how to be a successful phd student pdf

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How to get a PhD: a handbook for students and their supervisors

2022, Asia Pacific Business Review

This book can serve as a useful and easily accessible course of self-guidance for both supervisees and supervisors during doctoral studies programmes. It can also, independently and reliably, guide those individuals who are thinking of beginning the journey towards achieving a PhD or doctoral degree and are seeking advice about whether and, if yes, how they should proceed. For those who do embark on PhD studies, this book can become a virtual supervisor for them. They can become responsibly aware of the complete PhD journey before starting.

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To postgraduates, a PhD may seem like an ideal opportunity to improve research skills prior to future work. However, the application process is a competitive and often challenging experience. This article seeks to de-mystify some of the common questions surrounding PhD applications and provide some hints and tips for potential applicants.

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Dr. Samuel T . Hales, M.Sc. , Derek Burns

Over the last decade, there has been a 25% rise in the number of students applying for doctoral-level study across the UK (Universities UK, 2017). Prior to committing to a PhD, applicants must make an informed decision as to whether working towards a PhD is valuable for them in terms of personal and professional development. By answering some of the most frequent questions asked by PhD applicants, this article aims to de-mystify common myths associated with doctoral-level study.

Peshal Khanal

This paper provides an overview of my ongoing doctoral study at Canterbury Christ Church University. It first presents a brief summary of my motivation and underlying antecedents which have fed into the problems and processes of my study. It then presents the objectives, methodology and processes of the study. Finally, four major issues and challenges that I have encountered in the course of my study are discussed.

Emmanuel Sibomana

Being the highest degree programme in education globally, a PhD degree programme has the highest requirements which the candidate has to fulfil. Therefore, studying towards a PhD may be a very demanding, tiring and tedious experience for many candidates. One factor which contributes to a PhD being that challenging is that it is research-based and candidates are supposed to conduct it independently, with some guidance from research supervisors. In addition to that, some candidates may not have enough information on what is expected of them and, therefore, may not know how to approach it. This article is a reflection on a PhD journey and focuses on how the different aspects of a PhD research can be approached by PhD students based on personal experience with a PhD journey

Ahmed OUARET

In this book, you can find information about the major milestones in your PhD trajectory, and how to reach them.

Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) Research Paper: @ Issue Paper No. 15

Christine Arnold

Journal of Professional Nursing

Deborah Salani

Jesus Salinas , Antònia Darder , Fina Perez

A key aspect of the effective supervision of PhD research is the supervisor-student relationship. This interaction is affected by the characteristics and needs of students and institutional conditions , as well as the skills, attitudes, and roles of supervisors and their supervisory styles. When supervision is carried out at a distance, it entails an additional challenge, mainly concerning interaction. The purpose of this study is to improve the research process, supervision, and design of virtual environments in order to support this supervision. The study identifies the supervisory relationships that affect doctoral research conducted at a distance from the student's academic institution. It also describes how students and their supervisors perceived the characteristics of supervision and the skills and attitudes students perceived in and expected from their supervisors. For data collection, semistructured interviews were used. The results indicate important differences between supervisors' perceptions concerning their own role and students' needs regarding supervision, and they demonstrate the importance of attending to student needs and, on the part of supervisors, exercising responsibility in the development of research competencies in students, as is the case of independence of criteria and autonomy.

Jesse L Heath

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• DOI: 10.1177/1043986214541603
• Corpus ID: 147675620

How to Be a Successful Graduate Student

• F. Cullen , Brenda Vose
• Published 5 October 2014
• Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

19 Citations

Teaching preparation and professional development coursework in doctoral programs: the example of criminology and criminal justice, a practical research methods course that teaches how to be a successful biomedical engineering graduate student, enhancing professional identity through scholarship: examining the publication of dissertations in counselor education and supervision in peer-reviewed journals, identifying causal effects, fundamentals of criminological and criminal justice inquiry, the role of theory in research, introduction, the role of data in research, 21 references, the role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance., thinking fast and slow..

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How to be a Successful Scientist

A Guide for Graduate Students, Postdocs, and Professors

• © 2024
• David Julian McClements 0 ,
• Jake McClements 1 ,
• Isobelle Farrell McClements 2

Department of Food Science, Chenoweth Laboratory,, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

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School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK

Chemistry and chemical biology, cornell university, ithaca, usa.

• Provides concrete advice to scientific researchers at all stages of their careers
• Contains practical advice about all aspects of being a successful research scientist
• Coaches researchers to come up with new ideas, write manuscripts, present scientific talks and writie a thesis

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This book provides important advice to scientists at all stages of their careers on how to be a more effective and impactful researcher.  It provides tips on: designing, performing, and analyzing experiments; writing, submitting and revising manuscripts; preparing and giving scientific talks and posters; writing grant proposals; and writing and defending a graduate thesis.  It also provides advice on soft skills, like communication, networking, creativity, critical thinking, and working in teams.  A major emphasis of the book is the importance of writing and publishing scientific manuscripts, as this is the main way that scientific knowledge is disseminated, as well as being an important element for building a strong curriculum vitae.  The book should be an extremely valuable resource for graduate students throughout their studies but should also be useful for postdocs and professors who want to hone their research skills. 

