ph.d.topic

[Trisha]

can anyone suggest me which area is more stronger in field of microbiology....i am interested in following :

1.isolation & characterisation of insecticidal compound from some selected fungi..

2. production & characterisation of proteolytic enzymes from fungi..

3. pollution control by algea..

i hv to choose any one.....if any modification is necessary in above topic then i'll read more about that..plz reply

[Eigen]

This looks an awful lot like the earlier post from today...

[lewin]

This reminds me of people who are really struggling to write their statement of purpose (beyond just the regular difficulties of learning to write concisely and clearly in a new format). Grad school IS writing! If you don't like it, why do you want to attend?

Here, grad school is research. If you can't generate your own ideas, why bother?

[Behavioral]

Can't even come up with a topic? You probably won't come up with results.

[oldfogey]

which fungi?

which algae?

which insecticide?

which proteolytic enzyme?

which pollutant?

which habitat?

which niche?

which ecosystem?

[fuzzylogician]

Can't even come up with a topic? You probably won't come up with results.

I don't know about that, isn't it customary in some fields that graduate students join existing projects that their advisor or some other person in the lab already successfully pitched to a funding agency -- hence something that already has an initial writeup and that some thought has gone into? I also know a number of students in math/CS who just work with an advisor on whatever problems the advisor thinks are interesting. Of course that's very different than randomly asking for topics from Internet strangers.. But not coming up with a topic does not by itself guarantee failure.

[ktel]

^ Yes, that is customary. I am a month and a bit into my Master's and still waiting for my adviser to give me a topic. It has to integrate well with the mandate he has for his research and with the research that other students are doing.

[Eigen]

I would say it's not at all customary for the advisor to just give a topic to PhD students (possibly MA students). You're expected to build research ideas and projects around what your group has done/has funding for, but they need to be your ideas. It does happen, but it's really not good for the students development or really they're future career to just plop them on a project and tell them what to do.

It's possible that you might start on a project that's already underway to get some experience with techniques, etc., but most people don't stick with it.

Projects that PIs have gotten funding for are usually pretty broad, with a large range of possible research projects within them. Additionally, most PIs are always looking for ideas to expand the project.

[runonsentence]

My partner's experience (PhD molecular and developmental bio) aligns with Eigen's post, but I do think that some fields like CS and engineering do align with the scenario fuzzy describes, especially in very short master's degrees. I have a friend in civil engineering who was deciding between her thesis director based on the project they would hand her.

[ktel]

I'm doing an 18-20 month Master's degree, and there is so much information to digest about the field I'm into it would take me a lot longer to find a hole in the research than it would for my supervisor to give me a starting point. Obviously my topic will evolve as I start doing more focused lit review and initial tests, but I definitely need a push in the right direction given the time crunch and the fact that my undergrad was very broad.

[Eigen]

As I said, I think some of it is definitely masters vs. doctorate. You have longer in a PhD program, so it's more acceptable to have a slow start.

Edited October 12, 2011 by Eigen

[Behavioral]

Yeah I'm talking specifically about PhDs (which the OP was referring to). In STEM fields, you sometimes do rotations and work on projects already in progress, but you probably won't be able to turn them into a thesis or dissertation without a lot of evolution and input from your own insight.

[Javiar]

In your SOP, is it a good or bad idea to express 2 areas of interest? Just in case one research interest does not have funding and the other might have? They are not totally unrelated like apples and oranges. Reason being I have a strong motivation to pursue research in Area A but my background/experience is Area B .. but i really want Area A but because of my experience (and some interest) in Area B, I may have an advantage over Area A. But I suspect my SOP will be lopsided in promoting Area A. Help!!

[robot_hamster]

Is this a SOP for admission? It would be better to just focus one. So pick the one you want to do most and talk about that. It's okay to have a Plan B, but you want your SOP to suggest that you know what you want. So have a Plan B, but don't talk about it initially. You can always bring it up later in conversation, like with your adviser.

[eco_env]

Based on my experience with applications, I'd say to write about area B. I think you are more likely to find an advisor if you propose to do work that relates to you previous work. My attempt to change my research area didn't work- I got rejected until I talked to someone who did work similar to my previous research.

[nehs]

Can we not come up with pur own topics for master's programs? After reading these posts I was wondering if it is necessary to follow the advisor.