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What is a phd.

A PhD is the highest postgraduate qualification level that can be awarded in academic study. This is usually completed over three to four years of full-time study, and involves research into an original contribution in your chosen field. 

PhD is an acronym that stands for Doctor of Philosophy. The name for PhD comes from the Latin term “Philosophiae Doctor”, which roughly translates to “Lover of wisdom”.

Whether you’re finishing up from an undergraduate degree, on a masters course or even just looking to get back into education, you’ll have seen people talking about getting a PhD .

Most people know vaguely what a PhD is – it’s a university course that means you can call yourself ‘Doctor’ without having to do medicine, right? Whilst that is surprisingly close to the truth, we’re here to answer the oft-asked question of ‘what is a PhD?’.

This guide covers everything you need to know about a PhD.

What does a PhD involve?

A PhD will typically take three years to complete. If taken part time, then it will be separated into three different stages:

Year 1: This will involve you speaking with your advisor about your research ideas, finishing your research proposal and beginning to put deadlines in place for your research. You’ll also complete your literature review in this stage. During this, you’ll review the existing research done on the topic that you’re planning to research to help you determine the gaps in the research that you can target

Year 2: During this stage, you’ll begin to conduct your research to gather data. You’ll document this whole process for your thesis and begin to attend conferences where you will have the opportunity to present your current research to other professionals and researchers in the field. You can take this further and take steps to educate the public on the benefits of your research.

Year 3: The final stage of a PhD involves using the data you’ve collected and the documentation of your research to write your thesis. You may still be conducting research at this point, and that’s OK. Once you’ve finished your thesis, you’ll justify your research and decisions in a viva .

How long is a PhD?

A typical PhD will take three to four years to complete when studying full time. Studying part time can take up to six years. The good news is that the thesis can be extended by up to four years. This means that if you haven’t gotten anywhere near finishing your research by the end of the second year, you can apply to extend your thesis and continue your research for up to four more years. Many PhD students will complete their thesis in the 4th year.

How is a PhD different from other degrees?

To start with, describing a PhD as a university course can be a bit misleading. Whilst it is a course offered by a university, it’s incredibly different to most courses. Unlike the undergraduate level, you won’t be covering your subject broadly you’ll be focused on one very particular area. Whilst a masters degree, especially a research one, may be focused, it won’t be nearly as focused as a PhD.

That said – don’t expect this focused level of research to necessarily be groundbreaking! Though part of doing a PhD is the intent to produce original research, it’s also primarily there to train your research skills and to prove yourself as a capable researcher.

A PhD is research focused

One of the main differences between PhDs and other types of postgraduate degree is that PhDs are heavily research based. PhDs involve a lot of independent research time, where you'll study your topic in detail using academic resources – such as the university's online library and online materials. This format is different to taught postgraduate degrees, which involve a lot more taught aspects such as lectures and seminars.

Do you need a masters to study a PhD?

In order to study a PhD, you’ll need to have a masters degree and a bachelors degree with a 2:1 or higher. Though self-funded students and students with professional experience in the field may be admitted with lower grades

Some students may begin with a MPhil (Masters of philosophy) or a Mres ( Master of research) and upgrade to a PhD by the end of their studies.

Where can I study a PhD?

Most universities offer PhD programs across a variety of disciplines. It is possible to study a PhD at almost any university and in almost any subject. Since a PhD is an independent research-based program, there is a lot of flexibility in regard to what you’ll study. 

PhD students often choose their own study topics and carry out independent research into that topic. This makes it possible to study your intended PhD at almost any university. 

Although, it is important to check which specific subject areas the university specialises in. For instance, if a university specialises in linguistics, then it would be a good idea to complete a linguistics PhD at that university as opposed to one that specialises in another subject.

It can be difficult to find the perfect course at the right university. That’s why we’ve put together advice on how to find a PhD .

It’s important to remember that a PhD is different from a typical university course. Rather than going to lectures, you’ll be conducting independent research, and so the application process will be quite different. Learn how to apply for a PhD  with our expert guide.

A PhD means attending ‘optional’ lectures and conferences

PhDs do involve some aspects of taught study, including lectures and conferences, although these are often optional and take place less often than on lower level courses.

Now of course, the university doesn’t just accept you, your project and tell you to have fun. You’ll work with a supervisor, and there will be conferences, lectures, and other such things that you can attend. Unlike lower level courses, however, although you won’t necessarily be examined on these things that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go! Conferences are a great way to meet people, get your name out and network . For any career, but especially one in academia, networking is well worth it.

A PhD is a high standard qualification

But what does having a PhD show, other than the fact you spent three to four years working on research and can now call yourself Dr [Your surname here]? 

A PhD is a globally recognised, high standard qualification. This means that if you choose to move elsewhere in the world, your PhD will be recognised as a credible postgraduate qualification.

In addition, a PhD can open up a whole world of new job opportunities! This includes academic roles , such as postdoctoral research posts, or even possibly fellowships. 

Regardless of which career path you choose to take, a PhD is regarded as the highest level postgraduate qualification – reflecting your impressive work ethic, knowledge, and workplace skills.

How to get a PhD

Getting a PhD is not easy by any means. But, if it’s something you truly want to do, it’s well worth it. So let’s take a look at just how to get a PhD!

Choose your research area

Before getting started with your PhD, you want to make sure you know what area you’d like to do it in. Don’t just pick something on a whim – this is something you’re going to be studying for the next four years of your life, and something that, once you finished your PhD, you’ll have your name attached to. So, for arts and humanities students, find an area of your subject that fascinates you enough that you’ll want to spend the next few years writing about it. For scientists, find an area you’d be happy to be working on in a team, and wouldn’t mind moving into as a career!

Find a good supervisor

Once you’ve selected your topic, it’s time to start looking for a supervisor . Depending on what you’re currently doing, asking tutors for contacts or recommendations can be well worthwhile, but if you can’t do this, check out what research your potential supervisor has done. 

In addition, try and arrange an in-person meeting – or at least, a phone conversation. Email can make communication difficult and given this is the person you’ll be working under for the foreseeable future, you want to ensure you get on.

Then, assuming you’re accepted and have appropriate funding, you’ll be considered a probationary PhD student . At the end of your first year, you’ll be expected to prove you’re capable of the full course, so you’ll be tested in the form of writing a report. Once you pass this, you’re good to go!

Your next few years will be spent attending conferences, working on the research and your thesis. Your thesis will talk about what you’ve spent your time doing, how you dealt with any difficulties that arose, and generally show what your contribution to your subject is! Once that’s out the way, you get the fun job of having a viva – that is, talking about your thesis to a bunch of academics.

Pass the viva? Then you’ve succeeded.

So that’s how to get a PhD!

UK Research Councils

There are a selection of UK Research Councils, each of whom are part of the  UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) organisation. Collectively, these UK research councils provide an average of £380 million in PhD studentship funding every year – acting as the largest PhD funding body in the UK. 