The book is written by three scientists from the same family who are each at different stages in their careers and can therefore provide different perspectives.  David Julian McClements is a distinguished professor who is currently the most highly cited author in Food Science in the world.  He has published over 1300 scientific articles and numerous books.  Jake McClements is beginning his career as a lecturer in the United Kingdom, while Isobelle Farrell McClements is just starting her career as a graduate student in the United States.

• Graduate studies
• Research paper guide
• Paper writing
• Scientific Paper Writing
• Science Careers

Table of contents (13 chapters)

Front matter, setting out on your academic journey.

• David Julian McClements, Jake McClements, Isobelle Farrell McClements

The Scientific Method: A Knowledge Machine

Planning your research: a laser focus on manuscripts, research practice: efficiently and effectively performing your experiments, data analysis and reporting: presenting your best face, writing your manuscript: the nuts and bolts, submission and revision: getting published, conferences and networking: getting to know the science and the people behind it, preparing talks and posters: effectively communicating your research findings, reaching the finish line: writing and presenting your thesis, securing funding: oiling the wheels of research, preparing for the future: building a strong curriculum vitae, final remarks: how to be a successful research scientist, back matter, authors and affiliations.

David Julian McClements

Jake McClements

Isobelle Farrell McClements

About the authors

Dr. David Julian McClements is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Food Science at University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA, USA

Isobelle McClements is a Graduate Student in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, USA

Dr. Jake McClements is a Research Fellow in the School of Engineering at Newcastle University in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Bibliographic Information

Book Title : How to be a Successful Scientist

Book Subtitle : A Guide for Graduate Students, Postdocs, and Professors

Authors : David Julian McClements, Jake McClements, Isobelle Farrell McClements

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51402-9

Publisher : Springer Cham

eBook Packages : Education , Education (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024

Hardcover ISBN : 978-3-031-51401-2 Published: 26 April 2024

Softcover ISBN : 978-3-031-51404-3 Due: 27 May 2024

eBook ISBN : 978-3-031-51402-9 Published: 25 April 2024

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XVIII, 282

Number of Illustrations : 4 b/w illustrations, 89 illustrations in colour

Topics : Research Skills , Education, general , Writing Skills , Research Methods in Education

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• CAREER COLUMN
• 06 November 2018

Twenty things I wish I’d known when I started my PhD

• Lucy A. Taylor 0

Lucy A. Taylor earned her zoology PhD from the University of Oxford, UK. She is now a postdoctoral researcher at Save the Elephants in Nairobi, Kenya, and a visiting researcher in the Department of Zoology at Oxford.

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Starting a PhD can be tough. Looking back, there are many things I wish I’d known at the beginning. Here, I have curated a list of advice from current PhD students and postdoctoral researchers from the Department of Zoology at my institution, the University of Oxford, UK, to aid new graduate students.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-07332-x

This is an article from the Nature Careers Community, a place for Nature readers to share their professional experiences and advice. Guest posts are encouraged. You can get in touch with the editor at [email protected].

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Tips to Become a Better (Computer Science) Ph.D. Student

Why does the world need another blog post.

There are already a lot of great blogs posts about the computer science Ph.D. experience, each approaching it from a different angle (the whole process of a Ph.D., how to choose your research topic, etc.). However, the ideas presented in most of these blog post come from the experience of one person while this blog is a condensed summary of in-depth talks with more than five professors and three Ph.D. student during the YArch workshop at HPCA’19. During these conversations, we discussed topics that are important for early year computer science Ph.D. students . We chose ten ideas we found most impactful to us, and explain five of them in detail and present the other five as short tips.

Research > Courses

Be professional, read a lot and read broadly, impact humankind, don’t give up on your research topic easily, aim for top-tier conferences.

• Use existing resources in your groups

You are powerful!

Focus on publishing.

If you have more ideas, please comment at the bottom of this post!

Other amazing blogs out there:

• The Ph.D. Grind
• Tips: How to Do Research
• So long, and thanks for the Ph.D.!
• Graduate School Survival Guide
• Tips for a New Computer Architecture PhD Student

Young Ph.D. students tend to spend too much time on courses. However, research outweighs courses.

Take courses with a grain of salt

Courses are not as important as they seem to be. The priority of a Ph.D. student is to do research – the earlier you start your research, the better off you’ll be in the long run.

However, don’t go to extremes ! A poor grade can also be a huge problem. You should always be familiar with the requirement of qualification exams or generals and meet all the standards about the courses.

