《Nature》是什么造就一个好的博士

Nature：是什么造就一个好的博士

作者：Georgia Chenevix-Trench1

Georgia Chenevix-Trench is principal research fellow at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Herston, Australia.

给PhD的一些意见.

做一个PhD应该是快乐和有回报的，因为你可以花你所有的工作时间去发现事物追寻想法并因此而得到回报，同时没有行政责任。那些坚持科研为业的人之所以这么做是因为尽管薪水低、工作时间长并缺少保障但这个工作能提供我们所想要。

不幸的是大部分PhD新生并没有做好心理准备，结果鲜有能实现他们的热望最终成为独立的科学家。造成这个结果的主要原因是大部分大学中固有的级别升迁制度（这个制度使得挑选一流的天才学生变的困难）和大学里尽一切可能对PhD的压力。后果是我们招了过多的学生却没有明确地他们博士学位到底是什么。于是我们置我们自己和学生在挫折与失望之路上。

那么我们应该告诉未来的PhD们什么呢？

1）选一个导师，这个导师的工作是你喜欢的并且他（她）有着很好的经费和硬件设施条件。

2）为你的课题负责。

3）工作勤奋——所有的工作日和部分周末都长日制。如果科研是你的热情所在那么这个不难，如果不是，你可能到了错误的领域。注意那些把一个大包带回家继续工作的人，这是成功的原因不是结果。

4）休一些假，这样你就不会油尽灯枯。

5）读一些你所在领域直接相关的文献，当下的和过去的并且相近的也看一些。如果你不知道已经做了些什么你就无法做出原创性的贡献。

6)仔细规划你的时间以和你的实验合拍这样你停滞的时间最少。

7)搞一个好一点的记录本并每天都写下来。

8）创造力勃发。想想你在做什么为什么要做，能不能找一个更好的办法。不要把PhD看做一条已被导师设计好的路。

9)训练出好的写作能力：这回让你的科研生涯容易很多。

10)为了成功你必须至少有以下几条中得四条：聪明、积极、创新、勤奋、巧妙行事和运气好。你不能依靠运气，所以你最好把注意力放在其它几条上。

原文：

What makes a good PhD student? (from NATURE)

Georgia Chenevix-Trench1

1. Georgia Chenevix-Trench is principal research fellow at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Herston, Australia.

Some tips for PhD students.

Doing a PhD should be fun and rewarding, because you can spend all your working time discovering things and pursuing ideas — and getting paid for it, without any administrative responsibilities. Those who stick with a career in science do so because, despite the relatively poor pay, long hours and lack of security, it is all we want to do.

Unfortunately most new PhD students are ill-prepared, and as a consequence very few will fulfil their aspirations to be independent scientists. The main reasons for this are the 'grade creep' inherent at most universities, making it difficult to identify the really talented first-class graduates from the rest, and the pressure on universities to graduate as many PhD students as possible. The consequence is that we enrol far too many of them without telling them clearly what doing a doctorate should entail. We therefore set ourselves, and the students, on a path of frustration and disappointment.

So what should we be telling prospective PhD students?

• Choose a supervisor whose work you admire and who is well supported by grants and departmental infrastructure.

• Take responsibility for your project.

• Work hard — long days all week and part of most weekends. If research is your passion this should be easy, and if it isn't, you are probably in the wrong field. Note who goes home with a full briefcase to work on at the end of the day. This is a cause of success, not a consequence.

• Take some weekends off, and decent holidays, so you don't burn out.

• Read the literature in your immediate area, both current and past, and around it. You can't possibly make an original contribution to the literature unless you know what is already there.

• Plan your days and weeks carefully to dovetail experiments so that you have a minimum amount of downtime.

• Keep a good lab book and write it up every day.

• Be creative. Think about what you are doing and why, and look for better ways to go. Don't see your PhD as just a road map laid out by your supervisor.

• Develop good writing skills: they will make your scientific career immeasurably easier.

• To be successful you must be at least four of the following: smart, motivated, creative, hard-working, skilful and lucky. You can't depend on luck, so you had better focus on the others!