Surviving a PhD – Your first year report

The second half of the first year of your PhD is when the first parts of your research begin to take shape.  By this stage, you should have a good grasp of your field of interest – on a general basis – with an improving knowledge of any specifics.  Usually at the end of your first year (sometimes after 18 months), you will be required to pass a “differentiation” assessment.  Around the world it is called different things, however it basically is an assessment of your work to gauge whether or not you should continue studying toward the PhD award, or MPhil award.

The final six months of the first year of your research will be spent finishing off the bulk of your reading.  This is not to say you never read again, but rather you take your foot off the gas – so to speak!  You may find yourself beginning to rehearse or practise anything practical which you may be embarking upon when your research starts fully.  As this is ongoing, you will be writing up your work thus far.

The core of your report will be a summary of the literature on your field of study.  From my own experiences, I found it was best to read very generally on your topic.  Then, as you gain knowledge, you can read more and more specifically.  My first year report was structured to reflect this.  I found it made it easier to read.  This is very much a personal preference.

If you have had the opportunity to undertake some preliminary research, I recommend that you include your methods and results in your report.  This will help contribute in your assessment.

The problem with having to write a report at the end of the year is deciding what structure to take.  Generally it is best to use the standard thesis structure.  I have an engineering background, and it is generally accepted that a structure similar to that below is used:

• Front Cover
• Abstract
• Table of Contents
• Table of Figures
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Results
• Discussion
• Work Proposal
• Conclusions
• Appendices

This structure is very general, however it gives you a framework to build upon.  Each of the chapters must flow from one to the other.  Essentially you are telling a story with a purpose and direction, however written in a formal and often technical format.

Your Introduction should introduce the topic of research in its broadest context.  Here you identify the need for additional research by showing that there is either a lack of understanding/knowledge, or that current methods could improve upon something existing, and then you generally discuss the advantages of undertaking your research.

Your Literature Review will be the core of where you discuss the existing research in the field, referencing materal as required.  This chapter must identify where your research will fit into the existing knowledge.

The Methodology, Results and Discussions chapters of your report are only included if you have identified a method which is appropriate to your research.  An example would be using a particular experimental apparatus, or technique.  This would be discussed in your Methodology chapter.  TheResults and Discussions can on occasion be combined into a single chapter.

The second largest chapter of your end of year report will most likely be the Work Proposal chapter.  Here you lay out the tasks which you would like to undertake in order to achieve the goal laid out between your Introduction and Literature Review.  This section is somewhere to show how much you have thought your work through.  At the very least, you should have  Gantt chart showing a break-down of your tasks and approximate time scales for each of them.  I thoroughly recommend that you employ any of the skills you pick up from a training course in Project Management and Risk Assessment.  These skills will help you secure your position as a PhD research candidate.

Finally your Conclusions and Appendices will round off your report.  You can conclude any preliminary work which you have done, and generally summarise your work with respect to the Introduction.  Your appendices may or may not be populated this early in your work.  It is worth speaking with your supervisor whether or not any material should be an appendix to your work.

Leave a comment