Here’s an overview of UK research councils:

• Science and Technology Facilities Council
• Arts and Humanities Research Council  
• Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
• Economic and Social Research Council
• Medical Research Council
• Natural Environment Research Council  

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• Wharton Online

How the PhD Program Works

Program Overview

Completing your doctorate at Wharton requires 5 years of full-time study. The first 2 years in the program prepare you for admission to candidacy by taking courses, qualifying exams, and starting research projects. In the last few years, you are primarily conducting research full-time including writing and defending your doctoral dissertation.

Admission to candidacy.

You begin by taking courses required for your program of study. All programs requires a preliminary exam, which may be either oral or written.

Some programs may have further requirements, such as an additional exam or research paper. If you enter with a master’s degree or other transfer credit, you may satisfy the formal course requirements more quickly.

Beginning the Wharton PhD Curriculum How the first two years of the Wharton program helped students discover their interests, learn the tools of the profession, and fuel their passion for teaching.

The Doctoral Dissertation

Upon successful completion of coursework and passing a preliminary examination, you are admitted to candidacy for the dissertation phase of your studies.

Your doctoral dissertation should contain original research that meets standards for published scholarship in your field. You are expected to be an expert in the topic you choose to research.

You are admitted to candidacy for the dissertation phase of your studies upon successful completion of coursework and passing a preliminary examination, but you can start thinking about and working on research of relevance at any time.

The dissertation process culminates with a “defense,” in which you defend the proposal orally before your dissertation committee.

While working on your dissertation, you interact extensively with Wharton faculty. Together with interested faculty, you create your own research community that includes your dissertation advisor and dissertation committee.

Policies and Procedures

Get more detailed explanation of course requirements, academic standards, the Teacher Development Program, time limits, and dissertation procedures and requirements.

Sample Program Sequence

Years 1 & 2.

Coursework Examination Research Papers Research Activities Field-Specific Requirements

Directed Reading & Research Admission to Candidacy Formulation of Research Topic

Years 4 & 5

Continued Research Oral Examination Dissertation

Hear From Our Doctoral Community

From undergrad to phd, how this phd student discovered a dynamic research community at wharton, closing the tenure gap for business faculty of color.

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Earn your MBA and SM in engineering with this transformative two-year program.

Combine an international MBA with a deep dive into management science. A special opportunity for partner and affiliate schools only.

A doctoral program that produces outstanding scholars who are leading in their fields of research.

Bring a business perspective to your technical and quantitative expertise with a bachelor’s degree in management, business analytics, or finance.

A joint program for mid-career professionals that integrates engineering and systems thinking. Earn your master’s degree in engineering and management.

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This 20-month MBA program equips experienced executives to enhance their impact on their organizations and the world.

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PhD Program

Program overview.

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Rigorous, discipline-based research is the hallmark of the MIT Sloan PhD Program. The program is committed to educating scholars who will lead in their fields of research—those with outstanding intellectual skills who will carry forward productive research on the complex organizational, financial, and technological issues that characterize an increasingly competitive and challenging business world.

Start here.

Learn more about the program, how to apply, and find answers to common questions.

Admissions Events

Check out our event schedule, and learn when you can chat with us in person or online.

Start Your Application

Visit this section to find important admissions deadlines, along with a link to our application.

Click here for answers to many of the most frequently asked questions.

PhD studies at MIT Sloan are intense and individual in nature, demanding a great deal of time, initiative, and discipline from every candidate. But the rewards of such rigor are tremendous:  MIT Sloan PhD graduates go on to teach and conduct research at the world's most prestigious universities.

PhD Program curriculum at MIT Sloan is organized under the following three academic areas: Behavior & Policy Sciences; Economics, Finance & Accounting; and Management Science. Our nine research groups correspond with one of the academic areas, as noted below.

MIT Sloan PhD Research Groups

Behavioral & policy sciences.

Economic Sociology

Institute for Work & Employment Research

Organization Studies

Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Strategic Management

Economics, Finance & Accounting

Accounting  

Management Science

Information Technology

System Dynamics  

Those interested in a PhD in Operations Research should visit the Operations Research Center .  

PhD Program Structure

Additional information including coursework and thesis requirements.

MIT Sloan Predoctoral Opportunities

MIT Sloan is eager to provide a diverse group of talented students with early-career exposure to research techniques as well as support in considering research career paths.

Rising Scholars Conference

The fourth annual Rising Scholars Conference on October 25 and 26 gathers diverse PhD students from across the country to present their research.

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The goal of the MIT Sloan PhD Program's admissions process is to select a small number of people who are most likely to successfully complete our rigorous and demanding program and then thrive in academic research careers. The admission selection process is highly competitive; we aim for a class size of nineteen students, admitted from a pool of hundreds of applicants.

What We Seek

• Outstanding intellectual ability
• Excellent academic records
• Previous work in disciplines related to the intended area of concentration
• Strong commitment to a career in research

MIT Sloan PhD Program Admissions Requirements Common Questions

Dates and Deadlines

Admissions for 2024 is closed. The next opportunity to apply will be for 2025 admission. The 2025 application will open in September 2024. 

More information on program requirements and application components

Students in good academic standing in our program receive a funding package that includes tuition, medical insurance, and a fellowship stipend and/or TA/RA salary. We also provide a new laptop computer and a conference travel/research budget.

Funding Information

Throughout the year, we organize events that give you a chance to learn more about the program and determine if a PhD in Management is right for you.

PhD Program Events

May phd program overview.

During this webinar, you will hear from the PhD Program team and have the chance to ask questions about the application and admissions process.

June PhD Program Overview

July phd program overview, august phd program overview.

Complete PhD Admissions Event Calendar

Unlike formulaic approaches to training scholars, the PhD Program at MIT Sloan allows students to choose their own adventure and develop a unique scholarly identity. This can be daunting, but students are given a wide range of support along the way - most notably having access to world class faculty and coursework both at MIT and in the broader academic community around Boston.

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Profiles of our current students

MIT Sloan produces top-notch PhDs in management. Immersed in MIT Sloan's distinctive culture, upcoming graduates are poised to innovate in management research and education.

Academic Job Market

Doctoral candidates on the current academic market

Academic Placements

Graduates of the MIT Sloan PhD Program are researching and teaching at top schools around the world.

view recent placements 

MIT Sloan Experience

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The PhD Program is integral to the research of MIT Sloan's world-class faculty. With a reputation as risk-takers who are unafraid to embrace the unconventional, they are engaged in exciting disciplinary and interdisciplinary research that often includes PhD students as key team members.

Research centers across MIT Sloan and MIT provide a rich setting for collaboration and exploration. In addition to exposure to the faculty, PhD students also learn from one another in a creative, supportive research community.

Throughout MIT Sloan's history, our professors have devised theories and fields of study that have had a profound impact on management theory and practice.

