Written by Shayma, PhD Genomic Medicine
Initiating your journey toward a PhD application can feel daunting, but with the right direction, it can turn into a fulfilling and insightful experience, helping you define your aspirations and interests. Here’s a broad guide to discovering a PhD that matches your profile, drawn from my personal experience of locating, choosing, and applying for a PhD at Imperial.
Motive for Seeking a PhD
Before embarking on your PhD hunt, it’s vital to grasp your reasons for seeking one. A PhD requires a substantial commitment, and confirming that it aligns with your goals and inclinations is important. Pursuing a PhD provides training to become a self-sufficient researcher, a competency I consider essential for my professional journey.
In addition to technical skills, the autonomy and inventiveness found in academia drew me in. My enthusiasm for science diminishes if I engage with uninteresting subjects or carry out experiments that do not interest me, hence I aimed for a PhD project that truly intrigued me. The capacity to manage my project stands as a major advantage and one of my favorite elements of pursuing a PhD.
As straightforward as it appears, I suggest crafting a pros and cons list regarding undertaking a PhD before commencing your search to confirm it’s genuinely your desire—what are your expectations from a PhD?
The PhD Application Procedure
The application procedure typically comprises various stages:
- Searching for a PhD
- Submitting an initial application
- Shortlisting
- Interview(s)
- Receiving conditional or official offers
- Decisions on funding
Interviews generally emphasize your motivations, comprehension of the project, past research experience, and how you address challenges. To gear up for interviews, I revisited my application, perused pertinent literature, and contemplated my experiences to articulate them clearly and with confidence.
Locating a PhD
Identifying a project necessitates recognizing the research that sparks your interest, the environment that suits you best, and the competencies you wish to develop. Some resources to aid in finding your PhD include:
- University websites, such as Imperial’s—explore department pages for available PhD opportunities
- Centralized PhD portals and job boards like FindAPhD
- Webpages of research groups and supervisors
- Academic networks and suggestions from lecturers or supervisors
- Websites of funding bodies and doctoral training centers
My application journey may differ from yours. For my PhD, I obtained funding from my home country, so my primary task was finding a research group engaged in a project I was passionate about. I scoured the Imperial website, discovered lists of researchers and research groups, examined their research descriptions, and delved into their outputs.
As a Master’s student at Imperial during my PhD search, I also sought advice from my lecturers regarding suitable research groups. I located my current project supervisor from a compilation of research groups shared by my MSc course leader.
The essential part is to communicate with EVERYONE and gather as much feedback as you can. I know a fellow PhD candidate who found their project by conversing with a stranger in a pub, who connected them with their current principal investigator (PI) and PhD supervisor.
Financing Your PhD
If you’re not self-funded, there are numerous <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/fees-and-funding/postgraduate-doctoral/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="https://www.imper