I am starting my PhD in Chemistry in September. I would like to know what to expect during my first Phd year?

I am also attending my first meeting with my Supervisor end of June and would like to ask what kind of questions shall I ask and how to prepare myself for this first meeting?

Also how shall I prepare myself to start the Phd.

I am very excited but also very nervous.

Thank you so much for your help.

Expect pain. Lots of it.

I have really enjoyed my first year. :-) Not very much pain, to be honest. ;-) (Though I expect that might come yet. :$)

It is really difficult to say what the first year of a PhD is like because it varies so widely. I did a lot of reading and thinking around my subject area and have written most of my literature review. I expect it might be quite different though if you are doing a lab-based PhD though.

I'm not sure if you need to do that much to prepare for your meeting with the supervisor, after all you haven't even started your PhD yet! Maybe do some reading on your topic and have a list of questions and some ideas on how to approach the research? Same for preparing for the PhD - do some preliminary reading, familiarise yourself with some of the key texts (if possible) etc. It might also be useful to keep up-to-date with recent journals (if you have access) and have a look at what conferences are coming up in your research area (I went to a major conference just before I started my PhD and it was a great way of starting the PhD :-)). You can also think about more practical preparations, e.g. what reference manager to use etc.

Good luck and enjoy your PhD! :-)

My first year - I collected together a lot of the literature, I wrote sections/individual essays on each aspect of the literature (which was invaluable as I'm now collating them for the final thing). I also collected some data (but I'm in social sciences).

It was a bit daunting, I spent the first 6 months depressed and not knowing what to do, but it will all click.

I'd make sure you set out key expectations in your first meeting e.g. how much supervision will you be getting? how frequently? will you be set deadlines? how quickly will he get back to you with feedback about your work? what is expected in the first year? etc etc.

I'd prepare yourself by getting to grips with your area as a whole, I'd use the time before sep to understand more about the PhD process e.g. what is a thesis, look at examples in your field (try ethos.bl.uk for this), talk to others in the department if possible (its always useful to have a 'mentor' who isn't your supervisor). Have a look at reference management software e.g. mendeley and find how to use it so you can kick off in september (or beforehand) being organised!

======= Date Modified 17 Jun 2011 02:35:17 =======
"Underwritten rules of PhD research" & "How to get a Phd" also can make a good start.

best wishes.

======= Date Modified 17 Jun 2011 02:34:59 =======
You can start by asking some recommendations on fundamental/core reading materials from your supervisor to get some idea about your topic. I did that and it helped me a lot.