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Obsidian PhD Starter Vault

A pre-configured Obsidian vault built for PhD students. PARA structure, literature note templates, and a daily note system — set up in minutes, not hours.

What's Included

PARA folder structure (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive)
Literature note template with Zotero-compatible fields
Daily note template with research log and task sections
Meeting note template for supervisor check-ins
MOC (Map of Content) template for topic overviews
Dataview queries for recent papers and open tasks
README with setup instructions

Who This Is For

PhD students starting an Obsidian-based research workflow
Researchers feeling overwhelmed by an empty vault
Anyone who watched the Obsidian for PhD setup video and wants the files

What the Vault Looks Like

When you open this vault in Obsidian for the first time, you’ll find a clean, opinionated structure:

00-Inbox/         ← temporary landing zone for quick captures
10-Projects/      ← active research projects (thesis chapters, papers)
20-Areas/         ← ongoing responsibilities (teaching, admin, methods)
30-Resources/     ← reference material, authors, concepts
40-Archive/       ← completed or inactive notes
_Templates/       ← all templates in one place
_Queries/         ← pre-built Dataview dashboards

Setting Up in 5 Minutes

Download and unzip the vault
Open Obsidian → “Open folder as vault” → select the unzipped folder
Install the Dataview plugin (Settings → Community plugins)
Open _Queries/Research Dashboard.md to see your active projects

That’s it. Start by adding a paper you’re reading using the Literature Note template (Cmd/Ctrl+T).

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Prefer to browse the source? View on GitHub →