Phd after 5 years of stopping research - (Jul/05/2012 )
Dear bioforumers
iam about to start Phd I need advices to refresh my mind esp Iwas dormant for 5 years due to social circumstances
My advice it to read, and read, and read. Get up to date with the advances in your field (and do a little broad reading too, to see what is going on outside of your research scope).
Go to local conferences and meetings to hear other researchers speak about their work.
Discuss with others in your lab (from your supervisor down to the research assistants) about what they are doing, and why 
Thank you I will read but Iam finding a difficulty to concentrate
Something I do not understand: you can decide your own PhD subject yourself? Or ?
You allready have a PhD subject then ?
Do you have a potential supervisor? Or are you trying to figure this out on your own?
I'm confused too?
Are you planning on writing your own project and proposal from scratch? Who is going to fund your research? And get the approvals for your work?
pito on Fri Jul 6 09:45:16 2012 said:
Something I do not understand: you can decide your own PhD subject yourself? Or ?
You allready have a PhD subject then ?
Iam trying to search for ideas before talking to the supervisor,But I mean the concept of starting work after longterm stoppage
leelee on Fri Jul 6 11:07:18 2012 said:
Do you have a potential supervisor? Or are you trying to figure this out on your own?
I'm confused too?
Are you planning on writing your own project and proposal from scratch? Who is going to fund your research? And get the approvals for your work?
Well I have a potential supervisor,he is a very nice one but Iam trying to read the latest research in 2012 and find ideas,I have some kits from a previous project but Iam thinking to apply for tropical disease fund of WHO or other national grants.
The idea is to start and put my feet on the right way
thank you for help
There is NO way that you will be able to get funding without already having PhD and a good track record of publications etc. Funding is so competitive so you have to understand that no one will want to risk giving money to a student for a project- in fact, at least here in Australia, students aren't even eligible to apply.
It is good that you want to read up about current research breakthroughs and topics, but really your first thing should be to chose a potential supervisor and then see if they will have you.
Look for a lab who's work interests you, then make contact with the supervisor and discuss what your potential projects will be. You won't be able to just chose a disease and start working on it, it will need to fit with the overall work of the lab.
Funding bodies will usually require some sort of preliminary data too- to make sure that the idea is a least feasible. Even with the kits you have, you won't be able to do much. You'll need all the laboratory basics (pipettes, tips, glass ware, equipment etc etc), not to mention samples. I can't imagine anyone giving you samples of an infectious agent to work on without the proper approvals and facilities. And you won't know if you have access to those until you line up a supervisor.
I'm sorry if I am coming across harsh, but it sounds like you don't really understand how a PhD works. Maybe you could contact someone from the graduate research school (or equivalent) at your university to see if they can help you get on the right track?
Best of luck, your enthusiasm is definitely admirable, I'm sure you'll do well!
leelee on Fri Jul 6 12:33:32 2012 said:
There is NO way that you will be able to get funding without already having PhD and a good track record of publications etc. Funding is so competitive so you have to understand that no one will want to risk giving money to a student for a project- in fact, at least here in Australia, students aren't even eligible to apply.
It is good that you want to read up about current research breakthroughs and topics, but really your first thing should be to chose a potential supervisor and then see if they will have you.
Look for a lab who's work interests you, then make contact with the supervisor and discuss what your potential projects will be. You won't be able to just chose a disease and start working on it, it will need to fit with the overall work of the lab.
Funding bodies will usually require some sort of preliminary data too- to make sure that the idea is a least feasible. Even with the kits you have, you won't be able to do much. You'll need all the laboratory basics (pipettes, tips, glass ware, equipment etc etc), not to mention samples. I can't imagine anyone giving you samples of an infectious agent to work on without the proper approvals and facilities. And you won't know if you have access to those until you line up a supervisor.
I'm sorry if I am coming across harsh, but it sounds like you don't really understand how a PhD works. Maybe you could contact someone from the graduate research school (or equivalent) at your university to see if they can help you get on the right track?
Best of luck, your enthusiasm is definitely admirable, I'm sure you'll do well!
My supervisor may apply for the fund and I may work with him as an assistant in his project
The most important issue now is to choose a nice supervisor as I suffered with my master supervisor