Despite spending only four weeks working in the department, this month roughy marks a year since I started my unlikely career as a statistician and was inaugurated into the hall of opiglets (if you account for my foray into the magic of quantum computing last summer). The past year has been filled with learning opportunities, some of which I ought to take note and others are probably worth forgetting. Nonetheless, here is a short list of things I’ve learned in my first year as a DPhil Student, which you may find helpful in what I hope are more precedented times.
Simple and stupid first
When it comes to deciding how to tackle your next scientific problem or which lesson to start your blog post with, often the simplest and sometimes most ‘stupid’ idea is the way to go. Keeping things simple gives you the time to better understand your question without getting lost in the details of a complex solution. Plus, the results will inform your later next steps.
Don’t reinvent the wheel unless you have to
Thankfully, I am not the first person doing a PhD. Therefore, most of the issues have and will face are not new and likely have a solution. If the fix is appropriate, use it! Doing so will save you time and may highlight areas where the available solution needs improving, refining or is no longer suitable. Of course, there will be situations where you have to do something new but only do that when you have to.
Just check
As new research students, we spend so much time working on a single project. Therefore, as our understanding of the topic develops, some things can seem obvious. The more obvious things seem, the easier it is to make assumptions; upon which we build our new ideas. Despite how obvious it may seem, run the experiment anyway. It is worth checking. In the best case, you have strengthened your research argument. Worst case, your assumption was wrong. Now you can determine how that will change your next steps before you are six months into a research rabbit hole.
Just because something seems obvious doesn’t mean everyone can see it.
All too often I have been discussing my research with someone and they ask a pretty basic question that I just hadn’t thought of. When you spend so much time focusing on the details of what you are doing, it is easy to lose sight of the big picture. This is a huge benefit of collaboration and sharing ideas. So, talk about your work! It’ll help you get a better understanding of your research and allow your PhD friends to field questions you may have just missed.
Writing will take time.
In my last blog post, I spoke about how reading scientific literature, at the best of times, can be an arduous task. In light of my recent experiences, my next one might be about writing. It’s not the most pleasant of experiences but what use is our work if we don’t tell anyone about it. From my limited experience, my writing advice in two sentences would be: Start simple, then build in details and the story is king. Throughout the piece, think about the specific information you want the reader to remember, then place your emphasis there.
Quantum computing is magic. Nuff said.
