Establishing a thesis topic can feel daunting. After working with graduate students for over 20 years, Martha Grover, Georgia Tech professor and associate chair for graduate studies in chemical and biomolecular engineering, shares her tried and true recipe for success in establishing a strong thesis.  

For establishing a thesis topic, current and prospective graduate students can turn to an unlikely source: the U.S. Department of Defense. 
 
“There’s a list of questions that come from the military that I have referred to since I was a graduate student,” said Martha Grover, Georgia Tech professor and associate chair for graduate studies in chemical and biomolecular engineering. “These questions seem basic, but it’s actually very difficult to answer them. I think they’re all very central for establishing any research.” 
 
Originally established for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, also known as DARPA, the “Heilmeier Catechism” is a set of questions used for determining what risks are worth taking. Grover has repurposed the Heilmeier Catechism and applied the following four questions for advising graduate students on their thesis topics. 

1. What is the problem that you’re trying to solve? 
2. What is the state of the art, and what are its limitations? 
3. What is new in your approach, and why do you think it will be successful? 
4. Who cares? 

“I always come back to those four questions when I’m working on any proposal or even writing up a research publication,” said Grover. “I want to make sure I very clearly state the answers to those questions.”
 
Other factors to consider when establishing a thesis are to make sure it is interesting and realistic. 
 
“It needs to be not only interesting to you but important,” said Grover. “It has to be realistic for you to achieve in the period of time with the resources that you have available. You have to be thinking about some of the milestones and a realistic scope.” 
 
Grover also emphasized the importance of reading the literature and communicating with the advisor during the thesis development process. 
 
“It’s really hard to define an important, original research question,” said Grover. “I think you have to just get started on reading the literature and coming up with ideas.” 
 
For Grover, establishing a thesis is a cyclical process of reading the literature, communicating with the advisor, getting feedback, and going back to the literature.
 
“It’s very important to keep this open communication with the thesis advisor in defining the topic,” said Grover. “Generally, you would work on a topic that aligns with what the advisor works on. Depending on the funding situation or other constraints, the advisor may have a lot of really specific thoughts about what the thesis would entail, or they may not have much at all.”
 
Grover recommended that students read the “Mutual Expectations” section of the “Expectations of Advisor and Advisees” section in the catalog that outlines the relationship between advisor and advisee in research-based graduate programs. 
 
Finally, students should know that the thesis topic will likely evolve. 
 
“That’s just how research goes,” said Grover. “You search and then you research, and you keep learning. There will be changes. It’s not expected that you will do exactly the plan that you laid out, but the general topic is likely to stay the same.”