My PhD Journey - Louisa

When I started to think about applying for a PhD, one of the things people mentioned to me was how important it was to find a suitable supervisor. Finding out more about a supervisor can be quite difficult, especially if you are external to the institution or do not have any mutual contacts. One of the easiest ways that I found was to simply have a chat with them! I was quite nervous at first, because I felt as an undergraduate, I was simply too clueless to have a conversation with them. However, I found that all the supervisors I reached out to were very open to discussion.  

When reaching out to them, make sure to be polite and formal. Clearly state that you are looking for a PhD project, your background and research interests, and any details about funding that might be relevant. I would suggest keeping it relatively short instead of putting all your information directly. Feeling nervous is completely normal, but my tip is simply to send an email or message out and see what happens after. I take it step by step, instead of worrying about events that have not happened yet. 

One of the first chats I had was with a professor within the university I was in. I roughly knew what his research was, and I wanted to apply for a programme he was part of. However, I did not prepare extensively, and I wrongly assumed that it would be me asking all the questions. Rather, it was more of a conversation regarding what I wanted to do, why I wanted to do a PhD, and my experience. It was not a full-on interview, but I was definitely underprepared!  

When finding supervisors, it is important to consider your working style. Some supervisors are a bit more relaxed and laid-back; some might be a bit more rigid. It really comes down to what you’re comfortable with and what you need. Consider as well where they are directing their research projects, and if they align with your goals. All of this will contribute to your PhD journey. Additionally, consider their personality too! This is someone that you will work with for 3 – 4 years, it would certainly help to get along. If possible, try and have a chat with current or past PhD students or postdocs, they likely have more insight into how the supervisors are like.  

Academics are often quite busy, so you might not receive a response at all, or even be rejected for a chat. Try and not take this too personally, rejection comes quite often and is something that is part of the journey. There are various reasons they might not be available, most of which has nothing to do with your own capabilities.  

As I mentioned earlier, I felt like a clueless child talking to these renowned researchers in their field. But one thing I realised was that the PhD is meant to be an educational process as well. They do not expect you know everything from the start, and an interest and curiosity is sometimes enough to get you started. And from my personal experience, you will be surprised at how much more you actually know.  

It can feel incredibly vulnerable to reach out to supervisors, but be reassured that most of them are wanting to know you and are always open for discussion! 

An important aspect of the PhD is of course the funding. There are various costs associated with completing a PhD. There are the tuition fees, research expenses, training costs, and your own living costs. This can certainly be a lot to shoulder, so one of the ways that you can cover it is by finding scholarships. 

There are various forms of scholarships, varying from each institution to another, and varying in the amount they may cover. I found that having a chat with someone in my department to be incredibly useful, whether this is a professor, a fellow PhD student, or a postdoc. They tend to have a much better understanding and will likely be able to explain things to you in a relatively straightforward fashion. Another way that I suggest is to simply use Google. Nowadays, a lot of information can be found online, and plenty of guides are available as well! 

When applying for a scholarship, make sure to read their eligibility criteria in full. These will typically be listed on their relevant websites, or alternatively, you can email them. Most universities have a dedicated funding and scholarships page where you can find more information regarding eligibility. For example, some scholarships are only applicable for UK fee status students, while some are eligible for international students as well.  

In my experience however, even if it says UK students only, it might still be worth asking them if they would be willing to fund an international student. 2 out of the 3 PhD offers I received initially listed the scholarship as UK students only. It was after the interview and chatting with them that they confirmed that they would be willing to fund me. 

Another thing to make note of is what the scholarship covers. Some scholarships will cover essentially everything (we call this fully-funded scholarships) while some might be a bursary, or just a certain amount of money. Make sure to clarify this with either the supervisors or the funding body to avoid any unwanted surprises. 

There is no limit to how many scholarships you can apply to, just make sure you don’t tire yourself out! You still need to prioritise quality over quantity, so blindly applying for scholarships likely won’t be as productive. Again, check if applying to one scholarship means that you can’t apply for another one. In most cases I’ve seen, this is not the case. 

Most scholarships are attached to PhD projects being offered by a university. This means that in order to receive the scholarship, you would also need to have been offered the PhD position. Some PhD projects don’t have funding attached, so you might be able to apply to both a scholarship to fund the PhD, and the PhD itself altogether.  

Scholarships are really helpful during the PhD, as it eases the burden on you so you can focus on actually doing the research! Make sure not to neglect it and try to understand the intricacies as early as possible. 

After I received the PhD offer, I was incredibly excited to start. There were a lot of things to sort out, such as getting the required grades, ATAS certificates, and student visa. It was quite a lot to deal with, but thankfully I had guidance from the visa team from the university. Before I knew it, I was only a few weeks away from starting the PhD! 

I recall being extremely nervous, even though I already knew the people in my research group as I did my Masters with them. I had massive imposter syndrome, and I actually had no clue what PhD students do on a day-to-day basis. I kept asking my PhD student friends what they did and how they knew what to do next.  

The first day of the PhD itself was quite uneventful to be honest. I had a brief discussion with my supervisors on what they wanted out of the project and gave me a few things to start off with. The first few weeks were filled with training and lab inductions, making sure I knew all the proper protocol. I was also reading up a lot on my research area and getting the background knowledge required. I shadowed a number of people to familiarise myself with equipment and started doing a bit of lab work. Before I knew it, I had a plan on what to do and enough things to keep me busy for months.  

In my first year, I focused on working on a reaction to transfer to a new experimental system. I took initiative on trying a reaction I had found in literature and worked on it for a few months. As I didn’t have much success with it, I changed focus to a different reaction and explored transferring it to my system towards the end of the first year.  

As a PhD student, I have plenty of support. The Graduate School Office provides support if you need any extensions or have extenuating circumstances that might impact your studies. They also might provide information regarding training or any other interesting opportunities. I also have a PGR tutor, a member of staff who I can speak to regarding any issues. I found them to be incredibly helpful, especially navigating certain situations that might be a bit more complicated. 

The PhD is challenging. I knew it would be, but it challenges me in ways that I haven’t experienced before. As quite often in chemistry, I am faced with constant failures with very few wins. Now, even before starting the PhD I knew that this would be the case. But living it and going through it was a different issue. One thing that helped me was to develop a growth mindset, where I focused on the progress I was making and how failures can still be useful. I still struggle with this, even now! But I find talking about it with others helps a lot, as you may find other people are also struggling too. I also had to reframe my accomplishments. I tend to focus only on the big wins, but this can be incredibly challenging in the PhD when this might take a lot of time to come. 

But remember, the PhD is an opportunity to learn and grow. And all the failures that might come your way is simply a stepping stone to expanding your knowledge!