Strategy as a PhD student for earning good letters of recommendation in 1-3 years

Question

I'm a PhD student in a 3-4 year program (UK), nearing the end of my first year. I want to stay in academia, so I want to have good LORs. I was wondering how to earn good LORs that I may need in 1.5years (at the earliest) for postdoc applications, from someone other than my supervisor (obviously they should write one). I dont have a secondary/co supervisor, so that is not an option. Indeed, there aren't really any professors in my department working in my subfield.

• I suppose I'd need to develop a professional relationship with a Professor at another department. How do I go around doing this? My work is theoretical so collaborations don't seem standard (at least my supervisor hasn't suggested this).
• Is there added value in the letter coming from a PI at a different university?
• My subfield is interdisciplinary, should I aim to get a LOR from someone with background in the field opposite to mine?

Answer 1

First and foremost, you should concentrate on doing good work, and let positive judgment from others flow from the quality of your professionalism and your work output. Also, when you are a PhD student, you should be careful about engaging in "impression management" since it can detract from your candour in identifying your own areas for development and seeking help to improve your work (and actually that's also true for people in higher positions too).

With those two caveats in place, one thing you can do here is to take actions to form a broader network of people who know about you and your work. There are a number of actions you could take to do this, such as:

1. Reconsidering opportunities for collaboration or multidisciplinary engagement in your research (e.g., publishing a joint paper with an academic, etc.);
2. Seeking opportunities for joint research work with academics at your university or another university;
3. Regulary attending appropriate talk/seminar series at your university and giving occasional talks yourself to let people know about your research
4. Asking to attend research committees that arrange research activities in your faculty (even just as an observer, since you are only a student);
5. Undertaking teaching/tutorial work for one or more academics in your faculty; or
6. Starting up a PhD student discussion group on a broad academic topic of interest to you and others, and asking an academic with knowledge in that field to be the patron of the group (attending meetings, giving advice and opinions, etc.).

All of these are things you could consider doing that could potentially expand the network of academics who are familiar with you and your work. Bear in mind that any activity you do has an opportunity/time cost, but consider the above as things that could enhance your PhD program and your broader academic network.

Answer 2

Like Ben I'd be a bit concerned that putting yourself about more than is reasonable would backfire as people push back against what's perceivable as over-ambitiousness.

You need to accept (I know it's hard for initiatory people) that progress in academia is perforce collegial and even the most obvious improvements demand due consultation with others - with the dumb and apathetic as much as with the bright and positive.

In this vein I'd explore, with other positive students firstly and of course with your supervisor and postgraduate studies dean, the possibility of your department's students attending seminars on your research area at another nearby university and vice-versa.

You have to play this one very coolly and carefully. Be prepared for resistance from your own department: it happens.