I always wanted to write but where do I start? I don’t know if I can call it a ‘writer’s block’ because I haven’t even started writing yet. Being a researcher and a Professor, I do write scientific articles which are read by a small group of people, specializing in my area of research. When I say “I haven’t started writing yet”, I refer to writing contents that would cater to a general audience on a topic not too specialized for the laymen to read. Now, you might think less than 1% of the population holds a PhD (discounting the fake ones and honorary titles), and by choosing to write on a series of articles on ‘navigating the PhD’, I am still writing on a specialized topic. Writing for 0.01% of the population (specialized in my area of research) to 2% (students who are interested in pursuing a PhD) is a significantly huge leap, bearing in mind the total population is 7.8 billion (as of 2020)!

There are many reasons why I kept procrastinating and I had my own justifications for it. I started disproving my prejudiced justifications as I became increasingly guilty over the years of my procrastination. I give three of the justifications that I had, what I discovered over time and how I disproved them.

Justification for Procrastination 1: If I write, it has to be a masterpiece!

I had several topics in mind and my obsession with making a perfect piece stood in my way. Out of some inspiration, I would think of a topic, say “The true measure of success”, start thinking about the topic, and try to come up with at least 10 sub-topics to write, with a ‘greater aim’ of publishing a book! It is good to aim high and think big but don’t let lofty thoughts stop you from starting anything!

Two things I did to disprove myself of this justification:

One, I changed my reading pattern. I used to only read masterpieces, sometime the same book over and over again (All of Agatha Christie’s 66 novels and 4 short-story collections, “Kambaramayanam” and Kalki’s “Ponniyin Selvan” in Tamil, to name a few!). I started reading short articles which are both inspiring and informative, and works of new authors whom I have never heard of! I learnt two things out of it, writing a short article is fine as long as it is inspiring and/or informative and even a lousy article might have a couple of useful points.

Two, I started reading the critical reviews of literary works by famous authors. I understood making a masterpiece doesn’t rest solely with the writer but also the readers. Such a conflict between readers in their opinion of a literary work, some go deeply behind the logic and miss enjoying the fantasy, others too engrossed in the fantasy that they fail to grasp the underlying moral/principles/value and many others genuinely pointing out the flaws (constructive criticism?) and others gently condone the misgivings.

“It is good to aim high and think big but don’t let lofty thoughts stop you from starting anything!” - Vijayavenkataraman Sanjairaj

Justification for Procrastination 2: Assuming others already know!

I always have a feeling that everybody knows everything! I know that’s just my assumption but it was such a stronghold for me to overcome! I had a Mathematics lecturer in the first semester of my undergraduate Engineering course. She was such a brilliant mathematician! The only concern that many of the students in the class had was she skipped steps when solving complex problems! Most of the students struggled to understand what’s going on! There was a teaching pattern in her class which I started observing in detail. She would start solving a problem and before she completes the first step, the first-benchers (I was a first-bencher right from my Kindergarten to PhD but do not belong to this category of first-benchers ) would either start dictating the second step, or ask doubts in the third step, and worst-of-all would give the answer! Over time, the lecturer assumed solving all the steps explicitly would bore the students out (No, I’m not talking about the Boredom boreout syndrome!), which is not true.

I didn’t want to repeat the same mistake of my lecturer in assuming that the others already knew and decided even if one person would take away something out of it, I must write, even if that something might be taking inspiration of how not to write (highly probable )!

Justification for Procrastination 3: What if I couldn’t continue / complete?

I hate unfinished works and incomplete tasks! Even before I start writing, the thought of not being consistent will start haunting me! This is again very much related to justification 1 of aiming for a masterpiece! It is good to plan things well in advance and sticking religiously to the plan but remember there will be times of uncertainty. I told myself that it is absolutely fine to excuse myself and it is definitely better than procrastination! ‘Achievement depression’ is what I would call it, with my definition of the term being “the depression arising out of the very thought of achieving something in perfection that would prevent one from achieving it’. I am not talking about the ‘post-achievement depression’ or what some call the ‘arrival fallacy’! Psychologists, please help me out with the right terms!

