“Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?” he asked.
“Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop”.
Carroll. L. ‘Alice’s Evidence’ in Alice in Wonderland, (1865)
Advice
The King may have been talking about undertaking a PhD. Because of the King’s words, I started researching what advice was available. I did all the usual research, YouTube, books on how to do a PhD in law, spoke to PhD holders. The range of advice was amazing and a little overwhelming. But I was clear about the one consistent piece of advice I received. Write from day one.
But my desire to write from day one was hampered by an array of different things from administrative requirements, supervisor meetings, university events, college politics and a million other things.
Your experience may be different from mine, but some of these things may be consistent and hopefully, may be pertinent to your first few weeks.
Administrative requirements
Most of the administrative requirements were completed before I began your PhD. I had received my id badge, instructions for induction (which was a mandatory requirement) and information letter prior to my first day.
I am doing my PhD in a university that I had not studied at before. There was no welcoming committee, no welcome event, nothing. I wandered around concerned that everyone had forgotten that I was here.
Then I remembered that when you do a PhD, you are on your own. My supervisor team was not yet set, I had my primary supervisor but not a second or third. I went to see my supervisor but they were not in their office. This was a Monday and the induction day was not until Thursday.
On Thursday, I met the new PhD students at induction. I was the only one that was self-funding and they all had scholarships. They had previously studied at the university before so it was essential I started talking to them to learn the goings on.
They informed me of a room that was for PhD students and how there were free computers for us to use, but the IT requirements and website were a nightmare. If you are new to the university, this may take some time for you to get used to. The other PhD students were a great help and before long, all the administrative requirements were complete, I was setup in the PhD room with my own desk, computer etc. and was writing.
First supervisor meeting
A few days in, I received an email from my supervisor informing me that we were to have an imminent meeting. For some reason, I was rather nervous. Similar to what you hear about most supervisors, my primary supervisor is a respected, published expert in her field and used to practice law before becoming a reader. She has extremely high standards for herself, her students and her PhD students especially.
Thankfully, my concerns were completely misplaced. Although my supervisor has high expectations for my research, she is immensely supportive, knowledgeable and has an innate ability to guide me down the correct path.
I have benefitted from this approach profusely. I have a passion for my subject matter and the support I have received has enabled me to smoothly transition into a new setting, meet new people and begin my research without any issues. Listen to your supervisor, they know what they are doing especially if they have experience in supervision.
Schedule
Unless you are desirous of spending time in university for nearly a decade, you will require a schedule to help you complete your PhD in three years. After many changes, I will now stick to mine. The changes were essential in ensuring my schedule was not so difficult so that I would stay with it.
Remember, this is your schedule. It does not apply to anyone else. So, make it something you will stick to. For me, I decided to treat the PhD like a full-time job and make it 9-5 Monday to Friday. I do not volunteer for all the distractions that are available to PhD students. I am there to complete my PhD in three years.
There are other students I have met whose timeframes or goals are different than mine. Nevertheless, I am funding my own PhD, therefore my timeframe is very tight. In the evenings I am studying my vocational exams to become a solicitor. On top of this, I am being tutored in statistics and probability to assist me in comprehending quantitative papers better.
Furthermore, similarly to most people, I have a personal life. Most of my spare time is spent with family but especially with my two dogs. To relax I sail in my small sailing boat and umpire cricket games in my local league.
It is a lot to cram in but that is why my schedule is so important. I do not have a T.V. so there is no time wasted watching muttonheaded programs. I make a lot of sacrifices as do the people around me to provide the environment for me to complete my PhD in three years. Make your schedule and keep to it, do not become distracted from your goal.
Reading and writing
What follows concerns my PhD as your individual situation will differ but there will be some similarities. During my induction, the message the staff were adamant you should follow was:
‘If you wish to finish in three years, you must write around 500 words every week’.
The sentiment is that this will produce around 70,000 words. Your PhD will require a word count somewhere in this region. If you require 100,000 words, then you do not have time to spend doing other things other than reading and writing and your word count needs to increase weekly.
Read everything, write constantly and do not stop. I am averaging 1000 words a week. Sometimes when I am investigating a new topic (which seems to be all the time), I will read for 3 or 4 weeks solidly, just annotating resources. But then I write them all up in my own words until I understand the topic better than the authors of the resources I have been reading.
Depending upon the topic, and considering I am only in the 5th month of my studies, I have written just over 18,000 with full references. I cannot speak for other subjects, but in law, your footnotes, bibliography etc. do not count towards your word count. Therefore, my advice is you must write, read, write and read and write some more. Do you see now why your schedule is important?
Your subject matter
Make sure that you are passionate about the subject you are studying. There are days you sit down with all the best intentions in the world to read and write……but the desire dissipates rapidly. In these moments I check my schedule. I open the books and pick up my pen and paper and begin.
This is easier when you are enthusiastic about your subject. Some of the scholarship PhD students I have spoken to are not enamored with their subject matter. This will make it harder for you to dig in when you do not feel like it. But if you do dig in, those days are worth more than the good days.
A law PhD does not follow the contemporary framework and structure of a PhD, (although it can). If your PhD is not following the same format as PhD students from other subjects, do not let this worry you or concern you. Students from a host of different subjects I have spoken to follow the same structure rigidly. However, I have yet to meet one law student that does. Remember, this is your PhD, you can be flexible.
Other events
During my first few weeks and months of my PhD, there have been other events that you will be asked to attend. Some of them, you are told, are really necessary or they are good to have on your CV. This I believe is open to debate, but I will list some of the events I have broken my schedule for.
There are a couple of mandatory items that must be included. First, after three months, I had to submit my ‘programme approval’ to the board. Second, if you want to lecture, our university has a mandatory course that has to be completed. This is followed by further external requirements to become an Associate Fellowship of Advance, HE.
Every week our law faculty do a presentation during their lunch hour showcasing current research that is being undertaken. I am not required to attend, but there is an undercurrent of expectation. It is only for an hour and the subjects have nothing in common with my research. However, these presentations are excellent in introducing you to a range of skills that you will require in academia, such as presenting, public speaking, challenging questions, criticism, introducing new concepts etc.
You may believe there is a danger that you will waste time getting to know all the other current and new PhD students and this might not be time well spent. If you do believe that; you are wrong.
New students may be able to support each other and students further along their journey, are a great resource for all types of things from how to contact I.T. and how to book a room, to hearing all the gossip and sharing a PhD template document. There is so much to learn and having some friends in the first few weeks will be immensely beneficial to you.
Conclusion
The first few weeks of my PhD were bewildering, frustrating and I was a little overwhelmed. By developing my schedule and spending time preparing and planning for what I wanted to achieve, it quickly became second nature.
If you plan and prepare for what suits you best, manage your time and priorities and show up every day and do your work, you will be ok. Oh, and one more thing, write, write, and write.