Remember the main ideas of courses

Trapping ourselves in trivial details of a course is easy. However, most of the specifics are not important to our research even if the topic is related to our area.

A good approach is to use what you’ve learned from one course and apply it to a different field (e.g., taking an analysis tool from a compiler course and applying it in computer networks).

Treat your Ph.D. as a job. You get paid (albeit not much) for being a Ph.D. candidate, so make your work worth the money. This professional mindset should also be apparent to your advisor. Some advisors take on a more hands-off approach, for instance letting you work from home, but this is no reason for slacking; you should be responsible for your research schedule, such as reminding your advisor of plans from previous group meetings. Your status is not that of a student but rather that of a peer in the research community.

Though it can be very daunting starting out, reading papers is an essential part of the Ph.D. life. Previously, you may have read papers when it was necessary for a class or a project. However, you should put reading papers in your daily routine. Doing so allows you to draw inspiration from a sea of knowledge and prevents yourself from reinventing the wheel. Besides, it’s a great way to be productive on a slow day.

Make a plan to read

When scheduling your day, assign one period just for reading papers. You can read one paper in depth or compare several papers; regardless of your choice, allotting time to this task is the key.

Read broadly

Reading papers from different subfields of computer science is a great way to learn the jargon, the method, and the mindset of researchers in each field. This can be the first step towards discovering opportunities for collaboration.

It is not uncommon for a Ph.D. student to spend several years building a system that turns out to be fundamentally flawed or not as applicable as expected. Don’t worry! There is nothing wrong with failing, and perhaps we should even expect failure to be part of the journey. But we should aim to fail early in order to have time to work on another project (and graduate!).

Perform a limit study

Perform a quick limit study before sticking with a project. A limit study includes in-depth analyses of implicit assumptions we make when coming up with an idea, a related works search, and the potential of the work if everything goes well. A great limit study can itself be a publishable paper. An example can be found here .

Hacky implementation can be useful

Being a researcher, your work is to develop proof-of-concepts. Nevertheless, you need to demonstrate that your concept is sound for the simplest of cases before continuing to the full-blown system. Hack in the minimum set to show that your idea is possible while resisting the temptation to build a robust infrastructure – if your idea fails, you will know to stop earlier.

Impacting humankind may sound too ambitious, but it should be the ultimate reason why we embark on this journey.

Choose an impactful research topic

In terms of how our Ph.D. research could impact human knowledge, I would like to refer to The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D. by Matt Might. All we will do in five years is pushing the boundary of human knowledge by a minute margin. Choose a topic that you are able to contribute to, feel passionate about, and can explain the importance of to a layman in a 3-min talk.

Check out why Matt Might changed his research focus from programming languages to precise medicine.

How can our research actually impact people from other fields?

A survey paper by the Liberty Research Group sheds light on how the improvement of programming tools impacts ( computational scientists ) all scientists. Thinking about how your research affects people from other fields can help you define the scope of your contribution.

At some point, we will get bored with our research topic and find something else interesting. Think twice before switching topics. You must differentiate between your project heading nowhere and you getting tired of being stuck.

You should focus on publishing at only top-tier conferences. Don’t consider second-tier venues unless the work has been rejected several times by top-tier conferences. This can prevent you from doing incremental work to make your publication list look better.

Use existing resources in your group

For many fields in computer science, a mature infrastructure requires several years of development by multiple graduate students. Think about how to make use of the infrastructure and resources in the group to boost your research progress.

Even though we are just junior graduate students, we can have a massive impact on ourselves, our group, and even our department. For example, if there is no reading group for your field in your department, start one!

Needless to say, publications are essential since those are what people look at once we graduate.

Acknowledgment

All the ideas in this blog originate from the talks with mentors of the YArch’19 workshop. Thanks to Prof. Boris Grot from the University of Edinburgh, Prof. Thomas Wenisch from the University of Michigan, Prof. Vijay Janapa Reddi from Harvard University, Prof. Luis Ceze from the University of Washington, and Prof. Kevin Skadron from the University of Virginia.

Thanks to two chairs of the YArch’19 workshop, Shaizeen Aga from AMD Research and Prof. Aasheesh Kolli from Pennsylvania State University, for making this possible.

Greg Chan and Bhargav Godala from the Liberty Research Group were at most of these talks and helped me write down some ideas.

6th year Ph.D. student @ Liberty Research Group, Princeton University

Graduated Master @ Liberty Research Group, Princeton University

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Wharton Stories

7 resources to help phd students succeed on their doctoral journey.

It takes a village and a variety of skills to succeed in the doctoral world. Here are a few of the many resources Wharton Doctoral Programs offers to help.

Like most of our doctoral students, perhaps you’re preparing to go into academia after completing your PhD. Being a professor and researcher today often involves opportunities to share your research with a larger audience than a classroom of students. The doctoral journey is meant to prepare you with the wide array of skills you’ll need to be effective whether you’re in front of the classroom or a conference stage.