I started breaking down the big picture / aim / goal into tasks and each task as a small goal (instead of considering it as a milestone). To give the right analogy, I stopped being anxious about writing a whole book. I started considering each chapter a stand-alone article and not as a chapter in a book (which will bring in the depression of completing the other chapters so as to complete the whole book!). Little drops of water make a mighty ocean! I might end up with as little as one drop, a glass of water, or a pond, but as long as that little drop of water will quench part of someone’s thirst, it is worth it!

Now, I come at last to the real ‘preface’ of this series of articles! I had many students ask me about the PhD, if it is worth pursuing, how to select a university, what to look for in a research group, career path in academia or industry and surviving the PhD ordeal! Since I had answered hundreds of them already, I thought that’s the first topic that I would want to write about. It might seem very obvious to some while others might find it extremely useful but I would pen down in each of the articles in this series what my thoughts are, from my experience in interacting with a lot of students, ranging from aspiring undergraduate students, both successful and struggling PhD students, and most-importantly the highly ambiguous PhinisheD ones!

I share below the rough plan of the article series:

Article 1 – Preface – Completed (Oh, the joy of marking something done!)

Article 2 – Is PhD worth pursuing?

Article 3 – The flip side of doing a PhD

Article 4 – Is PhD for me? Personalizing PhD

Article 5 – Which Country should I go?

Article 6 – Which University should I choose?

Article 7 – Choosing the right Professor!

Article 8 – Choosing the right thesis topic!

Article 9 – How do I start?

Article 10 – Planning to fail failing!

Article 11 – Expect the unexpected!

Article 12 – Smartly hard-work and not hardly smart-work!

Article 13 – Academia or Industry

Article 14 – Gloria Academia

Article 15 – PhD holders in industry?

Article 16 – Develop transferable skills

Article 17 – Mid-(PhD)life crisis

Article 18 – End of (dark?) days

Article 19 – PhinisheD – Now What?

Article 20 – A new beginning!

Dated: 1 January 2021

I was fortunate to be part of the Fall 2021 cohort of the Global Inclusive Leadership and Management Institute (GILMI). It was a reading-intensive, discussion-heavy, and a highly self-reflective program. The topics covered were broad and deep, such as Inclusive Leadership and Spheres of Influence, Power and Influence in Leadership, Implicit Bias, Leadership Styles, Leadership Agility, Workplace Culture of Inclusion and Organizational Transformation. Case studies discussed during the sessions, embellished with perspectives from the diverse participants, was insightful.

“The 6 C’s of Inclusive Leadership” gave an objective framework for self-reflection and is my personal favorite. I highly encourage my peers to read and do self-reflection on the 6 C’s. Each of the C’s require taking efforts and risks but eventually will lead to diverse and inclusive workplace culture – a catalyst for productivity, creativity, and innovation! Another useful resource that I was introduced to: NYU STARS (Strategic Techniques for Administrative Recruitment Success), with practical tips to follow during different phases of the recruitment, will be a good resource for faculties.

Dated: 10th Dec 2021

The first time I entered those big gates was 15 years ago – as a wide-eyed country boy from a small town! With lofty ambitions and lot of dreams, fresh out of high school having passed with flying colors, I entered those gates for the Engineering Admissions. I chose the very school, the historic College of Engineering Guindy to do my undergraduate engineering education. And as they cliché, the rest is history!

Little did I know that I will enter the same gates to deliver a keynote talk and the same gates will witness a banner bearing my name and photo, welcoming back a proud alumnus!

The 4 years that I spent on this campus played a huge role in making me who I am today! Every road and building on the campus, as I walked around, gave me vivid memories of those 4 years. I loved walking down the memory lane, cherishing and reliving some of those precious moments, thanking the Almighty for His grace!

