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Research notes

Guidance you can use this week

Research skills, thesis strategy, scientific writing, and honest advice about AI. Written by a supervisor, for the people doing the work.

10 practical articles

All articles Academic Writing Engineering Education Research Mentoring Research Skills STEM Mentoring
How to Build a Defensible Heat-Transfer Analysis

Featured article

Engineering Education July 15, 2026 5 min read

How to Build a Defensible Heat-Transfer Analysis

A practical mechanical-engineering workflow for building traceable heat-transfer calculations, selecting valid correlations, documenting uncertainty, and writing conclusions that match the evidence.

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Research Skills 3 min read

Read Research Papers in Three Passes Without Missing the Point

A practical three-pass method for deciding relevance, understanding the argument, and capturing evidence you can use.

STEM Mentoring 3 min read

Choosing a Research Mentor: Questions to Ask Before You Commit

Use scope, availability, feedback style, and academic integrity to judge whether a mentoring relationship is a good fit.

Research Skills 2 min read

Five Weekly Habits That Move Research Forward

Small, repeatable habits that turn an open-ended research project into visible weekly progress.

Research Skills 3 min read

From Thesis Chapter to Journal Article: A Responsible Conversion Plan

A journal article is not a shortened thesis chapter. Use this plan to identify one contribution and rebuild the story around it.

Research Skills 2 min read

A Weekly Research Planning System for Graduate Students

Plan around one outcome, protected focus blocks, research maintenance, and a concise supervisor update.

Research Skills 3 min read

Ethical AI for Researchers: Keep Ownership of the Work

A practical boundary for using AI to support research workflows without outsourcing judgment, evidence, or authorship.

Research Skills 2 min read

How to Build a Literature Review Matrix That Reveals Research Gaps

A practical literature review matrix workflow for comparing evidence, methods, limitations, and unresolved questions.

Research Skills 2 min read

Research Proposal Structure: From a Clear Problem to a Feasible Method

A research proposal structure that connects the problem, evidence gap, objectives, method, ethics, and practical plan.

Engineering Education 1 min read

How to Study Thermodynamics Through Engineering Problem Solving

A repeatable way to study thermodynamics by modeling systems, selecting principles, checking units, and interpreting results.

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