That includes the polish to present and speak publicly with ease, the writing and communication skills to craft your dissertation and journal articles, the analytical know-how to research thoroughly and gather meaningful data, and the ability to teach — colleagues, pupils, or the general public, whatever the case may be. And, if you have family, you’ll need support in getting them through this journey with you.

Wharton Doctoral Programs offers a wide range of resources to help you thrive in the PhD program and prepare you for life beyond it. Here are a few of the top Wharton resources our students have highlighted as most beneficial:

1. 5 Slides 5 Minutes

Researchers often have the opportunity to share their work with a larger audience through social media and mass media outlets — but it requires nuanced communication skills. How do you take complex findings and communicate them to a general audience concisely without oversimplifying the message?

That’s the focus of 5 Slides 5 Minutes. Launched in 2014, this low-stakes, high-potential event enables PhD students to present an abstract to students, faculty, and staff to practice engaging non-experts in their research topic. Students receive an invitation to participate via email from the Doctoral Programs Office.

After students present, they can work with Wharton Communications Program to review their presentation and get tips on how to improve their communication skills. Wharton’s renowned faculty also share valuable insights with students about these presentations.

“We focus on individuals. We help them convey their research content most effectively given their style and personality,” said Lisa Warshaw, Director of the Wharton Communications Program.

2. Dissertation Boot Camp

The name might sound intimidating, but some students think of Dissertation Boot Camp as a two-week writers’ retreat. Hosted twice a year by the Graduate Student Center, it’s designed for students who have dissertation status but haven’t presented their proposal yet.

The camp offers an environment and support for intense, focused writing time as well as a review on the steps, deadlines, and University policies. Limited to 20 students, the small group gives writers a chance to make connections with others who are going through the dissertation process and provides participants with the structure and motivation to overcome typical roadblocks along the way.

3. Wharton Communications Program

The Wharton Communication Program helps Wharton PhD students become more effective communicators and thus better presenters, public speakers, and writers — all critical skills in academia. All doctoral students are provided with access to on-site, one-on-one writing coaching during the academic year.

Wharton PhD students are required to attend two workshops: First-Year Communications Workshop in the fall and First-Year Writing Workshop in the spring. The skills-based approach adopted in the workshops helps students develop their personal style and strengthen their confidence as communicators.

Through multiple practice opportunities, video recording of speeches, and rigorous feedback, the program provides students with a thorough foundation in communication theory and for doctoral students, focuses on research presentations and job talks.

4. Teacher Development Program Workshop

Offered in conjunction with the Center for Teaching and Learning , the Teacher Development Program is a four-session course. It gives doctoral students a foundation in core teaching practices to support their teaching at Penn.

By helping with presentation skills and academic job placement, the workshop prepares students to become faculty in the future. Ian Petrie , Senior Associate Director, Center for Teaching and Learning described the workshop as “a collective, collaborative program.” Each week features “microteaching” demonstrations, where participants conduct a brief lesson and get feedback from their peers and the directors.

The intent is that faculty and graduate students will engage and learn from each other to master fundamental teaching methods. “Every PhD student can leave the program having gained some new tools for teaching,” Petrie said. This exchange happens when doctoral students observe “talented colleagues from other departments to get a glimpse of how they teach.”

Students also have the opportunity to enroll in the CTL Teaching Certificate program to hone teaching skills and grasp a commitment to developing as teachers.

“I’d like everyone to come out of the experience feeling more confident about their skills as an instructor or presenter,” Petrie said. “Anything I can do to support doctoral students in achieving their goals is extremely gratifying.”

5. Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS)

With more than 50,000 corporate, academic, and government users, Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) is the global gold standard in data management, research analytics, and thought leadership. Researchers at more than 450 institutions in 36 countries across the globe depend upon this award-winning research platform and business intelligence tool — and researchers are doing the work to grow it right here on Wharton’s campus.

“The fact that the people who create the data, research analytics, and tools are here is super important,” said Prof. Cathy Schrand, Vice Dean of Wharton Doctoral Programs. “I’ve had early access to WRDS before it even became available to other subscribers. Top universities all over the world that have subscriptions to WRDS may only have access to certain elements of it, but we have access to all of it and it’s here on site which does provide an advantage.” The platform allows researchers to access more than 350 terabytes of data in one location that spans across multiple disciplines, including accounting, banking, economics, ESG (environmental, social, and governance), finance, health care, insurance, marketing, and statistics. “WRDS is by far the most important source of datasets for academic researchers. As a Wharton PhD student, you automatically get unrestricted access to every one of these databases,” said Itamar Drechsler, associate professor of finance at Wharton and NYU’s Stern School of Business, who has experience on both sides of the classroom – he earned his PhD from Wharton in 2009.

