Author: Justine Nalunkuuma, AfricaLics PhD Visiting Fellowship Programme (VFP) Alumni and a PhD student at Makerere University, Uganda
AfricaLics VFP aim is to help African PhD students working in the field of innovation and development (I&D) to strengthen their academic/research qualifications; improve quality of their dissertations and prepare for a career in innovation and development either within academia or outside (e.g. in the private sector or in government/policy making). Read more
Preface
I never really understood what entails writing a PhD proposal, until when my course work ended, and I embarked on full time PhD journey. Based on my exciting journey, I share some reflections on eight easy ways that can help any prospective student to successfully develop a PhD proposal.
1. Identify a topic of interest
As a PhD student whether pursuing a PhD by research or by coursework, it is wise to identify a topic that is of interest to you. This is a saying that I often heard from lecturers who took us through course work or classroom work. They argued that this is important because you are going to spend the next 2, 3, or more years working on the topic. Just imagine, if it is something you are not interested in, how the hell can the PhD journey be? I ended up pursuing a topic “Actor Participation & Benefit in Coffee Multi-stakeholder Innovation Platforms in Uganda” trying to see whether inclusive actor participation in these translates into benefits for smallholder farmers engaged in coffee production” which I found interesting. My motivation was that I identified with smallholder farmers, including my mother, as my people and in my frequent interaction with them, I have become acquainted and emotionally attached to the challenges they go through as farmers. Further, the COVID19 pandemic had a negative impact in that it slowed my PhD progress, in particular the fieldwork. If I was working on a topic of no interest, then I perceive this would have been quite frustrating. However, my deep interest in the topic kept me engaged, and in the process, there were noticeable improvements on the overall process.
2. Identify a committed, interested, knowledgeable supervisor and one you can get along with
This point should not be taken for granted, because it is really key. The is a narrative perpetuated by most supervisors that, a student should be proactive in engaging the supervisor. However, I am convinced that a supervisor determines the pace of the process. I therefore recommend that one takes time to identify a supervisor who meets the mentioned characteristics. The identification process should include but not limited to the following: do some groundwork from various sources including the relevant department and internet about research interest, supervision record, the kind of person he/she is among other things. This initial background check, including references should point you to the right person.
Identifying a suitable supervisor can be a challenging task sometimes. For instance, the preferred person may decline to be your supervisor on the account that (s)he has got many students to supervise. In such a scenario, what can one do? My suggestion is to keep trying without giving up. In my case I had two lead supervisors, with one retiring along the way and I had to find another. This notwithstanding, I have found them all interested, committed, knowledgeable and approachable, something I am proud about. Overall, if a student is unlucky in the process of identification, there may be options to explore. I have noted that as a PhD student, one can have two or more supervisors from which you can identify one or two that are promising in terms of advancing your PhD work quickly. The selection process should take into consideration the supervisor’s keen interest in your work, but also be aware that, other supervisors can come on board later on, depending on need.
3. Look out for a visiting PhD fellowship/s
This applies to those who are interested in looking out for new ways of doing things, whose work or family supports such arrangements and those who enjoy changing and learning from different environments. In my case, my application to the AfricaLics PhD Visiting Fellowship Programme (VFP) as a visiting PhD fellow successful, and I have never regretted it. I make the following observations based on my experience with this programme. Such arrangements help you conceptualize your study better and they have other benefits as well. For me, the AfricaLics community that was involved became like a family where to belong as a PhD student. This was critical because we all know that a PhD journey can be a lonely journey. Within this family setting, get access to various opportunities, advice and support. Looking out for a PhD visiting fellowship is something that should not be overlooked especially if you are a PhD student from a developing country.