I presented a Keynote address in the International Conference of Materials, Design and Manufacturing Process, jointly organized by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University Chennai and AU-FRG Institute for CAD/CAM. Being welcomed with a shawl at the airport, chauffeured around with friendly students throughout the conference, the many curious questions after the talk and the deep discussions with faculty and students – energized me and motivates me to do more!

Words are not enough to express my joy being there! It was an absolute pleasure to share my knowledge to the CEG community as a small token of gratitude to my alma mater. I hope to give back more to the CEG community, Tamilnadu and the Indian student community in the future!

Dated: 25th Feb 2023

Over the last semester, I have been part of the first cohort of the International Program for the Scholarship of Educational Leadership at New York University Abu Dhabi. The program is offered by The University of British Columbia in partnership with the Hillary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning.

I am an experimentalist, an engineer and a scientist. Most of the methods of inquiry we follow in our disciplines are very different from what I learnt in the Scholarship of Educational Leadership (SoEL) Inquiry, Methodology and Methods. While the concepts of research design, analysis and dissemination are quite common to various fields within academia, the methodology and methods are very different. While qualitative research was something that baffled me as an engineer bent on quantitative measurements, it was interesting to learn how qualitative research is done.

Not many engineering faculty do pedagogical research but the benefits of involving in engineering education as a discipline is not only fascinating but feels meaningful to me as it can be a tool to influence changes in the engineering curriculum for better! That said, I hope to dedicate at least a minimal time within the already constrained schedule to read about pedagogical research in engineering, think, discuss, involve and eventually lead some projects in this area in the years to come.

Thanks to Nancy Gleason for organizing this program, Harry Hubball from UBC for leading this program and my faculty colleagues from other divisions who were part of the cohort, who all made this program a very enriching experience!

P.S: I am surprised that paper certificates still fascinate me!

Dated: 25th Mar 2023

It’s been more than 2 years since I traveled to the US. The 14-hour long flight from Abu Dhabi to

JFK, New York was really long but gave a lot of time for reflection. I managed to read, review and edit a couple of manuscripts that we are writing. I am also currently reading “A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution” by Jennifer Doudna (the Nobel prize-winning

biologist) and Samuel Sternberg, I had read a couple of chapters during the flight.

To break the monotonous reading chain, I managed to watch a movie in the flight, “A Man Called Otto”. A very touching movie! It is the story of a widower who went through loss and tragedy, his perfectionism having isolated him from the community, trying to end his life and how a new family that moves in changed his world upside down. I love the way the characters were portrayed in the movie, many things to learn and unlearn. As I was pondering over the psychology of persons and how life can completely turn over with small changes in perspectives – I walked to the end of the flight to stretch.

Sipping a cup of coffee, I met a complete stranger, an American lady, in her late sixties or early seventies. What started with a smile ended up in a two-hour long conversation. She was a single mother who raised four kids single-handedly. She was sharing her life experiences of how she worked odd jobs, multiple jobs to raise the kids and now all four kids finished their college education. I come from humble beginnings, I can relate to a lot of what we went through as a family, getting my education and becoming who I am now.

Life is a journey! The journey is as important as the destination. The journey may be fraught with trials, highs and lows, thorns and roses. Whatever life throws at you, face it, learn and unlearn, maintain your inner peace, remain grounded and keep moving on. You can never be a loser if you move on.

Are you going through a tough time in life, family, career? Do not lose hope! Life is full of surprises and the best is yet to come.

Date: 20th Apr 2023

It's been quite sometime since I posted anything on LinkedIn. A lot of good things happened in the past few months

- I was inducted as a Fellow of International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) #sweden in recognition of my contribution to “Biomedical Engineering and Technology”

- I was also featured for the third year in a row on the “Top 2% Scientists” list, published by Elsevier by a researcher from Stanford University. I was ranked #65 within the field of #biomedicalengineering globally in 2023, happy to see that I moved up the ranking from #94 within the field of #biomedicalengineering globally in 2022

- Published a few journal articles, one I am particularly proud of (more on it in another post later)

But this post is for something different. Over the past couple of years (yes, years!), I was working on writing a few short stories in #tamil which is my native language, my mother tongue!

