31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very useful book for both students and supervisors, 23 Jun 2005
By A Customer
This review is from: The Unwritten Rules of Phd Research (Paperback)
I read this book during the second year of my PhD and found it to be encouraging. It gives a different perspective compared to other books on how to do a PhD. It is written in an informal way relating to students who just want to get some tips of how to survive their PhD studies. I found advice of how to plan your work and what is the right attitude for a successful student helpful. Overall, I'd characterise it as a toolbox with great tips rather than a formal to-do-list! I would recommend it to anyone both those who are planning to start a PhD and those who are almost ready to finish. Even those at the very last stage could benefit from advice on how to get through the viva.
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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth every penny, 23 Jun 2005
By A Customer
This review is from: The Unwritten Rules of Phd Research (Paperback)
I can't recommend this book highly enough. Think of it like your guide book, not just to doing a PhD but to being an effective researcher in general, and all distilled into just over 200 pages. The advice given is a great mixture of specifics points (e.g. how to get the best from conferences, presentations etc) and much broader background that sets your work in context. There's too much gold here to describe in detail; like one of the previous reviewers I won't bother to write more, but just suggest that you get yourself a copy immediately.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Praise for 'The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research' by Gordon Rugg and Marian Petre, 4 Mar 2010
This review is from: The Unwritten Rules of Phd Research (Paperback)
I have recently been awarded my doctorate. I have bought my supervisor a drink, as advised by the authors. I feel I also owe Drs Rugg and Petre a drink, to say 'Thank you', for the guidance in this book, which has helped me and cheered me up a lot over the last four years.
When I misunderstood what was required of me, but could not find what was required, this book has often had that information explicitly laid out and pointed me on the right track again where I could find no other sources to help me.
This has led to 'light bulb' moments where I understood what I had wrong. I was able to right myself with the advice written here. I was encouraged to continue by the exact understanding and the light tone of this book.
With the 'dissertation checklist' as a guide I anticipated problems and made major changes to my thesis that I could not have foreseen otherwise. The whole tone and content of my thesis was much altered and improved as a result.
I prepared for my viva with 'how not to pass you viva' in mind.
My thesis was accepted with no changes, and rated 'well above the standard required for the award of DPhil' in the Examiners' written remarks. I was a struggling candidate totally in the dark as to how to approach scientific writing and criteria for excellence in the finished product. That I produced an acceptable document mostly without outside help I think was greatly influenced by the advice in this book.
Thank you, Drs Rugg and Petre. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to all PhD students.
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