another milestone

Just presentation a research paper to the department today. So basically I have completed most of the major milestones for the PhD program half-way through the 3rd year in the program:
- qualifiers [checked]
- required coursework [checked]
- two research papers [checked]

All that remain are to conduct a one-semester lecture, and start/work/complete the dissertation. Yeah, all that remain...

paper presentation

Presented my first paper at a conference. Made a few good connections, received some good comments. Added bonus: paper was the eventual 1st runner up for Best Paper award.

1st acceptance

2 days after receiving my 1st rejection letter from the journal in March, I received an acceptance letter with nice reviews from a conference for the same paper. Accepted for presentation. A few days ago, I was notified that the paper will go into the conference's Best Paper proceedings.

Not too bad for a 1st year summer, I guess...

A post-3rd-semester recap...

I've just completed my 3rd semester in Dec 2008, and now finishing up with the 4th semester (i.e. 2nd year).

Significant milestones:

1. Cleared my qualifiers in Jan. 4 long exams in a week (Two 12-hour papers, two 4-hour papers, and 1 full day of pre-reading for 1 of the paper.) My initial plan was to start preparing for the qualifiers in Oct. However due to an urgent research project, I could only really do the readings in mid-Dec. I think I read about 120 papers - that's like 3600 pages. I seriously don't know how I did all these readings...

By God's grace, I managed to clear the qualifiers successfully. If I were to do this again (and thankfully I don't have to), I would really try to prepare much earlier. 

2. Submitted a paper to a journal in Jan....

And it just got rejected. We (the other co-authors and I) received a 2-page assessment on a paper that represents 10-months of toil. I always wonder how it would be like to read a rejection letter. Now I know. And I'm beginning to wonder how it would be like to read an acceptance letter.

So basically I'm done with coursework (although I will continue to do more....). And I just have to focus on research and more research. Trying to get a project started for this summer. Hopefully that will work out well.

Useful Things to Know About Ph. D. Thesis Research

Quick notes on thesis writing.

Writing tips for PhD students

An interesting read by John Cochrane.

If I were to redo the 1st year....

Just thinking of what would I have done differently for the 1st year in the program.

1) Use a bibliography software from Day 1. Use it to record each of the readings that I have done. The abstract, theories, hypotheses/propositions, results & findings, AND comments and thoughts. I think this would be very useful when preparing for qualifiers. (Sadly I only started to use it towards the end of the 1st year.)

I heard of people using Endnote. Since I'm a poor grad student, I have looked for some free solutions. One is a web-based, basic bibliography system at www.gradjournal.com. Another is a freeware application JabRef. Take your pick.

2) Get involved in some research groups. Keep myself busy with a two or three group and/or individual projects in hand...

3) For every research idea that I have, I would bounce it with one or two profs early. Research ideas evolve, and time and expertise are of essence. Share with the profs the idea, get their opinions, read more, and fine tune the model, and the cycle continues.