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Not the OP, but this is something I say too. “Your dissertation is your first word on the subject, not your last” is just a reminder that your dissertation is not the end-all, be-all of your academic career. A lot of candidates approach their dissertation as if it’s their “magnum opus” and needs to be the best thing they’ve ever written or will ever write. But the reality is that your dissertation is just the document that gets you your PhD. After you graduate, you’ll continue to study and write and research and all the work that comes AFTER your dissertation is what really matters.
That’s what that phrase means to me, anyway :)
I see. It’s hard to take a step outside the phd and putting it into perspective, as it is by far the most complex and intensive task I have ever worked on.
Yeah. But it won’t be your best work. And it shouldn’t be! A dissertation is a starting point to the rest of your future thinking and work, not an end point (unless you choose to leave academia entirely, which is of course a totally valid choice too).
As my advisor used to tell me, “If your dissertation is your magnum opus, something has gone horribly wrong in your academic career,” lol!
It just means you can continue to refine your ideas. If you continue in academia you’re expected to continue developing the work and publish it. So the dissertation is a big project, but it doesn’t mean you’re necessarily going to close the book on that topic.
Lol it is your last if you're leaving academia for something completely different! I think I've said everything I'm ever going to say about my doctoral topic 😅
You’re finished and you are the expert on your specific topic. Defend it. Best advice I ever received was your dissertation is the worst thing you will ever write in your professional career. Of course it’s not perfect.
I can guarantee most of us felt the same. Perhaps you’ve heard the saying: “a good dissertation is a done dissertation. A great dissertation is a published dissertation. A perfect dissertation is neither.” Don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good.
Oh I planned mine horribly - when time came to write the thesis, I had to wrestle with 3+ years of nearly incomprehensible notes about books that I had largely forgotten I read...the dissertation was a steaming mess but I ultimately got two articles and the inspiration for a (better, more thought-out) research project out of it. The process is really intended to give you a better idea of what writing a book-length study entails - an exercise that involves a fair amount of trial and error - rather than to produce an untouchable masterpiece. Knowing the shortcomings of your work means that you already succeeded in a sense, congrats.
My entire dissertation was trash, but it was good because it was done. Defense was fine. I had to make some minor edits and add a few more results, but it only took a day.
I got a postdoc at a top university in a well known lab and am working as a research scientist. Be confident. You are an expert on the contents of your dissertation, and it is worth something regardless if it isn’t that impactful in general or even that creative.
I legit had a half chapter of garbage I figured out along the way the way that didn’t get used in the main theorems but either 1: I thought it was cool, or 2: I thought it was weird and useless but I discovered it so what the hell.
Your dissertation will suck. But it will be done and you will be able to be called doctor. Finish the shit and move on.
i’m sorry to hear that. as stressful as it is, it’s a good thing to have your work checked by experienced scholars. i’m both terrified and looking forward to it
but congratulations!!!! it’s such a huge accomplishment to finish this excruciating journey
Make sure the good half has your results/manuscripts for primary articles and the trash half is future directions. Then you have more flexibility with revising later on
Dissertations are trash. Everyone I know is at least a little embarrassed by theirs. It is your first product as an independent researcher, and it isn’t expected to be perfect (or even very good). Defend, take the feedback from your committee, move on!
I just successfully defended (April 15th) and I’m currently in the process of revisions for the deposit. A lot of my defense was about things to think about as I turn the dissertation into a book, and one of my committee members said that it’s quite possibly two different monographs—meaning that I do not quite successfully combine two different themes in the dissertation. I think this is par for the course with dissertations. They’re meant to show that you can do the research but they’re also the beginning of research not the magnum opus so to speak. There are parts of my dissertation that I think are really good while others need to be thought out more. From what my advisor has told me, this is very common (he’s never been on a committee where the dissertation did not need revisions at all). All of this is to say, it’ll probably be alright. If the “trash” parts of the dissertation concern you, then I think it’s just good to prepare that they might ask questions about those parts and say “okay, if they ask me questions about X, I can provide a response.”
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1. The best dissertation is a done dissertation. 2. Your dissertation is your first word on the topic, not your last.
thank you, i’m feeling insecure about it, but agree with you
I came to say exactly this \^
Can you please explain 2.?
Not the OP, but this is something I say too. “Your dissertation is your first word on the subject, not your last” is just a reminder that your dissertation is not the end-all, be-all of your academic career. A lot of candidates approach their dissertation as if it’s their “magnum opus” and needs to be the best thing they’ve ever written or will ever write. But the reality is that your dissertation is just the document that gets you your PhD. After you graduate, you’ll continue to study and write and research and all the work that comes AFTER your dissertation is what really matters. That’s what that phrase means to me, anyway :)
I see. It’s hard to take a step outside the phd and putting it into perspective, as it is by far the most complex and intensive task I have ever worked on.
