Roadmapping a PhD
Contents
Roadmapping a PhD#
Warning
This page is still being built!
Two intersecting realities shape the narrative of a PhD. There is the external reality: What classes have I passed? What research have I produced? What are my advisor and colleagues saying about my progress? Then there is the internal reality: What makes me the most excited? Where do my insecurities arise from? What do I tell myself about my progress, belonging, and worth? Our answers to these questions evolve as we grow and shape our experiences—which, in turn, grow and shape us.
TODO
Image showing three versions of progress: time (years, semesters), milestones, and cohorts.
Milestones: The external reality#
The PhD milestones—identifying a faculty advisor, forming a faculty committee, completing coursework, passing qualifying/comprehensive exams, proposing a dissertation, and defending a dissertation—are the steps required by most PhD programs for degree completion. The timing and formality of these milestones vary by PhD program and university. Use this section as a rough guide and refer to your program’s PhD handbook for details.
Find a faculty advisor (Years 0–1)#
A PhD is an apprenticeship, and a PhD student apprentices under a faculty advisor (or “PhD advisor”). The faculty advisor is primarily responsible for supervising the PhD student’s research and degree progress, but the reality is much more complex. At their best, a faculty advisor is also their students’ insightful teacher, encouraging mentor, and fierce advocate; at their worst, the imbalanced advisor–advisee power dynamic can lead to toxicity and abuse. That’s why the first PhD milestone is finding a good faculty advisor. The rest of the PhD experience is defined by and flows out of that relationship. I return to this topic in more detail in Identifying potential advisors.
Form a faculty committee (Years 1–3)#
The faculty committee is a small group of professors, led by the faculty advisor, who help advise the PhD student and determine the outcome of any exams or defenses. Committee faculty are typically research collaborators or relevant subject experts familiar enough with the PhD student and their research area to provide constructive feedback. They aren’t always as personally formative as the faculty advisor, but they act as the basis of the PhD student’s professional network and a sounding board for new ideas. Building faculty relationships and collaborations can take time. This milestone is best started early so that, when it comes time to formally get faculty to sign on, the asks are easy and the answers are always yes.
Complete coursework (Years 1–3)#
In the United States, most STEM PhD programs require that students complete a number of courses before advancing to the later milestones. Course requirements vary dramatically between universities and programs. Some departments have course-heavy programs that emphasize familiarity with a breadth of topics while others view coursework as a necessary barrier to productive research, encouraging students to take only a few relevant courses. In any case, graduate courses are intensely time-consuming and difficult, so PhD students should work with their faculty advisors to recognize worthwhile course offerings and align their coursework with their research interests. I return to this topic in Planning coursework.
Pass the qualifying/comprehensive exams (Year 3)#
The purpose of the qualifying and comprehensive exams is to demonstrate a PhD student’s mastery over preliminary research skills and any relevant coursework or literature. How many exams do PhD students take, and when? Is the exam a written document, an oral defense, or both?
TODO
Wrap this up with something, I don’t really have anything interesting to say at the moment.
Propose dissertation research (Year 4)#
Ability to propose and competently execute novel, relevant, and realistic research
Defend your dissertation (Years 5+)#
blah blah blah
Cohorts: The internal reality#
TODO
Define the four cohorts and explain the transitions between them.