I agree that enthusiasm is essential when studying, especially for long projects such as doctoral research. I’d be interested to hear from other MOOCers about how enthusiasm drives their study.

For me, enthusiasm has three stages:

1. It’s needed at the start when your mind begins to whirl around current interests and possibilities – and it’s often at this point that supervisors are very helpful since they know the field and what’s already been published so they’re aware of gaps in knowledge to which you might contribute. They also know where funding is available.

2. Enthusiasm sustains you throughout research both when things are going well and when you’ve hit a seeming dead end and need to rethink.

3. Enthusiasm is heightened at the completion of a project as this is when you can see ways forward such as how to disseminate (publish) your findings, how to develop your work, and what leads can be followed up in new projects.

when you talk about writing scientific articles, I actually quite enjoy this process. It makes me realize that I also contribute to science, and all the lab work is translated to something worth knowing about. Nowadays at least in our area, every PhD student is more or less expected to publish 2 papers from his PhD but of course people try to write more, so I heard a case when someone finished his PhD with 7 (!) papers. The number will depend on the amount of work you have done and your supervisor’s willingness to help you with that. The length varies depending on the journal you are aiming for, but I would say an average of 10-12 pages is common. The audiences you are writing for are assumed to be familiar with the field, however there is always an introduction which gives more general information and references about the topic of interest.

I like the word stickability. Sometimes you have to cope with situations where you don’t get any results and start asking yourself why you are doing all this etc. In such cases, stickability is what you should have in order keep on working. So I would not change this piece of advice or maybe I would only add the stereotyical “you have to be enthusiastic”, which personally is the main driver of my PhD.

I completed my doctorate at the Institute of Education, University of London just over 10 years ago and enjoyed reading your account of doctoral research. Unlike your studies, mine was desk-based research so I didn’t have opportunities to do lab or field work – variety is important.

What you haven’t said much about is what writing is like. When do you write, how often do you write, how long are the pieces you write and what audiences do you write for? How do you feel when writing?

Before I started my research (a geographical exploration of illicit drug-using), I asked a doctoral student what the “secret” was to doing a Ph.D. I had been expecting an elegant and elaborate answer. But after some thought, he said one word, “stickability”. That was the best advice I ever had.