The Most IMPORTANT Video I've Ever Made For Academics

In this video, I dive deep into a topic that is often overlooked but critical for any PhD student: managing risks during your PhD.

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When we think about doing a PhD, we often focus on the research, experiments, and writing, but there's another layer that no one really prepares you for—risk management. Throughout your PhD, you’ll encounter countless decisions that either push your research forward or create potential setbacks. Some of these choices may seem harmless at first but can have major consequences down the line if not handled carefully.

As a PhD student, it’s easy to get caught up in chasing the big, bold, high-impact results—what I refer to as “risky PhDs.” While aiming for breakthroughs is important, too much risk can lead to dead-ends, anxiety, and even delays in finishing your degree. On the other hand, playing it too safe might not yield the kind of results that can make your research stand out. That’s why finding the right balance is key.

In this video, I’ve developed a simple framework to help you evaluate and manage risks at different stages of your PhD. This framework can help you organize your ideas, assess their potential impact, and identify any risks—such as access to resources, data, or funding—that may stand in your way. I’ll explain how you can categorize your research projects into different levels of risk, and how to mix high-risk, high-reward projects with lower-risk ones. This balance will help you keep momentum in your research while avoiding unnecessary stress or setbacks.

By the time you finish watching, you’ll have a clearer understanding of how to approach your PhD strategically, with a focus on managing risks during your PhD. Whether you’re just starting out or in the later years of your degree, learning to manage risk is essential to making sure you not only finish but finish with strong, impactful research. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, especially if you’ve encountered risks in your own PhD journey.

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▼ ▽ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
01:16 Perfecting Progress
02:58 Identifying Risk/Cost
03:31 Traffic Light System
05:35 Data Risk
06:08 Experimental Risk
07:01 Financial Risk
07:31 Ethical Risk
08:01 Framework Computation
08:54 Traffic Light System
10:00 Experimental Table
13:08 Management Framework Overview
13:58 Outro

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▼ ▽ Socials for shorts and reels

[garrae]

Nice video Andy, Risk is always related to resources. So time, physical resources (location, equipment, capacity etc), funds, knowledge, know-how, capability, people (supervisors, peers, participants), motivation, commitment, mental lethargy (our own and others), mental resistance, legal, social and ethical issues, competition, demand for the explanation or solution, material & technical processes (can it be done), ICT capability, power and agency processes etc.

[amypratt]

Brilliant perspective. Thank you for the reminder to balance risk with progress! I'm in the first semester of my Social Psychology PhD and have gained a ton of perspective from your videos. Thanks!

[MichaelBrueckner]

Great video. I needed this 40 years ago, when I started to work on my thesis on the beta decay in strong gravitational wave fields. The professor had no idea what the result would be, nor had I, jumped on the train anyway. In present times, I'd probably refuse to take the risk.

[endorphinder]

Stapes! Thank you for your candid and infor-taining content!! Maybe this comment will give a tiny bump for the algo. In addition to the categories of risk, perhaps categories of reward would be useful as well to help prioritize efforts. While getting a phd is reward in itself rolling on the floor-I crack me up), monetary, near-career, far-career, personal-predilections, etc. could be used to add up the "checks" for rewards just as you have done for risks.

[kakkopf]

Hi Andy, great approach! I like the framework and it is very true that no one teaches you about risk management! Maybe an idea to add: from risk management in project management we learn that at some point the high risk tasks need to be re-evaluated or stopped. I know that this would probably make the framework a little more complicated, but you already propose something like a scale system with the points you are assigning. Maybe for the deeply red ideas something to track (after some time of trying) if it is still worth proceeding. Thanks for the video!

[Qkecke]

Competition risk. How many people/groups might be working on something similar based on their previous research? Do they have more resources/data than you? Do you have any competitive advantage over them (e.g., resources/data they don't have)? How much might their results affect the potential impact of your work?

[MC-ubxj]

This is brilliant! As a long-time project manager, I agree that risk management is one of the key things we need to do for any project. I love the simplicity of the framework - the only thing I could add as a way to refine it if needed is to add a "likelihood" ranking, which is when you determine how likely is it that the risk will become a reality and thus an issue that must be overcome to reach success.

[MatheusCarvalho-evhw]

Remember, if you do a PhD, it's years that you could be doing something else. This is alreayd a risk on itself.

[Jessie_zzx]

That traffic light system really makes me "Wow" for a moment! Thank you so much Andy, as a second year PhD, I've learned a lot from your videos!

[mohammadalinilforooshan]

Excellent! In some cases, a single risk might be a "no go"! For example, an ethical risk may stop that work from having any publication.

[leinababy]

My PhD involves a lot of cultural risks. Perhaps, it should be included in that excellent table too? There are cultural consequences that must be considered for international research.

Huge thank you Andy by the way. Loved watching your videos. I have written so many notes and printed many pages of your videos as part of my personal SOPs. 😊

[hoesseinalki]

Thanks Andy! This came at the right time for me. I am halfway my first year of PhD in an engineering field. What I would add are:

(1) Risk of available physical 'products', 'materials' to test. --> Like in my case, I need to physically test physical objects. And their availability is a big issue for me.
(2) Risk of analysing the data. --> In my case I also need to perform mathematical calculations and validations, which are not always easy to do.

I am aware that you might have incorporated my two addition in your 'Data Risk' and 'Experimental Risk', but I personally felt that the distinction might be more helpful to understanding your table.

A great fan of your work!

[lsf]

very informative. these discussed some of the main challenges faced in research.

[kamaluddeenbabagana]

In academia, the reward of success is more work

[zai]

@DrAndyStapleton some really interesting idea. I'd love the chat in more detail some time. I'm currently lecturing in Risk Management and Project Management but come from a professional background so share a lot of your views on the issues with the standard academic approach.

[ethanbair]

One thing this doesn’t account for is the risk of getting scooped by another researcher. For almost any project you can think of, someone else is likely doing something similar, and being second is almost worthless in academia.

[jfleming]

Thank you. I am continuously concerned about risk. Access is always a problem for me. Data risk and experimental risk is a problem.

[dmitry]

Looking at what people do in my field, I would say that one of the major problems is that everyone just does zero risk things. You need papers at very high pace, you cannot risk delaying anything. Next, doing the same safe thing as everyone is, in fact, beneficial as you get more citations. If, instead, you do high risk high reward thing, even if you succeed it is not guaranteed that you will be rewarded. Other researchers have zero incentive and zero time even to read what you do. Even if they will and will be able to appreciate your results, they will anyway keep doing what they did before. There is no incentive for them neither to switch to new things nor to give credit to your work.

[ChemCoder]

I hear a lot of high risk, high reward. But as a society/community, we are creating more paths to fail than succeed. I can go on for an hour about this.

[monoamiga]

It needs to be slightly altered for doctorates is arts.