Being an academic and especially as a junior faculty, time is a luxury, given the myriad responsibilities including #research, #teaching, #mentoring, #service #teammanagement, #budgetmanagement and then some! And no wonder it took me more than 2 years to write these 12 short stories, written at various times of the day on many weekends, over vacations and when on flights (when I am done with the research papers, of course :p).

The book is now complete and is published by Notion Press and available on various platforms including Amazon and Flipkart.

Special thanks to my family, especially my little one for allowing to steal some time from her 'quality time with her Appa (dad in Tamil and that's me!)', without which this book would not come to be!

Details of the book and the link below!

Corona Kathaigal

Forgetfulness is the boon and bane of mankind. This is my first tamil book of 12 short stories - an attempt to chronicle things that were seen, heard, read, experienced and lived during the (Corona) Pandemic to etch some of the memories in the pages of history.

கொரோனா கதைகள் : இந்தத் தலைமுறையின் மறக்க முடியா வருடங்களில் சிலரின் வாழ்வு

மறதி மனித குலத்தின் மிகப்பெரிய வரம்; மிகப்பெரிய சாபமும் மறதி தான். கொரோனா காலங்களில் பார்த்த, படித்த, கேட்ட, அனுபவித்த, வாழ்ந்த பல அனுபங்களில் சிலவற்றையாவது வரலாற்றின் ஒரு சிறு பக்கத்தில் கிறுக்கியாவது வைத்துவிட வேண்டும் என்ற மடமையின் வெளிப்பாடு தான் இந்த என் முதல் தமிழ் சிறுகதைப் புத்தகம்.

Available on Notion Press: https://lnkd.in/dRhvQXaU

Available on Amazon: https://lnkd.in/dWBnzhJP

All my #tamil connections, sharing your thoughts will definitely encourage me to do more!

Date: 21st Feb 2024

Random thoughts 2…

As I was walking to my office from home this morning, a lot of thoughts flashed across my mind, like many other days. Many people hate this answer, ‘it depends’ for any question. But many of us do not realize that ‘it depends’ is not so much a diplomatic answer but a deep truth, if you reflect or choose to reflect deeply. Think about a few questions in life, from what seems a very trivial question to what seems life-changing questions (or decisions):

What do I eat this morning? ‘It depends’ (If you are a diabetic, no sugar diet; if you are on medication, food that suits your medication; if you had a very heavy dinner, probably a very light breakfast – it depends)

What do I wear today? ‘It depends’ (I have an interview where I am expected to be in formals; it’s ethnic day, so it’s ethnic wear; I am going to the beach, so beachwear – it depends)

Is this the right person to marry? ‘It depends’ (I don’t think I have to say more :p)

Is having two children the right thing to do? ‘It depends’

Which school/curriculum do I put my child in? ‘It depends’

Is PhD worth pursuing? ‘It depends’ (As a Professor myself, I can’t avoid this question!)

Is academia the right job for me? ‘It depends’

I gave a few examples from what seems a very trivial question to what seems life-changing questions and as you can see, ‘it depends’ is the right answer.

The problem with the world today is many of us think there is only one right answer to a question!

Which religion I must follow? (I don’t think I have to explain the consequences of what happens when somebody thinks there is only one right answer)

Which School/University I must study? (People who think there is only one right answer end up discriminating people based on the university from which one graduates for jobs, be it academia or industry, not taking into account the personal achievements/profile – inherent bias)

Which political party that I must support? (Again, I don’t have to explain the consequences of thinking there is only one right answer)

And so on.

One might wonder, is ‘it depends’ the only right answer to most questions in life? The answer is, obviously, no! There are certain undeniably black and white answers to many significant questions:

Can I kill somebody in the name of ‘anything’? No! (There is no ‘it depends’)

Should I help somebody? Absolutely Yes! (Even if it is somebody who hurt you in the past or whom you know will hurt you in the future, to me, no matter who, the answer is a resounding yes!)

