Crawling out of the Doctoral Cocoon

During your Ph.D., you get help from your supervisor who gives you ideas on how to conduct your research, where to publish papers and which conferences to attend, but once you complete your Ph.D., you stand on your own feet. It is time to crawl out of your protective cocoon and safe zone and become an independent scholar with your own field of expertise and network.

To reach this position, you have to become an active member in your research field by participating in the industry and intra-institutional projects and carry out research in related fields. Publishing your work in reputed journals and working as a reviewer for the journal in which you have published can be a good way to establish yourself as a renowned researcher in your field.

Here are a few tips and things for this smooth transition:

1. Collaborate with industry and institutions
It is time to discover other horizons and to broaden your scope by collaborating with other national and international institutions, public research institutes or industry partners. Networking is generally considered as a time-consuming activity, but it can be a rewarding opportunity to show the strength of your research and what you can do for the society and mankind.

2. Writing research proposals
It can be a little scary at first to start your very own research, as you might feel to be inexperienced, but once you get working on it, you will identify your interests and should write your own research proposals for funding.

3. Research activity
Review papers, participate in committees, publish your work and attend conferences. Get memberships of some professional societies in your related field that will show your peers that you are an active member of your research area.

4. Read a lot
Keep a steady tap on the recent developments by reading recently published papers related to your field.

5. Develop your own writing style
Practice your academic writing and you will notice that, as you gain more practice writing papers you will receive fewer revisions from reviewers, and you will feel comfortable writing about your research in an authoritative style.

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