4. Share and present your research idea
This is a useful practice, which should be encouraged and regularized. I am a talkative person, but my engagement with people, whenever I had an opportunity, focused on non-research issues. This disadvantaged me a lot from a research front, until when a friend, Juliet (not her real name), called me aside one day after a presentation in a research seminar in Aalborg University, Denmark. She told me, “Justine you are good at speaking to people, I wish you would use that opportunity to discuss your research idea with them”. I took note of this advice seriously and thereafter I made some noticeable efforts to engage productively. In addition, I used to fear presenting my work to large gatherings, but with practice, my confidence improved compared to the beginning when handling panic and criticisms was a challenge. It was not easy getting used to the tension and criticisms, following a presentation. I would waste a lot of time reflecting on how I performed, who made good or bad comments among other non-productive thoughts. In the end I would blame myself, linking this more generally to anxiety and laziness on my part. Further, more time was spent talking excessively about my study and the outcome of the presentation, which amounted to nagging. I later embraced criticisms positively because it helped improve my work and further understood that this is a normal experience for all PhD students. My parting advise to a PhD student is “don’t fear, take courage, talk about your research idea with peers, supervisors and other knowledgeable people in your area of expertise, embrace presentations, take criticisms as normal and use the feedback to enrich your work.”
5. Literature review
This is a key aspect of the PhD journey and should be taken very seriously. As soon as you have made up your mind on a particular research topic, look out for help, either from consulting relevant reference materials or from relevant advisors. Help should be sought on how to proceed and organize your literature reviews, including what exactly you are looking for and how to organize the same among other things. A solid literature review helps you identify the study gaps and relevant papers for subsequent review. Once you have identified the right articles, it is important to engage with the paper and get familiar with the language used without fear. My greatest obstacle was fear of the articles which I perceived to have been written perfectly well. This led me to asking this question “will I ever be able to write something really good like this?” but I consoled myself that time will tell it all. I learnt a few tips from one of my advisors, a Professor from Aalborg University, Denmark, during the PhD VFP, on how to undertake a literature review:
- Identify a library search engine, where you hope to find the articles of interest.
- Punch in the search topic.
- Retrieve the articles of interest.
- Make a folder for these articles to be stored for reference later.
- For every article that you read, pick out important information and organize it (I illustrate this in Table 1), take note of the information using either a notebook or a word or excel page on your computer.
Table 1: Extracting key information from articles on “factors influencing farmer participation”
| No. of article | Author | Main objective | Specific objectives | Area of study | Methods | Findings | Conclusion | Recommendation | Area of further research |
| 1. |
Source: Author’s compilation
Organizing your work as illustrated in Table 1 for each given study objective helps identify areas to be covered, results, gaps, further areas of studies among other important things. If you have got for instance 20 articles on a given objective captured and arranged as per this format, you can easily produce review papers and even identify research gaps faster and with ease. I can regrettably reflect on the time I have wasted on literature review, the worst killer of time, and finding a way on how to go about it is the best option. My key message to PhD students is “get your literature review organized as early as possible.”
6. Identify one or more peers
A song that keeps recurring in my mind is “work with your peers”. Our teachers would repeatedly tell us this during classroom lectures, seminars and presentations, but I didn’t know exactly what this meant at the beginning. The practical aspect of it and the embedded benefits became clearer when I identified and started working with a peer, who was not actually on the same stage of the PhD journey. A friend of mine called Hellen (not her real name), identified a peer called Easter, who ensures that Hellen is always up by 5:00am every day to work on her PhD proposal.
7. Exercise patience and commitment
I have on two occasions written to my supervisors indicating my intention to quit the PhD program. Their response on both incidents was “be strong, you are almost there!” With such encouraging words, I have learnt patience and commitment, and to continue working.
8. Join a writing group
This will help you set a schedule for your writing as well as set goals for actual writing. Once you internalize your goals and share with others, it increases your commitment to getting things done and the likelihood that you will strictly meet these goals. I belong to a writing group organized by AfricaLics which includes 8 PhD students and a few other scholars mainly from Africa. This has actually transformed the way I do things pertaining to my PhD especially my writing. Thanks to Zoom that has made this possible.
Conclusion
I have realized that a PhD is seldom easy and that you need a lot of support in the process. Reaching out to peers, supervisors and other contacts, in my case from the AfricaLics network, is paramount.