Some Possible Hidden Sources With Ph.D. Thesis Topics

 

Unless you take the philosophical perspective, like Michelangelo when talking about sculpting, the idea that there is some hidden repository somewhere of Ph.D. thesis topics that you can just tap into is fallacious thinking. To paraphrase Michelangelo – I do not create any sculptures; I simply liberate the sculpture that is already there from the stone. A Ph.D. thesis must be something truly original. It is not going to be something that you find in fully developed form hidden somewhere.

 

Sure it is tempting to think that you can just access-hidden sources with Ph.D. topics, but if you are serious about your thesis and you are serious about your education, you must push the envelope. In order to push the envelope, you need to make sure that you are doing the following:

 

• Avoid repeating things already in the dataset for your discipline.
• Make sure that others in your field of study will be interested in the topic and want to read it.
• Make sure it teaches something of interest and that it is new information that will be useful to your colleagues when framing their own research topics.
 

Like it or not, defining you Ph.D. thesis topic is hard work. It is work that will cause you stress and sleepless nights and make you want to quit. Even if you are hyper-organized and believe you have allowed enough time, you will feel like there is not enough time, and you will want to quit.

 

Don’t quit. Keep at it.

 

There is no secret, but there is an easier way

While there is no secret to coming up with a Ph.D. thesis topic, there is a hard way and an easy way. The easy way begins with selecting the right adviser.

 

If you already have a great adviser, then you probably would not need to be reading this. Since you are reading this, I can only assume that you and your adviser are not a good fit. You may be afraid that if you seek to change your adviser that he or she will be offended, but the truth is probably that if you don’t like your adviser, they probably don’t like you either and would be relieved not to have to work with you anymore.

 

You need an adviser that you like and who likes you. You need an adviser with whom you share mutual respect and trust. Once you have that, you should be able to discuss your interests, strengths, challenges and a timeline and then come up with a few suggestions for a Ph.D. thesis that will be challenging but also meaningful and maybe even enjoyable.