Why did I write all these things? What’s the point?

I just want to encourage you ‘to be yourself’.

You might not earn as much as your friend from high school – but that’s fine. Because what is good for each of you? ‘It depends’.

You might have done your PhD together; you might still be a postdoc but your lab buddy could have become a faculty in the same university in which you are still a postdoc. Don’t worry, there’s no perfect career path – the answer could be ‘it depends’.

Come out of the stereotypical ‘one right answer’ mind set. The ‘right answer’ for many of the life-changing questions can be ‘it depends’. Carve your own path! Work towards your own future! Be original! Be you!

 Dated: 26th Feb 2024

Yesterday was the Candidate Weekend for Graduate Students at New York University. For those who are new to this concept, many universities bring in potential candidates who have applied and are being considered (normally after extensive shortlisting) to the university for a couple of days to give more information about the university, the program, the faculty, the research and to give them an experience of the place where they might be living for 4+ years.

One of the often-asked questions from the applicants was about the number of publications. Worded differently, the question was all about, “How many papers am I expected to publish for graduation?” And the typical response would be, “it depends”. Yes, it depends on the field, sub-field, area of research, and venues of publication. But I still feel academia is missing out on something very significant.

One of my candidates asked me the same question. And this is what I replied:

“Publications are important but they should not be considered as the end goal of research or a PhD. It is the journey that is important, the experience, the learning and most of all, the curiosity of the researcher to understand things that was not well-understood or misunderstood or no attempts were made in the past to understand. Publications are by-products of this journey of understanding. The greatest irony in academia these days is that the publications are being considered the end goal of the research and the researchers (especially graduate students) miss out on the experience. As long as you have the curiosity to explore and understand things in depth, publications will come along, definitely.”

And this is not a reason for not publishing papers. To balance things out, this does not mean those who publish only one or two papers per year are solid researchers and those who publish more are superficial researchers. And it is also not true that those who publish only one or two papers per year are not productive and those who publish more are productive. It is the impact that matters. The only thing to make sure is to see that your curiosity is not quenched!

Dated: 4th March 2024

I was reflecting on the word ‘trust’ and its relevance these days. If there is one quality that the world has lost among many others, it is ‘trust’. ‘Trust’ has become an ‘endangered species’.

A few years ago, when I was conversing with one of the faculty, he shared an interesting anecdote from his life. When he was in the final year of his PhD in the US, as any other student would do, he was looking for jobs. He was called for an interview in another US university for a position. During the interview, he had informed that his PhD defense is scheduled on such and such a date. They called him after a few weeks and asked over phone if his PhD defense is complete. When he said yes, they sent him an offer letter. They did not ask for the completion certificate or proof of completion. Of course, he would submit his transcripts or degree certs later during the HR process or post-joining formalities. The point here is the ‘trust’ people had. He is now retired and so I am talking about a few decades before.

Look at where we are now. We are so corrupted that we need to certify and validate everything! Words have become worthless and of no value. There is a phrase in the Bible, ‘salt covenant’. What does that mean? Pure unadulterated salt can never lose its saltiness. It can be diluted but it can never lose its saltiness. Words, promises and covenants are supposed to be long-lasting and enduring. Unfortunately, the world has lost that precious value of ‘trust’.

Think of your daily activities. You will realize what I am talking about.

Food – we are so paranoid of processed foods and packaged foods because we can’t trust the manufacturers; we don’t know what chemical goes in and what effects will it have.

Housing – almost all regions in the world make some form of written agreements for leasing or renting. While it might be for other reasons such as taxation, the main reason is to have legal protection if the contract is not honored.

Marriage – ever heard of prenuptial agreements? Not a very nice way to start as sacred a relationship such as marriage with no trust!

Media and News – ufff!

And I can go on…

With elections round the corner in many countries, what ‘trust’ do we really have on the leaders and political parties, if we have?

