Now that I’ve entered my final year as a Microbiology PhD student, I’ve found myself reflecting on the lessons I’ve learned along the way. Although there are decisions I made early on that significantly improved my graduate school experience, there are plenty of realizations I wish I’d had sooner. I decided to gather all my senior grad student wisdom and compile it into a list of the top 5 pieces of advice I would give to new students just beginning their PhD journey.
Note: Although these tips are geared toward science PhD students, I’d imagine many are applicable to other graduate programs as well!
1. Choose a Mentor You Are Compatible With
Choosing your mentor is the single most important decision you’ll make in grad school. There are many variables that should factor into your decision including your level of interest in their research, how much funding they have, their publication track record, and where their previous students have ended up. But one of the most important considerations that many students undervalue is whether or not their mentor’s personality is compatible with their own. Before officially joining a lab, it’s critical to talk to people who work in that lab to get their perspective on who their boss is as a person. Is this professor rarely in the lab or are they a micromanager? Are they easy to talk to or can they be intimidating? Do they promote a good work life balance or do they expect their team to work long hours? Talk to the more experienced graduate students in your program as well; they’ll be able to clue you in on the professor’s reputation in the department. If you have any doubts that the professor’s mentoring style will work for you, think carefully before joining their lab. Even if you love the research, it won’t be enough to make up for a fraught relationship with your mentor and an unpleasant work environment. I’ve encountered numerous challenges and roadblocks throughout my PhD, but my mentor’s kindness and constant support were ultimately what drove me to keep going.
2. Maintain Relationships with Your Fellow Graduate Students
Doing a PhD can be isolating. It’s easy to get swept up by your project and shut yourself away in the lab, allowing your personal relationships to fall to the wayside. But not connecting with your fellow grad students is a huge missed opportunity! When I was having a hard time, I found comfort in talking to people who I knew understood exactly what I was going through. It reminded me that getting a PhD is hard for everyone and we’re all in the same boat. Talking to other grad students is also the easiest and most enjoyable form of networking you can do. After you graduate, your grad school friends will be the first people you reach out to when looking for specialized knowledge on a topic or collaborators for a new project. Don’t miss out on forming lasting relationships with cool people!
3. Start Researching Career Paths Early (and Always Keep Your Resume in Mind)
I reached a point in my PhD where I realized a career in academia wasn’t for me. The problem was I had never taken the time to learn about alternative career paths available to PhDs. There are dozens of careers I had no idea existed until I started doing more research toward the end of my PhD. But there’s no need to wait that long to start doing career research. The sooner you figure out what type of career you’re looking for, the sooner you can start tailoring your PhD experiences to prepare you for that career. If there’s a technique you know you’ll have to use in the job you want, find a researcher at your university who’s an expert at it and ask to shadow them. If you’re interested in science communication, sign up to present at your departmental journal clubs or ask to be considered for an oral presentation when submitting your abstract for a conference. Your PhD training offers you so many opportunities to build the hard and soft skills you need to make your resume stand out for the job you want. Figuring out what careers you’re interested in early also ensures you’ll have plenty of time to start networking and building genuine connections with the right people before you actually have to start applying for jobs. If you’re going to spend an extra 5-6 years in school, you might as well make the most of it!
4. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Other Professors for Help
It should come as a surprise to no one that professors like to talk about research. If you’re struggling with an experiment or looking for help interpreting a piece of data, don’t be afraid to ask other professors for their advice. Chances are they’ll be more than happy to chat science with you. This is especially true for your thesis committee. They’re not just there to give you anxiety by picking apart your research and grilling you on your methods and analyses. Their goal is to help you become a better scientist. Other professors have knowledge and experience that your mentor doesn’t have, so talking to them is a great way to gain a new perspective on your research. Training to be an “independent scientist” doesn’t mean that you’re not allowed to ask for help. Asking questions will save you a ton of time by helping you identify any mistakes or experiment design flaws early.
5. Learn to Separate Your Self-Worth from Your Research
This one is easier said than done. When our experiments fail, it’s easy to take it personally and convince ourselves that we’re failures. But failed experiments are not a sign of our incompetence. They’re just a normal part of doing science. It sounds cliché, but if our experiments were easy, someone else would have done them already. As researchers, we’re working to uncover secrets of the universe that no one else has discovered before. Does that sound like something you’ll be able to figure out on your first try? As PhD students, we have to remember that what we’re doing is hard and we’re expected to make mistakes and have to start over from scratch sometimes. It’s frustrating and demotivating in the moment, but you will get things to work eventually and it will be worth it when you finally do. In the meantime, do your best to keep up with your non-science hobbies and do things that make you happy outside of the lab. Remember that you’re more than just your PhD project, and your research success (or lack thereof) does not determine your self-worth.
Even though it’s difficult, graduate school can be an incredibly enriching, fulfilling, and mind opening experience. Take it as an opportunity to absorb as much knowledge as you can about a subject that you love. Go forth and learn!
Katelyn Rivas 