6. Wharton Behavioral Lab

A shared resource for all Wharton faculty, the Wharton Behavioral Laboratory (WBL) provides a variety of services that support data collection for behavioral research on business-related topics. The primary goal is to enhance the research productivity of Wharton faculty by minimizing the operational costs, both time and money, of conducting research. With two locations — one in Steinberg Hall Dietrich Hall and another in Jon Huntsman Hall, doctoral students can gather original data through lab experiments and panels, instead of using secondary data created by others. Each year, the lab collects about 23,000 subject hours of data. Research from WBL can consistently be found in national and international publications such as the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, and the Journal of Business Ethics .

7. Support for Families

For some PhD students, attending Wharton means relocating their families to a new city. To help students and their families ease the transition to PhD life, the Wharton Doctoral Program Office hosts the Maternity/Paternity Workshop , an annual event that talks about the resources available to PhD students with families.

Here are a couple of the key resources they highlight in the workshop:

• The Doctoral Programs Office allows eligible students to apply for up to one year of additional school-level funding beyond their allotted funded year. Furthermore, students are eligible for up to eight weeks of time-off for childbirth and adoption and have the option of taking unpaid Family Leave of Absence.
• At Penn, the Family Resource Center provides additional resources and facilities, such as a children’s playroom and two private lactation rooms, which cater to the needs of students with families. The Center also has two grant programs for PhD students to help offset the cost of childcare and family expenses, and health insurance for dependents.
• Wharton Doctoral Partners & Families is a student-run online resource created to communicate the resources at Penn and Philadelphia to partners and families. Its mission is to empower members to transition and settle into their new lives.

Posted: November 6, 2018

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Doctoral Programs

Start your doctoral journey.

Whether you’re just starting your research on PhD programs or you’re ready to apply, we’ll walk you through the steps to take to become a successful PhD candidate.

Deciding to get a PhD

You might be surprised to find out what you can do with a PhD in business.

Is an Academic Career for You ? What Makes a Successful PhD Student

Preparing for the Doctoral Path

The skills, relationships, and knowledge you need to prepare yourself for a career in academics.

How the PhD Program Works How to Become a Successful PhD Applicant

Choosing the right program

What’s the difference between PhD programs? Find out how to choose one that fits your goals.

What to Consider When Choosing a Doctoral Program

Starting an application

Tips for a successful application process.

Application Requirements Preparing Your PhD Application

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How Your Ph.D. Prepares You to Be an Entrepreneur

You can deploy skills you develop as a grad student and postdoc in a variety of careers, including working for a start-up or founding your own, Chris Smith writes.

By  Chris Smith

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Yutthana Gaetgeaw/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Innovation has become a hot topic in economic circles over the past few years. In March 2022, the United States’ National Science Foundation created its first new directorate in over 30 years : Technology, Innovation and Partnerships , or TIP. The passing of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 helped fund the directorate, the mission of which is to “advance U.S. competitiveness​ and societal impact by nurturing partnerships that​ drive and accelerate diverse innovation ecosystems, technology translation and development, and workforce development.” The U.S. is investing heavily in research and innovation—which you can take advantage of as a Ph.D. researcher working in academia or beyond.

Graduate students and postdoctoral scholars already contribute much to research and innovation in the United States through their work on a variety of projects supported by the federal government and industry partners. But despite that fact, few consider a career focused on the leading edge of innovation: entrepreneurship.

Being willing to push the boundaries of human knowledge and forge new ideas into products is essential for entrepreneurs. And to secure backing, entrepreneurs must also work to articulate the value they and their products bring to individuals, organizations and the nation. Fortunately, plenty of resources are available to assist in those efforts, although many graduate students and postdocs may not be aware of them.

To encourage more technology commercialization and entrepreneurship, in the latter half of the 20th century the federal government established two funding programs for academics and others seeking to either move full-time to a start-up company or obtain funding to develop and commercialize new technologies. The Small Business Innovation Research program supports the growth of start-up companies, while the Small Business Technology Transfer program is aimed at technology commercialization.

Both the National Institutes of Health and NSF fund grants from both programs, and both offer a variety of other mechanisms to foster an innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem in the United States. In addition, NIH provides numerous resources to educate people about entrepreneurship and special programs like the Small Business Transition Grant for New Entrepreneurs (see a webinar on the program here ), which helps researchers interested in transitioning to entrepreneurship via a mentor.

