Research Statement

[tweeter]

One of the schools I was looking at asked for a research statement in addition to a statement of purpose. After many sleepless nights I think I have a nice SOP. Now I'm moving onto the research statement. To me, a "research statement" sounded like something would only be a paragraph or two. I was getting happy thinking I was just about done and I could bang out a paragraph or two about my research interests in a day.

Wrong! I started looking at sample research statements and I'm blown away. These are like publishable papers with sources and illustrations. Is this something higher tier schools do to weed out people? This was my far reach school, I don't think I'm going to bother applying now. I'm sure I could write something of similar quality, just not in time for the deadline.I need to have my application and materials submitted within the next week for my recommenders.

Should I just say f* it and submit my short research statement or should I not even waste my money?

Seeing these research statements also has me doubting my SOP. The sample SOP's I was looking at did not go into extreme detail about research interests. They were more about personal history and reasons for pursuing the degree. I only have a two paragraphs about my research interests in my SOP and after reading these research statements, my research interests stated in my SOP sound vague.

Edited December 13, 2011 by tweeter

[finknottle]

I think it depends on where you are applying. As far as I know, universities in the US rarely ask for a research statement. Also, the duration of a PhD averages around 5 years, and you are supposed to make a detailed research plan, pass the qualifying examinations and find an advisor in your first 1-2 years. In Europe on the other hand, you are expected to get an advisor to guide you before you apply formally. Then, you have to work out a research plan along with your advisor and submit the statement along with your formal application.

[jkg]

I'm also applying to a school that requires research interests. STILL APPLY! The school is just looking to see that you actually have research interests- make stuff up. Seriously. I'll send you mine privately if you'd like, but you have to keep in mind that I have had a lot of research experience. But truthfully, I don't really talk about my past research experiences in this (they have a different section for that anyways) except for maybe one sentence. I do base all of this off on research that I have done though. BUT this shouldn't matter. Like finknottle said, your research interests have little to do with what you end up doing. This is not your formal research plan.

My advice: Go to google scholar, look up a few papers in the area you are interested in, and base your research interests off several papers that have recently been published (at the end of each published paper, they should talk about where the next step in research in that area should go). Definitely look at a couple of review papers. This will show that you have a realistic idea of the research done in your area of interest.

[jkg]

Also, my app said not to go over 2,000 characters incl. spaces. So, maybe yours is supposed to be a lot more extensive for that school, depending on what your app says.

[bigant]

The idea behind a research statement is actually a research question - you ask a question about a specific issue, and your research project answers that question. For example, "Why do cats chase rats?" The idea is also to pick a research question that hasn't been asked before, and for that, you will have to do some research.

To maximize your chances of admission, look up the research interests of the professors at your chosen university (which you should find on their website), and choose topics that fit THEIR interests, ie don't pick a topic that interests only you. There should be a match between what you want and what your future advisor will want.