’s important to understand that since a PhD is an apprenticeship and a process, your ideas don’t have to be about the thing you care about most in the world (related to pressures to “make a difference”), especially at the start. This is a noble goal, but as a PhD student you’re learning how to have ideas in tandem with mastering content about the ideas you’re having/being given. There’s always room to pivot later—a strong ability to ideate is what’s important.