From Douglas McGregor's Theory X/Theory Y distinction to Nobel-recognized breakthroughs in finance by Franco Modigliani and in option pricing by Robert Merton and Myron Scholes, MIT Sloan's faculty have been unmatched innovators.

This legacy of innovative thinking and dedication to research impacts every faculty member and filters down to the students who work beside them.

Faculty Links

• Accounting Faculty
• Economic Sociology Faculty
• Finance Faculty
• Information Technology Faculty
• Institute for Work and Employment Research (IWER) Faculty
• Marketing Faculty
• Organization Studies Faculty
• System Dynamics Faculty
• Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management (TIES) Faculty

Student Research

“MIT Sloan PhD training is a transformative experience. The heart of the process is the student’s transition from being a consumer of knowledge to being a producer of knowledge. This involves learning to ask precise, tractable questions and addressing them with creativity and rigor. Hard work is required, but the reward is the incomparable exhilaration one feels from having solved a puzzle that had bedeviled the sharpest minds in the world!” -Ezra Zuckerman Sivan Alvin J. Siteman (1948) Professor of Entrepreneurship

Sample Dissertation Abstracts - These sample Dissertation Abstracts provide examples of the work that our students have chosen to study while in the MIT Sloan PhD Program.

We believe that our doctoral program is the heart of MIT Sloan's research community and that it develops some of the best management researchers in the world. At our annual Doctoral Research Forum, we celebrate the great research that our doctoral students do, and the research community that supports that development process.

The videos of their presentations below showcase the work of our students and will give you insight into the topics they choose to research in the program.

How Should We Measure the Digital Economy?

2020 PhD Doctoral Research Forum Winner - Avinash Collis

Watch more MIT Sloan PhD Program  Doctoral Forum Videos

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PhD in Research Methodology

Use numbers and data to drive systematic change in education.

A number is not simply a number in our research methodology program. Here, unlike in math or statistics, numbers are not the final answer. With a PhD in Research Methodology, you can work in educational and institutional research, using numbers to tell the story of the human experience and create meaningful change.

Our commitment to you

Upon graduation with a PhD in research methodology from Loyola, you will possess the following knowledge, skills, and professional values necessary to commence a career as an institutional researcher, evaluator, college professor, or researcher at large professional organizations, testing companies, or consulting agencies that provide educational evaluation services.

You will develop expertise in evaluation, statistics, and measurement, and recognize when research findings are being misrepresented or data misused. Our expert faculty will train you in both qualitative and quantitative methodology, including applied statistics and psychometrics. You'll also learn how numbers relate to action, policy, and advocacy.

You will be able to critically evaluate bodies of knowledge from a variety of methodological traditions, use a variety of software programs to implement analyses, and conduct all stages of a research study in applied settings. Plus, you'll participate in a required consulting experience, where you'll conduct a research study and then provide consulting advice to a researcher or organization.

Professional Values

We strive to ensure that our graduates never lose sight of the humanity that number reflect, and become responsible researchers whose conclusions align with their findings. You will engage in ethical, just, and culturally competent research practices.

Program Faculty

Our dedicated Research Methodology Faculty are experts in their fields who will support students throughout each stage of the program.

Program Length

Students typically take up to two or three courses each term and up to two courses during the summer, and completion times for this degree vary with the topic of each student's dissertation. The typical length for this program is five years.

Continuous Enrollment Doctoral students in research methodology are required to maintain continuous enrollment during their program of studies. This means that during each semester of each academic year (excluding Summer Sessions), each student must enroll in at least one course. A formal  leave of absence  may be granted upon request and the approval of the School of Education’s Associate Dean of Student Academic Services.

Admission Requirements

Interested in applying? Check out the  PhD Research Methodology application requirements .

• For  application  related questions,  contact Graduate Enrollment Management . 
• For  program structure and academics  related questions, contact:  Ken Fujimoto , Program Chair

Tuition, Financial Aid and Scholarships

The School of Education and Loyola's Financial Aid Office are committed to helping students secure the necessary financial resources to make their education at Loyola affordable. You can learn more on the  Financial Assistance  page.

How long will it take to finish the program?

Five years is about the average length of time, especially if the student is not full-time. However a full-time student who transfers the maximum 30 credit hours from another university could complete the PhD in as few as three years. Please note that a maximum of six years is allowed to complete your coursework and dissertation.

Much will depend upon how many courses a student is able to take during any given term. Since the minimum is 20 courses, one should count on two or three years of coursework, another year for taking and passing comprehensive exams and developing a proposal, and at least one more year for the dissertation research. 

What can I do with a degree in research methodology?

This degree offers many professional opportunities. Recent graduates work at research firms, testing companies, professional associations or accrediting agencies, nonprofits, and in higher education, including institutional research.

How is the consulting experience structured?

The consulting experience is fulfilled by providing research or statistical consulting. Students, in consultation with their advisor, will determine the form of the consulting. For example, some students have provided statistical analysis assistance to faculty members or other doctoral students at the university, working on a research team with a faculty member in the School of Education. Others have completed a project associated with the student's full-time employment.

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Methodology

• What Is a Research Design | Types, Guide & Examples

What Is a Research Design | Types, Guide & Examples

Published on June 7, 2021 by Shona McCombes . Revised on November 20, 2023 by Pritha Bhandari.

A research design is a strategy for answering your   research question  using empirical data. Creating a research design means making decisions about:

• Your overall research objectives and approach
• Whether you’ll rely on primary research or secondary research
• Your sampling methods or criteria for selecting subjects
• Your data collection methods
• The procedures you’ll follow to collect data
• Your data analysis methods

A well-planned research design helps ensure that your methods match your research objectives and that you use the right kind of analysis for your data.

Table of contents

Step 1: consider your aims and approach, step 2: choose a type of research design, step 3: identify your population and sampling method, step 4: choose your data collection methods, step 5: plan your data collection procedures, step 6: decide on your data analysis strategies, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about research design.

• Introduction

Before you can start designing your research, you should already have a clear idea of the research question you want to investigate.

There are many different ways you could go about answering this question. Your research design choices should be driven by your aims and priorities—start by thinking carefully about what you want to achieve.

The first choice you need to make is whether you’ll take a qualitative or quantitative approach.

Qualitative research designs tend to be more flexible and inductive , allowing you to adjust your approach based on what you find throughout the research process.

Quantitative research designs tend to be more fixed and deductive , with variables and hypotheses clearly defined in advance of data collection.

It’s also possible to use a mixed-methods design that integrates aspects of both approaches. By combining qualitative and quantitative insights, you can gain a more complete picture of the problem you’re studying and strengthen the credibility of your conclusions.

Practical and ethical considerations when designing research

As well as scientific considerations, you need to think practically when designing your research. If your research involves people or animals, you also need to consider research ethics .

• How much time do you have to collect data and write up the research?
• Will you be able to gain access to the data you need (e.g., by travelling to a specific location or contacting specific people)?
• Do you have the necessary research skills (e.g., statistical analysis or interview techniques)?
• Will you need ethical approval ?

