How Do Agile Practices Support Organizing a Ph.D.?

Working on a Ph.D. is an iterative process. In the beginning, the outcome is not clearly defined, and results are delivered in an incremental manner. The characteristics of research are comparable to the ones of agile software development (ASD). Both domains focus on knowledge work instead of repetitive production activities. Agile methodologies like Scrum,1 Kanban,2 or Extreme Programming (XP)3 are composed of best practices known as agile practices and address specific aspects of organizing work with the aim of continuous improvement. Literature shows that users tailor the combination of agile practices according to their specific needs.4