American universities also offer an increasing number of programs that either focus on training Ph.D.s for careers in the technology transfer space or assist them in learning how to commercialize technological and other innovations coming from their research work, as our Innovation Postdoctoral Fellowship here at Virginia Tech seeks to do. In addition, NSF’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) provides a seven-week experiential training program that prepares scientists and engineers to extend their focus beyond the university laboratory and toward commercialization by engaging in customer discovery and other activities. Such programs can be a bridge between traditional academic research and exploring an entrepreneurial career or employment in the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Many academics may mistakenly believe that entrepreneurial skills are only relevant if one is planning to run a start-up company. Yet most faculty members running research groups at large universities are effectively leading small businesses inside their institutions. They must articulate a value proposition to get hired and ultimately secure funding for their research. In addition, most faculty leaders or principal investigators are in charge of hiring those who work in their labs and must manage these individuals and their projects toward a larger, common goal. A faculty leader must create a vision for their group and think strategically about how the various projects align toward both short- and long-term goals. This is entrepreneurship in an academic research context.

And just as an entrepreneurial mindset is essential to a successful academic career, it is also extremely useful for any scholar looking to create their own company, independent of their institution.

Entrepreneurial Skills From Your Ph.D. or Postdoc

Ph.D. training offers graduate students and postdocs many experiences to help them navigate entrepreneurship and/or working in a start-up company, such as the following.

• Project planning and management. Completing a doctoral dissertation involves extensive project planning and management skills, from ideation to execution and dissemination. This directly translates to the ability to plan and manage large projects as an entrepreneur.
• Independent work. Ph.D. students, and especially postdocs, often work independently with minimal oversight, building the drive and accountability needed to accomplish tasks without rigid external deadlines—a crucial skill for entrepreneurs.
• Networking and collaboration. Entrepreneurs thrive on networking. Similarly, Ph.D. students and postdocs benefit from building strong connections—engaging with industry professionals, attending conferences and collaborating across disciplines to enhance their network. Such connections can lead to job opportunities, collaborations and funding.

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• Thirst for knowledge. A core requirement for a Ph.D. is an insatiable desire to learn and expand one’s knowledge base. Entrepreneurs must constantly step out of their comfort zones and learn new skills, making this thirst for learning invaluable for Ph.D.s and postdocs looking to focus on entrepreneurship as a career.
• Research skills. Doctoral training equips individuals with the ability to seek out, evaluate and synthesize quality information from various sources—a vital skill when navigating the unfamiliar territories of entrepreneurship.
• Curiosity about the big questions. Starting a business requires asking and answering big questions about target audiences, value propositions and strategic direction. Ph.D.s are trained to take disparate information and craft cohesive narratives to address complex inquiries. Successful entrepreneurs do the same.
• Problem-solving. Overcoming research obstacles and failed experiments hones problem-solving abilities in Ph.D.s and postdocs. As entrepreneurs constantly face new challenges, this skill is indispensable for finding innovative solutions.
• Resilience and adaptability. Entrepreneurship involves risk-taking and overcoming failures. Ph.D. students and postdocs learn resilience by navigating setbacks. This adaptability prepares them for a dynamic marketplace for their products and ideas and the post-Ph.D. job market itself, where flexibility and the ability to pivot are critical.

In essence, the rigorous training and self-driven nature of doctoral programs and postdoc positions cultivate skills like project management, working both independently and collaboratively, learning agility, strategic thinking and problem-solving—all of which are invaluable assets for successful entrepreneurship. The key to honing these skills is taking increased agency in your projects so that you learn all aspects of the process of identifying a gap in knowledge or application, scoping out the current landscape of that area and working toward a solution. It is certainly not easy work, but it can help you in graduate school, postdoctoral training and beyond.

In sum, by embracing an entrepreneurial mindset in your job search, you identify opportunities in industry, start-ups, government or nonprofits or create your own position through entrepreneurship. And even if you don’t decide to go that direction, innovative thinking and treating one’s career development like a start-up can propel you to professional growth and success. The fact that cultivating the entrepreneurial skills I’ve described can also be significantly helpful for an academic researcher means leaning into them is a win-win for any graduate student or postdoc.

Chris Smith is the postdoctoral affairs program administrator at Virginia Tech. He serves on the National Postdoctoral Association’s Board of Directors and is a member of the Graduate Career Consortium—an organization providing an international voice for graduate-level career and professional development leaders.

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FACT SHEET: President   Biden Announces New Actions to Keep Families   Together

Since his first day in office, President Biden has called on Congress to secure our border and address our broken immigration system. As Congressional Republicans have continued to put partisan politics ahead of national security – twice voting against the toughest and fairest set of reforms in decades – the President and his Administration have taken actions to secure the border, including:

• Implementing executive actions to bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum when encounters are high;
• Deploying record numbers of law enforcement personnel, infrastructure, and technology to the Southern border;
• Seizing record amounts of fentanyl at our ports of entry;
• Revoking the visas of CEOs and government officials outside the U.S. who profit from migrants coming to the U.S. unlawfully; and
• Expanding efforts to dismantle human smuggling networks and prosecuting individuals who violate immigration laws.

