How To Draw A Timeline To Scale In Confluence

In a previous article I talked near how project management tin can help reduce PhD students' anxieties. Most of my PhD I felt very much confused. Sometimes I could non even say whether I was still in the offset, somewhere in the center or close to the end of it. Therefore, I suggested that supervisors and students should effort to define a tangible objective early on in the doctoral process, and that they should accept regular check-bespeak meetings to adjusts plans in order to go along the student'southward project on rails. I besides mentioned that it is highly important to clarify what the supervisors and students long-term expectations are.

In some other article I talked most Gantt charts, a great project management tool to draw and visualize a projection outline.

Practice y'all see where we're going here? Allow's draw a timeline of your PhD in the shape of a Gantt nautical chart! I know, it's in the championship ;)

In this other commodity most Gantt charts, I explained that in that location are some drawbacks to keep in mind. Indeed, upfront planning techniques like Gantt charts tend to lack flexibility and when things don't piece of work as planned it can really increment the feeling of failure, which is exactly what we want to avoid here.

So, does information technology fifty-fifty make sense to draw a timeline early on in the doctoral process? I believe it does! We can go on the drawbacks of Gantt charts in mind and describe such a timeline if we define guidelines of how to use it.

Case & download
Why describe a timeline?
Guidelines for how to make & use the timeline throughout your PhD

ane. Example & download:

I draw below an case for the institute where I did my PhD: the Plant of Biology at the Academy of Fribourg in Switzerland. Therefore, it is designed for a iv-year PhD plan with annual committee meetings and for students who spend a lot of time performing lab experiments. However, it can be hands adapted to any field or any doctoral programme.

You tin can download for free the Excel file I used to make this timeline by clicking here.

Because I want this to be a general instance but also because information technology is such a long time calibration, I kept the level of item to the minimum to make it flexible and to avert over-planning. The time for each task here is a very rough estimate, information technology is meant to exist adapted to what y'all think is best for you lot or to what is expected in your doctoral plan. Chiefly, the uncertainty level is increasing with time. You don't have to start writing a paper on the 11th month of your third year, maybe you'll start much earlier or much afterward and information technology volition be perfectly fine. This is just a broad overview to help visualize what the primary steps are, but their exact length or when they should get-go will get antiseptic once yous are closer to it.

2. Why draw a timeline?

To draw such a timeline and for information technology to be realistic and useful, you are going to ask very concrete questions, to yourself and to your supervisor, like what are the important steps, what are the milestones (technical milestones for developing a protocol, committee meetings, exams…), what are the risks, do you accept only one project or practice y'all take more, maybe one big risky project and ane smaller safer project, and all other questions which are relevant to you.

Projection direction is effective if concrete questions are openly discussed. If your supervisor doesn't bring up these questions with y'all, it might feel quite scary for you to ask for it. To help you find the courage to and so, I believe that having such a timeline volition provide you a highly visual and attractive medium to foster these discussions.

When I learned about Gantt charts at the beginning of my 2d year of PhD studies, I draw myself such a timeline, only I didn't dare to discuss it with my supervisor. With no surprise things really didn't piece of work out the way I planned information technology. Supervisors by default accept more experience than a inferior PhD student so they should know better what is realistic, what is expected and how much upfront planning tin be done depending on the projection.

3. Guidelines for how to make & use the timeline throughout your PhD:

I propose that y'all draw a starting time version within the first two months of your PhD. But information technology's never too late to start =)
Take my example and adjust it, peradventure you already have a conspicuously divers project, maybe not, maybe you don't need to design a new method, perchance y'all've been included in someone else project with a clear brusk-term objective, possibly you think you should outset drafting a paper earlier, get and arrange information technology to what feels right to yous.
Make certain to go on in heed that this nautical chart is going to modify many times until you graduate, stay flexible. This first timeline should only be an overview of the main steps which you expect in your PhD. It is here to requite a direction, and if used regularly it can give a feeling of moving forward.
Schedule a meeting with your supervisor to talk over this initial timeline (even so within the first two months), ask the maximum of questions, analyze the maximum of points and make sure you both agree.
So whenever needed, go back to it and suit it, peradventure there is a bully collaboration opportunity and for a few months you lot'll exist asked to put your main projection bated and piece of work fully on this collaboration, perchance your new protocol is working great and yous're already getting publishable information, maybe the protocol is not working well and you demand to change strategy, how does it affect your timeline?
Whenever a big change happens or whenever you feel too lost, schedule an extra meeting with your supervisor to specifically talk over the timeline and the long-term objectives. Hopefully it should requite you a feeling of being on a track, even if it's not the commencement one you pictured.
I would suggest having such a word at least every 6 months .

This timeline is now a tool which is going to grow with y'all throughout your PhD. At first information technology is a rough overview of the main steps, if you proceed information technology update with what yous really practice, at the end information technology volition be a true overview of everything y'all've accomplished. Therefore, on top of guiding you through it, it will become a great tool to look back at your PhD experience one time you're finished.

Thanks for reading and I promise these ideas can help you :)

Make sure to read my previous commodity nigh Gantt charts where I explained that it can be used both for long-fourth dimension scale like hither, or on shorter time scale (like two months) with a higher level of detail.

Looking for more reading about project direction for research? Take a look at the resources I made Project Management resources for PhD students and supervisors!

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