Problems, solutions and tips

This page aims to list all the tips and other answers to more specific problems that have not been covered on the other pages of this large section on general tips for the thesis. Again, these tips are not absolute truths to be followed at all costs, but rather feedbacks that can help you avoid common pitfalls and save you time.

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The thesis is a long term work, at least 3 years, so it is necessary to learn to control your energy, an advice that is especially valid for the beginning of the thesis (by the end of the thesis, you should have learned by yourself). To do this, don't be afraid to take breaks from your work and let your brain assimilate everything you've given it.

A break starts at 5 minutes and can last for a weekend. It is then up to you, depending on your personal functioning, to decide how to organize yourself. These breaks must be moments when you completely disconnect from your current subject. The idea is not to force yourself into a subject that seems complex to you, but to let time do its work. So, rather than getting stuck on a problem and telling yourself that you will solve it by thinking about it one or two hours more intensely, take a break. It is also quite possible that the solution or the understanding of the subject will appear during this break.

Behind this very oddly named advice is a very practical and not very complicated technique to get out of professional (scientific or technical) blockages: verbalize your problems. In other words, don't stay alone with the problem you're struggling with at the moment, talk about it around you. We talk about the duck technique because the objective is to verbalize your problem without necessarily needing someone to give you the answer; you can therefore talk with a duck, that will help you to unblock yourself. To look less stupid, you can also do it with a colleague, without expecting a precise answer.

Besides this very serious technique, which has been proven to work despite its joke-like name, is the more general advice to take the time to talk and explain your problems without getting stuck in them head first. Explaining your problem out loud will force you to go back to the beginning of your reasoning and detail it, which will help your brain to see where your reasoning has hit a dead end, and thus to get out of your problem.

If you need special equipment during your thesis (other than the scientific equipment necessary for your work), you can see if the lab can pay for at least part of it. For example a new keyboard, a new mouse, a deck for your laptop, a better desk chair, an external hard drive, etc. To do this, first discuss it with your supervisor to see if there is money available for this in your thesis funding. If you have the green light from your supervisor, contact your secretariat who will give you the procedure to follow.