President Biden believes that securing the border is essential. He also believes in expanding lawful pathways and keeping families together, and that immigrants who have been in the United States for decades, paying taxes and contributing to their communities, are part of the social fabric of our country. The Day One immigration reform plan that the President sent to Congress reflects both the need for a secure border and protections for the long-term undocumented. While Congress has failed to act on these reforms, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked to strengthen our lawful immigration system. In addition to vigorously defending the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood arrivals) policy, the Administration has extended Affordable Care Act coverage to DACA recipients and streamlined, expanded, and instituted new reunification programs so that families can stay together while they complete the immigration process.  Still, there is more that we can do to bring peace of mind and stability to Americans living in mixed-status families as well as young people educated in this country, including Dreamers. That is why today, President Biden announced new actions for people who have been here many years to keep American families together and allow more young people to contribute to our economy.   Keeping American Families Together

• Today, President Biden is announcing that the Department of Homeland Security will take action to ensure that U.S. citizens with noncitizen spouses and children can keep their families together.
• This new process will help certain noncitizen spouses and children apply for lawful permanent residence – status that they are already eligible for – without leaving the country.
• These actions will promote family unity and strengthen our economy, providing a significant benefit to the country and helping U.S. citizens and their noncitizen family members stay together.
• In order to be eligible, noncitizens must – as of June 17, 2024 – have resided in the United States for 10 or more years and be legally married to a U.S. citizen, while satisfying all applicable legal requirements. On average, those who are eligible for this process have resided in the U.S. for 23 years.
• Those who are approved after DHS’s case-by-case assessment of their application will be afforded a three-year period to apply for permanent residency. They will be allowed to remain with their families in the United States and be eligible for work authorization for up to three years. This will apply to all married couples who are eligible.  
• This action will protect approximately half a million spouses of U.S. citizens, and approximately 50,000 noncitizen children under the age of 21 whose parent is married to a U.S. citizen.

Easing the Visa Process for U.S. College Graduates, Including Dreamers

• President Obama and then-Vice President Biden established the DACA policy to allow young people who were brought here as children to come out of the shadows and contribute to our country in significant ways. Twelve years later, DACA recipients who started as high school and college students are now building successful careers and establishing families of their own.
• Today’s announcement will allow individuals, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers, who have earned a degree at an accredited U.S. institution of higher education in the United States, and who have received an offer of employment from a U.S. employer in a field related to their degree, to more quickly receive work visas.
• Recognizing that it is in our national interest to ensure that individuals who are educated in the U.S. are able to use their skills and education to benefit our country, the Administration is taking action to facilitate the employment visa process for those who have graduated from college and have a high-skilled job offer, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers. 

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Application for Degree (Diploma) Log into your   MyNMSU . Once logged in, click the Student tab > Quick Links > Student Records. Near the bottom of the list, you will find the Application for Degree (Diploma) link. Follow the on-screen prompts to submit your application.

FOR   All current graduate students.   ( Required )   PURPOSE   To have your college certify/award your degree. For more information please contact   [email protected]   or call 575.646.4796. NOTE   The application cost is $45. Students filing an “Application for Degree (Diploma)” after the deadline will be charged an additional $50 fee. The Degree Application cannot be waived, refunded or carried to a future semester. Each application submission will incur an additional fee. The Graduate School will not approve Applications for Degrees after the late fee deadline has been reached.

Change of Admission Semester 

Change of Admission Semester Form      --> Change of Admission Semester Form      

FOR  New graduate students PURPOSE  To defer a student’s admission to a future semester.

Change of Degree / Campus Request Form

Change of Degree / Campus Request Form Change of Degree / Campus Request Form -->

FOR  All current graduate students. PURPOSE  If there is a change in degree, this form needs to be submitted. 

Cross Enrollment Petition

Cross Enrollment Petition Form --> Cross Enrollment Petition Form

FOR  Outgoing graduate exchange students PURPOSE  NMSU graduate students wishing to enroll in a course offered by UNM NOTE   The NMSU student must complete this form, request approval from the "Instructor of Record" to enroll in the course via email exchange, and then forward this Cross Enrollment Petition form and *.pdf of the "Instructor of Record" approval email to their "NMSU GES Graduate Advisor".

Degree Audit Exception Form

Degree Audit Exception Form --> Degree Audit Exception Form

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Graduate Assistant Part-Time Enrollment Waiver

Graduate Assistant Part-Time Enrollment Waiver --> Graduate Assistant Part-Time Enrollment Waiver -->

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Leave of Absence Form

Leave of Absence Form --> Leave of Absence Form

FOR  All current graduate students. PURPOSE   Students who are working on advanced degrees and have an interruption in studies should request a leave of absence.

*All leave of Absences should be requested as soon as possible depending on circumstances. If request was not fulfilled, students must re-apply to the University after 1 academic year.

