My simple advice to new master’s in research students.
- PASSION – What Drives You
Choose a topic you genuinely care about. Passion sustains effort, fuels curiosity, and keeps you moving when the work gets complex. If you would read about it, discuss it, and explore it, even without a deadline, you are on the right path. Again, Passion fuels commitment, creativity, and endurance. When your heart aligns with your research, you will work effortlessly and enjoy every discovery.
Action: Write a one-sentence purpose statement that begins with “I care about this because…”
- Past– Build on What You Already Know
Your previous projects and your undergraduate dissertation are a foundation, not a finish line. Refining a familiar area lets you go deeper, ask sharper questions, and produce stronger early results. Your past work, including your undergraduate dissertation, actually holds untapped potential. Strengthen and expand it. Improvement begins with reflection. Your past gives you a platform to dig deeper and elevate your expertise.
Action: List three gaps or weaknesses in your earlier work and frame each as a research question.
- Present– Align with Your Current Context
Align with your current context. Your department, supervisor strengths, available datasets, and lab or industry links can accelerate progress. Your current environment, field of study, and available resources determine your success. Use them wisely. Two quick publications at the start will boost your momentum and confidence.
Action: Map your available resources today and design a feasible study you can start this term.
- Future– Design for Where You Want to Go
Aim at the market you want to enter. Let your topic align with your career ambitions. Follow the companies or industries you admire on LinkedIn. Study their challenges, propose data-driven solutions, and your research will make you highly valuable. When your findings solve a real problem, you become highly sought after – a high commodity.
Action: Identify three target organisations and write a problem statement and a potential method for each.
- EVOLVING PASSION – Grow with Time
Your interests will evolve as you grow. Choose a topic that can expand into future studies rather than one that ends with your dissertation. Visionary research adapts and matures with you. Build a pathway that allows you to pivot without starting from zero.
Action: Sketch a simple three-stage roadmap that moves from pilot to validation to real-world application.
Quick checklist
- Does this topic excite me enough to sustain a year of focused work
- Does it leverage what I already know while pushing me to learn
- Can I begin with the resources I have now
- Does it speak to real needs in the sector I want to join
- Can it evolve into a coherent programme of research across multiple outputs
Choose a topic where these five dimensions overlap. That intersection is where impact, productivity, and joy meet.
THE GOLDEN CROSSPOINT:
“When passion meets purpose, experience meets innovation, and your research meets real-world need, that is where impact, fulfilment, and discovery begin.” Prof. Celestine Iwendi