It does affect the economy. How much zillions of dollars are we spending because of lack of trust? How many job roles (document checking, stamping, etc.) can be eliminated if there was trust in the first place and create more ‘meaningful’ jobs instead?

A world with complete ‘trust’ maybe a utopian dream but let us strive to be ‘trustworthy’ individuals in our personal lives – it will bring a sea of change around us! Yes, you might be cheated, you might be taken advantage of for being ‘trustworthy’ – continue to be ‘trustworthy’ no matter what – you will have no regrets whatsoever later!

Dated: 27th March 2024

Today marks an important milestone in my academic career.

It feels like I just interviewed Susheem and Jiarui for a PhD position at The Vijay Lab, New York University Abu Dhabi but it was early 2020. Little did we know that a pandemic was looming large at our doorsteps. They started their PhD journey with the unforeseen challenges caused by the pandemic – right from US visa delays, online classes, and social isolation while in New York doing their first-year coursework at Tandon School of Engineering, New York University.

Four years had passed since and today my first PhD students successfully defended their dissertation, graduating as Dr Susheem Kanwar and Dr Jiarui Zhou.

Susheem has a master’s degree from Delhi Technological University and bachelor’s from Manipal University Jaipur, both in Mechanical Engineering. He worked on novel scaffold designs for bone tissue engineering, magnetic nanocomposite multi-functional scaffolds for bone regeneration and cancer management for his PhD. Susheem graduates with four publications in peer-reviewed international journals, in three of which he is the first-author, two more in pipeline, and three international conference presentations in Singapore, UK, and US including TERMIS.

Jiarui has an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a special track in micro/nano area from Columbia University and B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Nottingham. He worked on 3D-Printed conductive drug-eluting Nerve Guide Conduits for peripheral nerve regeneration in long nerve gap injuries. Jiarui graduates with four publications in peer-reviewed international journals, in two of which he is the first-author, three more in pipeline, one filed patent and two international conference presentations in Singapore and Hong Kong including TERMIS.

Despite all the challenges posed by the pandemic, the long lead-time of procuring research materials in Abu Dhabi, and the steep learning curve of diving into a new field, they did incredibly well! I am extremely proud of you!

As the first two PhD students graduating from my lab, this is a super proud and emotional moment for me. You guys are literally the first shoots of my academic family tree.

Looking forward to seeing you do great things! Congratulations and all the best, Dr Jiarui and Dr Susheem!

Dated: 20th June 2024

I took a taxi a few days ago. As the taxi was cruising, there was a self-driving or driver-less taxi coming the other way. The taxi driver just glanced at the driverless taxi and I felt that’s not just a glance. I was thinking how many thoughts would have rushed through his mind? Would he have thought about his kids who are being educated in his home country? Would he have thought about his aged parents? Would he have thought about his wife who is toiling back home taking care of the family alone? Would he have thought about the house that he just started constructing? Bundle of emotions just overwhelmed me just at his glance on the driverless taxi.

How are we as a society prepared for the tech takeover? Are we upskilling people? Or we just let the divide between haves and have nots grow wider?

It’s not just about people losing jobs, it’s about the fabric of the society getting disrupted. We are living in an age of acute social isolation. We talk about global connectivity through technology but acutely isolated personally. There are many studies that talk about the effects of social isolation on individuals, families, and society. Not to mention the ill effects of screen addiction. Ironically, even this post is digital on a social media platform and those of you who read it, read it on your screens.

During my recent trip to the US, I was in one of the Target stores in downtown Seattle. I picked up a few things and was about to bill and pay using the self-check-out machine. A worker in the store came by. She was in her late 50s. She was of Chinese origin but born and brought up in the US. She greeted me with a warm smile and a pleasant ‘Good morning’. She asked if I needed any help. I said, ‘Thank you mam, I can manage’. Then she asked where I was from, how long would I be staying in Washington, etc. She talked about how her daughter lives in a small studio in New York but she prefers staying in Seattle. She also said food in New York is best and she loves the China town in NYC. It was just a 5-minute conversation and at the end of it, she said, ‘Thank you sir, you made my day!’. What did I do to be thanked? Nothing! I just conversed.

