Introduction

Outline of my Lectures

Shreepad KarmalkarProfessor, Electrical Engineering Department

Core Team Member, Teaching Learning CenterIndian Institute of Technology Madras

[email protected]

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We discuss answers the following questions

• What are the motivation and objectives of a course such as “Introduction to Research” ?

• What are the differences between Course based UG / PG and Research Education ?

• What are the habits, skills and attitudes required for research and how do I develop them ?

• How can I develop my thinking to generate ideas ?

• In how many different ways (tabular, graphical or other) can I present the data ?

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• How can I find a problem and formulate a hypothesis ?

• What, how and how much literature should I read ? • What are the essential elements of scientific methods ?

• How do I design set-ups and experiments, and ensure accuracy in measurements ?

• How can one be an effective and efficient oral / written communicator ?

• Where and how do I publish / patent my work ?

We discuss answers the following questions

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• How do I manage stress, time and my guide / research student ?

• What are the ethical issues in research ?

And any other questions you may have ……… please feel free to interrupt and ask me questions or make comments

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We discuss answers the following questions

Activities during the course

When I hear, I forget

When I see, I

remember

When I do, I learn

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Activities during the course

Group discussion

based on the talk

“YOU AND YOUR RESEARCH”

by

Richard W. Hamming

Bell Communications Research Colloquium Seminar

7th March 1986

Available on the Internet6

Activities during the course

• 10 min Power Point Presentations by two participants on topics of their choice but of

general interest to the audience

• 10 min thinking exercise to gain appreciation of the levels of thinking

• A number of assignments

And taking

notes !!!!7

Reference Material

• E. M. Phillips and D. S. Pugh, “How to get a PhD -

a handbook for PhD students and their supervisors”,

Viva books Pvt. Ltd., (price Rs. 165).

(with due acknowledgement to Prof. M. V. Satyanarayana)

• G. L. Squires, “Practical physics”, Cambridge University

Press, (price Rs. 185).

• Handbook of Science Communication, compiled by

Antony Wilson, Jane Gregory, Steve Miller, Shirley Earl,

Overseas Press India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, First edition

2005 (price Rs. 130).8

What are the motivation and objectives of a course such as “Introduction to Research” ?

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Vision Excellence in research

Gap

Ground reality

Low impact of the large scientific manpower

Low average drags the peak down or drives it away

Status of Research in India

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An IIT Teacher’s doubt:

We are proud of our B.Techs.

Are we equally proud of our PhDs ?

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• strengthen research culture

• instill confidence and professional

pride in research scholars

There is an urgent need to

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B.Tech M.Techstudent

PhDscholar

Human Material

Resources

PhD Education

Teachers

Peers

Guide

Attitude

Skills

Knowledge

The PhD Educational Process - A Model

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B.Tech M.Techstudent

PhDscholar

Human Material

Resources

PhD Education

Teachers

Peers

Guide

Attitude

Skills

Knowledge

The PhD Educational Process - A Model

• Planning /Organizing• Motivating• Controlling (optimally)

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Philosophers have only

interpreted the world in various

ways.

The point, however, is to change

it !

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Substrate

Plating

Seed Layer

The course aims at seeding

research attitude and skills.

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Research Scholars

Research attitude and skills

Introduction to Research course

The course aims at seeding

research attitude and skills.

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To undertake an exploration it helps to

have a map.

This course can be regarded as a map

for undertaking research.

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There is no substitute for experience, in

understanding of the research process.

But, experience without thought is a

slow and painful way of learning.

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The course has two components: one that will

be of immediate use, and another, whose

significance will be apparent in the long run.

Your research career does not end, but rather,

begins with an MS / PhD.

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What are the differences between Course based UG / PG education and Research education ?

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What are the habits, skills and attitudes required for research and how do I develop them ?