At each stage of the research design process, make sure that your choices are practically feasible.

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Within both qualitative and quantitative approaches, there are several types of research design to choose from. Each type provides a framework for the overall shape of your research.

Types of quantitative research designs

Quantitative designs can be split into four main types.

• Experimental and   quasi-experimental designs allow you to test cause-and-effect relationships
• Descriptive and correlational designs allow you to measure variables and describe relationships between them.

With descriptive and correlational designs, you can get a clear picture of characteristics, trends and relationships as they exist in the real world. However, you can’t draw conclusions about cause and effect (because correlation doesn’t imply causation ).

Experiments are the strongest way to test cause-and-effect relationships without the risk of other variables influencing the results. However, their controlled conditions may not always reflect how things work in the real world. They’re often also more difficult and expensive to implement.

Types of qualitative research designs

Qualitative designs are less strictly defined. This approach is about gaining a rich, detailed understanding of a specific context or phenomenon, and you can often be more creative and flexible in designing your research.

The table below shows some common types of qualitative design. They often have similar approaches in terms of data collection, but focus on different aspects when analyzing the data.

Your research design should clearly define who or what your research will focus on, and how you’ll go about choosing your participants or subjects.

In research, a population is the entire group that you want to draw conclusions about, while a sample is the smaller group of individuals you’ll actually collect data from.

Defining the population

A population can be made up of anything you want to study—plants, animals, organizations, texts, countries, etc. In the social sciences, it most often refers to a group of people.

For example, will you focus on people from a specific demographic, region or background? Are you interested in people with a certain job or medical condition, or users of a particular product?

The more precisely you define your population, the easier it will be to gather a representative sample.

• Sampling methods

Even with a narrowly defined population, it’s rarely possible to collect data from every individual. Instead, you’ll collect data from a sample.

To select a sample, there are two main approaches: probability sampling and non-probability sampling . The sampling method you use affects how confidently you can generalize your results to the population as a whole.

Probability sampling is the most statistically valid option, but it’s often difficult to achieve unless you’re dealing with a very small and accessible population.

For practical reasons, many studies use non-probability sampling, but it’s important to be aware of the limitations and carefully consider potential biases. You should always make an effort to gather a sample that’s as representative as possible of the population.

Case selection in qualitative research

In some types of qualitative designs, sampling may not be relevant.

For example, in an ethnography or a case study , your aim is to deeply understand a specific context, not to generalize to a population. Instead of sampling, you may simply aim to collect as much data as possible about the context you are studying.

In these types of design, you still have to carefully consider your choice of case or community. You should have a clear rationale for why this particular case is suitable for answering your research question .

For example, you might choose a case study that reveals an unusual or neglected aspect of your research problem, or you might choose several very similar or very different cases in order to compare them.

Data collection methods are ways of directly measuring variables and gathering information. They allow you to gain first-hand knowledge and original insights into your research problem.

You can choose just one data collection method, or use several methods in the same study.

Survey methods

Surveys allow you to collect data about opinions, behaviors, experiences, and characteristics by asking people directly. There are two main survey methods to choose from: questionnaires and interviews .

Observation methods

Observational studies allow you to collect data unobtrusively, observing characteristics, behaviors or social interactions without relying on self-reporting.

Observations may be conducted in real time, taking notes as you observe, or you might make audiovisual recordings for later analysis. They can be qualitative or quantitative.

Other methods of data collection

There are many other ways you might collect data depending on your field and topic.

If you’re not sure which methods will work best for your research design, try reading some papers in your field to see what kinds of data collection methods they used.

Secondary data

If you don’t have the time or resources to collect data from the population you’re interested in, you can also choose to use secondary data that other researchers already collected—for example, datasets from government surveys or previous studies on your topic.

With this raw data, you can do your own analysis to answer new research questions that weren’t addressed by the original study.

Using secondary data can expand the scope of your research, as you may be able to access much larger and more varied samples than you could collect yourself.

However, it also means you don’t have any control over which variables to measure or how to measure them, so the conclusions you can draw may be limited.

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As well as deciding on your methods, you need to plan exactly how you’ll use these methods to collect data that’s consistent, accurate, and unbiased.

Planning systematic procedures is especially important in quantitative research, where you need to precisely define your variables and ensure your measurements are high in reliability and validity.

Operationalization

Some variables, like height or age, are easily measured. But often you’ll be dealing with more abstract concepts, like satisfaction, anxiety, or competence. Operationalization means turning these fuzzy ideas into measurable indicators.

If you’re using observations , which events or actions will you count?

If you’re using surveys , which questions will you ask and what range of responses will be offered?

You may also choose to use or adapt existing materials designed to measure the concept you’re interested in—for example, questionnaires or inventories whose reliability and validity has already been established.

Reliability and validity

Reliability means your results can be consistently reproduced, while validity means that you’re actually measuring the concept you’re interested in.

For valid and reliable results, your measurement materials should be thoroughly researched and carefully designed. Plan your procedures to make sure you carry out the same steps in the same way for each participant.

If you’re developing a new questionnaire or other instrument to measure a specific concept, running a pilot study allows you to check its validity and reliability in advance.

Sampling procedures

As well as choosing an appropriate sampling method , you need a concrete plan for how you’ll actually contact and recruit your selected sample.

That means making decisions about things like:

• How many participants do you need for an adequate sample size?
• What inclusion and exclusion criteria will you use to identify eligible participants?
• How will you contact your sample—by mail, online, by phone, or in person?

If you’re using a probability sampling method , it’s important that everyone who is randomly selected actually participates in the study. How will you ensure a high response rate?

If you’re using a non-probability method , how will you avoid research bias and ensure a representative sample?

Data management

It’s also important to create a data management plan for organizing and storing your data.

Will you need to transcribe interviews or perform data entry for observations? You should anonymize and safeguard any sensitive data, and make sure it’s backed up regularly.

Keeping your data well-organized will save time when it comes to analyzing it. It can also help other researchers validate and add to your findings (high replicability ).

On its own, raw data can’t answer your research question. The last step of designing your research is planning how you’ll analyze the data.

Quantitative data analysis

In quantitative research, you’ll most likely use some form of statistical analysis . With statistics, you can summarize your sample data, make estimates, and test hypotheses.

Using descriptive statistics , you can summarize your sample data in terms of:

• The distribution of the data (e.g., the frequency of each score on a test)
• The central tendency of the data (e.g., the mean to describe the average score)
• The variability of the data (e.g., the standard deviation to describe how spread out the scores are)

The specific calculations you can do depend on the level of measurement of your variables.

Using inferential statistics , you can:

• Make estimates about the population based on your sample data.
• Test hypotheses about a relationship between variables.

Regression and correlation tests look for associations between two or more variables, while comparison tests (such as t tests and ANOVAs ) look for differences in the outcomes of different groups.

Your choice of statistical test depends on various aspects of your research design, including the types of variables you’re dealing with and the distribution of your data.

