Throughout your grad life, you will meet with your supervisor(s) and collaborators.
Meeting Frequency
I meet with HX lab members and collaborators as frequently as it makes sense. Typically, this is more frequent when you first start or when we're approaching a deadline, and less frequent when you have classes or steady but substantial research work to be done.
Between meetings
In-between meetings, you should be reading, thinking, and trying ideas out. Grad school goes by quick, and it is an amazing time in your life because you can slow down and deeply focus on one or two topics. (Yes, it's still busy, but not nearly as scattered as life after grad school.)
Read everything you can that inspires you, that seems related to your research, or that seems interesting. This will help give you a wealth of information to identify research problems and goals, and steer you towards the best way for you to have high-impact research. As you read, follow the steps below to develop an annotated bibliography and project pitches to help narrow down your research, and the steps in a follow-up post (coming soon-ish) to push forward on your research once you've committed to a project.
During meetings
When you meet with your supervisor(s), you have limited time. The best way to present your findings is either in a running research log or with slides.
For a running research log, use a single file that can be linked to, typically a Google Doc, for all metings. Each meeting should have the following format: Example Research Log, with reverse chronological meeting summaries, agendas/talking points, and action items for next time. It doesn't need to be Google Docs, but it does need to be shareable with a link, and that link should be sent to all meeting participants at the start of the meeting.
You may prefer to use slides, which have poorer continuity but might be more visual. Keep records of each as you proceed, but probably best to have a new deck for each update.
Tips for both:
- Explain what you've done since the last meeting and the most interesting findings
-
Include
lots
of
sketches,
photos,
etc.
- even small photos, quick sketches, videos from your phone go a long way
-
Links
to
related
work,
papers,
videos,
are
very
useful
- When reviewing related work, remember that we're always looking for a research gap
- Explain how the paper fits into your topic
- The main thing to summarize is the contribution - what did the paper contribut to the literature, what is the new knowledge resulting from the work that they did? What is the novelty
- Even partially-structured outcomes (early prototypes, very rough drafts) are helpful. Don't be shy! The earlier we can work on ideas, the better