We discuss answers the following questions

Degrees

• Bachelors: General education

• Masters (by course work): Possession of advanced knowledge

• Doctorate or at least Masters (by research): License to teach and guide others

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One can teach and guide others when one has

• a knowledge of what is being discovered, argued

about and published in a subject all over the world

• an ability to evaluate the worth of what others are

doing

• an ability to identify areas where one can make a

useful contribution

• an ability to communicate ones ideas and results

effectively in international professional circles

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To get the license to teach and guide others, one

should be a MANAGER OF ONE’S OWN LEARNING

and an INDEPENDENT THINKER. In bachelors and

masters education, a student’s learning is managed

by her teachers.

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Manager of one’s own learning

take initiative in choosing the research area and

courses to be undergone

Independent thinker

not only solve a problem but also define it; this

involves asking new questions

not only generate data but also interpret it.

Research education, blurs the distinction

between a student and her mentor.

• Unlike in an examination, in research, you do not

get well-defined problems to solve. It is your job

to define the problem as well as to solve it.

• PhD / MS is like a time-unbound examination,

in which problems are different for different

people, the final marks have to be more than a

minimum which is fairly high, but you are

allowed multiple attempts to achieve this result.

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• The role of a scholar and his guide

• Meaning of a Thesis

A thesis is not merely description but analysis and explanation of a topic. It is a position that you wish to argue about, defend or maintain.

Flawed Perceptions About Research

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Research entails prolonged and arduous labour and needs

- doubt rather than ready acceptance - extensive reading: a researcher must be much broader than his special line

- persistence, i.e. management of boredom and frustration

- good relations with your guide and fellow scholars

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Research

“Go back and search until we find – explore”

Do not follow where the path may lead.

Go instead where there is no path.

Ralph Emerson“An objective and systematic effort to gain new knowledge”

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• Criteria - newness, truth, accuracy, good technique,

keen analysis, sound reasoning.

• Involves - questioning, doubting, verifying, sifting,

testing, and proving that which has been handed down;

observing, and measuring the phenomena of nature.

Research

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Why research ?

• All progress is born of inquiry. Doubt is often better

than overconfidence, for it leads to inquiry, and

inquiry

leads to invention.

If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in

doubts.

But if he will be content to begin with doubts, he will

end in certainties.

- Francis Bacon

• Research promotes the habits of logical thinking and

organization.

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• swagruhe pUjyate mUrkhah, swagrAme pUjyate prabhuh swadeshe pUjyate rAjA, vidvAn sarvatra pUjyate.

• Service to society.

• Intellectual satisfaction of doing creative work.

• Face the challenge of solving unsolved problems.

• Enhance career opportunities and earning.

• Not having any real aims and not knowing what to do.

Aims do not remain the same throughout the PhD duration.

Why research ?

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Who is a scholar ?

A greedy person can be won over by money

A proud person by cowering before him

A fool by agreeing with him, but

A scholar can only be won over by speaking the truth.

- Chanakya

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Who is a scholar ?

“We should not forget that the solution of any

worthwhile problem very rarely comes to us easily

and without hard work. It is rather the result of

intellectual effort of days or weeks or months. Why

should the young mind be willing to make this

supreme effort ? The explanation is probably the

instinctive preference for certain values, that is, the

attitude which rates intellectual effort and spiritual

achievement higher than material advantage.

- Gabor Szego

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Successful completion of any major

project requires integrated application

of multiple skills and habits.

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Knowing

Comprehension

Problem solving

Critical thinking

Creative thinking

• Thinking

• Problem finding

• Experimentation

• Modeling

• Time / stress management

SKILLS NECESSARY FOR RESEARCH

• Technical communication

Oral

Written

Publishing / Patenting

Literature search • Interpersonal skills36

• Documentation

• Reading

• Participation in technical meetings

NECESSARY HABITS

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No procedure, technique, skill etc which is relevant

to your thesis should be exercised by you there for

the first time. You should have practiced it

beforehand on a non-thesis exercise, which is

therefore going to be less stressful and allow you

greater learning.

If you have 10 hours for chopping a tree,

spend 5 hours sharpening the axe. 38