Qualitative data analysis

In qualitative research, your data will usually be very dense with information and ideas. Instead of summing it up in numbers, you’ll need to comb through the data in detail, interpret its meanings, identify patterns, and extract the parts that are most relevant to your research question.

Two of the most common approaches to doing this are thematic analysis and discourse analysis .

There are many other ways of analyzing qualitative data depending on the aims of your research. To get a sense of potential approaches, try reading some qualitative research papers in your field.

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

A research design is a strategy for answering your   research question . It defines your overall approach and determines how you will collect and analyze data.

A well-planned research design helps ensure that your methods match your research aims, that you collect high-quality data, and that you use the right kind of analysis to answer your questions, utilizing credible sources . This allows you to draw valid , trustworthy conclusions.

Quantitative research designs can be divided into two main categories:

• Correlational and descriptive designs are used to investigate characteristics, averages, trends, and associations between variables.
• Experimental and quasi-experimental designs are used to test causal relationships .

Qualitative research designs tend to be more flexible. Common types of qualitative design include case study , ethnography , and grounded theory designs.

The priorities of a research design can vary depending on the field, but you usually have to specify:

• Your research questions and/or hypotheses
• Your overall approach (e.g., qualitative or quantitative )
• The type of design you’re using (e.g., a survey , experiment , or case study )
• Your data collection methods (e.g., questionnaires , observations)
• Your data collection procedures (e.g., operationalization , timing and data management)
• Your data analysis methods (e.g., statistical tests  or thematic analysis )

A sample is a subset of individuals from a larger population . Sampling means selecting the group that you will actually collect data from in your research. For example, if you are researching the opinions of students in your university, you could survey a sample of 100 students.

In statistics, sampling allows you to test a hypothesis about the characteristics of a population.

Operationalization means turning abstract conceptual ideas into measurable observations.

For example, the concept of social anxiety isn’t directly observable, but it can be operationally defined in terms of self-rating scores, behavioral avoidance of crowded places, or physical anxiety symptoms in social situations.

Before collecting data , it’s important to consider how you will operationalize the variables that you want to measure.

A research project is an academic, scientific, or professional undertaking to answer a research question . Research projects can take many forms, such as qualitative or quantitative , descriptive , longitudinal , experimental , or correlational . What kind of research approach you choose will depend on your topic.

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PhD students earn major NSF graduate research fellowships

Three Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering graduate students have received 2024 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships for their promising quantum and metameterial antennas research.  

This year, the NSF awarded 27 students from CU Boulder , including 18 from the College of Engineering and Applied Science with the 2024 graduate research fellowship, a prestigious award recognizing students in a wide variety of STEM disciplines, exploring some of the most pressing issues of our time. 

Each recipient will receive three years of financial support, including an annual stipend of $37,000, as well as professional development and research opportunities.

Aliza Siddiqui

Advisor: Joshua Combes Lab: Combes Group

Bio: Siddiqui is a first-year PhD student with a research concentration in Quantum Engineering and Architecture. She graduated from Louisiana State University, home of the Tigers, with a degree in computer science.

My proposal involves creating a new benchmarking/testing framework for the next generation of error-corrected quantum computers. Given the noise of physical qubits, recent work has suggested combining the state of several physical qubits to create a logical qubit. I will collaborate with Dr. Josh Combes and Sandia National Labs for my PhD. Through this work, the quantum community will have a tool-kit that will help us determine how well a quantum computer performs, diagnose what and where the issues are and create solutions to realize full-scale, error-corrected quantum systems. 

Dylan Meyer

Advisor: Scott Diddams Lab: Frequency Comb & Quantum Metrology Lab

Bio: Meyer is a first-year PhD student in the FCQM group. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama in Electrical Engineering.

My research proposal is the development of highly stable and robust millimeter wave time and frequency (T&F) transfer, supporting T&F transfer between atomic clocks. T&F transfer is used to create clock networks that are essential for positioning and navigation, such as GPS and essential infrastructure like the Internet and power grid. These technologies support up to $1 billion dollars of trade and financial transactions a day. In addition, these clock networks are capable of fundamental science experiments capable of probing new and exciting questions related to physics and geodesy.

Advisors:  Cody Scarborough and Robert MacCurdy Lab Groups:  Electromagnetic Metamaterials Research Group and Matter Assembly Computation Lab

Bio:  Pham received their Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. They worked for three years as an RF engineer developing radar systems, and will begin their PhD in fall 2024.

My research proposal is on the application of multi-material additive manufacturing techniques for metamaterial antennas. Electromagnetic metamaterials use engineered structures that exhibit unique material properties not found with traditional materials. Antennas can be designed using metamaterials to have more sophisticated antenna capabilities and unique form-factors compared to conventional antennas. By leveraging multi-material additive manufacturing, there are more degrees-of-freedom for the shape and composition of the metamaterials. This research would enhance the design flexibility and capabilities of next-generation antennas to meet the growing performance demands of future wireless systems.

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• Find Your Perfect PhD
• Finding a PhD

Find Your PhD, Fast Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest. Search Now

• When looking for PhD research projects, a great place to start is with our comprehensive and up-to-date database .
• Speak with lecturers within your area of interest about potential PhD opportunities they may have.
• Attend Postgraduate Events . Whilst there, speak to current PhD students and career advisors to get an awareness of what PhD projects are on offer.
• Visit the postgraduate section of university websites and the PhD Research Council section of the GOV.UK website

Finding A PhD

Searching for PhD research projects can sometimes feel like daunting process. Often, it’s difficult to know where to find a PhD position or where to even start.

To make this searching process as easy as possible for you, we’ve curated a collection of the best places to search for PhD projects. By using our recommended collection, you should hopefully gain a greater insight into where your interests lie and which programme is best suited for you.

Our Comprehensive and Up-To-Date Directory

We can’t create a list of great resources and not include ourselves! At DiscoverPhDs, our primary aim is to connect great students to great PhD projects. To enable this, we provide a comprehensive database of PhD projects offered from universities all across the UK.

We regularly add to our database to ensure you’re getting the latest opportunities and the most relevant information and programme details. On top of this, we’ve created our database to be as easy to use as possible; all our PhD listings provide a direct ‘apply’ link or contact email address of the lead supervisor. This enables you to:

• Request further information about any aspect of the position,
• Enquire about the specific applications process,
• Connect directly with the supervisor

Universities Websites

Search on the website of the universities you are interested in as some many only be listing PhD research projects internally or may link you to other opportunities such as Professional Doctorate Programmes. As examples, have a look at the research pages of The University of Cambridge , Cardiff University , University of Leicester , Sheffield University and The University of Glasgow .

Your Current Supervisor

If you’re currently undertaking a research project or dissertation as part of your undergraduate or master’s degree, it would be a good idea to speak to your current supervisor. Not only would you have already built a good rapport with them, but having worked with you they will have a good idea on what PhD positions would utilise your strengths or best interest you. In fact, a noticeable percentage of past and current PhD students came into their PhD programme because of being recommended by their undergraduate supervisor. Your supervisor will be well-connected – make sure you take advantage of these opportunities.

