Perjalanan Sekolah Pascasarjana

PhD survival tips.
Based on my experienced as GOT recipient.

By Dr Hj Abdul Rahim Hj Ridzuan (UiTM)
Phase 1: The most crucial one. At this stage, you will be drown by mountains of information. You are proned to be easily swayed from the direction. Some PG experienced changing their proposal a few times. This is the stage that requires you to read and discuss your ideas with SV rapidly. The good thing at this stage is your motivation level is still high. So, you need to work hard to write your proposal. Most importantly, learn to control your stress and emotions. Do not ever give up at this stage!

Tips: ? For scholarship student, the stress level is somehow accumulated because you are racing with the time given to you. Having a solid proposal with the guide of your potential SV would really help a lot before you can officially begin your PhD journey!

Phase 2: At this stage, you might have a clearer idea on your study. Your mission is to complete your proposal writing. For secondary data user, you have to ensure that all proposed models have the completed dataset. You should seek ideas or comments from any experts in your field to enhance your proposal. This can also be done by participating in any postgraduate conference. The main goal is to ensure that your proposal is recognized and passed during the defense session.

Phase 3: Yeah..if you have managed to pass your proposal defense…people said that you have already completed half of your Phd journey! Keep your spirit up to write your thesis. Some PG might have to change certain research objectives..some can just proceed with the original objectives. That is why it is important to produce a solid proposal, where you want to avoid from rewriting it after proposal defense. At this stage, students need to focus on writing research paper extracted from their thesis.

Phase 4: The stage is where you have to complete your thesis writing. Bear in mind, there is no such thing as the perfect thesis. Always focus on finishing the writing of the thesis first..then you can polish your work later. At this stage, you are astute about your research, you have built more confidence in regards to the novelty of your thesis, and most importantly, your SVs have aware and acknowledged your novelty before you get the permission to submit thesis for VIVA. Don’t be afraid..VIVA is simply to test either the thesis was produced by you or other people. If you have gone thorough all the process of learning and writing, you would be able to answer the questions raised by the panel. ?

Congratulations..you are now known as PhD survivor! There is always up and down during the journey. Your true strength is reflected when you managed to overcome all the challenges. Remember, you are not alone. You can always seek help from the others. All is well. Best wishes~