How to Be a Good Graduate Student
1．why go to graduate school at all?The usual reasons given are that a Ph.D.is required or preferred for some jobs,especially research and academic positions;that it gives you a chance to learn a great deal about a specific area;and that it provides an opportunity to develop ideas and perform original research.Wanting to delay your job hunt is probably not a good enough reason.Over the past decade,research and academic positions have become more difficult to find,and many recent Ph.D.s end up“killing time”in a series of postdoctoral positions,or taking non-research job.Having a Ph.D.is not a guarantee of finding a better job in and of itself!In addition,graduate school is a lot of work and requires strong motivation and focus.You have to really want to be there to make it through.
①究竟为什么要读研呢？人们给出的一些常见的理由是有些工作要求或青睐博士学位，尤其是研究或学术类的职位；读研使你有机会深入学习某个领域；为你提供一个开发思想以及从事独创研究的机会。希望通过读研延迟找工作或许不是一个足够好的理由。在过去十年间，研究或学术类的职位变得更难找了，现在的博士们最终都从事了一系列消磨时间的博士后工作，或者非研究类工作。拥有一个博士学位本身已经不在是找到好工作的保障了。另外，读研需要投入大量的精力，并且需要强大的动力和明确的方向。你必须发自内心地想读才能够完成学业。
2．It helps to have a good idea of what area you want to specialize in,and preferably a couple of particular research projects you might like to work on,although mang research students change their minds about research projects and even specialization field after they start school.Look for books and current journals and conference proceedings in your area,and read through them to get an idea of who's doing what where.(You'll be doing a LOT of reading once you start graduate school,so you might as well get used to it.)This is where advisors first enter the scene:faculty members ought to be willing to talk to undergraduates and help them find out more about research areas and graduate schools.Try to get involved in research:ask professors and TAs whether they need someone to work on an ongoing project,or start an independent research project,with guidance from a faculty member.
②对自己打算研究的领域有所了解会有帮助，有几项你特别愿意从事的研究项目会更有帮助，尽管许多研究生在开始学业后改变了他们对研究项目甚至专业领域的看法。查阅本研究领域的专著、期刊、会议论文集，了解专业领域的最新研究动态。（一旦开始读研，你将会进行大量的阅读,因此你不妨习惯这一点）。这是指导老师最先介入的环节：教师应该乐于和本科生讨论，帮助他们了解更多的研究领域和研究生院校。尽量参与一些研究：询问教授和助教他们正在进行的项目是否需要助手，或者在一位老师的指导下开展一个独立的研究项目。
3．For many new graduate students,graduate school is unlike anything else they’ve done.Sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what it is you’re suposed to be learning.Yes,you have to complete a dissertation,but how do you start?What should you spend your time doing?
③对于许多新研究生来说，研究生院与他们所做的任何事情都不同。有时很难知道到底
什么是你应该去学习的。是的，你必须完成一个论文但是你怎么开始呢？你应该把你的时间花在做什么？
4．Graduate school is a very unstructured environment in most cases.Graduate students typically take fewer hours of coursework per semester than undergraduate students,especially after the second year.For many,the third year--after coursework is largely finished and preliminary exams have been completed--is a very difficult and stressful period.This is when you're supposed to find a thesis topic,if you're not one of the lucky few who has already found one.Once you do find a topic,you can expect two or more years until completion,with very few landmarks or milestones in sight.
④在大多数情形下，研究生院的环境十分松散。典型的是研究生每学期选修的学时一般比本科生少，进入研二的学习更是这样。对许多研究生来说，大部分学时和初步的考核完成以后的研三是一个辛苦而充满压力的时期。此时，你若不是为数不多的已经确定论题的幸运儿之一，你就应该为论文确定题目。一旦你确定好论题，你要做好心理准备，在论文完成前的两年乃至更长的时间内，你几乎看不见什么突破性的路标或里程碑。
5．Being a good researcher involves more than“merely”coming up with br illiant ideas and implementing them.Most researchers spend the majority of their time reading papers,discussing ideas with colleagues,writing and revising papers,staring blankly into space--and,of course,having brilliant ideas and implementing them.
