Here are some tips to guide you, if you want to suggest an original topic:

• Find a subject that interests you by reading a variety of materials.
• Become completely immersed in journal articles and theses related to your field.
• Concentrate on a single research question. Be detailed, unique, and realistic about what you can accomplish. 
• Make an effort to be adaptable. Some of your initial ideas are likely to be challenged as your investigation progresses. If necessary, you may need to modify your question.
• Make sure you are up-to-date on the latest advances in your industry. This will guarantee that your proposal is feasible and has not already been implemented.
• Talk to a friend about research ideas. She or he may be able to help you narrow down your topic by bringing up topics that you hadn’t considered.  
• Consider the following questions: why, who, what, where, and when:
  • WHY did you choose the topic? What interests you about it? Do you have any opinion about the issues involved?
  • WHO are the sources of information on this topic? Who might publish information about it? Who is affected by the topic? Do you know of organizations or institutions that are connected with the topic?
  • WHAT are the most important questions about this topic? Is there a debate regarding the topic? Is there a wide range of subjects and viewpoints to consider?
  • WHERE does your topic matter most: at the local, national or international level? Is the topic affecting any specific locations?
  • WHEN is/was your topic important? Is this a current issue or one from the past? Do you wish to compare your subject to different eras?

The most crucial part is to keep you motivated during the journey. A supervisor’s position is also critical in order to keep you going. As a result, a good and effective topic is one that can be given with compelling arguments that are relevant to current practice.

 

 

As a very new researcher who is exploring the best way to generate ideas, some guidance on this question would be very helpful. I have found that this is NOT easy. Ideas seem to pop out of my Professor every day and I wonder how he does it. This question is broad;

• How do you tend to come up with initial/seed ideas? What is your search method (if you have one)?
• What proportion of your ideas for past papers come from; (i) colleagues, (ii) intentionally browsing the literature for ideas, (iii) on the spot inspiration, (iv) conferences, (v) other?
• How do you prioritize research ideas?
• Is there any special, generalizable method that you've discovered to sift out those ideas that are likely to be unrealistic early on in the process of idea generation?

Based on small amounts of anecdotal evidence I have reason to believe that there is vast heterogeneity among professors regarding the above questions. For example, economist Steven Levitt says he works on 22 papers at once. A professor I know will have maybe 25% of this at any one time.

It's probably very akin to asking a large number of artists “how do you come up with inspiration?”, i.e. you can probably get one thousand different answers, and yet not useful answer at the same time. However, there are some elements that I think are common to all. You can't “trigger” new ideas to come into your mind, but you can put your mind into the right disposition to host these new ideas: recognize them and welcome them. Below is a list, certainly partial and limited, trying to detail my perspective in this matter:

 

 Be challenged! Nothing sparks ideas more than being confronted with contradiction, healthy criticism, a spirited debate, maybe a bit of competition. Some people manage to do that by themselves, arguing against their ideas and improving them. I myself (and most of the colleagues and students I have seen) need an echo chamber, someone to discuss things with. If they're not exactly from your field, all the better, as they may have unusual/naïve/silly questions or expectations.

 

To give an example, some of the most “successful” ideas I have had came while answering questions, for example from a PhD student or colleague, and replying by “no, it doesn't work like that… in fact, it's probably always guaranteed to be false, because… see, it's linked to X… or maybe it's not? hum…”

• Be curious! Ideas come from problems. Identifying worthy problems in your field of research, and dissecting larger issues into of specific problems of manageable scope, is at least as hard as coming up with new ideas. In the end my feeling is that, especially for a researcher, all ideas are the result of one’s curiosity.
• Manage to get some free time for thinking (and not: teaching, supervising, tutoring, reviewing, writing, sleeping, …). Body and mind. Sure, an idea can pop into your head any time, but it's probably less likely to happen when you teach basic calculus all day that when you get some time to really think.
• Know your field, know where a new development need to occur, what is currently missing. Read review papers, search for such ideas through people's articles or blog posts, discuss with senior colleagues who have a comprehensive view of the field, …

 

One of the ways you can come with ideas is by analyzing how different groups work in your fields, seeing what has been addressed and avoided, what big questions are still open, and how you can link between different works to build a coherent global picture… This is not always successful, but it usually generates some good ideas along the way!

• Explore more or less closely related fields, and see if there is something from your background that you could apply to their problems, or ways you could build something together. Such ideas tend to be very strong, because you can oftentimes apply an entire branch of knowledge (ideas, methods, algorithms, etc.) to a very different problem. In that case, the added value comes from your different perspective, as you might try things that others would not think of.

 

Ways have been devised to come up with new ideas on a given topic, either alone or in group sessions. Brainstorming is probably the best know such method (and might be the most popular, in one form or another), but a really large number of creativity techniques have been developed.