Practical Matters | Eszter Jakab

It is always very nice and exciting to come up with a thesis proposal – ok, maybe not always. But sooner or later the author has to face reality. In this reality there are many limitations affecting the outcome of the thesis. In this blogpost I would like to elaborate the practical matters that can put a barrier to my objectives.

Amount of workload

First and foremost, I wish to discuss a very important issue: the amount of workload. At one point, I need to finish and submit my thesis, not to mention the preparations for its defense. There are many processes that are to be done before that, such as formulating my final research question and methodology, processing all the textual and artistic material, that I have already listed in my previous post, evaluating them and drawing conclusions, finding connections, maybe processing the interviews or questionnaires that I intend to fulfil with any group of people concerned with my chosen sites, writing, writing and writing, structuring everything, revising, adding references, inserting images, formatting text, composing the acknowledgement section, the bibliography, table of content, list of figures, revising again, etc. – I am sure that something has been left out. So the strategy in my opinion should be developing a time management plan where I list and structure all the tasks that are to be done and estimate the maximum necessary time for them.

Territorial issues

My second point is that I am in that lucky and at the same time unlucky position, that my thesis topic is connected to a faraway land: South Asia. Which immediately gives place to the question, whether there is a need of travelling there to fulfil the aims of my research. I still have not decided on this point. If I have the intention to visit the sites of my topic, should I visit them all, if not, which ones should and even more can I visit? As probably I have already noted, the four most sacred sites of the Buddha’s life are situated in two different countries, namely in Nepal and India, and even in India they are situated in different states. If I have the financial background – to which point I will come in a second – of course I would like to take the opportunity to travel there, but then again, a plan needs to be developed about the route, the time spent at different locations, the visa issues, the means of travel, the accommodation, the institutions I would be able to contact and I could continue the line. So it really needs thoughtful consideration firstly whether it worth it and secondly, whether all the four sites are feasible to visit and do research at.

Financial issues

Lastly, I come to the matters of finance. This is more of a concern if the answer to the previous question is that the travel is needed for the fulfilment of my expected outcomes. Then I need to classify my resources, which basically could be divided into two big categories: self-funding and external help. Certainly, these can be broke down into subcategories, such as savings, income, help from family, scholarships at CEU, or other scholarships. Mostly the latter ones require greater arrangements as for them serious applications should be put together which also has deadlines, at which point we come back to the issue of workload and time management. Thus I need to include this in that table as well.

However, travel costs could not be the only expenses that occur during writing the thesis, nevertheless they are far from the formerly discussed with regard to number. Smaller expenses should be calculated, because even with such a support on behalf of CEU, I could justify the need for buying certain books and albums for my thesis or the need to subscribe in another library (the Oriental Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for instance). Moreover, I would definitely print material as well as the thesis itself and we should not disregard the amount of coffee I will consume during my studies.

It is my hope that I was able to shed light on some of the most important practical matters and their possible solutions and strategies, however, if anyone has additional ideas or would like to share their own issues in this matter, I am more than happy and open to discuss them.

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