PhD: thoughts and questions
Nov. 24th, 2008 01:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morslaToday I recieved a flyer and application form for the Smart Services CRC PhD scholarships.
The two documents do part of their job well: saying "so, how sure are you that this is a good idea?" In terms of project or PhD information, they aren't so great. The CRC is quite new, broad in focus, and all the project information is much like you can see on the website above: nebulous statements about eleven research areas. All of them sound fascinating, but there's precious little information on exactly what is being done, and which locations (VIC, NSW, QLD) are doing each part.
Given the nature of the research, it seems only fair to look for some other ideas and perspectives via this journal... I'm particularly interested in hearing from those of you who are doing, have done, or have lived with people doing PhDs, but any and all feedback is welcomed.
Edit: to clarify, I have had a chat with two potential supervisors already. I'm mainly trying to work out exactly what it is that I want to do, and whether a PhD is the best way of doing it.
What do I want to do?
Narrowing things down from "everything at once," I'm looking a buying and selling online - from a small business perspective. I want to look at how businesses are using the internet to interact with customers and suppliers, and how their customers are using it to find and purchase things. I'm particularly interested in how niche-market operators can access national or international markets, to create businesses that could not sustainably exist on a local level.
Application criteria
Qualifications:
Lets look at my doubts first. I don't have an H1 honours degree - I missed out by one mark. That's the first criteria in the application form. Also, my honours degree isn't directly related to the PhD.
On the plus side, I have a broad background that should help in a multidisciplinary area of study. I have a BSc (Chemistry and Geology, Geochemistry honours), and a Grad Dip in Professional Communications. I also have an unfinished BA, including a full major in History and Philosophy of Science, and a scattering of Media and Communication subjects. I'm good at observing what people do, and fiinding out how and why they do it. I'm comfortable working in highly technical environments and translating jargon and concepts into plain english.
I run a small online business, and know many others in the first few years of establishing their own. The promotion of niche-market small businesses, the use of online banking and other payment methods, and the use of forums and other community tools are all vital to what I do.
Demonstrating knowledge of the current academic literature:
Another stumbling block at present. Beyond reading FirstMonday I haven't really followed the literature so far - the last few years have been entirely focused on actively working on the business from a practical perspective. If anyone can recommend some reading material I'd love to hear it - leave a comment here, or send bookmarks to my delicious.com account.
As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aeliel will testify, I have a brain like a sponge, and a tendency to obsessively consume new areas of interest. I can do a lot of reading between now and next year, but I'm unlikely to read as widely as I would like before the application is due.
I'll add more to this post later (must get back to work!) but I'd love to have people question my sanity and point out obvious stumbling blocks I should be aware of... the more questions I have to ask myself, the more likely I am to work out whether this is a good idea or not.
The two documents do part of their job well: saying "so, how sure are you that this is a good idea?" In terms of project or PhD information, they aren't so great. The CRC is quite new, broad in focus, and all the project information is much like you can see on the website above: nebulous statements about eleven research areas. All of them sound fascinating, but there's precious little information on exactly what is being done, and which locations (VIC, NSW, QLD) are doing each part.
Given the nature of the research, it seems only fair to look for some other ideas and perspectives via this journal... I'm particularly interested in hearing from those of you who are doing, have done, or have lived with people doing PhDs, but any and all feedback is welcomed.
Edit: to clarify, I have had a chat with two potential supervisors already. I'm mainly trying to work out exactly what it is that I want to do, and whether a PhD is the best way of doing it.
What do I want to do?
Narrowing things down from "everything at once," I'm looking a buying and selling online - from a small business perspective. I want to look at how businesses are using the internet to interact with customers and suppliers, and how their customers are using it to find and purchase things. I'm particularly interested in how niche-market operators can access national or international markets, to create businesses that could not sustainably exist on a local level.
Application criteria
Qualifications:
Lets look at my doubts first. I don't have an H1 honours degree - I missed out by one mark. That's the first criteria in the application form. Also, my honours degree isn't directly related to the PhD.
On the plus side, I have a broad background that should help in a multidisciplinary area of study. I have a BSc (Chemistry and Geology, Geochemistry honours), and a Grad Dip in Professional Communications. I also have an unfinished BA, including a full major in History and Philosophy of Science, and a scattering of Media and Communication subjects. I'm good at observing what people do, and fiinding out how and why they do it. I'm comfortable working in highly technical environments and translating jargon and concepts into plain english.
I run a small online business, and know many others in the first few years of establishing their own. The promotion of niche-market small businesses, the use of online banking and other payment methods, and the use of forums and other community tools are all vital to what I do.
Demonstrating knowledge of the current academic literature:
Another stumbling block at present. Beyond reading FirstMonday I haven't really followed the literature so far - the last few years have been entirely focused on actively working on the business from a practical perspective. If anyone can recommend some reading material I'd love to hear it - leave a comment here, or send bookmarks to my delicious.com account.
As
aeliel will testify, I have a brain like a sponge, and a tendency to obsessively consume new areas of interest. I can do a lot of reading between now and next year, but I'm unlikely to read as widely as I would like before the application is due.I'll add more to this post later (must get back to work!) but I'd love to have people question my sanity and point out obvious stumbling blocks I should be aware of... the more questions I have to ask myself, the more likely I am to work out whether this is a good idea or not.
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no subject
Date: 2008-11-28 12:43 am (UTC)I like the modular-thesis approach, as it seems to be helping a few friends get their work finished: break it up into tiny bits, write them up as you go, and look for opportunities to publish sections along the way. Anything is better than sitting down to write a thesis start to finish in the final year...
I found out on Wednesday that the applications are due next Monday, so I'll be working on mine over the weekend. Unfortunately everyone I've tried contacting at Deakin and RMIT is away on conferences this week, so I'll be chasing up references on Monday morning.