Contemplating a science PhD?
Find the answers no one else is willing to share...
Swiftly moving on from last week’s introduction, this week I thought it might be useful to pass on some wisdom about the PhD process and beyond.
Fear not! Next week will be the start of a series focusing on marketing for the life science and biotech industries.
But for now, if you’re contemplating a PhD, continue reading to find the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
How did you know you wanted to do a PhD?
The short answer is, I didn’t know.
You'll hear lots of people tell you that doing a PhD has been a dream of theirs since they were a child and while I'm sure that's true of many, lots of people discover that this is something that they want to do along the way.
What I will say is that, if it isn't something that you've dreamt of doing your whole life, you may be made to feel as though you shouldn’t be there. But actually, if you think about how life works, the best decisions come from experiences, and for me, making that decision after experiencing the environment was the right thing to do. To be completely transparent, I didn't dream of doing a PhD all my life because I didn't even know what a PhD was or what it might entail until I started my undergrad.
So in my case, I navigated my undergraduate studies and as I neared the end, I realised that I wasn't ready to leave that environment yet, but also that I didn't want to learn in a lecture format anymore. I was totally captured by scientific research, I read research papers all of the time, particularly in the area of immunology and immunoparasitology. It very much grew from there. I went on to do a Masters of Research (MRes) and it was while doing that I thought, yes, you know what, I want to do this! I then applied for a PhD with a supervisor that was actually part of my MRes supervisory team.
What is it like to do a science PhD?
I'm going to talk about science PhDs and the reason I specify science or lab-based PhD is because I do think they differ quite significantly from other types of PhD in that you will spend the majority of your time in the lab and any written work/data analysis is completed outside of that time. Because of that, it's an incredibly high pressure environment where you could end up working 12 to 14 hours a day if you don’t manage your time.
If I had to choose one word that sums up my experience of doing a PhD it would be, STRESSFUL. And that's not to put anybody off, I think that it’s just the reality of being in such a high pressure environment. It's very different to going to work for a company where you're one small cog in a large system. In that case, if something goes wrong it's not the end of the world. When you do your PhD, absolutely everything comes down to you and if it doesn't work, it's you that will feel that failure. It often feels like you’re living inside of a pressure cooker with a ticking time bomb on the outside.
Ironically, aside from that, I will say that I had the best time of my life doing my PhD. I got to work in the lab with people that I loved working with, incredible scientists that I could lean on and learn from, and we could bounce ideas off each other, but also being in the lab and solving problems everyday was just a fantastic learning environment and a very, very steep learning curve.
See below for photographic evidence of happy times in the lab!
Here are a few tips to help you survive a lab-based PhD:
Say no to your supervisor.
Restrict your working hours. It is not necessary to do 12 to 14 hours in a lab and then work from home.
Don’t get distracted by external noise i.e. the internal politics of academia or the dramas of other students.
Ask for help when you need it.
Take regular breaks and, if possible, get outside in the fresh air and away from the lab.
Is a PhD worth it?
Yes! Don’t listen to the haters.
You will undoubtedly hear many people say that it isn't worth doing a PhD. In all honesty, the only people I ever hear saying it are people that left university after their undergraduate/masters degree or those that left school in the 80s and were fortunate enough to “work their way up the ladder without a single qualification”. With that in mind, I'm not quite sure how you can figure out it's not worth it if you've never actually done it.
If salary is the only way you measure job satisfaction then it's important to note that having a PhD doesn't necessarily equate to earning more money. That will largely depend on what sector you decide to work in. For example, if you leave your PhD and work for large Pharma research or move into a sales position, you could well start on 40K+ a year. However, if you start working as a science writer/marketer, the chances are that you won't earn more than 30K (if you’re lucky). Some food for thought.
If you've read all of this and realised that actually this is something you really want to explore, you’ll likely be wondering…
How do I find a PhD?
There are a few ways you can go about this. You might discover researchers in your chosen area when reading science journals. Most journals will publish the contact details of the authors so there’s your opportunity to start approaching potential supervisors. The issue with this method is that you have no idea whether there is any funding available and that may make or break your decision.
The best way to find a funded PhD is to visit findaphd.com. Find A PhD is a fantastic resource for finding in specific research areas and in specific locations. Most universities/institutes list their available PhD positions here.
Finally, social media is your biggest ally. Connect with other PhD students and graduates. LinkedIn, for example, has a huge support network for potential, present and past PhD students.
How do I know which PhD is right for me?
Your number one priority when looking for a PhD is finding the right supervisor for you. I’ll say it again louder for those in the back - FIND THE RIGHT SUPERVISOR FIRST!
Forget the title of the project. Forget it completely.
Look for the a suitable supervisor, the person that will be overseeing everything you do. Choose them. Don't choose the project. So many PhD students make the mistake of choosing a topic that they love and don’t really look at the supervisor. And, sadly, it is that one person that makes or breaks your experience.
Approach each supervisor and speak to their students.
In the same way that you will be asked for references, it's important that you find out what they are like as a supervisor. For example, if you know they have five PhD students and postdocs and all of them are telling you they’re never available, then I would absolutely not do it. Look for someone else. You have to remember that you are going to spend at least three years of your life, seven days a week, 24 hours a day thinking about the project. You will need someone to support you through that. What you won’t need is someone telling you that you're going to fail your PhD because you've had the audacity to take an hour out of the day when you should have been chained to the lab.
Don’t panic (famous last words).
Unfortunately, sometimes, even with all of this research, you end up just not being a good match with your supervisor. It happens. What's important to remember is, if you are halfway through your PhD and it really isn't a good relationship, you are well within your rights to approach the research department and ask for another supervisor. Often there are two or three supervisors on your team anyway, so it might be possible for your second supervisor to become the main point of contact.
But the one thing you can do is try to do your best to research your supervisor before you work with them, because that is really what is going to make the difference to your experience.
What questions should I ask?
There are some questions that you can ask your potential supervisor that can help you decide whether this is something that you would like to pursue with them, and I would say the most important questions to ask are:
How many students have you previously supervised and how many of them gained their PhD?
How often do you meet with your PhD students? What do the meetings involve?
What do you expect from me in terms of progression? Are there specific points at which I will need to have achieved certain things?
And don't be afraid to ask…what can I expect from you?
This is always a difficult one because many people (I speak from experience) won't like you questioning what you can expect from them. However, that alone should tell you enough about whether you'd like to work with them. So if they aren't willing to answer that question, then you should RUN far far away.
For a more detailed selection of questions, check out the following blog: https://www.discoverphds.com/blog/questions-to-ask-during-your-phd-interview
Your PhD to-do list
Narrow your research area - don’t just say “cancer research”. Think about what aspect of cancer research you’re interested in. Is it the use of engineered T cells that gets you excited? Or spatial genomics? Get down to the fundamentals for the best chance of finding the right supervisor and project.
Identify supervisors within that area using social media, university websites, published works and findaphd.com.
Contact potential supervisors and their past/current students.
Ask questions! Don’t be afraid to rock the boat with questions that may reveal exactly what you need to know.