How to complete a PhD in 3 years?

Academy Team

Mon, 09 Dec 2024

Earning a PhD is a noble and a tough job at the same time. If you want to build a career in the academic world then doing a PhD is a mandatory thing. But over its market value in building a career a PhD is also a noble degree as it helps to bring on more information about a particular subject or topic.

A PhD researcher's thesis is a gift to the youth around the world as that will help to enlighten the minds of the kids who will enter the same field in upcoming years. It's also a very rare position to hold as only 1% of the world’s 25-64 year olds who have been to university, have a PhD.

Getting a PhD is a dream for many around the world who are passionate about a particular subject but there is one thing that makes this path a tough one - the longevity of the course. To get a PhD, you can have to spend anywhere between 3 to 8 years.

A huge amount of time is required to fully complete a PhD thesis which can make many people depressed and anxious. But to stay away from this kind of depression, you can get a PhD in 3 years which is a reasonable amount of time. In this blog, we're going to share some tips that can help you to get a PhD in 3 years. 

Why should you get a PhD? 

The first question that can come to anyone's mind after listening to the hardships of doing a PhD is why should one get a PhD in the first place. The main reason people do a PhD is to satisfy their curiosity about that particular topic. When you do a PhD in a particular subject, you get to develop unwavering expertise in that same subject and also get an opportunity to spend the rest of your life with that subject by becoming a professor after earning the PhD degree. 

Why does it take so much time to complete a PhD? 

Before we step into the tips to complete a PhD in 3 years, let's understand the problem in a better way - that is why it even takes so long to get a PhD. 

1. Repetitive process

The research includes many iterative processes like continuous experimentation, analysis and revision. Each process helps to refine your research more, making it easier to get it published. It takes a lot of time to analyze any particular topic and then implement it in the paper. Other than that when doing a PhD in a topic of science then you need to do continuous research until you get the result you want. All these processes contribute to extending the timeline of a PhD making it difficult to finish a PhD in 3 years in India. 

2. Unexpected challenges

Nothing in this world goes as per your plans and doing a PhD is no exception. You cannot expect everything in your research plans to go as per your plans and ideas. Many unexpected hurdles will come your way like lack of data, equipment failure, lack of infrastructure or methodological challenges and this will take a lot of your time. 

3. Teaching or other works

Most PhD researchers are also teachers at the same time, many people also do other jobs with their PhD. These jobs consume a lot of time in your day making it hard to give time to your research work. Also, your job will consume your energy which will make you end up with a lack of energy that will slow down your journey to complete a PhD in 3 years. 

4. Literature review

One of the time-consuming and hard parts of doing a PhD is doing a literature review. A PhD research cannot be done without a thorough literature review. A Literature review needs an extensive amount of reading as there are many pieces of text already available. A PhD researcher needs to go through all of them and come up with the best insights for their thesis. 

5. Writing and review process

The work for PhD doesn't end with just experimenting and reading but then you have to jot it all down in very sophisticated words. Writing is also a tough job as you will have to explain your whole research in a way that can be understood by everyone. After writing the thesis needs proper proofreading and editing. Then if your professor finds any issue while reviewing then you'll have to edit it again making it a long and complex work. 

How to finish PhD in 3 years in India? 

Now, let's come to our main discussion and find out what are the ways to get a PhD within 3 years - 

1. Choose the right research topic

Starting with the most basic and important point and that is to choose the right topic for your research. Choosing the right topic can be very crucial for three reasons - first is the availability of material, second is competition and third is your passion for the subject. For the first one you need to make sure that you have the right infrastructure to do research about the topic like a proper mentor or the best books. Next, you should choose a field with low competition to complete your PhD in 3 years. Finally, you definitely need to choose a subject or topic that will excite you and make you want to wake up in the morning to get back to research work. 

2. Organise your work efficiently

The next most important step that can help you to complete your PhD in 3 years is organizing your work in the correct way so that you don't get confused with your messed up work schedule. You need to set a tight deadline for every part of your PhD like research, literature review, analysis, experimentation or writing. You also need to follow a strong daily schedule so that you don't have any problem in being consistent with your work because without being consistent it's not possible to complete a PhD in 3 years. 

3. Seek strong guidance

To get started with your PhD from a reputed university you need to make sure your proposal can catch the eyes of the right professor. The right professor is important because you will not be able to complete your whole PhD by yourself. You will need some expert guidance who has been in this field for a long period of time.  You will also need someone who has exemplary knowledge about that particular domain and help you to get access to the best materials that will help you in your research work. 

4. Doing efficient literature review

Next is doing an efficient literature review. The meaning of efficient literature review is that reading the literature with full focus during the first time only so that you don't have to read it multiple times and can minimize the time you spend while reading a single piece of text. Doing an efficient literature review at the start gives you a head start and you get to focus on other things like analysis and writing more in the later period of time. 

5. Collaboration and networking

You must have heard that your network is your net worth but your network is also very valuable for PhD work. You need to have a good network of intellectual people who are also in your field or doing research in the same field on different topics, they can help you with advice about what to do and what not to do. They can also guide you about which university to opt for, which professor to work with, which library to subscribe or which books to read. 

6. Regular writing practice

You might not have to write everyday for your thesis but you should maintain a writing practice throughout your time period of PhD. While you're doing a phd, you should focus on developing a habit of writing on an everyday basis that will help you in the long term to write when you'll be writing your final thesis. But other than that writing also helps you to get clarity about the subject you're studying. Without proper clarity about the topic, it's not possible to write a good thesis for a PhD. 

7. Focus on your health

Doing a PhD is definitely not an easy job, it requires a lot of hours of hard work and dedication. But sometimes people forget to take care of their health while taking care of their work and only focus on studying, writing or analyzing. But you also need to focus on your health, eating the right food and taking proper sleep to make sure you don't fall ill during the PhD work because that might hamper your ambition of completing a PhD in 3 years. 

Conclusion

Finishing a PhD in 3 years is surely not an easy job but you can still do it with proper strategy, schedule and guidance. But you also need to be very sharp with all of your skills like Research Methodology and to learn it from the best people, you can rely on ProMentor Academy.