How to choose a PhD topic | 5 TRICKS you should know about!

Choosing a PhD topic is a very important step for starting your PhD. If you get it wrong it can lead to years of misery and headaches. Follow these five tricks in this video to make sure that you are selecting a PhD topic that satisfies what you want to achieve and that doesn't only serve a potential PhD supervisor's H-index.

0:00 introduction
1:46 focus on what you will do during the PhD.
4:18 find the right niche size by exploring topics above and below your interests
7:01 explore the research area with literature reviews and past dissertations
9:53 find the gaps
11:44 reach out to academics and potential PhD supervisors
15:19 Outro

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[randomcommenteronyoutube]

Choose a FINER topic: Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, and Relevant...emphasis on feasible. I had to scrap my dissertation topic halfway through my PhD. In order to graduate on time, I picked the narrowest thing possible that still interested me and helped my research agenda. I'm much happier because my dissertation is now just my day job. The juicy stuff will be done post-PhD, and I won't be burnt out on the topic :D

[montjoile]

Great advices, especially the first one which I never thought of it, thank you!!

[alicecampbell]

EXCELLENT advice to read other dissertations in the area! Brilliant. Thank you so much!

[chinosts]

Hey Andrew... I've watched several of your videos now and found this one to be the most informative and relevant for me right now. I've worked as a software developer for about 15 years now and in the IT industry for about another 10 years on top of that, at the ripe old age of 51 I have decided to go to uni to do a bachelor's degree in IT and perhaps a PhD after that. Thanks for your insights and advice, I will continue to watch and follow what you do.

[amydagorne]

Incredible how this video is so helpful to pretty much any subject - from someone looking to do their practice-led PhD in documentary photography

[juliewatson]

Certainly knowledgable Andy. Thanks for sharing.

[Manchitas]

This is
I’m in the process of finding my thesis topic and your video really can be applied to any research 🧐.

[kemihoang]

Thank you Andrew. What you have done is very helpful for me throughout my ups and downs of the Phd journey. May God bless you for what you have putting out so far. Peace, love, and light

[kaalad]

So cool that you did a PhD in the RE field! I recently started to work in renewables and I know for sure that I want to do a PhD. I just don't know what topic I would like to focus on yet...most likely something related to islands. I also got to speak with someone from my organization who was leaving to do a PhD and his advice (based on his experience) was to spend some time working in the field and I might discover the problem I want to solve. So I'm currently just keeping my eyes and mind open and learning as much as I can. Thanks for these tips that will help inform my decision!

[umashankarmishra]

Thank you Andy for the detailed information

[farahhijazii]

Thank you, Andrew! Very helpful tips.

[Lili-fxyh]

Finally….I was searching for someone who explain clearly and in specific domain until I came cross your videos and I have the same specialisations as you energetic physics and I want do phd in photovoltaic (perovskites) … thanks a lot 🥺

[mohammadparvini]

Thank you for the suggestions. Very informative

[skabiethedestroyer]

thank you david cross, that was super helpful

[chavoux]

I would add another one (maybe not applicable to everyone): Make sure there is actually enough funding available to cover <em>all<em> the research costs for the specific project you want to do, before starting. Hoping to raise extra funds after you have already started with field work is a recipe for disaster. If you are working already and can collect data about an issue or subject that interests you as part of your job, collect as much of the data already (all of it, if possible), before registering for a PhD. Then it is only the analysis and writing up that needs to be done during the PhD. I wish I had done this when I had the opportunity.

[TheBodyScientist]

This video is super helpful! Thanks so much!!

[meganiles]

Hi, i have been pondering a PhD idea for months and it never occurred to me to consider HOW I would actually conduct the research - in a lab, pondering questions, or interacting with people. Do I want to be interacting with people or be in a lab?

Thank you SO much for reminding me that I need to consider this while choosing a topic.

I don't want to be stuck in a lab by myself... which is exactly where my current idea would have led me. I'll revise my idea.

Bless you for bringing this up and essentially giving me a much needed slap in the face.

[kalassaf]

thank you so much. you really made my day

[PhDCoffeeTime]

"When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail."
This is so accurate to many research labs, mostly due to a lack of new funding for instrumentation.

Congrats on 5K sub, Andy. Way to go! You've been answering many important questions for new PhD students. I wish I had your videos when I started mine back in 2009.

[medhachakraborty]

I think I was doing the same mistake until I realised that phd needs a market. So I suddenly changed it. As soon as I changed it I found good places to take my topic too, literature and found a lot of people working on my topic. It kind of made me confident that I am on the right track.