11 Tips for a Great PhD Journey

I recently finished my PhD in Cheminformatics (from the Department of Chemistry) at North Carolina State University. I worked on my PhD for three and a half years; I started it in August 2016 and defended on March 24th 2020. During that time, I published five articles (three as first author), one article is currently under review (also first author) and another manuscript is ready to be submitted (first co-author).

I also collaborated on several other projects whose papers will come out eventually at their own pace. PhD is a journey like no other because it could be really stressful at times, but after you get past those rough patches, it can be quite fun! I had an adventurous, challenging and totally rewarding experience because I sincerely loved what I did and what I researched.

For a PhD, you have to choose something to do for the long term. Every path has its own challenges and frustrations to deal with so carefully choose a path you are passionate about. That way you won’t give up when you encounter frustrating challenges along the way. To be truthful, I had a great time doing my PhD (although there were times it got tough) and I want to share some tips I learned along the way, in the hopes that it will help some PhD students. Feel free to adapt the advice for what works for you.

1. Ask & You Shall Receive!

I didn’t know at the beginning what it takes to be a PhD student.

It’s a lot more than being a college student; you still take some classes in your first (and possibly second) year, you have a job (as a teaching assistant or a research assistant) with an annual stipend, you design your own research and find something novel to contribute to the field.

When you start your research projects, make sure you read as many articles as you can on the background and recent findings, etc. Know what has been done, what are the potential pitfalls, what will be valuable to add, and what tools you can use.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to the authors if you want some data or have questions about their work. Ask your mentor, seniors in the lab and experts in the field (even those you don’t know) by shooting an email, politely arranging a call and posting in public forums. I am sure they will be happy to help you as time allows.

Asking and seeking help will make your PhD life a lot easier and save you a lot of headache and frustration if you can have a conversation with experienced researchers and discuss the topics you want to learn more about.

2. Don’t Work All the Time.

It’s okay to not work all the time. I can’t emphasize this enough. Many PhD students told me how hard they work. They are in the lab from 8 am to 11 pm. Every minute that they open their eyes, they work on their research or think about research.

I have heard students holding group meetings on weekends so they don’t take time from their week. Working long and hard hours is not equivalent to high productivity.

I don’t agree with that approach. I mean, there are times when I become obsessed with a problem and can’t seem to focus on other things until I resolve it. I have burned midnight oil and worked persistently and aggressively days in and out so I get that. But I don’t think you need to be on that mode all the time because you will burn out.

I take breaks and time off as needed; I travelled to Bolivia, Myanmar and other places in the states, watched shows, read novels, made music covers, cooked fancy meals, etc.

There were times I felt guilty just because I compared myself to other students who seemed to be working all the time. But I believe taking some personal time is more important for emotional and mental health. After all, work smart. You should balance your work-life in a way that one will promote happiness and productivity in another because they are codependent. If you can, set normal office hours per day and try to focus on life outside those hours. When you have important deadlines and projects, you can burn the midnight oil and work as much as needed during those times.

3. Write Up Your Work and Make Powerpoints.

Always document your work when your start, as you make progress and after! What I  find particularly useful is making slides for my projects.

You may be confused about why it is so important. When I write, I tend to get stuck on nitpick details and sometimes lose track of the big picture. Yes, it happens more often than I’d like to admit.

Sometimes, I have done so many things and got so many results that I don’t easily see the core of my research results. When I make powerpoints, I have an audience in mind and I know I have to find the easiest way to explain something (It helps that I really like making good presentation slides to make the audience engaged).

The same applies when you write. You are explaining your research to readers so you may want to put it in a digestible format. Making powerpoints helps me organize my workflow better.

Preparing slides also allows me to focus on the big picture, and most importantly, summarize and analyze the results more effectively. You want to present your audience with key results that can be showcased in powerful visualizations. Preparing your presentations this way will help your audience quickly understand your topic and not get overwhelmed.

As a bonus, you can then write your paper by going through your slides, following its flow and explaining the figures (kudos to my adviser for this tip). This will make your writing process easier.

4. Publish Your Research

I have talked to some PhD students who have different opinions on this, but I think publishing your research is quite important.

