Fulfilling the Potential of Your Doctoral Experience. Pam Denicolo

debate about the first 100 days in a new role, much of it generated by presidents of the United States. Ostensibly, it began with President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) in 1933, when he used his first three months in office to lay out the foundations of his ‘New Deal’ by getting an incredible volume of legislation passed into law. Since then, ‘the first 100 days’ have been an important period for newly elected American presidents. However, as David Greenberg (2009) pointed out in a Wall Street Journal article entitled ‘The folly of the First Hundred Days’, the first 100 days are an ‘unreliable indicator of future performance’ and, although first impressions count for something, the success or failure in the first 100 days is no indicator of what may follow. In the case of US presidents, as Greenberg noted, although some got off to a flying start (he cites Reagan and FDR as two of the most effective), most performed their overtly significant work later in the presidency. We agree that it is unfair to judge an individual, even a new president, by the actions of their first 100 days in a job since we can all make mistakes in eagerness to make a good impression. Nevertheless, this period of the first few months is important for initial establishment in all roles. The early stage of any role is the time to get most of the basic requirements out of the way and to use the time to lay down good foundations for the future. Employers would certainly expect a new manager to ‘bed in’ within three months. You need to use this time to get some of the basic issues out of the way and to make sure you can comfortably and confidently manage the remaining years. A researchers’ first 100 days are only the start of a marathon, so you need to pace yourself. There are lots of views on the first 100 days on the internet and many publications on the subject; we list a few at the end of the chapter in the further reading.

      Laying down the basics

      There are three key areas that affect how well a researcher settles into their new role:

      1 The people – who are the people you need to know, and care about, and how will you build relationships with them or for them?

      2 The environment – what is it like, what are the cultures and traditions, what resources are available or need to be identified?

      3 Aspects of the role itself – what is expected, what is the ‘doctorate’ about and how can you ensure you are prepared for it?

      You will need to work on all three areas concurrently, although some may take precedence over others at key stages, but by the end of the 100 days, if you have addressed those questions well, you should be in a good position to begin your research project effectively. Make a start right now by engaging in Reflection Point 2.1

      Reflection Point 2.1

      The basics for a good start

      Reflect on what you would like to have achieved by the end of 100 days. Make the generic questions above specific to your context by, for example: challenging yourself to introduce yourself to named people in salient roles such as your subject librarian; asking about regular seminars, or expected conference attendance; checking with more experienced peers about local traditions related to the doctorate.

      The people

      You might be enthusiastic and eager to get stuck into the research, and that is, indeed, an excellent ambition; however, the sensible thing to do is to get to know your supervisors first. At least track them down in the first few days of enrolment (within a week of your arrival) and arrange an introductory meeting – s/he/they may do this first, but you should not be shy and wait around to be invited to say ‘hello’ – especially if you are new to the department or university. First impressions count for a lot, so signal that you are a professional and friendly person, willing to make contact and establish a working relationship (NB: it is not necessary to become best friends with your supervisor, because you are aiming to establish a professional relationship). Once you have made ‘first contact’ and introduced yourself, more formal and work-focused meetings or ‘supervisions’ as they might be called, will be set up. Your first formal supervision may not take place for a few weeks, depending on how busy your supervisors are and what induction events are available, but we would certainly expect that meeting to take place within the first four weeks – ideally sooner rather than later in that period.

      It is important to repeat the point ‘depending on how busy your supervisor is’ because sometimes researchers are unaware of the volume and range of work that supervisors will be doing alongside supervising doctoral researchers, i.e. they may be teaching undergraduate and master’s courses, doing administrative work, attending committee meetings, conducting their own research, attending conferences, managing a team or department, writing their own papers/books and putting together funding proposals, etc. Whilst almost all supervisors enjoy the time they spend with doctoral researchers, as a new researcher you will probably need to be more pro-active in managing this relationship than an undergraduate or master’s student is expected to be in their relationship with a lecturer (see Chapter 6 on the relationship with your supervisors), which means you will also need to manage your own diary in respect of theirs. They may only be able to meet with you for an hour or two every couple of weeks or once a month (although weekly interaction is best in the early stage), so you will need to accept that you should work around their availability but still ensure that you do meet regularly.

      Use this early relationship-building time with your supervisors to find out how they would like to work with you, what their expectations are (for example, whether they expect you to record or log your supervision meetings) and what kind of timetable (if any) they have in mind for your research. This can then be negotiated and incorporated into an overall work schedule or plan (see the final section below). Ideally, as a new researcher, you can warm up your research skills by approaching your supervisors’ existing doctoral researchers, if any, to gain another insight into your supervisors’ way of working – that is, specifically ask for views on the supervisors’ strengths and any weaknesses that you may have to work around or manage if their style differs from yours.

      Other people will also be crucial to your research success, so use the first 100 days to get to know other staff in the department and especially take time to get to know your peers in the department. Your peer researchers will be an important source of friendship and support, but also will be valuable later in your career. It is surprising how useful contacts from your doctoral research days can be as you progress through your careers at roughly the same pace (see Chapter 6 on networking).

      If you are new to the university or local area, there may be other practical people-matters to take care of: you must register with a local medical practice and general practitioner (GP), you may want to register with a dentist and, if required, attend to any visa registrations/requirements. If you have family, especially if you are an international researcher, you will be juggling the demands of getting children registered and settled into local schools or nurseries while also ensuring your spouse is also adjusting to the new way of life. Often, as Stephanie Doyle et al. (2015) have pointed out, this aspect of postgraduate life gets overlooked by supervisors and universities. It is very important that you resist the pressure, from external sources or internal panic, to focus solely on getting on with the research. Use the first three months to focus as much on helping you, your spouse and/or children to settle into the new environment as on orienting yourself to your actual research project. This will prevent many later traumas but it is a tough balancing act, and one that part-time researchers will also be facing even if they live relatively locally. There are two ways in which both international and part-time researchers can help themselves with this transition:

      1 Find out what kind of support your institution offers to international researchers and their families or how they support distance learners if you are part-time. Some have informal networks for international visitors, or societies/clubs for specific interests, or they may deploy spouses in more formal ways.

      2 Track down and talk to people in a similar situation – these colleagues will be a vital