⑤要成为一个好的研究者，仅仅提出新颖的想法并付诸实现还是不够的。大多数研究者花费大量的时间阅读论文、与同事讨论想法、进行论文的写作和修改工作、发呆，当然你还需要新颖的想法并付诸实现。
6．Keeping a journal of your research activities and ideas is very useful.Write down speculations,interesting problems,possible solutions,random ideas,references to look up,notes on papers you've read,outlines of papers to write,and interesting quotes.Read back through it periodically.You'll notice that the bits of random thoughts start to come together and form a pattern,often turning into a research project or even a thesis topic.I was surprised,looking back through my journal as I was finishing up my thesis,how early and often similar ideas had cropped up in my thinking,and how they gradually evolved into a dissertation.
⑥用日记记录与研究有关的活动和想法将非常有用。记录你的猜想、有兴趣的问题、可能的解答、零散的想法、需要查阅的参考文献、已阅读的论文的摘记，拟写的论文的提纲以及感兴趣的引文并定期地翻看。你会发现一些零碎的思想碎片聚集在一起形成一个整体之后，经常会成为研究的项目甚至是学位论文的专题。我很惊讶，当我完成论文的时候，回过头来看我的日记，我的思维中出现了多么早的、类似的想法，以及它们是如何逐渐演变成一篇论文的。
7．You'll have to read a lot of technical papers to become familiar with any field,and to stay current once you've caught up.You may find yourself spending over half of your time
reading,especially at the beginning.This is normal.It's also normal to be overwhelmed by the amount of reading you think you“should”do.Try to remember that it's impossible to read everything that might be relevant:instead,read selectively.When you first start reading up on a new field,ask your advisor or a fellow student what the most useful journals and conference proceedings are in your field,and ask for
a list of seminal or“classic”papers that you should definitely read.
⑦要熟悉任何一个领域，你需要阅读很多专业类的论文，一旦熟悉了这一领域，你还要保持及时更新。你或许会察觉到，尤其是刚开始的时候，在阅读方面将花费超过一半的时间。这很常见，还有一个常见的想法是认为自己会被应该阅读的书所淹没。你要记住，阅读每一个可能相关的材料是不可行的；相反，要有选择地进行阅读。当你首次涉足一个新领域时，咨询你的导师或者同学，在你选择的领域中哪些期刊杂志及研讨记录是最有用的。另外，索要一份必须要阅读的核心或者经典论文的清单。
8．Before bothering to read ANY paper,make sure it's worth it.Scan the title,then the abstract,then--if you haven't completely lost interest already--glance at the introduction and conclusions.(Of course,if your advisor tells you that this is an important paper,skip this preliminary step and jump right in!)Before you try to get all of the nitty-gritty details of the paper,skim the whole thing,and try to get a feel for the most important points.If it still seems worthwhile and relevant,go back and read the whole thing.Many people find it useful to take notes while they read.Even if you don't go back later and reread them,it helps to focus your attention and forces you to summarize as you read.And if you do need to refresh your memory later,rereading your notes is much easier and faster than reading the whole paper.
⑧在你尚未开始阅读任何论文之前，确定是否值得这样做。首先浏览标题，然后是摘要，如果你还没完全失去兴趣，那就浏览介绍和结论部分。（当然，如果你的导师告诉你这是一份很重要的论文可以跳过前几部，直接进行研读。）在你尽可能了解论文的细枝末节之前，通读全篇，尽量把握文章的重心。如果仍然感到有兴趣且与研究相关，回过头重新阅读。许多人感觉读书时做笔记很有帮助。即便你不回头重读，集中注意力迫使自己总结所读的内容也很有帮助。如果你后来的确需要重温记忆，复习你的笔记要远比重读全文更容易、更快捷。
9．Keep the papers you read filed away so you can find them again later,and set up an online bibliography.I find it useful to add extra fields for keywords,the location of the paper(if you borrowed the reference from the library or a friend),and a short summary of particularly interesting papers.This bibliography will be useful for later reference,for writing your dissertation,and for sharing with other graduate students(and eventually,perhaps,advisees).