Program of Study Change Form

Program of Study Change Form   --> Program of Study Change Form   

FOR  All current graduate students.  PURPOSE  If there is a change in the program of study, this form needs to be submitted.

Request for Letter of Completion

Request for Letter of Completion Form -->

FOR  Doctoral, Masters, and Educational Specialist Students. PURPOSE   If a student’s employer requests proof of completion of course work, a student may need this form.

Transfer of Credit Form

Transfer of Credit Form --> Transfer of Credit Form

FOR  All current graduate students. PURPOSE  Transfer credits from another university.

Doctoral Forms

College of Engineering Ph.D. Publication Requirement Form

FOR  Doctorate Students in the College of Engineering. PURPOSE  The form documents the requirements to publish and must be completed and attached to the Doctorate of Philosophy Examination Form.

Doctoral Dissertation Title Submission Form

FOR   All Doctoral students. PURPOSE  Doctoral students need to complete this form when completing paperwork for degree application. The information supplied on this form is used by the Registrar’s Office to include the doctoral student in the commencement ceremony program.   The student must be listed in the program to be part of the ceremony .

Doctoral Qualifying Examination Form

Doctoral Qualifying Examination Form -->

FOR   For students who enter the Graduate School with little or no previous graduate experience, but wish to proceed directly to the doctorate. NOTE   The qualifying examination should be taken after 12 credits of graduate work. Upon passing the qualifying examination, the student will be admitted to the doctoral program.

Doctorate of Education Examination Form

Doctorate of Education Examination Form       

FOR  Doctoral Students (Doctorate of Education). PURPOSE  A student needs to submit this in order to sit for their examination. NOTE   Exam form must reach Graduate School Office at least 10 working days   before   the date of the exam.

Doctorate of Philosophy Examination Form

Doctorate of Philosophy Examination Form       

FOR  Doctoral Students (Doctorate of Philosophy). PURPOSE  A student needs to submit this in order to sit for their examination. NOTE  Exam form must reach Graduate School Office at least 10 working days  before  the date of the exam.

Professional Doctorate Examination Form

Professional Doctorate Examination Form      

FOR  Doctorate of Nursing Practice, Doctorate of Economic Development, and Doctorate of Education.  PURPOSE  A student needs to submit this form in order to sit for their examination.

Program of Study and Committee for Doctoral Students

Program of Study and Committee for Doctoral Students -->

FOR   All Doctoral students. PURPOSE    A student needs to submit this, showing courses to be taken and courses currently being taken to fulfill requirements for the program. 

Educational Specialist Forms

FOR   Educational Specialists. PURPOSE   If a student has had courses waived, but replaced them with other courses (if their courses differ from the online degree audit) This takes up to two weeks to process.

Educational Specialist Examination Form

Educational Specialist Examination Form      

FOR   All Educational Specialists.  ( Required ) PURPOSE  A student needs to submit this form in order to sit for their examination.

Program of Study and Committee for Educational Specialists

Program of Study and Committee for Educational Specialists -->

FOR  All Educational Specialists.  ( Required ) PURPOSE   A student needs to submit this, showing courses to be taken and courses currently being taken to fulfill requirements for the program.

Master’s Forms

Degree Audit Exception Form -->

FOR   Master’s Students PURPOSE   If a student has had courses waived and replaced them with other courses (if their courses differ from the online degree audit). NOTE   This takes up to two weeks to process.

Masters Final Examination Form

--> Masters Final Examination Form

FOR  All Master’s Students

PURPOSE  A student needs to submit this in order to sit for their examination NOTE  Please turn in ten business days before the examination date.

Program of Study for Masters Students

Program of Study for Masters Students -->

FOR   Master’s Students who do not have a degree audit PURPOSE   A student needs to submit this, showing courses to be taken and courses currently being taken to fulfill requirements for the program.

Report of Written Exam Results for Masters Non-Thesis Students

Report of Written Exam Results for Masters Non-Thesis Students -->

FOR  Master’s Non-Thesis Students PURPOSE  Advisers submit this in order to record   written   exam results for non-thesis master’s students NOTE  Students that have an oral master’s final exam will not use this form. This form is for students that are taking their final exam in a written format.

Certificate Program 

Apply to receive your Graduate Certificate using the online degree application at   my.nmsu.edu .

FOR   Students receiving a graduate certificate and having been admitted into a graduate certificate program PURPOSE   A student needs to apply online in order to receive their certificate award

Master’s Accelerated Program

Master’s Accelerated Program Policy --> Master’s Accelerated Program Details Master’s Accelerated Program Brochure

Master’s Accelerated Form

Master's Accelerated Form -->

FOR   Departments and students taking part in the Master’s Accelerated Program PURPOSE   prospective students will work with the department of the prospective Graduate Program to receive advising and complete the Master’s Accelerated Program

Award Nomination Forms - PDF 

Nomination Form-McNair

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