What would a PhD graduate advise a new PhD student?

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  1. Sit down and think why do you want to get a Ph.D. And if you really want to get that Ph.D. If the answer is “yes” - think again.
    People are going to Ph.D. programs for lots of wrong reasons. They want to live a carefree student life for 5 more years, to try out new things, to build a career, or to have a researcher’s lifestyle as they see it from outside (lots of travel, smart peers, relaxed environment, add whatever you like). These are all wrong reasons that are likely to make you feel miserable. I would say the only right reason is that you are passionate about research; so passionate that research is #1 and #2 most important thing in your life; so passionate that you are fine sacrificing everything else. No, I’m not kidding. I’m 100% serious here.
  2. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
    There’s a big overproduction of Ph.Ds today. As a result, most of Ph.D. students don’t end up in the position they want. Make sure you have a plan for your life in case you won’t get a a tenure-track position or a position in a research lab.
  3. Ph.D. is a very stressful and demanding business.
    Watch your mental health, and health in general. I know few people who developed health problems in a program. Try not to get any - otherwise your whole life will go down; it’s hard to survive a cut-throat academic competition if you develop things like insomnia or gastric problems.
  4. Soft skills are very important.
    Nowadays research is all about collaboration. You can’t build a good research portfolio by working alone. So if you have poor people skills - that is a warning sign.
  5. Writing skills are very, very important.
    As a researcher, you will be evaluated on a quality and quantity of your papers. Your papers may (and will) be rejected not because your research is not promising, but because your write up is not good. If you write papers slowly and it takes you lots, lots of effort - this is another warning sign.
  6. Your advisor is more important than you think.
    You will depend on your advisor for almost everything - from actual guidance on how to do research to funding and future career development. So chose your advisor very carefully. Making a wrong choice can mean lots of pain and a ruined research career. Consequently, build a good relationship with an advisor. You are expected to do a reasonable amount of low-level donkey work for him. You are expected to follow his footsteps in research. Unless you are desperate, don’t conflict with your advisor.
  7. If you feel Ph.D. is not for you - this may be truly so.
    People speak all the time about “impostor syndrome” and how to overcome it. Indeed, during the first 1–2 years everyone feels overwhelmed and lagging behind; that’s normal. But if your impostor syndrome started in the middle of the program and lasts for a while, then it may be not an impostor syndrome; it may be a real understanding that research career is not for you. If this is the case - take time off, calm down, and try to analyze your situation in an impartial and unbiased way. Compare yourself to your peers. Look at the progress of your research. Is it promising or is it apparently not going anywhere? Are you a good collaborator? Are you a good writer? Do you like the academic lifestyle? If many answers are “no”, this maybe a time to think of alternatives.
  8. Don’t be afraid to drop from the program.
    There’s life outside the research. A real life.
    After spending years in research I realized this community feels like an “Alcoholics Anonymous” group. It’s a closed group living in their own world, with their own set of problems, values, jargon and criteria for success. As a part of that group, you feel feel high from things that are totally irrelevant to most of people (like having a paper accepted). And the most successful researchers are completely immersed in this world and rarely look beyond that.
    But the actual world is way bigger. It stretches far and beyond academia and research. You must be a very special person to enjoy the academia. And if you realize you are not such a person, if you are unhappy - why to torture yourself? You have only one life; don’t waste that.
    So if you realized that research is not for you - don’t hesitate to drop. Grab your master’s and leave; that’s totally normal. People won’t blame you for that. Some of your academic peers disdain or frown at you? Hell with them! In a year or two you will look back at them and laugh - how limited these people were.

By Thesis Doctor

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