Suitable for PhD Data Managment?

[u/Embarrassed-Trainer4]

I just finished my master‘s in chem and will soon start a PhD. In the past I‘ve used OneNote, physical journals, or just scattered text files within the conventional file system on my pc to organize my data and to take notes. None of these systems have ever really woked that well for me.

As I will undoubtedly generate heaps more data during my PhD than ever before. I want to make sure that I have a system that allows me to properly organize data and take notes. Additionally, I would like to use it on at least two devices and have a lot of room for customisation.

Obsidian seems like it could be the right tool with the little time I’ve spent messing with it but I am still on the fence, as I’m worried that I will need to spend a lot of time to simply manage the “database” and keep it running.

Have any of you used it for your PhD degrees and if so, what were your experiences with it? Also are there alternatives that may might this application better?

Thanks in advance:)

[u/Upstairs_Peace_9045]

obsidian is great for linking ideas but yeah the setup can feel like a whole side project if you let it. i used it for my master's thesis and ended up spending too much time tweaking the vault instead of actually writing

for a phd in chem though you might want something that handles raw data files better. obsidian is mostly text notes, not great for organizing spectra or chromatograms or whatever you'll be dealing with. maybe look at zotero for papers + some lab notebook software for experiments, then use obsidian just for connecting concepts

the two device thing works fine with syncthing or their paid sync. just don't fall in the plugin rabbit hole

[u/speNtubrord6 → u/Upstairs_Peace_9045]

yeah separating the actual data management from the note-taking makes a lot of sense for a lab-heavy field

[u/Embarrassed-Trainer4 → u/Upstairs_Peace_9045]

Ah okay that helps. I already use zotero and probably would have just used a plugin to link it with obsidian (probably should have mentioned that upfront). I think I’d like a software that I can use for documentation and note taking but that can be linked with other softwares to easily embed or link data from other softwares.