耶鲁大学教授给研究生的建议.docx

耶鲁大学教授给研究生的建议.docx

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耶鲁大学教授给研究生的建议

（YaleUninversity）StephenC.Stearns教授給研究生的建議

AlwaysPreparefortheWorst.

Someofthegreatestcatastrophesingraduateeducationcouldhavebeenavoidedbyalittleintelligentforesight.Becynical.Assumethatyourproposedresearchmightnotwork,andthatoneofyourfacultyadvisersmightbecomeunsupportive-orevenhostile.Planforalternatives.

Nobodycaresaboutyou.

Infact,someprofessorscareaboutyouandsomedon't.Mostprobablydo,butallarebusy,whichmeansinpracticetheycannotcareaboutyoubecausetheydon'thavethetime.Youareonyourown,andyouhadbettergetusedtoit.Thishasalotofimplications.Herearetwoimportantones:

1.Youhadbetterdecideearlyonthatyouareinchargeofyourprogram.Thedegreeyougetisyourstocreate.Yourmajorprofessorcanadviseyouandprotectyoutoacertainextentfrombureaucraticandfinancialdemons,butheshouldnottellyouwhattodo.Thatisuptoyou.Ifyouneedadvice,askforit:

that'shisjob.

2.Ifyouwanttopicksomebody'sbrains,you'llhavetogotohimorher,becausetheywon'tbecomingtoyou.

YouMustKnowWhyYourWorkisImportant.

Whenyoufirstarrive,readandthinkwidelyandexhaustivelyforayear.Assumethateverythingyoureadisbullshituntiltheauthormanagestoconvinceyouthatitisn't.Ifyoudonotunderstandsomething,don'tfeelbad-it'snotyourfault,it'stheauthor's.Hedidn'twriteclearlyenough.

Ifsomeauthorityfiguretellsyouthatyouaren'taccomplishinganythingbecauseyouaren'ttakingcoursesandyouaren'tgatheringdata,tellhimwhatyou'reupto.Ifhepersists,tellhimtobugoff,becauseyouknowwhatyou'redoing,dammit.

Thisisahardstagetogetthroughbecauseyouwillfeelguiltyaboutnotgettinggoingonyourownresearch.Youwillcontinuallybeaskingyourself,"WhatamIdoinghere?

"Bepatient.Thisstageiscriticaltoyourpersonaldevelopmentandtomaintainingtheflowofnewideasintoscience.Hereyoudecidewhatconstitutesanimportantproblem.Youmustarriveatthisdecisionindependentlyfortworeasons.First,ifsomeonehandsyouaproblem,youwon'tfeelthatitisyours,youwon'thavethatpossessivenessthatmakesyouwanttoworkonit,defendit,fightforit,andmakeitcomeoutbeautifully.Secondly,yourPhDworkwillshapeyourfuture.Itisyourchoiceofafieldinwhichtocarryoutalife'swork.Itisalsoimportanttothedynamicofsciencethatyourentrybewellthoughtout.Thisisonepointwhereyoucanstartawholenewareaofresearch.Remember,whatsensedoesitmaketostartgatheringdataifyoudon'tknow-andImeanreallyknow-whyyou'redoingit?

PsychologicalProblemsaretheBiggestBarrier.

Youmustestablishafirmpsychologicalstanceearlyinyourgraduatecareertokeepfrombeingbuffetedbythemanydemandsthatwillbemadeonyourtime.Ifyoudon'twatchout,thepressuresofcoursework,teaching,languagerequirementsandwhoknowswhatelsewillpushyouaroundlikealarge,docilemoleculeinBrownianmotion.Hereareafewthingstowatchoutfor:

1.Theinitiation-ritenatureofthePhDanditspowertoconvinceyouthatyourvalueasapersonisbeingjudged.Nomatterhowhardyoutry,youwon'tbeabletoavoidthisone.Noonedoes.Itstemsfromtheopen-endednatureofthethesisproblem.Youhavetodecidewhata"good"thesisis.Athesiscanalwaysbemadebetter,whichgetsyouintoaninfiniteregressofpossibleimprovements.

Recognizethatyoucannotproducea"perfect"thesis.Therearegoingtobeflawsinit,asthereareineverything.Settledowntomakeitasgoodasyoucanwithinthelimitsoftime,money,energy,encouragementandthoughtatyourdisposal.

Youcanalleviatethisproblembyjumpingalltheexplicithurdlesearlyinthegame.Getallofyourcourserequirementsandexaminationsoutofthewayassoonaspossible.Notonlydoyoutherebyclearthedecksforyourthesis,butyoualsoconvinceyourself,bysuccessfullyjumpingeachhurdle,thatyouprobablyaregoodenoughafterall.

2.Nothingelicitsdominantbehaviorlikesubservientbehavior.Expectanddemandtobetreatedlikeacolleague.Thepaperrequirementsaretheexplicithurdleyouwillhavetojump,buttheimplicithurdleisattainingthestatusofacolleague.Actlikeoneandyou'llbetreatedlikeone.

3.Graduateschoolisonlyoneofthetoolsthatyouhaveathandforshapingyourowndevelopment.Bepreparedtoquitforawhileifsomethingbettercomesup.Therearethreegoodreasonstodothis.