⑨把读过的论文归档便于以后查找，建立一个网上参考书目。我发现附加关键词、文章的来源等信息十分有用（如果你从图书馆或朋友那里借阅资料），还可以为特别有兴趣的论文增加一个简短的摘要。这个参考书目将有助于以后查阅、撰写学位论文以及与其他研究生分享（也
许最终会成为接受指导的人）。
10．At times,particularly in the“middle years”,it can be very hard to maintain a positive attitude and stay motivated.Many graduate students suffer from insecurity,anxiety,and even boredom.First of all,realize that these are normal feelings.Try to find a sympathetic ear--another graduate student,your advisor,or a friend outside of school.Next,try to identify why you're having trouble and identify concrete steps that you can take to improve the situation.To stay focused and motivated,it often helps to have organized activities to force you to manage your time and to do something every day.Setting up regular meetings with your advisor,attending seminars,or even extracurricular activities such as sports or music can help you to maintain a regular schedule.
⑩有时候，尤其是研究生读到“一半”的时候，要保持积极的心态和充足的动力十分困难。许多研究生忍受不安全感、焦虑感甚至厌倦感。首先要意识到这些感觉都很正常。尽量找到一个愿意倾听的耳朵--其他研究生、你的导师、校外的一个朋友。接下来，尽力确定你的困难之所在并确定你可能采取的具体步骤以改善现状。保持明确的方向和充足的动力，参加一些有组织的、促进时间管理和每天必做的活动会对你有帮助。和你的导师确立定期会谈的时间、参加研讨会甚至参加运动类或音乐类的课外活动，都可以帮助你保持正常的作息时间。
11．Be realistic about what you can accomplish,and try to concrete on giving yourself positive feedback for tasks you do complete,instead of negative feedback for those you don't.Setting daily,weekly,and monthly goals is a good idea,and works even better if you use a“buddy system”where you and another student meet at regular intervals to review your progress.Try to find people to work with:doing research is much easier if you have someone to bounce ideas off of and to give you feedback.
11对于你可能完成的目标抱着务实的态度,尽量把注意力集中在积极评价你已经完成的任务上，而不是消极批评你未能完成的事情。设置每日、每周、每月的目标是一个好主意，如果你采取“伙伴制度”，工作的效果会更好。你可以和另一个研究生定期见面，一同审视工作的进度。尽量找到可以合作的人：如果你有畅所欲言的对象和给你提供反馈意见的人，做研究会容易得多。
12．Breaking down any project into smaller pieces is always a good tactic when things seem unmanageable.At the highest level,doing a master's project before diving into a Ph.D.dissertation is generally a good idea(and is mandatory at some schools).A master's gives you a chance to learn more about an area,do a smaller research project,and establish working relationships with your advisor and fellow students.
12当事情看似无法掌控时，将任何项目拆分为更加细小的部分通常是一个很好的策略。从最高层面来说，在开始博士毕业论文之前，从事硕士项目通常是一个很好的想法（在有些学校是强制性的）。硕士的经历使你有机会更多地了解一个领域，从事小规模的研究项目，建立同
导师和同学的工作关系。
13．The divide-and-conquer strategy works on a day-to-day level as well.Instead of writing an entire thesis,focus on the goal of writing a chapter,section,or outline.Instead of implementing a large system,break off pieces and implement one module at a time.Identify tasks that you can do in an hour or less;then you can come up with a realistic daily schedule.If you have doubts,don’t let them stop you from accomplishing something--take it one day at a time.Remember,every task you complete gets you closer to finishing.Even if you don’t have any obvious progress,you’ll have learned something,although it may be“don’t waste your time on this task again!”
13分而治之战略在日常工作中也起作用。与其写整篇论文，不如专注于写一章、一节或提纲。而不是实现一个大系统，断块和一次实现一个模块。确定你能在一小时或更少时间内完成的任务，然后你可以制定一个切合实际的日常计划。如果你有怀疑，不要让他们阻止你完成某事--一天一次地做。记住，每一个任务你完成让你更接近完成。即使你没有任何明显的进步，你会学到东西虽然这可能是“不要在这项任务上浪费时间”！
14．In order to do original research,you must be aware of ongoing research in your field.Most students spend up to a year reading and studying current research to identify important open problems.However,you'll never be able to read everything that might be relevant--and new work is always being published.
