Skills for a PhD researcher

M A R I S A A N A L Í A S Á N C H E Z

D P T O . D E C I E N C I A S D E L A A D M I N I S T R A C I Ó N

U N I V E R S I D A D N A C I O N A L D E L S U R

B A H Í A B L A N C A - A R G E N T I N A

Atelier de pesquisa

E S C O L A D E A D M I N I S T R A Ç Ã O

U N I V E R S I D A D E F E D E R A L D O R I O G R A N D E D O S U L

M A Y 2 0 1 4 , P O R T O A L E G R E ( B R A Z I L )

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Marisa A. Sánchez

Skills for a PhD researcher 2

Marisa A. Sánchez

Is able to independently …

Assessment Vision

Research agenda for “n” years

Design Specify a problem and design a solution Many problems …

Execution Implement and evaluate/validate Time management

Communication Written Oral

Source: Adapted from Tao Xie advice portal https://sites.google.com/site/asergrp/advice)

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W H Y I T I S I M P O R T A N T ?

Assessment 4

A S S E S S M E N T V I S I O N

Research agenda for “n” years D E S I G N

Specify a problem and design a solution Many problems …

E X E C U T I O N

Implement and evaluate/validate Time management

C O M M U N I C A T I O N

Written Oral

Marisa A. Sánchez

Assessment

Of others´and owns work

Fall into two tendencies Not critical enough (accepting papers rejected by advisor)

Over-critical (rejecting papers accepted by advisor)

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C H O O S I N G A R E S E A R C H T O P I C

Vision 6




E X E C U T I O N



Written Oral

Marisa A. Sánchez

Choosing the research topic

Set the stage for your research and as a professor.

It is a process of discovering.

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Research topic

Can it be enthusiastically pursued?

Can interest be sustained by it?

Is the problem solvable?

Is it worth doing?

Will it lead to other research problems?

Is it manageable in size?

What is the potential for making an original contribution to the literature in the field?

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Marisa A. Sánchez

Research topic

If the problem is solved, will the results be reviewed well by scholars in your field?

Are you, or will you become, competent to solve it?

By solving it, will you have demonstrated independent skills in your discipline?

Will the necessary research prepare you in an area of demand or promise for the future?

Robert V. Smith (1998). Graduate research : a guide for students in the sciences. Seattle: University of

Washington Press.

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Marisa A. Sánchez

Research topic

Collaborate with industry to focus on high practice impact research problems and solutions Also check trending topics

http://www.gartner.com/technology/home.jsp, https://www.bcgperspectives.com/, http://www.ceo.com/

Start writing your research statement earlier in your PhD program.

Less important More important

Shorter term

Longer term √

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http://www.gartner.com/technology/home.jsp

https://www.bcgperspectives.com/

http://www.ceo.com/

Research topic – Interdisciplinary research 11

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P I C K A G O O D P R O B L E M A N D D E S I G N A S O L U T I O N

Design 12




E X E C U T I O N



Written Oral

Marisa A. Sánchez

Design

Document ideas

Feedback

Write papers

Write project proposals

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T I M E M A N A G E M E N T A N D R I S K S

Execution 14




E X E C U T I O N



Written Oral

Marisa A. Sánchez

Time Management

You need help from other people who are commonly busy people Advisor, expert domains, survey/ interview respondents

Schedule to control deadlines

2/3 meetings per month with advisor

Be a reliable person to get things done

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Risks

Nice Balanced Scorecard

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Risks

Nice Datawarehouse

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Risks

Nice reports …

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Risks

City B. Bca. Villarino

City B. Blanca Vill.

City Bahia Blanca

Villarino

Source data Data Warehouse

… but “Interesting” problems

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W R I T I N G S K I L L S

Communication 20




E X E C U T I O N



Written Oral

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T O O L S

Presentation and publication of papers

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Tips from Elsevier

http://www.elsevier.com/connect/how-to-get-published-1-preparing-your-manuscript

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23 Marisa A. Sánchez

Language editing services: http://webshop.elsevier.com


Why do we cite papers?

The references should be there just as a matter of record.

The references tell the reader that the author knows the field.

If the author does not know the key papers, he or she may well be making mistakes in the work. Categories of mistakes: Repeating work that was already done.

Finding solutions to problems that are not as good as already published solutions.

Finding solutions that are less complete than previouly published solutions.

Going in the wrong direction.

Source: http://www.cs.gmu.edu/~offutt/classes/phd/hints-references.html (Jeff Offut)

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http://www.cs.gmu.edu/~offutt/classes/phd/hints-references.html




How to read papers?

Reading for a class or learning a new area.

Reading to keep up with latest results.

Looking for research ideas (Future work section and limitations).

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How to read/organize papers?

Defining the assessment framework problem, paper type, result type, theoretical foundation, solution

development, results evaluation

Identifying domains Project Management, Strategy and Sustainability

Defining data collection Keywords, scope of data collection

Selecting relevant papers Documenting selected papers Coding selected papers Analyzing selected papers Defining state of research

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Stirewalt's 5-paragraph rule for writing Introductions

1. Introductory paragraph.

2. Background paragraph.

3. Transition paragraph.

4. Details paragraph.

5. Assessment paragraph.

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The Stanford InfoLab's patented five-point structure for Introductions

1. What is the problem?

2. Why is it interesting and important?

3. Why is it hard?

4. Why hasn´t it been solved before? (or what is wrong with previous proposed solutions? How does mine differ?)

5. What are the key components of my approach and results? Also include any specific limitations.

Source: http://infolab.stanford.edu/~widom/paper-writing.html

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Reviewer comments 33

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O R A L P R E S E N T A T I O N S

Communication 34




E X E C U T I O N



Written Oral

Marisa A. Sánchez

Oral communication

With your advisor.

Recommend papers.

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W H Y S O C I A L M E D I A ?

Networking

Obama’s tweets are re-tweeted

on average 2,300 times while

the Pope’s tweets are re-

tweeted an average of 22,100

times.

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Why Social Media?

We are in social media revolution.

A new transparency: Eliminating barries of time, space and number of relations.

Distributed rights to create, aggregate and modify contents.

Complements, not distracts from work.

Simple, free and fun.

Continue learning.

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The advisor

Young and hungry for results Great collaboration

Topic may be less significant

Senior scientist

Significant research topic

Not available

• From industry – Job opportunities.

• From academy – Opportunities for

teaching and research

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E D S G E R W . D I J K S T R A

( 1 9 3 0 - 2 0 0 2 )

Some thoughts 41

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Edsger W. Dijkstra

Source: http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~EWD/ewd06xx/EWD637.PDF

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Scientific world and real world 43

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Unique contribution 44

Marisa A. Sánchez

[email protected]

Thank you very much for your attention!

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Skills for a PhD researcher

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