The qualifying exams are an important milestone for doctoral students in MechE. The exam is currently administered in two parts– a subject examination and research examination (RQE). The RQE is a research presentation meant to demonstrate the candidate’s competency as a researcher. A new RQE CommKit article by Varner et al takes a deep dive into creating a cohesive narrative, designing effective visuals and fielding questions from faculty. This blog post focuses on practical advice for getting started on the presentation. I’ll discuss the major elements of the presentation, provide strategies for practicing and offer advice to nip procrastination in the bud.
To get started, start small
Preparing for the RQE can be intimidating, and getting started always seems to be the hardest part. Before we dive into the nuts and bolts of the exam, I want to emphasize the importance of starting early and starting small. Small goals consistently met over days and weeks add up to big goals over time. The Tao Te Ching reminds us that all grand projects emerge from humble beginnings:
A tree whose trunk is of a man’s embrace,
Begins from something extremely tiny.
A tower of nine stories high,
Is built from a heap of earth.
A trip of a thousand miles,
Begins right at one’s feet.
The RQE is about YOU (and your research)
Before you make any slides it’s essential to understand the purpose of the exam: showcasing your ability and potential to contribute meaningful research to your field. If you have made it to the qualifying exam, we believe that you possess the competency and thoughtfulness to complete a PhD that meets departmental expectations for rigor and ingenuity. The RQE is your chance to demonstrate this.The faculty are evaluating your skills as a researcher through the lens of your presentation. Remember that you are an essential element of the RQE, unlike other technical talks you may have given before.
Build a case for your research
The structure of the RQE has the same narrative arc of most technical presentations: motivation to address a problem or explain a phenomenon, how the current state of the art applies to this question and the gaps that must be filled in order to answer it, and how your research will address these gaps to solve the problem and advance the state of the art. There are some questions all presentations should strive to answer:
- What problem/puzzle/challenge does your research address, and why is it important?
- Why are your methods the best approach?
- What is the key takeaway of your findings?
If you don’t have findings yet, you should still be able to say how the expected results of your study will advance the state of the art by contributing to current knowledge, practice or policies. This is why you may hear some students say that your results are not as important in the RQE. This does not mean you should exclude results from the RQE. It means that if you don’t have as many results as you wanted you can still have a successful presentation. Regardless of results you can still demonstrate your ability to ask meaningful research questions, to answer those questions using sound methodology, and to understand and justify how your study advances the state of the art.
A note on procrastination
Procrastination is more than just delaying tasks. When I’m struggling with procrastination, I try to bring awareness to what exactly I am trying to avoid. Tasks that stir up fear, self-doubt and anxiety can be especially prone to procrastination. According to health practitioner Anastasia Locklin, people attempting aversive tasks feel compelled to choose short-term mood benefits of procrastinating over long-term rewards. Awareness of this has been helpful for me because it’s a reminder that a desire to procrastinate does not mean I am lazy or incompotent. As you are preparing for quals, remember that every task you achieve counts as a success, no matter how small, and celebrate each of them. Check out NPR’s Life Kit podcast episode “How to stop procrastinating” for more on this!
One antidote to procrastination is to focus on a narrow list of specific tasks each day. A popular approach is the Ivy Lee method for organizing time. The idea is pretty simple. At the end of every work day, write a list of six tasks in order of priority. The next day, work on the tasks sequentially and don’t move on to the next task until the one before is completed. Anything that doesn’t get completed gets moved to the next day’s list. For more on the Ivy Lee method, see this blog post. A pitfall of the Ivy Lee method is to write tasks that are too broad and intractable. Setting specific, measurable tasks will make completion more clear. For example, instead of creating a task to ‘finish a draft of my presentation’ break it down into bite-size chunks such as ‘write a script for my motivation section’ or ‘create a diagram of my experimental setup’.
Another strategy for mitigating procrastination can be to set accountability partners. Tell your study group what you plan to achieve this week and have them follow up to see if you did it. Schedule a practice presentation with your lab or through the GAME lunch seminars. Or book a CommLab appointment; we are here to work with you at any stage of the presentation preparation.
Plan. Practice. Repeat.
Practicing your talk in realistic scenarios will help hone spoken and visual aspects of your delivery. When first planning what to say, it may be helpful to write the takeaway message of each slide in a full sentence, just to get you started. Some scripting can be helpful as you begin practicing, but we don’t recommend writing and memorizing your talk word for word. Either way, practicing in front of varied audiences—labmates, GAME lunches, Comm Lab fellows, non-MechE friends, family—will give you more opportunities for feedback to improve your delivery. Developing the RQE is an iterative process, and practice is a part of that cycle. The CommLab is here to help you at any stage of the process, from brainstorming to putting on the finishing touches. Reference the RQE CommKit article or schedule an appointment with a CommLab Fellow today!
Blog post by Andrea Lehn with contributions from Carlos Diaz-Marin, Georgia Van de Zande and Hannah Varner