Tip: Don’t just limit your discussion to your own personal supervisor. All supervisors are within their field of work because they have a natural passion for research and teaching. As such, most supervisors will be more than happy to help any student who wishes to follow in their footsteps and make their own impact.

Postgraduate Events

Nearly all universities hold regular Postgraduate Fairs and Open Days. As part of these events, current postgraduate students may be on hand to share their experiences of their projects and university. This is a fantastic opportunity to not only find out what PhDs the university is offering but to find out more about their facilities, research labs and library collection, etc. Given that you will be heavily relying on these resources during your PhD, it’s important that you know what’s provided by each university. Hearing student stories about what PhD life is really like, what to expect from supervisors and some of the challenges that current students have encountered can be really useful in your decision making process.

Besides the above, career advisers may also be available at these events. Speaking to them will help you understand what you can do with a PhD, whether a PhD is right for you, what degree class you’re expected to hold and how best to prepare for research projects. Seeing as they would have helped many PhD candidates through the decision-making process before, they will provide you with some invaluable insight that you would otherwise be oblivious to.

To help bring all Postgraduate Fairs and Open Days offered across all universities together, we’ve created a helpful Postgraduate Events page which we highly recommend you check out.

Research Councils

Research councils are nationally funded agencies which offer sponsored PhD research projects (also known as a PhD studentship). Different research councils cover different areas of research, these include:

• The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC),
• The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC),
• Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC),
• The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC),
• Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

The GOV.UK website has a full list of nationally-funded research councils available online. You can find further details on these councils on the GOV.UK website.

Although our database includes PhD programmes offered by these research councils, it would be a good idea to regularly browse the website of the ones you are particularly interested in case they list some internal only. These councils play an important role in supporting and encouraging doctoral researchers and they regularly hold calls for applications for PhD funding. If you or your potential supervisor have a PhD project proposal defined but need funding, then applying to these calls may become a key first milestone in your postgraduate research journey.

For example, the EPSRC offers a Doctoral Training Partnership programme in which a research student is given funding to pursue postgraduate study with a research question that aligns with the Councils core engineering and physical sciences themes. These awards often have eligibility criteria linked to them, impacting which postgraduate research students can apply; an international student, for example, may not be able to apply to a certain UK based scholarship scheme but there are several other options that can still help you fund your doctoral research; this may involve taking out a postgraduate loan (or more specifically a postgraduate doctoral loan).

To make this searching process as easy as possible for you, we’ve curated a collection of the best places to search for a PhD. By using our recommended collection, you should hopefully gain a greater insight into where your interests lie and which programme is best suited for you.

Further Resources

As you continue your search of PhD research projects, be sure to check our our PhD advice articles, including how to prepare for your PhD application, and interviews with current and past doctoral students. Many of the people we’ve interviewed have completed degrees within a STEM discipline; they offer a wide range of advice on their individual approaches to applied research and independent study, as well as sharing some the impact their work has had. Many have continued the research of their projects within academia after finishing, whilst some have developed successful careers in industry and business sectors.

It’s worth noting that when you apply to undertake doctoral study, you may first be registered as an MPhil researcher, depending on the specific doctoral programme you apply for, officially become a full PhD student after passing an upgrade viva. At the upgrade stage, some students do decide to graduate with an MPhil research degree rather than pursuing further PhD study however this is less common.

We hope the above list will help you find the perfect PhD position and earn your doctoral degree.

If you have any recommendations besides these resources, please let us know at [email protected] so we can look to add it.

If you’re ready to start your search for your PhD, start now with our  PhD database .

Browse PhDs Now

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Join thousands of other students and stay up to date with the latest PhD programmes, funding opportunities and advice.

New Director of the Florence S. Downs PhD Program in Nursing Research & Theory Development

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More From Forbes

5 tips to enhance your research paper’s visibility and altmetric score.

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US evangelist Billy Graham addresses a crowd of football supporters at Stamford Bridge, London, ... [+] during half-time at the match between Chelsea and Newcastle United. (Photo by Edward Miller/Getty Images)

I previously wrote about the importance of attracting public attention to scientific research . In today’s world, where billions of people are attached to their digital devices watching the very addictive but often useless TikTok content or receiving instant gratification by engaging in meaningless debates about celebrities, scientists need to find creative ways to have their research noticed. Popularizing scientific research helps inspire the younger generations to go into science and provide the general public with a sense of optimism enabling the government to channel more resources into science. People do need inspiration. But very often, even very important scientific breakthroughs requiring many years, hard work, skill, funding, and genuine serendipity go largely unnoticed by the general public.

One of the best ways to measure expert and public attention is the cumulative Altmetric Attention Score , originally developed by Digital Science and adopted by many prestigious publishers, including Nature Publishing Group. Every Nature paper and the papers published by pretty much every credible publisher are tracked by Digital Science by the Document Object Identification (DOI) or the Unique Resource Locator (URL) . While Altmetric has many limitations, for example, it does not track LinkedIn posts and may not adequately cover the impact of top-tier media coverage, at the moment it is the blueprint for tracking attention.

Altmetric Score in The Age of Generative AI

Media attention is likely to be very important in the age of generative AI. Many modern generative systems, such as ChatGPT, Claude, Mistral, and Gemini, as well as hundreds of Large Language Models (LLMs) in China, use the data from the same sources referenced in Altmetric to learn. The more times generative systems see the same concept presented in different contexts, the better they learn. So if you want to contribute to the training of AI systems that may thank you for it in the future - Altmetric is the way to go.

So what can a research group do to ensure they are communicating their findings effectively and increasing the visibility of their research to ensure it gets reflected in the Altmetric Attention Score?

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Altmetric openly discloses the weights of the various sources and the scoring algorithm is relatively straightforward. It is easy to learn, and there are multiple online resources providing advice on how to share your research in ways that will be captured by Altmetric. Cambridge University Press published a guideline to Altmetric for the authors on how to popularize their research with Altmetric in mind. Wolters Kluwer put out a guide and the editor of Toxicology and Pathology wrote a comprehensive overview of Altmetric and how to use it. Surprisingly, this overview got an Altmetric Attention Score of only 4 at the time of the writing, but was cited 137 times according to Google Scholar .

Altmetric monitors social networks, including X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Reddit; all major top-tier mainstream media, mainstream science blogs, policy documents, patents, Wikipedia articles, peer review websites, F1000, Syllabi, X (formerly Twitter), tracked Facebook pages, Reddit, one of the Stack Exchange sites, and Youtube. Unfortunately, several powerful platforms, including LinkedIn, are not currently tracked.

The popularity of the paper depends on many factors. Firstly, it has to be novel, trendy, and newsworthy. You are unlikely to get high Altmetric Score with a boring topic. Secondly, papers coming out of popular labs in top-tier academic institutions and in top journals are likely to attract more attention. Often, the communications officers in these academic institutions work closely with the media to amplify notable research. Celebrity companies, for example, Google DeepMind, consistently get higher coverage.

