Written by Shayma, PhD in Genomic Medicine
Embarking on a PhD application can feel daunting and protracted. Yet, with the right support, it can transform into a fluid and even exhilarating journey, enabling you to gain clarity on your ambitions and passions. Here’s a general outline for discovering a PhD that fits you, drawn from my own experiences of locating, selecting, and applying for a PhD at Imperial.
Reasons to pursue a PhD
Prior to initiating your PhD search, it’s essential to clarify your motivations for wanting to earn a PhD. Pursuing a PhD entails substantial commitment, and ensuring it resonates with your aspirations and interests is imperative. A PhD equips you with the training to become an autonomous researcher, which, for me, is an indispensable competency for my desired career path.
In addition to technical training, I was drawn to the creative freedom and innovation that academia provides. My enthusiasm for science can only extend so far if I’m engaged in topics that don’t captivate me or conducting experiments that fail to inspire me, so I opted for a PhD project I was genuinely excited to delve into. The ability to steer my project in my preferred direction is also a significant advantage for me and represents one of the most enjoyable elements of pursuing a PhD.
As straightforward as it may seem, I would recommend crafting a list of pros and cons regarding undertaking a PhD before you embark on your search to confirm that it’s truly what you wish to do – what expectations do you have for a PhD?
The PhD application journey
The application process generally encompasses several stages:
- Identifying a PhD
- Submitting an initial application
- Shortlisting candidates
- Conducting interviews
- Receiving conditional or formal offers
- Making funding decisions
Interviews frequently concentrate on your reasons for applying, your comprehension of the project, your previous research experiences, and your problem-solving approach. While preparing for interviews, I revisited my application, read pertinent literature, and reflected on my experiences so that I could articulate them effectively and confidently during the interviews.
Locating a PhD
Finding a project begins with understanding what type of research excites you, what environment you flourish in, and what skills you hope to acquire from the PhD. Some resources for identifying your PhD include:
- University websites, such as Imperial’s – seek departmental pages where they list their available PhD positions
- Centralized PhD portals and job boards like FindAPhD
- Research group and supervisor websites
- Academic networks and recommendations from professors or supervisors
- Websites of funding bodies and doctoral training centers
My application process could be a bit different than yours. For my PhD, I obtained funding from my home country, so I primarily needed to locate a research group focused on a project that interested me. To achieve this, I navigated the Imperial website, discovered researcher and research group directories, read their research summaries, and examined their outputs.
Being a Master’s student at Imperial while searching for PhDs also provided me with the opportunity to discuss potential research groups with my lecturers, who helped me identify suitable matches. I found my current project supervisor from a compilation of research groups shared by my MSc course leader.
The essential thing is to engage with EVERYONE and gather as much feedback as possible. I personally know a fellow PhD student who discovered their project through a chance conversation with a stranger in a pub who connected them with their current principal investigator (PI) and PhD supervisor.