A simple scientific research secret

Edited from : https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/gxPPg9NurvByWT_GtxnjkQ

Recently, I did a contest in Tsinghua garden entitled “ A simple scientific research secret ” The workshop of , Share your scientific research experience with the students . Now put it in writing , To readers .

One 、 Record the experiment , Increase of efficiency , Grasp the progress of the project

** Clear the brain , Free memory , Better a good memory than a bad pen .** Experimental records usually include experimental preparation 、 Experimental conditions and phenomena 、 Data analysis and discussion 、 Experiment and brainstorming . It's tiring to keep all this in mind , It's also easy to forget , It will be easy to write it down , Very efficient .

** Record the conditions , Pay attention to the details , Easy to repeat experimental data .** Usually when saving data , The name of the folder should also be detailed and comprehensive , Include the date of the experiment 、 Conditions and details , Otherwise, it will be forgotten after a long time . I have also faced a lot of people named “ Sample 1 ”、“ Sample II ” The test results are in a daze , Completely forgot their corresponding experimental conditions , It's all tears .

Clear your mind , Carding logic , Clearly grasp the progress of the project .“ Today's business 、 Finish today ”, Finish the experiment every day and take notes in time , The results of the day of the resumption , Think about whether it is consistent with the predicted results , What are the possible optimization parameters and improvement space . You can take your research notes with your tutor at ordinary times 、 Students and so on , Very intuitive ; Project completion stage , You can also organize your thoughts into notes , Contribute to thesis writing .

Of course, it can also meet the needs of personalization ： Record inspiration , Let every time “ Brainstorming ” It's not in vain ; Detailed and comprehensive experimental records can bring a sense of achievement , Relieve anxiety during doctoral study . I wrote during my PhD 18 This research note , During the postdoctoral period, he wrote 6 This research note —— These notes reassured me , I know that I am making progress every day , For me, it is “ Empower ” The process of .

** Two 、** Calm down and think for yourself , But you can't fight alone 、 Shut oneself up in a room making a cart

Many students have this experience ： When learning knowledge , Only you can think in a down-to-earth way 、 Thought it over 、 I understand , To digest and absorb , Be part of your mind . As a doctoral student , Have the spirit of research , Know the instruments and equipment you use like the back of your hand , Not only understand the operation , Also understand the principle ; To soak in the laboratory every day , Touch East , Feel in the West , Maybe inspiration will come .

But here's the thing , You can't “ Stuffy ” Go there , Some students think about it and drill into the tip of the ox horn , Become anxious or depressed after deep thinking , More roast 、 Discuss more 、 More cooperation .

** I make complaints about it .** It's not easy to read blog , There are always countless troubles , For example, the product is spilled 、 The instrument is broken 、 The tutor was angry , Especially, I need to find some fellow travelers to keep warm , Share... With each other .

Discuss more .“ Eat a man's moat , The wisdom of a group of people ”, Understand the mistakes that others have made and learn from them , One more person to analyze the progress of scientific research bug, Look at the problem from an external perspective .

** More cooperation .** Not everything has to be done alone , If you can find complementary partners , Foster strengths and circumvent weaknesses , It will be easier 、 Advance more freely on the road of scientific research .

Yes, of course , Communicating with peers is to relax yourself , Not to put pressure on yourself . So don't compare , Everyone's rhythm is different , The topics are also quite different , Don't worry about others' papers , You can't sit still when others have achieved something , Don't belittle yourself because of your gains and losses , because “ I haven't published any papers yet ” Just come to the conclusion that “ I am not fit for scientific research ”, even to the extent that “ My fault ”“ I'm worthless ”, The logic is untenable , It's against the rules “ Bold assumption , Careful proof ” Scientific research methods . There is always pressure , But belittle oneself 、 If you deny yourself ; We can't guarantee that the project will go smoothly , But at least you can happily play strange upgrades .

3、 ... and 、 Answer some common questions

Q1： How to improve English literature reading ability ？

When reading English Literature , If appear “ Look not to understand ”, The difference is “ Knowledge cannot be understood ” still “ I can't understand English ”. If it is “ Knowledge cannot be understood ”, You can read the doctoral thesis 、 Master basic knowledge through relevant teaching materials ; If it is “ I can't understand English ”, Remember some English words of relevant academic terms first , If you persist in reading literature for a long time, you can slowly improve your English literature reading ability . In addition, pay attention to the writing logic , See how the author realizes “ it stands to reason , There is evidence ” Of ,“ Reading breaks thousands of volumes , Writing like a God ” Well .

Q2： What if you are not interested in the topic given to you by your tutor ？

Note the difference “ No interest ” still “ Temporarily incompetent ”. A large number of cases show that ,“ No interest ” Tend to be “ Temporarily incompetent ” The illusion of ; And when you are competent , Interest can be cultivated . When a project can bring you a sense of achievement 、 When you feel satisfied , Usually you will be interested . Of course , If you find that you are still incompetent or have no interest after hard work , You can also communicate with your tutor to change a topic .

Q3： Why do I always procrastinate ？

The conditions for procrastination are ： Motivation to do things < The difficulty of doing things .

If you're not motivated enough , It's often because there's no one around you that can work push Your people . In the face of procrastination , Many students will naturally think that it is their own fault , But look at it in a different way , It's someone else's fault , It's not your fault .

When a mentor accuses you of saying “ Why do you just put it off ” When , In fact, he is accusing himself “ Why can't I be effective push you ”. Therefore, the solution to the problem is ready to come out ： Talk to your tutor DDL, Let the tutor change things push you , He would be happy to , believe me .

You can also ask your classmates for help . For example, I once set up a “ No low No down Without delaying the team ” Wechat group , Publish your today's task in the group every day , If you don't achieve it, give everyone a red envelope , Excellent effect .

Of course , We can also make things less difficult , Facing complex tasks , It can be disassembled into one simple task after another , Then calm down and finish one by one . Like writing papers , First create a new document , Then write the author's name and organization , Then write a subtitle Abstract、Introduction etc. , Then write simple mindless parts, such as Methods…… I will find my feeling slowly .

Q4： How do graduate students manage their time ？

True knowledge comes from practice . The difficulty of time management for graduate students often lies in scientific research “ uncertainty ”, I don't know how long each experiment will take , I don't know how many experiments I can do every day , I don't know how long it takes me to read the literature …… These problems can be found through daily records 、 summary 、 Grasp the law , Easy to plan . in addition , It is recommended not to plan too much in advance , Just twoorthree days ; The granularity of time should not be too fine , Take half a day as a unit .

Last , I would like to share with you a word that I like very much ：Training enables everything（ Everything is the result of training ）. There will be a lot of things that can't be settled for the time being in the process of reading a blog , Experimentalize 、 Write a paper 、 Make academic reports, etc , All contain full skill points , All of them need to be refined through practice .

In particular, I would like to remind you that ,“ Effective communication with tutors ”（ Give your tutor multiple choice questions > Completion > Q & A questions >> Vent one's emotions ）、“ Procrastinate openly ”（ Yes , There is nothing wrong with procrastination , But if you fall into self pity because of delay, it will delay things ）、“ Make yourself happy ”（ It is highly recommended to combine aerobic and anaerobic exercise , The ability to produce serotonin has exploded ） It is also a kind of ability .

Don't fall into depression just because you can't decide for a while , Don't coat gold with scrap iron , Covered his own light . I believe that I can make a little progress every day , The future will be different .

If you have any questions or puzzles , Welcome to leave us a message .