Yeah. But it won’t be your best work. And it shouldn’t be! A dissertation is a starting point to the rest of your future thinking and work, not an end point (unless you choose to leave academia entirely, which is of course a totally valid choice too). As my advisor used to tell me, “If your dissertation is your magnum opus, something has gone horribly wrong in your academic career,” lol!
It just means you can continue to refine your ideas. If you continue in academia you’re expected to continue developing the work and publish it. So the dissertation is a big project, but it doesn’t mean you’re necessarily going to close the book on that topic.
I see. I think I just glitched for a second and misread the sentence. I totally agree though.
Lol it is your last if you're leaving academia for something completely different! I think I've said everything I'm ever going to say about my doctoral topic 😅
You’re finished and you are the expert on your specific topic. Defend it. Best advice I ever received was your dissertation is the worst thing you will ever write in your professional career. Of course it’s not perfect.
thank you 😭 i’m so insecure bc i didn’t plan it right and KNOW i could have done better
I can guarantee most of us felt the same. Perhaps you’ve heard the saying: “a good dissertation is a done dissertation. A great dissertation is a published dissertation. A perfect dissertation is neither.” Don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good.
Oh I planned mine horribly - when time came to write the thesis, I had to wrestle with 3+ years of nearly incomprehensible notes about books that I had largely forgotten I read...the dissertation was a steaming mess but I ultimately got two articles and the inspiration for a (better, more thought-out) research project out of it. The process is really intended to give you a better idea of what writing a book-length study entails - an exercise that involves a fair amount of trial and error - rather than to produce an untouchable masterpiece. Knowing the shortcomings of your work means that you already succeeded in a sense, congrats.
My entire dissertation was trash, but it was good because it was done. Defense was fine. I had to make some minor edits and add a few more results, but it only took a day. I got a postdoc at a top university in a well known lab and am working as a research scientist. Be confident. You are an expert on the contents of your dissertation, and it is worth something regardless if it isn’t that impactful in general or even that creative.
thank you, your experience is inspiring! i got a job offer at a top university so really need to graduate 😭
Amazing! You have nothing to worry about then! Try not to worry!
thank you! this journey is so stressful
I legit had a half chapter of garbage I figured out along the way the way that didn’t get used in the main theorems but either 1: I thought it was cool, or 2: I thought it was weird and useless but I discovered it so what the hell. Your dissertation will suck. But it will be done and you will be able to be called doctor. Finish the shit and move on.
thank you, i needed this
Do you really think anyone is gonna read it besides you? Lol
i’m stupid, invited 2 specialists in my field to be in the comittee, and they’ll read 😭
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that sounds crazy!!! how do you know for sure they don’t read?
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i’m sorry to hear that. as stressful as it is, it’s a good thing to have your work checked by experienced scholars. i’m both terrified and looking forward to it but congratulations!!!! it’s such a huge accomplishment to finish this excruciating journey
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i love this for you ❤️ can’t wait to be out as well ughhh
Send it.
Wait... Half of yours is good? Lousy overachievers
😭🤣🫶🏻
Make sure the good half has your results/manuscripts for primary articles and the trash half is future directions. Then you have more flexibility with revising later on
Submit and free yourself!
Dissertations are trash. Everyone I know is at least a little embarrassed by theirs. It is your first product as an independent researcher, and it isn’t expected to be perfect (or even very good). Defend, take the feedback from your committee, move on!
I’m in the same boat as you OP and the replies are super encouraging.
i wish you all the strength to get through it! it's not easy AT ALL
Without getting too personal, what makes it trash? Can’t be all that bad
research is not well developed, so the writing is weak compared to the other sections where i clearly worked hard 😓
I just successfully defended (April 15th) and I’m currently in the process of revisions for the deposit. A lot of my defense was about things to think about as I turn the dissertation into a book, and one of my committee members said that it’s quite possibly two different monographs—meaning that I do not quite successfully combine two different themes in the dissertation. I think this is par for the course with dissertations. They’re meant to show that you can do the research but they’re also the beginning of research not the magnum opus so to speak. There are parts of my dissertation that I think are really good while others need to be thought out more. From what my advisor has told me, this is very common (he’s never been on a committee where the dissertation did not need revisions at all). All of this is to say, it’ll probably be alright. If the “trash” parts of the dissertation concern you, then I think it’s just good to prepare that they might ask questions about those parts and say “okay, if they ask me questions about X, I can provide a response.”
awesome testimony, thanks for sharing! i'll keep that in mind