First Year PhD Student Advice - 20 Things to do Early in Your PhD

PhD student advice for first year. At the beginning of my PhD it was a bit difficult to know what to do and where to get started. Along the way I have figured out a lot of useful activities, and why it would be a good idea to do these things early on in your PhD. So I am sharing them with you! I am sharing 20 things you should do early in your PhD, however, if you are later stage you might still find something that you haven't done yet and may want to consider. I really hope this will be helpful to anyone in any stage of the PhD or if you are considering doing a PhD. My channel is coming up on 1k subscribers and I will be doing a giveaway when we reach that so be sure you are subscribed with the notifications turned on so that you know when that competition goes live.

0:00 - intro
1:46 - make a plan for mental and physical health
2:39 - Know your work style ( what time works best for your productivity)
3:33 - Set up your work space ( even in home)
4:10 - Have a budget
4:46 - Identify key researchers in your research field & research gaps
5:57 - Identify main conferences and journals
7:02 - Identify relevant competition/ workshops
7:26 - Track your changes in research, make note
8:32 - Organise the papers you read
9:11 - learn latex
10:00 - Learn about supervisor
10:35 - Write your abstract in early phase
10:59 - Catch-up in your research field ( new techniques/ courses)
11:46 - Take research workshops
12:19 - Plan your coursework/ TAship
13:13. Plan your transferable skills that you can correlate with other fields
13:50 - Setup your social media for networking
14:40 - Make a LinkedIn profile
14:51 - Make a career plan
15:25 - Make a CV

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[habibulhasansujon]

1.make a plan for mental and physical health
2. Know your work style( what time works best for your productivity)
3. Set up your work space ( even in home)
4. Have a budget
5. Identify key researchers in your research field & research gaps
6. Identify main conferences and journals
7. Identify relevant competition/ workshops
8. Track your changes in research, make note
9. Organize the paper you read
10. Try to learn latex
11. Learn about supervisor
12. Write your abstract in early phase
13. Catch-up in your research field ( new techniques/ courses)
14. Take research workshops
15. Plan your coursework/ TAship
16. Plan your transferable skills that you can correlate with other fields
17. Be connected through professional platform
18. Collaborate within your field
19. Make a career plan
20. Make a CV

[natashagates]

Agreed! I’m a second year phd student and I’m currently studying all day and power through 9pm-4am. I’m a mother of 5 and also have 2 jobs so if I can do it, anyone can do it!!❤

[marielagutierrez]

Thank you so much for your great advice! My first day of PhD is tomorrow!

[deenarosejoseph]

Thank you for this video. I am in the first year of my PhD ( actually 4th month). I really liked the concept of keeping a research diary ( which I have to figure out how to do it ) and keeping folders to store the list of reference articles. I stopped the video for a moment when you said ' PhD is a marathon not a sprint' to give time for these words to etch in my mind...Once again, Thank you..

[itsme-notyou]

Lots of great advice. On the personal side, get very clear with why you want a PhD and whether you want a PhD. Be at peace with that or get out before you waste your youth. On the operational side, your number one and two priorities in the first years are to learn your field and select a research topic. Read papers. Not textbooks - you'll get that through coursework. Read the actual classic and contemporary research papers getting published in the conferences and journals that you want to publish in. This is how you learn the state of your art and find a space for yourself that's worth occupying.

[dr.khaoula]

Thank you so much for your advices...i am PhD student( first year) and i found difficult in the balance between reading articles and researching work, and I was very pleased with the existence of such a channel. Thanks a

[nj]

I've planned on pursuing my PhD years ago but during COVID I struggled. Finally starting on my proposal now and writing my first journal article with supervisor. Watching this made me feel better about making the right decision. To be more realistic and plan well

[succuliv]

I started my PhD earlier this year and this is so helpful. I love the fact that you do some things analog, I find things are clearer if you write them by hand. Please share your mental and physical health plan! I have somethings in place but I would be interested in knowing other people strategies to avoid burnout

[penncollins]

Did she just reply to every comment? your videos are adorable, I watched every one. I'm defending my master's in 2 days and already looking to go for Ph.D.

[hubertjudge]

One thing that may help is to aim to do 10, 000 steps a day.

[susanaavalos]

As a first generation grad student (working on my Masters) from immigrant parents, this was very helpful as I find myself not knowing what the heck I am doing now that I am applying for a PhD program. Thank you for this.

[jenniferalysee]

Hey girl! I just want to say that this video has been really helpful to me. I’m considering applying to a PHD program next year and I was browsing looking for insights on what it’s like and what to do in your PHD. The tips in the video about planning and organizing are great and I can start using some of those now. Definitely subscribing and thanks for the help.

[minnkott]

Hi! I'm currently at my 2nd semester of PhD. Really happy that I found this channel for tips for PhD. Keep it up!

[THarosT]

Hey there, thank you so much for the advice!
I started my Ph.D. in April and although it's something I've been planing on doing the last 5 years, I suddenly lost my motivation and the spark I should have because of the pandemic. I'm actually trying to make a plan and start fresh this September and you actually helped a lot! Thank you very much!

[rachelneff]

This so helpful. Just finished the first year if my master’s and now want to do a lot of these things in order to get the most out of my second/final year of the MS, and then do this again in a year or two for my PhD.

[jimr]

Many thanks! Shall be starting a PhD in electromagnetics this October. You are clear, concise, and I look forward to hearing more of your advice!

[dianaismail]

It's great to hear that someone else is using Latex! It still surprises me how people can do ANYTHING without Latex..

Thanks for the video. great info!

[AmanJolly]

Today is my 5th day of PhD and I have been binge-watching your videos.your experience will help me a lot

[xavierfisherman]

I am about to be a senior at a university, chemical engineering degree, i am thinking about PhD as we speak. I am so excited about it. I love research, I am the kinda person that seats on my desk to read for hours to learn more and figure stuff out. Hard worker, dedicated, but still kinda scared about a PhD program. Nevertheless, I think that I am ready for it, I am very motivated. Any advice will be helpful, like very helpful. This is a great channel cause no many people talk about the subject. Keep the hard work

[AhmedKhan-ywwx]

Thankyou for making this video, I just started my PhD this week and I feel overwhelmed already haha