Today I officially chose my PhD topic (kind of)

Today was the day where I approached my PhD supervisors and finally declared what my intended topic for my PhD is going to be. This has been quite the process due to my indecisive nature and my tendency to be interested in far too many things at once!

The topic is loosely defined as the study of the "utilization of smartphones for the diagnosing or monitoring of medical conditions or symptoms". More on this in the future.

On one hand I am quite jittery with excitement now that I have a much clearer direction on where I am going to be heading for the next couple of months, with even grandeur ideas coming into focus of where I might be heading even in the next few years! This excitement is somewhat lessened however, because with equal amounts of excitement comes equal parts fear, but alas I guess that is what this journey is all about.

The revealing of my chosen topic was quite funny actually, due to the unexpected and uncharacteristic reactions of my two supervisors. For the last month I have been in debate between two fields of interests, both revolved around 'smartphones'. My supervisor (who is fantastic) did have a few reservations in regards to one of the topic options, but assured me that ultimately it is my decision, and that he would support me either way. Today was the deadline for when I had to finally commit to a field of study.

I met with my two supervisors and immediately upon seeing them I could see a bit of tension in their faces as they were quite eager to hear of which pathway I had decided to go for. I decided to just get it out there.

"Hey guys, ok I will cut straight to the chase... I have decided to go with the medical conditions option"

Upon hearing the news they broke out into a round of applause and joyous laughter! Despite their neutral attitudes to my decision making process, they both secretly desperately hoped I would go for that topic over the other one!

This was quite reassuring to me as it in a way feels that I have made a good choice, but at the same time it does add a bit more pressure that I must perform well and produce good outcomes. Alas, that can be dealt with along the way.

Today, I have my topic. Now I just need my research question...

PhD Beginnings: Finding a supervisor

I am officially at the 4 month mark thus far, but I have noticed a few common themes and questions that seem to arise whenever I am talking about PhD with somebody around me, those being; who is my supervisor, what is my topic, and why did I choose to do a PhD. While the second and third topic are quite a difficult question to answer at this stage (does it ever truly become easy?), the first one has somehow worked out quite well and is definitely something I would like to share (especially for those who have not yet chosen one).

I have talked to a large number and variety of fellow new PhD students at my University, and my initial assumption was that supervisors are generally rather similar to each other, regardless of your field of research. This however appears to be quite the contrary, with each supervisor seeming to fall somewhere along a huge spectrum.

On one side of the spectrum it appears you can have a supervisor who is so distant that you have to pester them for even a general meeting, let alone regular status updates and guidance sessions. This was so surprising to hear, as that to me sounds simply terrifying for a new PhD student! On the other end of the spectrum I have heard of supervisors who want to meet numerous times every single week, with weekly reports on your progress, with critiques on that progress, all even within the first few weeks, which again sounds equally terrifying!

Thankfully my supervisor falls closer to the 'request weekly progress reports' side, but without the grueling critiques, which is great. When starting out I was always given the usual advice of 'find a supervisor who is an expert in your field', which for most seemed to be the most important aspect of all.

I do not agree with this however. While my supervisor is an extremely smart individual, them being an expert in my field I feel is not what makes him such a great supervisor for me. It really comes down to how well we work together. I look up to him, his research, and ideas, and this in turns allows me trust his advice and take on board anything he suggests for me to do. He in turn seems to understand me too, and knows when to push and when to sit back. This, I feel, is vastly more beneficial for me than his reputation, intelligence, or how strict/relaxed he may be.

Remember, you're spending the next 3 years with this person!