Cross check, mate!

“I was quite nervous on the day of my defense. I woke up early, got myself a badly needed haircut and for the first time in ages, put on my formals. When I arrived for my defense my professors were surprised I even owned a pair of trousers!

In my second paper, which was single-authored, I had used a result deduced by one of the stalwarts in my field. There was a small step in that paper which my advisor told me to cross-check but, partly because of the reputation of the author, I had not. That paper went in my thesis. During revision of my paper for submission to a journal, I realised that the step I had omitted to cross check was wrong. It invalidated my thesis! It was a moment of panic. I thought my PhD was about to go up in flames before my eyes. I brainstormed with my advisor for hours but to no avail. Later that evening, an idea struck me and it worked. I corrected my thesis. It is scary to think what would have happened if it had not worked! I was still worried about any further mistakes in my thesis and this is what made me so nervous that morning. But thankfully my defense went smoothly and I was awarded the doctorate degree. Lesson learnt: cross-check even the trivial-looking steps that you use and don’t trust papers by the reputation of their authors.

My PhD journey was not smooth sailing though. My project required a certain mathematical background which I did not have. Instead of seeking help from my advisor who was very patient and helpful, I tried to acquire the background on my own. But without a proper roadmap, progress was slow and made me frustrated often. I had high expectations and a low tolerance for frustration. So whenever I was stuck in my project, I indulged in escapism, wasting hours on social media.

It was the pressure to finish up and get my degree that eventually brought me back on track. My advisor also realised that he should not cut me any more slack! Another thing that helped was the arrival of a young Professor in the same field, who quickly became a friend and something of a mentor figure to me. I was comfortable discussing my problems with him and those discussions, despite being casual, helped immensely. I might have left physics if he had not been around.”

- Nirmalya Kajuri, PhD in Physics, Chennai Mathematical Institute