If you don’t publish, you don’t really leave a footprint of your work in the community and it will feel like your research never took place. Publishing papers will get your name out in the field and hopefully gain you recognition and citations for your work. Additionally, you can mention those publications on your resume.

People in your field will know you and your work better. In turn, it will benefit your networking efforts for your career.

 Most importantly, you can compile your published articles when you write your thesis. Therefore, by writing papers you are already doing the heavy lifting part of writing your thesis. Still not convinced why it’s important? Then you should read this blog post here.

5. Choose a Good Adviser

This is one of the most important advice I can give you. Choose an adviser who aligns with your personality and work attitude.

However, don’t choose someone who thinks life is all about work. They will have you grinding at every waking hour.

Don’t choose one who is unkind, arrogant and won’t give you space when you need it. Having a bad mentor will cause misery, a lot of stress and unhappiness in your PhD career. PhD path is already a lot of hard work as is; you don’t want someone adding unnecessary burden on top of that. It will hugely impact your motivation and well-being.

I was very fortunate in my choice of adviser because he had reasonable expectations, was trustful of our working ethics and was kind, understanding and respectful of us.

My mentor also encouraged us to have a life outside of the lab and checked-in on us regularly to see if we needed help with our projects. He also listened carefully to our new project ideas and gave us guidance.

As a result, we had a perfect amount of supervision that allowed us room and freedom to mature and hone our research. I never felt like I was being micromanaged (which I wouldn’t like.)

When I went to ask him a bunch of questions, he was patient enough to answer all of them in a kind manner.

I have encountered professors who had treated students condescendingly, saying things like “How do you not know this?” “This is not a difficult thing to figure out.” “What took you so long?” “I could have done it in a day/week/month, etc.” Everyone learns at their own pace and there certainly is a learning curve.

What an experienced professor finds easy can be quite difficult for a beginner student. So comments or questions like these are not helpful to students’ growth. In fact, they can even hinder their learning because students will feel hesitant to ask questions or communicate further. It can be discouraging and can make us feel small. You don’t need an adviser chipping away your self-esteem or confidence during your PhD journey.

The relationship with your adviser is crucial in a happy and successful PhD life. Reach out and communicate your research goals clearly and regularly. Keep in mind that your mentor may be busy from time to time so give them space during those stressful periods. You should be the one to initiate and report your work progress often and ask for help when needed. Be proactive, kind and considerate.

6. You Will Fail Epicly, and It’s Okay.

Obtaining a graduate degree is not about being smart. It’s about working hard, passionately and persistently.

I have had projects fall through, not get the awards /scholarships /fellowships that I wanted. My first scientific article wasn’t accepted and the reviews were soul-crushing. Honestly, I was surprised by how much I was affected by that.

My adviser then told me an example story of how the best papers are the ones that have been rejected over and over because they were given great opportunities to improve. It was the kindness and motivation that I needed to pick myself up and continue working on it.

Mentors might not realize this, but they have a huge impact on students’ motivation and self-esteem. If they keep telling you how incompetent you are on a regular basis, it is a matter of time before you get brainwashed into believing it yourself.

On the other hand, if you have a supportive mentor who guides you through hells and heavens, you will have a higher chance of success. Again, another reason why you should carefully choose your doctoral adviser! Anyhow, my paper got published eventually and that project ended up winning an ACS CINF award.

Know that failure is a part of graduate school. You won’t get your PhD without experiencing at least once, so expect it.

You will face it, learn from it, try again, and fail again (as many times as needed to finally succeed in the end). Know in your heart that you will persevere and at the end, it will be worth it. At the same time, if you think it’s causing too much headache, heartache and stress to the edge of mental health, it’s okay to drop it. Nothing is worth your mental sanity and happiness. You choose the kind of demons you want to battle, and no one but yourself is the master of your life.

7. Don’t Compare Yourself With Others.

There are times you feel like you are not quite where you need to be, especially when your peers seem to be doing really well with multiple awards, papers, and fellowships while you are stuck on a certain problem.

You may feel incompetent or left behind. You may doubt the usefulness of your projects, whether your research is significant, whether you are contributing enough, or you may feel like you probably shouldn’t be there.

This is known as Imposter Syndrome, which surprisingly, is quite real and common among graduate students. Even the most successful students suffer from self-doubt and Imposter Syndrome from time to time.