14为了开展独创性的研究，你必须知道该领域里目前正在进行的研究。多数学生花费多达一年的时间来阅读和学习当前的研究以发现重要的悬而未决的问题。然而，阅读与研究有关的一切文献是不可能的，而且总是会有新的研究成果出版。
15．Try to become aware and stay aware of directly related research--but if you see new work that seems to be doing exactly what you're working on,don't panic.It's common for graduate students to see a related piece of work and think that their topic is ruined.If this happens to you,reread the paper several times to get a good understanding of what they've really been accomplished.Show the paper to your advisor or someone else who's familiar with your topic and whose opinions you respect.Introduce yourself to the author at a conference or by e-mail,and tell them about your work.By starting a dialogue,you will usually find that their work isn't quite the same,and that there are still directions open to you.You may even end up collaborating with them.Good researchers welcome the opportunity to interact and collaborate with someone who's interested in the same problems they are.
15对于直接相关的研究要尽量了解并保持跟进—但是，如果你发现某个新的研究成果似和你的研究如出一辙，用不着恐慌。研究生们发现一个相关的成果出现，然后认为自己的论题没救了的想法相当普遍。如果你也遇到这种情况，重读几次这篇论文从而更好地理解他们真正创新了什么。将论文拿给你导师看、或熟悉该论题的人、或者你很看重他的观点的人。在研讨会上或通过邮件向该论文的作者介绍自己，并告诉他们你的研究。通过一次交谈，你通常会发
现他们的研究和你的并不完全一样，仍然有些方向你可以切入，甚至到最后你还可能和他们进行合作。良好的研究者乐于接受与志同道合的人们进行交流和合作的机会。
16．Graduate students often think that the thesis happens in two distinct phases:doing the research,and writing the dissertation.This may be the case for some students,but more often,these phases overlap and interact with one another.Sometimes it's difficult to formalize an idea well enough to test and prove it until you've written it up;the results of your tests often require you to make changes that mean that you have to go back and rewrite parts of the thesis;and the process of developing and testing your ideas is almost never complete(there's always more that you could do)so that many graduate students end up"doing research"right up until the day or two before the thesis is turned in.
16研究生通常认为论文分为两个阶段：研究和撰写论文。这可能是一些学生的情况，但更经常的是，这些阶段相互重叠，相互影响。有时很难把一个想法正式化，直到你把它写下来为止；测试的结果常常要求你进行更改（需要修改数据），这意味着您必须返回重写论文的各个部分；开发和测试你的想法的过程几乎从来没有完成过（你总是可以做更多的事情）。所以许多研究生直到论文结束前的一两天才结束“做研究”。
17．The divide-and-conquer approach works as well for writing as it does for research.A problem that many graduate students face is that their only goal seems to be“finish the thesis”.It is essential that you break this down into manageable stages,both in terms of doing the research and when writing the thesis.Tasks that you can finish in a week,a day,or even as little as half an hour are much more realistic goals.Try to come up with a range of tasks,both in terms of duration and difficulty.That way,on days when you feel energetic and enthusiastic,you can sink your teeth into a solid problem,but on days when you're run-down and unmotivated,you can at least accomplish a few small tasks and get them off your queue.
17分而治之方法同样适用于写作和研究。许多研究生面临的一个问题是，他们唯一的目标似乎是“完成论文”。在研究和撰写论文时，你必须把这一点分解成可管理的阶段。你可以在一周、一天甚至半小时内完成的任务是更现实的目标。试着提出一系列的任务，包括时间和难度。这样，当你的日子充满活力和热情，你可以把你的牙齿变成固体的问题，但在天当你跑下来，无心，你至少可以完成一些小任务把它们从你的队列中取出来。
18．It also helps to start writing at a coarse granularity and successively refine your thesis.Don't sit down and try to start writing the entire thesis from beginning to end.First jot down notes on what you want to cover;then organize these into an outline(which will probably change as you progress in your research and writing).Start drafting sections,beginning with those you're most confident about.Don't feel obligated to write it perfectly the first time:if you can't get a paragraph or phrase right,just write SOMETHING (a rough cut,a note to yourself,a list of bulleted points)and move on.You can always come back to the hard parts later;the important thing is to make steady progress.