What is it like to do a PhD in a Marie Skłodowska-Curie training network? Which lessons do you learn? Which advice can you give the next generation of PhD candidates?
We are a group of 15 PhD candidates working in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie training network REMARO (Reliable AI for Marine Robotics) which will end soon. During our last summer school in the beautiful city of Århus, Denmark, we reflected on the last three years within the network and collected tips for new and aspiring PhD students as well as lessons that we learned during our time as PhD candidates.
As probably every PhD journey, our paths have not always been smooth and we had to overcome some obstacles to get to the place we are now (which is, to be honest, for most still some time away from the completion of the PhD). Even though every PhD journey is different, we hope that our experiences can help a new generation of PhD students to get a head-start and avoid the mistakes we made. So if you are considering to do a PhD (which does not have to be in a similar network as most of the advice and insights are agnostic to this), are at the beginning of your PhD or are just interested, we hope that you will find our perspectives and insights interesting and can benefit from them, no matter if it is advice that you needed, a feeling of disagreeing with us or just some minutes of procrastination.
This blog post is part of a series of four posts about the life of a (Marie Skłodowska-Curie) PhD student which starts here with some advice and information about our training network and Marie Skłodowska-Curie training networks in general. If you are looking for more general advice, check out our blog posts on the PhD journey, supervision, and some general insights.
We think that we can count ourselves lucky to be part of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie training network, not only because these are prestigious training networks, but mostly because the network offers many possibilities that PhD students funded by different sources do not benefit from. So if you just got accepted to a similar network, congratulations! You have an exciting journey in front of you and can profit a lot from the opportunities your network offers. To fully take advantage of the network, we provide you with some advice that will hopefully help you to enjoy your time in the network even more.
A PhD can be a very lonely experience but you are part of a network with other ESRs (early-stage researchers, this term is used to refer to PhD students in Marie Skłodowska-Curie training networks) that face similar challenges as you do, so take advantage of it! Your supervisors might have decided in the proposal that you will work closely with another ESR, but even if they did not, talk to the other ESRs from the beginning and try to find collaborations, no matter how small they are. There are many different ways how to work together. You can do a literature survey together, try to find out how your projects are connected, or just have regular chats where you tell each other about your research, your problems and your successes. It can be quite liberating to just chat with someone who is in the same situation about your struggles and successes, and the chances are high that the other person experiences something similar. We think, this is a great way to comfort each other in case something did not work out, let off steam after a difficult meeting with your supervisors, or share your enthusiasm which can be very inspiring for the other person. Don’t try to walk this path alone, it is easier and more fun with people by your side who can enjoy the highs and support you through the lows. In our opinion, the other ESRs are a natural choice for this as you can make friends with whom you can also collaborate – a perfect combination!
Another way of taking advantage of your Marie Skłodowska-Curie training network is by taking full advantage of the events organised by the network. Take an active part in the summer schools by trying to understand the content presented there, but also by meeting your fellow ESRs. Find out what they work on and their scientific interests to identify future collaborations. However, you should also get to know them on a personal level, for example by organising social events both with and without supervisors. As said before, the PhD journey is much nicer and easier if you don’t do it alone, so try to find companions for this journey in your fellow ESRs at the summer schools. In REMARO, we took advantage of meeting at the summer schools and organised cabin trips on the weekends after them. This way, we went to a nice cabin in the Norwegian forest, and a large house on the Portuguese coast, just to name two. We spent the weekends together playing games, eating well, going hiking, talking and just having a lot of fun together. The trips have not only been an enjoyable activity and bonded us together, but they have also increased our motivation towards our scientific work.
As a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow, you will spend some time of your PhD in secondments, i.e. research stays, at other institutions of the network. These secondments can be very helpful to boost your progress by working with people outside your regular research environment. They can also provide valuable insights in how other groups do research or what working in a company is like. Prepare as best as you can for these secondments to take full advantage of them. You will make much more progress if you have a detailed plan for what you want to achieve, how you want to achieve it, and what kind of support you need from the institution you visit. In our network, the secondments sparked several successful collaborations or ensured that already existing collaborations could be enhanced by working together at the same location.
However, some secondments just do not fit in your research plan because you have an important paper deadline, teaching duties or some other responsibilities. It can also happen that the topic of your PhD diverged from the proposal in a way that the secondments planned in the proposal do not fit your work anymore. In this case, try to change the time or location of your secondment early on. Changes are possible, but they require an application and therefore need to be coordinated with the European Union. If that does not work, try to find tasks that are not part of the proposal but benefit your work. This is your time, so try to make the best out of it even if the circumstances are not perfect.
As a PhD student in a Marie Skłodowska-Curie training network, you have a generous fund allocated for travelling to summer schools, secondments, conferences, workshops and other events, as well as funds for equipment or courses. In our case, our universities got more than 1000€ per ESR per month to cover these costs. Take advantage of that money! Travel to conferences, attend summer schools apart from the ones organised by the network, visit other ESRs or (potential) collaborators, and attend relevant courses. This is money that is supposed to be spent on your personal development, so try to make good use of it. In some institutions, it can be hard to figure out how much money you have left, but try to find a person who can help you with it so that you know your budget to determine which travels/courses/… you are still able to afford. The rules of your institution might be different to the ones of the network, so make sure you also know your rights regarding budgets. At the beginning of the network, you will get information on that from the EU official assigned to your project so have a look at it if you are in doubt about anything. This EU official will be responsible, among other things, for assessing the deliverables of your project (e.g., the progress reports that you will have to write), but will also help you to solve severe problems with your supervisors that might arise and cannot be solved otherwise. Keep this in mind when encountering issues that you cannot solve after reaching out to your supervisors and the project leaders.
Read more about other topics relevant for PhD students in some of our other blog posts:
Disclaimer: This is a personal blog written using the input of several people. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and do not represent those of people, institutions or organisations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organisation, company, or individual.