Discussion Solved Locked

Thoughts on the new NEP 2020 impact on postgraduate research programs

Back to Forum
Starting 0 pts 0 followers
Manipal Institute of Technology · Posted
Structural Engineering

Background

I have been an Assistant Professor for three years now. Looking back, the most valuable thing in my career so far has been the research network I built.not my publications, not my grants, not my teaching record.

Here is what actually worked for building that network as a new faculty member:

  1. Email cold introductions after reading someone's paper.specific, about their work, not a generic 'let's collaborate' message. Response rate is surprisingly high (~40%) if the email shows you actually read the paper.

  2. Conference conversations.not the formal talks, but the coffee breaks and poster sessions. I have gotten more collaborators from standing next to someone at a coffee station than from any structured networking event.

  3. Reviewing papers.every paper you review is an invitation to learn what leading researchers in your area are working on before it is published.

  4. Social media presence.LinkedIn for professional connections, Twitter/X for research community discussions. One thread I posted on my research got picked up by a researcher at Cambridge who is now a collaborator.

What has worked for others?

Sign in to interact

Sign in to join the discussion.

3 Replies

Oldest Top
0
Royal Dsouza Starting 30 pts · Accepted answer

I found that writing a paper abstract first (before the paper) and then reverse-engineering the paper from the abstract helped with clarity enormously.

0
Replying to Royal Dsouza
Pooja Nambiar Growing 115 pts · Accepted answer

This is a known issue with XLM-R on code-mixed data. The MuRIL preprint has a section specifically comparing these.

0
Jagdish Rawat · Accepted answer

I have successfully received PMRF (lateral entry, second year). Happy to share what worked in my proposal.

On the research proposal:

  • 60–70% technical approach, 30% context and impact
  • Preliminary results absolutely help. Coursework projects are fine if genuinely relevant
  • The societal impact section should be substantive.PMRF is a national initiative; reviewers want to see why this matters

On citations: Yes, cite your MTech thesis. Framing your PhD as an extension of prior work you did shows continuity of thought.