Assess Your Idea's Potential for Success

Once you have identified a topic that looks feasible, make sure you are aware of all the literature in that area. While reading and listening, keep distinct in your mind what is different between your work and others.

• The subject should be timely
• Your work should lead to a well defined set of results
• Demonstrate a high level of creativity
• You should enjoy the subject and want to spend the next several years working on it
• Establish your own research niche. Often the one that you find yourself in after your Ph.D. is identified with your advisor(s). Think about what natural tangents you could take from that and try to put that in the context of existing research.

Your idea should also be one that aligns with the mission and purpose of funding agencies. We encourage you to review the types of projects that sponsors have funded using the search option in Pivot.