Screenshot of the Altmetric Attention Score "Flower" showing several tracked sources

Here are the five tips for increasing the visibility of your work and ensuring that reach is tracked and reflected by Altmetric:

1. Understand How Altmetric System Works

Congratulations, if you read this article and looked at what sources are tracked by Altmetric. Most likely, you got the basics and will be able to get a “balanced flower” by making a press release, tweeting the DOI of the paper on X, posting a video overview of your paper on Youtube, announcing on Reddit (I still need to learn how to do this).

To understand how Altmetric works, I emailed a few questions to Miguel Garcia, Director of Product and Data Analytics Hub at Digital Science and my first question was wether the Altmetric algorithm is open source. “The Altmetric Attention Score's calculation is not open source but we try to provide as much information as possible around how we calculate it here, and are currently considering what steps we might take to make our algorithms more transparent.” He also provided a link to how the Altmetric Attention Score is calculated.

Many professionals use LinkedIn as the primary social media resource and I was wondering why Altmetric stopped tracking it. Bad news - technical reasons prevent tracking DOIs on LinkedIn. Good news - they are actively seeking ways to appropriately track mentions on LinkedIn and we may see some news toward the end of the year.

My other big question was how does Altmetric count tweets and retweets on X. What if there are many posts from the same account? Miguel’s response was: “Re-tweets count less than original tweets. In addition to that, modifiers are applied to the type of account that is tweeting in order to reduce the weight of the tweet in situations where we find signals of bias or promiscuity (for example a journal publisher only tweeting their own articles). Besides that, we have conditions around the maximum number of retweets in order to limit the maximum impact they would have.”

So tweeting the article many times will not help you. But if other scientists tweet you paper with a DOI - these tweets will get counted. So tweet others as you would like to be tweeted.

2. Make a Press Release and Distribute to Science-focused Media

If your paper is significant, for example, you elucidated novel disease biology, discovered a new drug, developed a new fancy algorithm, designed a new material, or developed a new application for a quantum computer, it is worthwhile investing some time and resources in writing a press release. If you are working for an academic institution, most likely they have a communications office that will help you. If you do not have this luxury, you will need to learn how to write a press release. Plenty of free online guides cover the basics of press release writing. And press releases are one area where ChatGPT and other generative tools do surprisingly well. Upload your paper and ask it to write a press release, check for errors or exaggerations, edit, and you are ready to go. Just make sure to include the DOI and the URL of your paper. A proper business press release on BusinessWire or PRNewswire may cost several thousand dollars. In my opinion, these resources are dramatically overcharging while providing little service. I don't remember a case where a journalist picked up our news based on a commercial press release. But these releases are often reposted by other online press release distributors and the boost to Altmetric may be considerable. The default news release distribution service for research news is EurekAlert. This resource may sometimes result in journalistic coverage as many reporters are using it for science news. There are many free resources you can use if you do not have any budget.

Once the press release is issued, share it with the media. Share the resulting news coverage via your social networks and contacts. Many journalists track the popularity of their news articles and giving them several thousand extra views from professional audience and increasing their social following increases the chances that they will cover the next important research paper.

3. Make a Blog Post

Writing a blog post can be longer and more comprehensive than the press release. Make sure to add fancy diagrams and graphical explainers. You can share the blog post with the journalists at the same time as the press release. Your blog may serve as a source of inspiration for third party news coverage. Make sure to reference the DOI and URL of your paper.

If your paper is in one of the Nature journals, consider writing a “Behind the Paper" blog post on Nature Bioengineering Community. Surprisingly, these blogs are rarely picked up by Altmetric but may serve as a source of inspiration for the journalists and social media influencers. Plus, it is a resource by the Nature Publishing Group.

4. Tweet and Ask Your Team Members to Tweet

Each post on X gives you a quarter of an Altmetric point. If your paper goes viral on X, your Altmetric score can be considerable. Plus, once journalists notice that it went viral, they will be more likely to cover the story, further increasing the score.

Try to choose the time of the post, the hashtags, and the images wisely. Since Elon Musk took over X and opened the algorithm it became very transparent and easy to optimize for. Here are the top 10 tips for boosting attention for a post on X. Make sure to include the DOI or the URL of the paper for Altmetric to find the post.

5. Experiment, Learn, Repeat

My highest Altmetric Attention Score core to date was around 1,500 for a paper in Nature Biotechnology published in 2019, where we used a novel method for designing small molecules called Generative Tensorial Reinforcement Learning (GENTRL) to generate new molecules with druglike properties that got synthesized and tested all the way into mice. In 2024, we went further and showed that an AI-generated molecule for an AI-discovered target was tested all the way up to Phase II human trials, but the paper published in Nature Biotechnology, let’s call it the TNIK paper , has achieved a score ofjust over 600 to date. So what has changed and what can we learn from these two papers?

The popularity of the paper depends on many factors. Ones which capture the public imagination or have widespread appeal are of course, much more likely to gain traction online. When we published the GENTRL paper in 2019, Generative AI was in its infancy, and there are pretty much no other companies that I heard of at the intersection of generative AI and drug discovery. We also published multiple articles in this field in the years leading to that paper and many key opinion leaders (KOLs) followed us. That following included a small army of generative AI skeptics who not only contributed to multiple rejections in peer-reviewed journals but also openly criticized this approach in social networks. This criticism also helped boost the Altmetric Score and bring more attention to the study. So first learning from this exercise - negative publicity helps overall publicity. As long as you are certain that your research results are honest - leave room for criticism and even help expose your paper’s weaknesses. Critics are your greatest Altmetric boosters. Since readers and, by extension journalists, react to negative news and drama stronger than to positive news, critical reviews will boost your Altmetric as long as the DOI or URL of the paper is properly referenced.

Secondly, papers coming out of popular labs in top-tier academic institutions and in top journals are likely to attract more attention. Often, the communications officers in these academic institutions work closely with the media to amplify notable research. Celebrity companies, for example, Google DeepMind, always get a higher level of coverage. For example, the AlphaFold paper published in July 2021 in Nature got an Altmetric Attention Score of over 3,500 . Even though I have not seen any drugs out of AlphaFold reaching preclinical candidate status, I predict the popularity of this tool will result in the first Nobel Prize in this area. Therefore, in order to become famous and popularize your research more effectively, it is a good idea to build up the public profile of yourself and your work. For example, Kardashians are famous for being famous .

Be careful with Wikipedia. I made a mistake explaining the importance of Wikipedia to students when lecturing on the future of generative AI, and one or two of them got banned for expanding the articles with paper references. Wikipedia requires that these are added by independent editors rather than the authors of papers themselves, but if some editors do not like it, they will not go deep or investigate - they will assume wrongdoing. So it is better to avoid even talking about Wikipedia. References there should happen naturally and often some of the more popular papers get picked up and referenced by veteran editors.

