Read on Twitter
Are you a new Honours, Masters, or PhD student? 
Here are a few tips from our lab on how to kickstart a productive and healthy year in research
@OpenAcademics @AcademicChatter #AcademicChatter #PhDChat #AcademicTwitter #sciencetwitter @TheFlorey @UniMelbMDHS
Here are a few tips from our lab on how to kickstart a productive and healthy year in research
@OpenAcademics @AcademicChatter #AcademicChatter #PhDChat #AcademicTwitter #sciencetwitter @TheFlorey @UniMelbMDHS
Make a detailed plan/timeline of your project with your supervisors early on. 
Talk to your supervisors regularly about how your project is going. It's likely that your project will change, but it's helpful to have a foundation that your plans can expand and evolve from.
Talk to your supervisors regularly about how your project is going. It's likely that your project will change, but it's helpful to have a foundation that your plans can expand and evolve from.
Think about the experiments being run; ask the simple question of why you're doing it and if there are better/ alternative ways to go about answering your research question with different methodological approaches. What are the pitfalls/ strengths of the experimental technique?
Work on your elevator pitch of your project! This will be useful for helping you, your colleagues, and others outside of science understand your research. Getting feedback from a variety of people may lead to interesting ideas you may not have considered 
Every step forward is progress no matter how small the step is, don't dwell on setbacks. Perseverance is key. 
As a research student, experiments will fail and there will be obstacles - face them and you can work through it.
As a research student, experiments will fail and there will be obstacles - face them and you can work through it.
Don't settle for less even if it means more work. Taking a little longer to generate nice data is better than trying to analyse suboptimal data. Time spent preparing the experiments and controlling variables will lead to more certainty in a conclusion in the long run 
If you are not enjoying/comfortable with a part of your project, please talk to your supervisor. You might be able to make changes! Talk to your student coordinator, advisory committee or other post-docs/mentors for additional support on your project and research journey.
Usually, we perform experiments to achieve our aims of the project and then look at the results we have obtained and see if we can make a ‘story’ out of it for a journal publication. 
Try to publish the results from your project to share your hard work 
With writing papers, it can be useful to make the figures first. 
These may be a bit time-consuming, but once they are ready, it is much easier to visualise your research and write the rest of the paper!
With writing papers, it can be useful to make the figures first. These may be a bit time-consuming, but once they are ready, it is much easier to visualise your research and write the rest of the paper!
Your university may offer a lot of resources for research students, like appointments with the Statistics Consulting Centre, and workshops and competitions that help develop other skills like 3MT and Visualise Your Thesis that are really useful to get involved in 
Ultimately, try to stay positive throughout the research journey. 
Remember that you’re not alone. Talk to your friends, family, and colleagues for support. Sharing your journey can boost your motivation! There is a light at the end of the tunnel and you’ll get there! 
Remember that you’re not alone. Talk to your friends, family, and colleagues for support. Sharing your journey can boost your motivation! There is a light at the end of the tunnel and you’ll get there!
Thanks to our brilliant PhD candidates @adakoo126 @xinyichaitea @TessColes @MitchellRinguet for these practical tips!
Do you have any advice for incoming research students?
Do you have any advice for incoming research students?
