Finishing a PhD Thesis
----------------------
Andrew Chien, 9/17/2003

So, you have made it to the stretch run, having completed
the hurdles of coursework, qualifying exams, early research
accomplishments, published papers, formulated a thesis project
and are well on your way.  

You are planning to graduate in the next 9-12 months.
Finishing a PhD thesis is a major challenge, and overlaid
on that you will also need to find a job as the next step
in your career as well as publishing some of the major
results of your thesis.

You need to make a concrete plan for the following activities
over the next 9-12 months.

- specific schedule with well-defined milestones for research
  progress
- specific schedule with well-defined milestones for writing
  technical papers and submissions
- specific schedule with target ranges for when exams will be
  scheduled (prelim/final/etc.)
- specific schedule for writing and REVISING the thesis document,
  and for those of you who have need of assistance in writing
  clearly, a plan for how we are going to get the documents to
  be clear and readable.

All of these activities are MAJOR efforts, and none should be
underestimated in their work requirement or difficulty.  Finally,
if we haven't already, we need to have a discussion about job
opportunities, where to apply, and what you will be able to
describe as your research results / accomplishments at the time
you apply and interview.

Please give these topics careful thought, and come with a plan
that you can discuss at your individual meeting with your
advisor.