Step 37 of 37
Years on problems nobody has solved. This part cannot be self-studied in the usual sense; it needs an advisor and a research community.
What you do
- Work the problem, including long stretches stuck
- Prove new results
- Write them up as papers
- Post to arXiv and submit to journals
- Present at conferences
- Write and defend the dissertation
Learn from
- Your advisor, collaborators, and the literature
Move on when
You have proved something nobody knew before. That is the PhD.