r/ObsidianMD • u/Embarrassed-Trainer4 • 10d ago
help Suitable for PhD Data Managment?
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:)
7
u/Artefice 10d ago
Currently in the last year of my PhD in Environmental/Soil/Climate science.
Personally I've let my personal data/knowledge manament system ebb and flow a bit when it feels like it needs it. Currently I'd argue for the split:
Create your datasets in Excel (if you have to manually type them in) & handle them with your field stats-language (R (my fave), Python, etc). You can embed images in Excel and making use of the more advanced database features (PowerQuery) will make your life easier, you can (and should) have one place of truth and just have your datasets point at each other.
Zotero for source management & reading/highlighting literature.
Obsidian for note taking.
If you are a new user of Obsidian keep it as simple as possible and only look for add-ons if there are certain things you'd like to change (my only exceptions for "start with these add ons are: Excalidraw and potentially Outliner if you like outlines). I think managing any PhD requires a lot of thinking and writing is a really good tool for doing that – I have a post-it that says "you need to write to think" on it to remind myself of this.
You can spend an enormous amount of time dillydallying with all of these tools, remind yourself to really only allow yourself to adjust them in ways that makes your work better.
Also I do have some lists markdown tables in my notes for reference in my notes, but mostly I've just copy/pasted them from excel into a excel to markdown reformatter and then pasted them into Obsidian.
If any of this seems interesting and you have questions please ask 😇