How to Candidacy: Detailed Guide to Pass the PhD Candidacy Exam
About this ebook
What is Candidacy?
Six-week formal exam required by the graduate school
Advisor or committee chooses a topic
Typically not something you have worked on
But good for you to know
Deliverables: 20-page paper (at the end of four weeks) + Talk (at the end of six weeks)
If You Are a First-year Graduate Student
Focus on finding a good PhD advisor. Now is your time to do this part right. Finding the right fit for a research group and advisor will save you much trouble later. And by that, I mean you might have a chance to actually graduate with your degree if you do this.
If You Are a Second-year Graduate Student
Hopefully, you have found a good PhD advisor. If not, keep looking or get out of the program! There are plenty of other things you can be doing. A PhD is not worth doing unless you have found a good match for a PhD advisor. And, usually, you take the candidacy exam with the professor you hope to get your PhD from so... don't worry about candidacy until you have found your match.
Your Committee
Candidacy is also when you get to form your PhD committee. The committee usually comprises
four professors as follows:
Advisor: you choose this person (say experimentalist)
In-field experimentalist: advisor recommends this person
In-field theorist: advisor recommends this person
Out-of-field professor: you choose this person
When You Get Your Topic
Once you get the topic, remember that you are not alone! I was freaking out when I first saw my
topic in a formal letter from my advisor. I felt I did not know much about it at all. So, if you are freaking out about your topic, you are not alone.
Find the Local Expert!!
Your candidacy topic is not something you have worked on directly, but someone else in the
department probably has. Find that person!
Ask around if needed. There has to be a professor, or a postdoc, or a senior graduate student... Someone that will know the literature on this topic way better than you.
Meet with the local expert, take their suggestions on what papers you should be reading, and START there. Don't start on your own.
Start by following their suggestions. This will save you time!
Start working on your paper on week one.
You will read a LOT during candidacy but everything you read will be NEW. Something you read during week one, you might forget during week two. So, write it down!
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About the author
"By mentally limiting the time of your PhD and thinking of it as a very finite, short amount of time, you will achieve more."
Oindree Banerjee is the author of the best-selling book "How to PhD: The Graduate School Handbook" which is a step-by-step graduate school guide and self-help book complete with everything you need to know to succeed at all stages of your PhD from applying to graduate schools to successfully finishing the degree.
How to PhD includes the FOUR STEPS that you can take for guaranteed and speedy graduation. This book is designed to help you get OUT with your degree ASAP.
I completed my PhD in physics from (The) Ohio State University in August 2018. I did it in exactly five years, including my master's. So, I have spent 4 (Bachelor's) + 5 (Master's + PhD) = 9 years in academia doing classes, teaching, and research. This gave me an opportunity to learn all about the shenanigans of academia while being deeply in love with physics and research.
Currently, my day job comprises consulting in the aerospace industry. In my free time, I love hanging out with family and close friends, eating, watching movies, and writing.
I am passionate about helping students finish their PhDs and transition into rewarding careers outside of academia.
After spending nearly ten years in academia, I decided to convert the lessons learned and experiences lived into a series of books to help students navigate school and career. I really hope you take the utmost advantage of the experiences I share here and use it to succeed at every step as a student and researcher.
