Helpful Resources for PhD Students

1 minute read

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Having spent years as a PhD student working with software development and website maintenance, I have had the opportunity to explore and experiment with a wide range of tools and technologies. Last updated on Oct. 10, 2023.

In this blog, I will be sharing some of the most useful tools that have helped me in my work, from code development to general writing.

Development

Visual Studio Code

A popular and versatile source code editor developed by Microsoft for Windows, Linux, and macOS

It is designed to be lightweight and fast while also providing advanced features and support for a variety of programming languages. Visual Studio Code offers built-in Git support, debugging tools, extensions, and customizable keyboard shortcuts to make coding more efficient and productive. It is a popular choice for developers and has a large and active community of users who contribute to its ongoing development and support.VS Code is an customizable and extensible IDE with cross-platform compatibility.

Extensions:

  • GitHub Copilot: AI-powered code autocompletion tool. Free for education
  • GitLens: a powerful set of features for working with Git repositories
  • autopep8: Python code formatter according to PEP 8 style guide
  • Preview: previewer to various types of files, such as Markdown, HTML, and PDF
  • Table Formatter: formatter for tables in markdown, HTML, reStructuredText

GitHub Student Developer Pack

GitHub provides the GitHub Student Developer Pack as part of their Education initiative. This bundle offers an array of beneficial resources, including access to GitHub Copilot, an AI-powered code completion tool. This pack is designed to help students Learn to ship software like a pro.

The Good Research Code Handbook

A valuable guidance on how to organize research code effectively

Common Commands

A personal collection of common commands involving Conda, Git, Linux, tmux, Docker, and SSH

movy.js

A client-side JS animation engine for creating explanatory videos

Writing

Tables Generator

Easily create even complex LaTeX tables with online generator

Research

Novelty in Science

A blog by Michael Black that explores the concept of scientific novelty

Four golden lessons

An essay for PhD students based on a commencement talk given by the Steven Weinberg

Others

3Blue1Brown

Interesting math videos by Grant Sanderson

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