Experimenting with Altmetric will also help you explore new strategies for popularizing scientific research and develop new strategies for inspiring people to learn or even get into the new exciting field. UNESCO estimates that there was just over 8 million full-time equivalent (FTE) researchers in 2018 globally. Only a fraction of these are in biotechnology - less than 0.01% of the global population. If you motivate a million students to go into biotechnology by popularizing your research, you double this number.

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Charles Farber, PhD, Secures $3.6 Million Grant to Tackle Osteoporosis

April 16, 2024 by [email protected]

Charles Farber, PhD

Charles R. Farber, PhD, a professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences and director of the Center for Public Health Genomics at the University of Virginia, has secured a $3.6 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health. This grant supports the project titled “Large-Scale Genetic Analysis of Bone Strength in Diversity Outbred Mice.”

Osteoporosis, a condition marked by weakened bones and heightened fracture risk, affects over 12 million individuals in the United States. The elderly, in particular, face serious health hazards and even mortality due to fractures. Alarmingly, as the population ages, fractures are expected to increase by 50% in the next decade.

Traditionally, researchers have focused on bone mineral density to gauge bone strength. However, the inability to directly measure bone strength in humans has hindered progress in this area.

Dr. Farber and his team are pioneering a novel approach to tackle this challenge. They aim to utilize the diverse genetic pool of a unique mouse resource to uncover previously unknown genetic factors influencing bone strength. By analyzing the genetic profiles of thousands of specially bred mice and correlating them with their bone strength, the researchers hope to illuminate the underlying genetic mechanisms governing bone health.

The ultimate objective of this research is to pinpoint new genes associated with bone strength, potentially opening doors to more effective treatments for individuals affected by osteoporosis.

Collaborators on this project include Karl Broman, PhD, from the University of Wisconsin, Mary Bouxsein, PhD, from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Cheryl Ackert-Bicknell, PhD, from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and Steve Tommasini, PhD, from Yale University.

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• OUR SITES --> OUR SITES USC Shoah Foundation IWitness Visual History Archive Request Permission for Use

Azrieli Research Fellowship for PhD Candidates and Early-Career Scholars, 2024-2025

The Division of Academic Programs at the USC Shoah Foundation invites applications for its inaugural Azrieli Research Fellowships for PhD candidates and early-career scholars during the spring 2025 semester.

One applicant will be chosen to pursue their original research on the Holocaust and/or historical and contemporary antisemitism using the USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive (VHA), which currently holds over 55,000 video testimonies of survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides. The incumbents may also wish to complement their testimony-based research in the VHA with the primary and secondary source collections related to the Holocaust at USC’s Doheny Library.

The fellowship will provide $25,000 support for one semester-long research stay at the USC Shoah Foundation. Fellows must reside in Los Angeles for the duration of their award and will hold one public lecture at USC about their research. Fellows are responsible for securing their own housing, which may be available on USC’s campus, and health insurance.

Eligibility requirements: Candidates must be enrolled in an accredited PhD program or be scholars who are either untenured or in the first five years of their career. Although any person may apply, preference will be given to Canadian scholars, those at institutions located in Canada, or research related to Canada.

This fellowship i awarded on a competitive basis. Applications must be submitted no later than midnight PT on July 31, 2024. Applications will consist of the following:

• Letter of Intent
• Project proposal of approximately 1,000 words
• Curriculum vitae
• Reference letter from dissertation committee member (for graduate students) or senior colleague (for early-career scholars)

Please note: only applications that have submitted each of the required materials will be considered for these fellowships. Applicants will be notified of the outcome by August 15, 2024. Fellowship recipients may begin their tenure at the USC Shoah Foundation in January 2025.

Please direct both questions regarding the fellowship or application process and reference letters to Dr. Jennifer L. Rodgers, Director of Academic Programs to jr77905[@]usc.edu.

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• University of Pennsylvania
• Patient Care
• Supporting Penn Medicine
• Communications from the Dean

Appointment of Michael Ostap, PhD, as interim Senior Vice Dean and Chief Scientific Officer for the Perelman School of Medicine

April 17, 2024

Dear Colleagues,

For four months now, I have proudly served as interim Dean for the Perelman School of Medicine.  Several roles have been filled to complement our strong leadership team, and I am very pleased to announce today a key position for our scientific community: the appointment of Michael Ostap, PhD, as interim Senior Vice Dean and Chief Scientific Officer [CSO] for the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, effective May 1. 

Having served as CSO for nearly nine years myself, I have every confidence that Dr. Ostap will continue the successful leadership of our research enterprise, sustaining a momentum of which I am incredibly proud. Dr. Ostap is a trusted and valued colleague who has contributed to Penn for nearly three decades.  A renowned scientist, he has admirably served as Director of the Pennsylvania Muscle Institute for more than 14 years. He is also a dedicated mentor and educator. He is the founding director of an NIH T32-based training program in “Muscle Biology and Muscle Disease,” which is in its 18 th year.  Furthermore, Dr. Ostap is deeply committed to fostering a more inclusive scientific environment, and his efforts include co-chairing the PSOM Portrait Review Committee, which has made significant enhancements to visual representation and recognition.  More on his work and accomplishments follow below.

Please join me in thanking Dr. Ostap for taking on this important and impactful role.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the advisory committee for their thoughtful consideration of and recommendation for the CSO role during this transition period.  The interim role will be in place at least until such time that a permanent dean is named.  More information on that search will be forthcoming.

Jonathan Epstein, MD

Interim EVP | Dean

Dr. Ostap was recruited to Penn in 1997 as an Assistant Professor of Physiology and is currently Professor of Physiology.  He is a founding member of the NSF-supported Center for Engineering Mechanobiology.  His NIH- and NSF-funded laboratory investigates the mechanisms of cell motility and intracellular transport and the proteins responsible for powering cardiac muscle contraction.  He is particularly interested in protein mutations responsible for inherited cardiomyopathies. 

An honorary fellow of AAAS, Dr. Ostap is the recipient of a MERIT award from the NIH, and he received an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association.  He has chaired and organized international meetings, including the Gordon Research Conference and the Biophysical Society Annual meeting.  He has also served the scientific community by chairing an NIH study section and serving on numerous editorial boards, including as Associate Editor of the Biophysical Journal.

Dr. Ostap is the founding director of an NIH T32-based training program in “Muscle Biology and Muscle Disease,” which is in its 18 th year.  He is active in Biomedical Graduate Studies as member of the Biochemistry and Biophysics and Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate groups.  His PhD students have gone on to positions in academics and industry.  For his efforts in education, he received PSOM’s “Deans Award for Graduate Training.”

Lastly, Dr. Ostap has served as Director of the Pennsylvania Muscle Institute for more than 14 years.  The PMI was established 50-years ago and is currently an internationally renowned center for muscle and motility research supported by PSOM and the NIH.