Adding Impact to Projects

Taken from Hari Raghavendran (2018A4PS0514P). He has presented 3 papers at conferences in Cambridge, Stanford (top 7 papers at Stanford) and Oxford, and has a publication in Taylor and Francis. He's currently working on an energy-related research project at London Business School.

How do you know what project is right for you?

Firstly, you have to grab whatever opportunity you can when you're finding a project to work on. In most cases, your first project won't suit your interests, but don't worry about that. Pick the project and convince the opportunity provider to modify it such that there is a win-win scenario. Make sure your 1st work is the best work you ever do - it gives you the credibility and confidence to approach other Profs and opportunities in the future.

What is a general procedure to work in a project?

Learn the art of breaking down your project goals into smaller things or modules. Work on individual modules so that there is some continuity and you’re not overwhelmed with information overload. Create a story around your project work, make it as close and tightly-knit as possible. Focus on 1 thing, get into the depths of that thing. For example, here is one project title:

"Techno-Economic Feasibility and Environmental Impact Mitigation Assessment of On-Grid Solar PV Solution for Nano Entrepreneurs in the City of Bangalore"

Let's break this up into simple parts. What are the results? Feasibility and Environmental Impact. For what? On-grid Solar PV. For the purpose of? Nano Entrepreneurs. Where? Bangalore. Such project titles are not something that you may think of right away on the first day of your project but strive towards that level of depth rather than just covering the surface of various topics (Go vertically rather than horizontally).

Finally, how can you make your project work impactful enough?

Keep this point in mind whenever you are compiling your paper or report. People like stories more than results. Convince the reader that what you’re trying to do has a real-life impact or significance towards it. Of course, good results are important for any project work, but what are the implications of these results?

At the same time, your ultimate aim from a project work should not be to get a publication out of it. Work hard on your projects and prepare a sound report, get good results, weave a story out of it and explain how your work can create an impact or solve a problem. If nothing impactful comes out of it, do not worry. At least your learning curve would be exponential and you'll be much more ready for your next project.

General Tips

1. How to apply for conferences - it's simple. Search for conferences on Google, find something which matches your area of work and have realistic deadlines. Apply. If you don't get accepted, no problem. The main point is to try.

2. Do not try a lot of things from various domains. Stick to one area and work on it as much as you can until there's nothing left to explore in that domain.

3. Have the strength to stick to one type of research. Long-term projects having specific work will create more impact than short-term and multiple projects with minimal impact. Don't move into various stuff or get multiple projects in your resumé just for the sake of adding stuff to it.

4. Keep in constant touch with your project supervisors. They are the best people to guide you forward and finally help you in making your final project work into a publication-ready paper if it is worthy of publication.