#笔记# How to do good research?

Speaker: Michael Fang (University of Florida)

1. How do you train your vision?

Through the process of doing research
Summarizing all you have done and putting it in the perspective (from a tree to a forest)
Thinking philosophically (methodologies and tools)
Generalizing and checking whether what you invent can be applied to other fields
Learning from the master !

2. How to choose a good problem?

Make sure that the problem is important and timely
Articulate that the problem has practical relevance
Demonstrate that your problem is of great interest to its community
Ensure that the problem is challenging
Predict that a possible solution to the problem will generate significant impact

3. The solution of a problem does not make you great, the problem itself does

The solution gives you the feeling of ending, while the problem indicates the beginning!
Problems can always motivate you to think, to create, and to search for solutions
Only when your problems are important can your solutions be recognized and appreciated more
Good problems tend to lead to many innovative tools useful for other problems
Frequently check whether you are working on important problems!

4. How to write a good paper?

It is NOT your English problem! Technical flow is the key!
- Be aware of the logical flow: organization may give better impressions to the receivers
Know the culture of the publications(format, requirements, acceptance rate, people or community who will review your paper etc.)
Minimize the easy mistakes reviewers may use to write quick reviews! (Everybody writes and nobody reads!)
Minimize the typos and grammatical errors!
Write a good abstract, a good on should tell the real contribution of your work in this paper: this is crucial, you must impress the reviewers at the first sight!
Write a good introduction: important! Many reviews only read this part to get the idea or find your faults
Use a comprehensive and up-to-date reference list: missing one crucial paper may lead to rejection
Do not be confrontational when replying or responding to editors and reviewers

5. How to write abstract?

6. How to write introduction?

What is the problem to be addressed? If the problem is well known, you can skip this, but it is always good to have this
Expand on how important the problem is
Give a comprehensive survey on the problem research
- Comment on current solutions and point out the strength and weakness
Identify the problems to be addressed and offer the intuitive solutions with intuitive ideas
- Find a simple yet illustrative example to demonstrate the interesting intuitive ideas
Summarize the main finding and conclusions

7. When do you feel you can graduate?

What does a Ph.D degree actually require?
- Fundamental training: course work
- Fundamental skill: the Ph.D training process
- Ph.D dissertation: your work
To be a good Ph.D, you have to have the feeling of being a PH.D
Ph.D is Doctor of Philosophy, you need to have the feel of quantum jump during your Ph.D study process
You must have the feeling that you actually accomplish a little and need to push a little further
"When you feel you do not know anything they give you a Ph.D"
You need to have both the breadth and depth in your own field and you must be an expert on your topic
You must have the skill set of problem solving
You must have had the moment or feeling or sensation of "quantum leap" during your Ph.D study!