First,arealopportunitycouldarisethatismoreproductiveandchallengingthananythingyoucoulddoingraduateschoolandthatinvolvesalongenoughblockoftimetojustifydroppingout.ExamplesincludefieldworkinAfricaonaprojectnotdirectlyrelatedtoyourPhDwork,acontractforsoftwaredevelopment,anopportunitytoworkasanaideinthenation'scapitalintheformulationofsciencepolicy,oraninternshipatamajornewspaperormagazineasasciencejournalist.

Secondly,onlybykeepingthisoptionopencanyoufunctionwithtrueindependenceasagraduatestudent.Ifyouperceivegraduateschoolasyouronlyoption,youwillbepsychologicallylabile,inclinedtogetabitdesperateandinsecure,andyouwillnotbeabletogiveyourbest.

Thirdly,ifthingsreallyarenotworkingoutforyou,thenyouareonlyhurtingyourselfanddenyingresourcestoothersbystayingingraduateschool.Therearealotofinterestingthingstodoinlifebesidesbeingascientist,andinsomethejobmarketisalotbetter.Ifscienceisnotturningyouon,perhapsyoushouldtrysomethingelse.However,donotgooffhalf-cocked.Thisisaseriousdecision.Besuretotalktofellowgraduatestudentsandsympatheticfacultybeforemakingupyourmind.

AvoidTakingLectures-They'reUsuallyInefficient.

Ifyoualreadyhaveagoodbackgroundinyourfield,thenminimizethenumberofadditionalcoursesyoutake.Thisrecommendationmayseemcounterintuitive,butithasasoundbasis.Rightnow,youneedtolearnhowtothinkforyourself.Thisrequiresactiveengagement,notpassivelisteningandregurgitation.

Tolearntothink,youneedtwothings:

largeblocksoftime,andasmuchone-on-oneinteractionasyoucangetwithsomeonewhothinksmoreclearlythanyoudo.

Coursesjustgetintheway,andifyouarewellmotivated,thenreadinganddiscussionismuchmoreefficientandbroadeningthanlectures.Itisoftenagoodideatogettogetherwithafewcolleagues,organizeaseminaronasubjectofinterest,andinviteafewfacultytotakepart.They'llprobablybedelighted.Afterall,itwillbeinterestingforthem,they'llloveyourinitiative-anditwillgivethemcreditforteachingacourseforwhichtheydon'thavetodoanywork.Howcanyoulose?

Thesecommentsofcoursedonotapplytocoursesthatteachspecificskills:

e.g.,electronmicroscopy,histologicaltechnique,scubadiving.

WriteaProposalandGetItCriticized.

Aresearchproposalservesmanyfunctions.

1.Bysummarizingyouryear'sthinkingandreading,itensuresthatyouhavegottensomethingoutofit.

2.Itmakesitpossibleforyoutodefendyourindependencebyprovidingaconcretedemonstrationthatyouusedyourtimewell.

3.Itliterallymakesitpossibleforotherstohelpyou.Whatyouhaveinmindistoocomplextobecommunicatedverbally-toosubtle,andintoomanyparts.Itmustbeputdowninawell-organized,clearlyandconciselywrittendocumentthatcanbecirculatedtoafewgoodminds.Onlywithaproposalbeforethemcantheygiveyouconstructivecriticism.

4.Youneedpracticewriting.Wealldo.

5.Havinglocatedyourproblemandsatisfiedyourselfthatitisimportant,youwillhavetoconvinceyourcolleaguesthatyouarenottotallydementedand,infact,deservesupport.Onewaytoorganizeaproposaltoaccomplishthisgoalis:

a.Abriefstatementofwhatyoupropose,couchedasaquestionorhypothesis.

b.Whyitisimportantscientifically,notwhyitisimportanttoyoupersonally,andhowitfitsintothebroaderschemeofideasinyourfield.

c.Aliteraturereviewthatsubstantiates（b）.

d.Describeyourproblemasaseriesofsubproblemsthatcaneachbeattackedinaseriesofsmallsteps.Deviseexperiments,observationsoranalysesthatwillpermityoutoexcludealternativesateachstage.Linethemupandstartknockingthemdown.Bytransformingthebigproblemintoaseriesofsmallerones,youalwaysknowwhattodonext,youlowertheenergythresholdtobeginwork,youidentifythepartthatwilltakethelongestorcausethemostproblems,andyouhaveavailablealistofthingstodowhensomethingdoesn'tworkout.

6.Writedownalistofthemajorproblemsthatcouldariseandruinthewholeproject.Thenwritedownalistofalternativesthatyouwilldoifthingsactuallydogowrong.

7.Itisnotabadideatodesigntwoorthreeprojectsandstarttheminparalleltoseewhichonehasthebestpracticalchanceofsucceeding.Therecouldbetwoorthreemodelsystemsthatallseemtohaveequallygoodchancesonpaperofprovidingappropriatetestsforyourideas,butinfactpracticalproblemsmayexcludesomeofthem.Itismuchmoreefficienttodiscoverthisatthestartthantodesignandexecutetwoorthreeprojectsinsuccessionafterthefirstfailforpracticalreasons.

8.Pickadateforthepresentationofyourthesisandworkbackwardsinconstructingascheduleofhowyouaregoingtouseyourtime.Youcanexpectastabofterroratthispoint.Don'tworry-itgoesonlikethisforawhile,thenitgraduallygetsworse.

9.Spendtwotothreeweekswritingtheproposalafteryou'vefinishedyourreading,thengiveittoasmanygoodcriticsasyo