GRADUATE ON TIME
Tengku Shahrul Anuar bin Tengku Ahmad Basri
Associate Professor Dr.
Centre for Medical Laboratory Technology Studies
Faculty of Health Sciences
Universiti Teknologi MARA
Puncak Alam Campus
Selangor Darul Ehsan
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1. These views are entirely my own and do not
reflect any official view.
2. You are free to form your own opinion.
3. I do not wish to dictate you on how you should
succeed.
4. This is merely to share my own experiences and
observations.
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OUTLINES
My journey on postgraduate study
Reasons to do Master/PhD?
Graduate on Time (GOT)
Tips for GOT
How did I survive?
Six essential elements for a successful
Master/PhD
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2006-2008
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2010-2013
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Prof. Datuk Dr. Lokman Hakim Prof. Dr. Hesham M. Al-Mekhlafi
Sulaiman Department of Parasitology
Ex-Deputy Director General of Health Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya
(Public Health)
Ministry of Health, Malaysia
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MY OWN TAKE ON DOCTORAL STUDY: MY JOURNEY
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ARE YOU PREPARED FOR A
POSTGRADUATE STUDY?
The Postgraduate Journey
MSc
MSc
A Master/PhD degree is not a souped-up Bachelor
degree. You need to have very good reasons, the
discipline, and the capability of pursuing a
postgraduate research degree!
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FOUR GOOD REASONS
TO DO MASTER/PhD
1. TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT
Those who have ambitions to make money should
become entrepreneurs.
But if you are ambitious in that you wish to
challenge yourself, push yourself to new heights or
achieve a difficult goal then a master/doctorate
may be for you.
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FOUR GOOD REASONS
TO DO MASTER/PhD
2. TO DISCOVER OR LEARN SOMETHING NEW AND
BECOMING AN EXPERT IN YOUR AREA
If you feel a driving force pushing you to explore and
learn new things, then you may love research. You
might have a natural thirst for knowledge or an
insatiable appetite for reading books about a
particular topic.
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FOUR GOOD REASONS
TO DO MASTER/PhD
3. YOU SEE THIS PERIOD OF YOUR LIFE AS
A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY
Improve your abilities to understand and solve
problems, increase your confidence, make
yourself a better communicator and gain skills
may lead to a better job.
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FOUR GOOD REASONS
TO DO MASTER/PhD
4. YOU HAVE BEEN OFFERED A SCHOLARSHIP
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ARE YOU AS HARD WORKING
AS YOU ARE INTELLIGENT?
If we compared the IQs of those who get the most out of their
PhD to the IQs of those who fail, we probably wouldn’t find any
difference. Successful PhD students are not necessarily more
intelligent than the unsuccessful ones – they just work harder!
Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.
“Working hard beats being smart. Working smart beats working hard”
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GRADUATE ON TIME
GOT has been inspired by the Ministry of Higher
Education, in the Malaysian Education Blueprint
(2011). It is important for the higher education
institutions to ensure student to GOT as it will
optimize Academic Productivity. GOT will also
save money, time as well as cost efficiency for
students themselves.
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GRADUATE ON TIME
Career Advancement
Greater employment
Research opportunity
To make sure the
Self-Satisfaction scope of research is still
relevance
Greater recognition
and credibility
National Agenda
Indicator of
productivity of an
institution
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GRADUATE ON TIME
PhD
• FULL TIME: 48 months
• SEMESTER: 8
MASTER
• FULL TIME: 24 months
• SEMESTER: 4
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TIME TO COMPLETION - GOT
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The duration of GOT starts from the date the
student register and finishes after the student
received the senate letter that states the student
has completed his/her study. The duration of
GOT depends on the level of program enrolled
by the student.
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TIPS FOR GOT
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PROPOSED GANTT CHART FOR GOT (MASTER)
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PROPOSED GANTT CHART FOR GOT (PhD)
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PROPOSED GANTT CHART FOR GOT (PhD)
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TIMELINE FOR GOT
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PROPOSED GOT ACTIVITIES FOR
MASTER PROGRAM
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PROPOSED GOT ACTIVITIES FOR
PhD PROGRAM
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POSTGRADUATE MYTH
• YOU NEED TO BE A GENIUS
o Diligence NOT Intelligence.
o Managing, selecting and justifying.