With the advent of technology, we are losing human connections. When I was young, I heard from my grandparents about ‘train relationships’. For those of you who have not heard of the term, these are relationships that blossomed in a single train journey. Train journeys were very common those days. People who share the neighboring seats or the same compartment, many times, become good friends, exchange their phone numbers and addresses, inviting them over for family functions later and it would become life-long relationships. We have already lost those connections because most of us are glued to our mobile phones all the time, irrespective of where we are and whatever be the mode of transport.

Airports are becoming tech-savvy with self-check-in kiosks, supermarkets are equipped with self-check-out machines. Tech is very useful, there is no denying that fact! Being a techie and researcher myself, I know the value of technology and the impact it has had on the world positively. But there are negative sides to it and most of us are unaware of how it had already impacted our lives. Many do not even realize that they are socially isolated, many do not realize they do not have any personal meaningful relationships with people (but they have huge following on social media!), many do not know why they are depressed.

Use technology for your benefit, do not let the technologies and gadgets use you! Some have crossed the line of being used and have surrendered themselves to be misused and abused by technologies and gadgets.

Build meaningful trustworthy relationships.

Spend time with your family.

Keep your phones away for some time during the day.

Read books with your children.

Yes, humans are imperfect and many times difficult to deal with but tech can never replace the human touch!

Dated: 29th August 2024

Due to popular demand, I have re-published my book titled "Navigating PhD" through Notion Press for the Indian students. Since books ordered through Amazon are shipped from the US, many students in India wrote to me that the shipping cost is very high and if there is any other way to get the book in India. I have taken some time during the summer to re-publish it through a publisher in India for easy access.

What started as a series of posts on this platform eventually became a book. I had many students ask me about PhD, if it is worth pursuing, how to select a university, what to look for in a research group, career path in academia or industry and surviving the PhD ordeal! Since I had answered hundreds of them already, I thought that’s the first topic that I would want to write about. It might seem very obvious to some while others might find it extremely useful but I would pen down in each of the chapters what my thoughts are, from my experience in interacting with a lot of students, ranging from aspiring undergraduate students, both successful and struggling PhD students, and most-importantly the highly ambiguous PhinisheD ones!

The chapters in this book not only just focuses on a set of objective things to look for when you decide on your graduate studies but also is filled with lot of practical things to consider, which I personally felt nobody told me about! Had I known these things before I decided on my graduate studies, I would have been more careful!

I hope the contents of this book would be useful, in one way or the other to you – at least serve as an example of how not to write a book!

I hope I will earn the privilege of your time!

I have had many heart-warming feedback from my readers. A few of them I give below:

"As I was going through your website, I found that you have written a book about navigating PhD. I decided to read it as I have many unanswered questions about pursuing a PhD. It gave me great insight into all the different things I need to consider before making such a big decision..."

- Recent MS graduate from UK, April 11, 2023

"Hi Prof. Vijay, I'm currently in the States pursuing my masters thesis and seriously considering applying to a PhD program this year. And bought your book!... I already devoured the first 8 chapters and was particularly interested about your point about considering intrinsic and internal values, super grateful and highly relevant for many of the thoughts, concerns, and anxieties that I have thinking through for the past few months regarding this decision. Very grateful that you took the time and energy to share your experiences and views with students like me :)"

- Current MS student from US, Nov 17, 2022

For a writer, these feedbacks are the bloodline of enthusiasm motivating to write more! And I will!

Please do share your feedback if you happen to read my book!

If you are a student in India considering PhD, if you feel this book would help, you can buy at the below links:

@Notion Press https://notionpress.com/read/navigating-phd

@Amazon.in https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0DFLVMXYB

@Flipkart https://www.flipkart.com/navigating-phd/p/itmdabdc626bc596?pid=9798895447376&affid=editornoti

Dated: 3rd September 2024