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The Research Block: Time Management in the Research Phase
As of August 2020 I had passed my preliminary examinations at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, in analysis and partial differential equations. In the mindset of many potential advisors, this was the green light to begin working on research with them. Of course, I had to first identify an advisor and a project. While I detail this process more in a different blog post, I want to jump to what happened from a logistical standpoint after I made these important decisions.
In the Fall 2020 semester, I had extra work to do each week as my project initiated, along with one extra meeting per week with my advisors (that typically lasts around 2 hours, sometimes longer). While this quickly became the most exciting part of my weekly routine, my responsibilities on other fronts did not diminish. Since my project draws from multiple foundational areas of mathematics, and I am only in Year 2, I am still pushing through relatively heavy course loads, somewhat heavier than is strictly required for a student with preliminary examinations behind them. And that’s not to mention teaching responsibilities. It is a lot of work; I’m not complaining, just stating facts. Somewhere in the middle of the Fall 2020 semester, it occurred to me that the progress on research is ultimately what will allow me to graduate, which means I felt a stronger need to make it a…