Halfway Through My PhD: What I Wish I’d Known At The Start

#1 Slow down

Coming straight from my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, I was used to short deadlines and fast progress. It took me the majority of my first year to slow down and get used to the longer timescale of a PhD. For example, I didn’t start in the lab for four months so I had time to read the literature and understand the methods and rationale for my experiments. This time was really valuable in getting a strong foundation for my studies. I am doing three studies across the course of my PhD, meaning they each take 12-15 months to complete. The longer timescale means that you won’t see progress every day, and some things won’t work first time, but over the months that slow progress will build up. Consistency is the key to your PhD, and a little bit of progress each day leads to big results over time.

#2 It’s a training programme

At the start of my PhD, I felt pressure to be perfect and to know what I was doing. I lost sight of the fact that I am still a student and am on my PhD programme to learn to become an independent researcher: my supervisors weren’t expecting that from day one.

At halfway, I am closer to the end goal of independent-researcher but I still have a long way to go. I am always learning from my supervisors and other students, and will continue to do so for the remainder of my PhD . . . and beyond. Admitting what you don’t know, taking up opportunities for development, and being kind to yourself when you fall short, is all part of the PhD. Whilst you might not go to lectures, you are still a student and that means no one is expecting you to be perfect.

#3 You can’t plan for all the adventures of a PhD

I’m a planner, list-lover and post-it note obsessive. All these things are still the case and I still plan my weekly to-do list, but I realise now that so many things happen in the PhD that you can’t plan for. Sometimes these are experiment related: your equipment might break and the replacement takes two months to arrive; your experiment doesn’t work; or the results aren’t what you expect. All of these require you to adjust your plan, with your supervisors, so you can still make progress on your overall question.

At the other end of the scale, you also can’t plan for the countless opportunities to get involved in. Part of my PhD has included lecturing undergraduate students in China – I never expected to be climbing the Great Wall during the second year of my PhD! Other opportunities have included writing for this blog, attending conferences in France and Germany, and supervising undergraduate students through their dissertations.

If you plan too much, you might miss the exciting opportunities that being a PhD student affords you. There are few times in your career that you are encouraged to follow your interests and develop your skills as much as in a PhD: in light of this, I’m having a lighter hold on the reigns for my third year so I can enjoy some side quests as they come up.

#4 It’s an individual project but you won’t be on your own

There is an element of the PhD that will always be independent: you are looking at a specific research question that no one else has ever done. Coming into my PhD I was ready to work on my own project and expected it to be a fairly isolating experience. I am so lucky to say that I couldn’t have been more wrong! It can be hard for your family and friends to understand what you are going through so having a strong department/research group community has been the unexpected highlight of my PhD. There is always someone to share a cup of tea with, a hug to cheer you up, or an ear to rant to. I know this might not be the case for all students but I think the PhD is less isolating than I thought so reach out to people, whether it’s in person or online (there are some amazing PhD study accounts), to build yourself a network of people going through the same whirlwind journey.

As I enter my third year, I am trying to take my own advice to slow down, make the most of opportunities, and enjoy the adventure with my colleagues and friends. I am so lucky to be able to say I love my PhD and I have another two years to go! Good luck to all students starting their studies this month, and to those of us ticking off another year of the journey.

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