When it happens to you, know that it is normal and it is not actually true. Remember how hard you have worked and that the weight & impact of your work adds some value to the community.

It will help you to share how you feel about your projects with your lab mates. They may provide fresh perspectives, encouragement and support which will make you feel better. It is likely they also feel this way about their projects at some point.

After all, everyone’s projects and journeys are different. There will come a time you shine and you actually feel you deserve it. For now, you have to believe it and move forward.

8. It Can Get Very Lonely.

I can’t speak for others, but I felt the loneliest in the first and second year of my PhD. I am an international student, my family lives ~9000 miles away and my boyfriend (now my husband) was studying in the opposite side of the country. My close friends were all over the world, and I was not excited about starting over in a new place, again.

I am naturally quite introverted so it became harder for me to make new friends, especially in graduate school where everyone had their own adult lives. It was easier in undergrad where we got to see our friends all the time as we went to classes, food service, or back to the dorm.

Things are different in grad school. I lived off-campus, and my research building was separate from the rest of the Chemistry Department. You actually had to go out of your way if you wanted to forge connections with people.

I was also stressed because of all the exams, classes, teaching assignments, and other personal issues. I felt like I had no one but myself and I didn’t want to share these burdens with anyone else (thinking that everyone had enough on their plates).

It took a while but I started talking and sharing about it with my boyfriend who was able to understand and empathize with me. He understood the hardships of my journey and I started to feel better eventually.

I was still working on my classes and research projects even during those times. Working on my research actually helped me feel better because when I worked, I didn’t have time to dwell over my sadness or think much about it. Additionally, I pursued some hobbies as an escapade. It also helps that I was able to work from home, so on some days when I felt down, I worked from home, took breaks as needed, napped, made some yummy beverages and focused on coding or reading.

Everyone operates differently so whatever works for you, you do you. I recommend socializing with your lab, reaching out to friends, and seeking school counseling or therapy if you need it.

9. Go Seize Opportunities.

Nobody will tell you to do this or that. You need to plan things out and go after them if you want to get more out of your time in graduate school.

I was always looking for opportunities to hone my coding skills so I signed up to get updates on hackathons. I made time to go and participate in them during the weekends and it was so freaking rewarding. Hackathons can be very fun (esp. if you win prizes) and you will learn a lot of new soft skills (time management, perseverance, team-management, communication, presentation, organization skills), and hard skills (tech-related skills) in a short amount of time.

Also, if you want to do internships in the summer, make sure you are always on the lookout out for them and reach out to companies with some openings. The same applies if you want to win fellowships and scholarships.

Keep an eye out and invest some time in the applications; I promise it will pay off!

10. Don’t Always Rely on Motivation!

It’s something they don’t quite tell you. I am a pretty driven person. Even then … despite loving what I do, motivation doesn’t always come to me.

There were days I didn’t feel like doing anything at all. But you know what? If you wait for motivation to strike you before you start working, you likely won’t get anything done.

I have to envision the end result that I want. Then I drag myself to the desk, start reading papers, watch YouTube tutorials or work on my projects.

Sometimes I use Twitter to see what other researchers are up to, and I often get inspired by their success, publications, and stories which get my butt out of bed. Strangely, you can induce motivation.

It wouldn’t take long after you start reading and working that you will find something you get curious about, a problem you find so interesting that you can’t get it out of your head, so you will start picking up the pace, and eventually things will start rolling. Before you even realize it, you will be deep in the zone working and getting things done. What I am trying to say is that … it’s important to develop a habitual work schedule and follow through with it (regardless of whether you are motivated at the moment or not). I promise you will get things done and find motivation along the way.

11. Use Mendeley!

I didn’t know about it at the beginning so I will add it here. My former lab member shared this tip about references and citations. Download the Mendeley app, install the web and word plugins.

Organize research articles and cite them using the app when writing your paper. The app has a large selection of citation formats for different journals so select the one in which you plan to submit your article. It will save you a lot of time and headache because it will automatically update and format all the in-text citations and bibliography for you.

I can’t think of more things to add at the moment. I hope you find this blog helpful for your PhD journey. Cheers!

Thank you to my husband, Andres, for proofreading and editing the post. He has his own website on investing which can be found here: http://entrepreneursidehustle.com/