• YOUR RESEARCH WILL CHANGE THE WORLD
o You need to finish a time-bound project, not win a
Nobel prize.
• THE PhD IS A THE BEST MASTERPIECE
o MSc/PhD is a learning process.
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HOW DID I SURVIVE?
I survived because…
✓ I believe in MYSELF and ALLAH.
✓ I am SYSTEMATIC.
✓ I leave nothing to chance (EVERYTHING HAS TO BE
PLANNED OUT).
✓ I leave PLENTY OF TIME for unexpected events (e.g. sick).
✓ I pay ATTENTION to DETAIL.
✓ I am EFFICIENT.
✓ I was MINIMAL DEPEND on my supervisor.
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SIX ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR
A SUCCESSFUL POSTGRADUATE
Where is your Gantt Chart?
What is your Plan B and Plan C?
Are you efficient and systematic enough?
Do you pay attention to detail?
Plan, Plan, Plan
Time Management
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1. WHERE IS YOUR GANTT CHART?
❑ Don’t have one? Why not?
❑ Have one?
✓ How well are you sticking to it?
✓ Why are you not sticking to it?
❑ How well have you apportioned time?
❑ Have you considered your supervisor?
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1. WHERE IS YOUR GANTT CHART?
2017 2018 2019 2020
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
ACTIVITY / TIME
May
May
May
Mar
Mar
Mar
Nov
Nov
Nov
Sept
Sept
Sept
Feb
Feb
Feb
Apr
Apr
Apr
Aug
Aug
Aug
Jan
Jan
Jan
Jun
Jun
Jun
Oct
Oct
Oct
Dis
Dis
Dis
Jul
Jul
Jul
1 Phase 1: Literature review, preparatory work
Ethical approval
2 Phase 2: Samples collection
In Vitro culture in non-nutrient agar
Morphological analysis
Thermo and osmotolerance test
DNA extraction and amplicfication of
3 Phase 3:
18S ribosomal RNA
Pathogenesis study
Efficacy of mulipurpose contact lens
solution
4 Phase 4: Phylogenetic and data analysis
Final report
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2. WHAT IS YOUR PLAN B AND PLAN C?
➢ What if things don’t go according to plan?
➢ How much time is there for Plan B?
➢ Is there a need for Plan C?
➢ How creative are you in finding solutions?
➢ Are you depending on your supervisor?
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3. ARE YOU EFFICIENT AND
SYSTEMATIC ENOUGH?
o Can you multi-task?
o Do you complete tasks ahead of time?
o Do you list tasks in order of priority?
o Do you make backups?
o Do you make the best use of technology?
o Do you anticipate things before they happen?
o Have you checked out successful theses?
o Other than being a student, what are you doing now?
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4. DO YOU PAY ATTENTION TO DETAIL?
• Do you do this? Reflect…
✓ SUPERFICIAL literature review with no critique.
✓ SKIMPY methods.
✓ Analysis WITHOUT much thought.
✓ Discussion a REPETITION of results.
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5. PLAN, PLAN, PLAN…
▪ PLANNING IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS!
▪ Set out your MASTER PLAN.
▪ Focus on the OBJECTIVE.
▪ Plan and STICK to the plan.
MAKE SURE IT IS REALISTIC, NOT DREAMING!
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6. TIME MANAGEMENT
▪ MANAGE your time carefully.
▪ CONSISTENT work pattern is the key.
▪ START EARLY!
▪ Plan and STICK to the plan.
▪ NEVER leave anything to the LAST MINUTE.
▪ Anticipate problems and leave ADEQUATE TIME to resolve them.
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5/2/2024
5/5/2024
THANK YOU
Centre for Medical Laboratory Technology Studies
Level 15, FSK 6 Building, UiTM Selangor Branch, Puncak
Alam Campus,
42300 Bandar Puncak Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +603-3258 4425
Fax: +603-3258 4599
