It’s been a while since I wrote a blog post on my personal website. I wanted to write a blog post reflecting on my PhD journey after successfully defending my PhD in February 2025. I think it’s now the time to share my advice with prospective PhD students. Initially, I was thinking about giving people some general advice on how to complete a PhD with successful results and a happy outcome. However, I decided to offer two essential pieces of advice to people, which can potentially help them not only during their PhD journey but also after graduation, when the serious part of the game begins. Now, my main reason is that AI chatbots like ChatGPT can provide people with general advice on “How to Do a PhD.” So, I don’t want to repeat what an AI agent can tell you.
Without more introduction, I share my two pieces of advice with people who want to do a PhD now or in the future. Alright! Tell me, Amir, what you have in mind! Here is the TLDR version:
1- Develop an expertise during your PhD.
2- Work with the right people.
I quickly shared them with some people who may not have the time or patience to read a relatively long blog post. That said, I highly encourage you to continue reading to understand WHY I am making these two statements. Besides, brief advice without context and a story may not be useful.
Before explaining my arguments regarding these two statements, I would like to provide disclaimers to avoid upsetting some individuals who know me personally and may not be aware of the true intention of this post, which is, of course, to assist prospective PhD students out there. Disclaimers:
- This blog post is solely my personal opinion. It does NOT share the views of my current/past employer.
- I am NOT criticizing anyone here. I have worked with great, intelligent people in my career. Surely, I owe some of my success to them.
- This blog post is written by ME! (a human!). I have NOT used any AI tools/agents to generate content here. What follows are my honest thoughts.
Okay! Now, I would like to elaborate on my two pieces of advice for prospective PhD candidates out there. By the way, when I say “prospective”, that doesn’t mean that currently-enrolled PhD students won’t benefit from this. Actually, they do! However, the primary audience of this blog post is individuals who plan to pursue a PhD in the near future. Before elaborating on my advice, note that I am a bit direct and honest in my writing here. So, don’t get offended! Good coaches are not necessarily nice people, but they genuinely want you to WIN the trophy!
Develop an expertise during your PhD
I don’t wanna formally define what a PhD is. As a (prospective) PhD student, you should know what doing a PhD means. Otherwise, you probably shouldn’t do it! In short, one can define a PhD as conducting original research (independently) that contributes to a niche area of a research field or adds new knowledge to it. I said contributing to a “niche area”, which means you are expected to become an “expert” in the research topic you are deeply studying. The research you will do during your PhD will take at least 4 years of your precious time. Therefore, it’s essential to establish a solid foundation that you can build upon later, after completing a PhD. In the past, I asked one of my lecturers about how to conduct research as a bachelor’s student. He told me that you should start thinking about what kind of research you want to carry out while pursuing a BSc degree. He said that in your PhD, you build a floor or two on what you have already built during your academic journey. I thought about what he told me, even though it seems that, for a BSc student, it might just be too soon to think about the line of research they want to pursue in their academic career. But he definitely had a point. I would say that, during your PhD, you should at least lay the foundation that you want to build upon later in your career as a researcher/scientist. I’m pretty sure that some may not agree with this, and their counterargument might be that people can work on entirely different research topics than those explored during their PhD. This is also a valid argument! Just know that there is often a barrier to becoming an “influential author” in a research field, which is conducting years of research in that field and gaining experience.
As the saying goes, “Jack of all trades is master of none!”. We all have a finite time on this planet, and like it or not, our bodies deteriorate as we age. 10 years ago, I could read 100 pages in a couple of hours. Now, my eyes become tired quickly after I reach page 50! Why am I saying this? Use your time and youth to become an expert in one topic, rather than knowing a little about everything. If you look at the famous scientists in history, they are all often known for one thing or two. They didn’t discover 10 different math equations or laws. They, in fact, spent the majority of their time studying a particular phenomenon or proving a theory. For instance, Newton became famous for discovering the law of gravity.
Having said that, it’s becoming clear that it’s prominent to choose a research topic that you enjoy studying for years after your PhD. If you don’t like doing research or want to do a PhD for the sake of doing it. Just don’t do it! All I wanted to say here, doing a PhD is the beginning of a potentially long path. At the end of the PhD journey, people often face a big decision whether to abandon their “research life” and do something different after completing their PhD. Some also follow a typical next step, which is pursuing a Postdoctoral Position afterwards. Then, they can choose to become a professor at a university or conduct research in the industry (I don’t want to compare Academia vs. industry; some have already done so). Again, to keep it short, when thinking about doing a PhD, you should have a semi-clear vision of WHO you want to become in the next 10-20 years. This vision might be blurry or vivid. It doesn’t matter as long as you have ideas on what you want to achieve. That’s why I said a bit earlier that you shouldn’t think about a PhD as a “four-year thing” to do, and that’s it! In fact, you do a PhD to work towards the bigger vision you have for yourself and the things you want to achieve. It’s cliché, but life is short and there is no time machine (yet). So, you don’t wanna go back and say “I wish…”. However, let me assure you that there is also no absolute guarantee that you will achieve your vision and dreams. Life is full of mysteries and surprises. Even if you do everything “right”, you may not reach the final destination you set. So, enjoy the ride/journey, and do what you’re passionate about, spend time with family and friends. You may even come back to my post years later and say to yourself, “I should’ve listened to Amir’s advice!” If you find yourself in this position, that’s fine! I never say that doing a PhD is a “waste of time”, even if it ends with undesirable outcomes or regrets. I can certainly say that you will gain valuable, lifelong experience and skills by pursuing a PhD. One of which is thinking critically for yourself. Yes! You read it right! You should think! Think! Think about what I said so far. You should not accept my advice blindly. Think about the advice and see if it makes sense to you. Is this advice sound? Answer this question for yourself.
Work with the right people
Now, I am stepping into “dangerous territory.” This is one of the difficult topics to talk about: “working with the right people”. No matter how good I describe it, people can still misunderstand what I mean, and they may end up disliking me, which is okay! It would make my day if this advice helped even one person. Let me make this clear first. In my opinion, there is no such thing as right or wrong when working with people. I think there is a spectrum when it comes to (business) relationships. There is an extent to the chemistry people have with each other when working together. You and I are not in a position to judge people! One person may have great chemistry with person X, and their collaboration is quite prolific. But I may not be able to produce the same output when working with person X. Think of it as a simple equation. When persons X and Y are working together, what would be the output/result? This is the question that both a prospective PhD advisor and a prospective PhD student can/will ask themselves. That’s why you need to pass an interview(s) to become a PhD student. Both parties want to know if there is a match or a fit, and whether they can work together for at least 4 years, if not many years. In most cases, I’d say it’s not easy for either party to determine their level of chemistry. So they continue based on first impressions and the “good faith” principle. However, if you have worked with a prospective PhD advisor before, such as on an MSc thesis, then both of you might have a better idea of whether a PhD is a viable option. By the way, when I say “people” here, it’s not just a PhD advisor, but it’s also other students or people in the research lab/group. At the end of the day, you want to have coffee chats and lunch with them, and if there is nothing to talk about aside from work, then it may not be a good sign. I could write about the culture, work ethic, and mindsets of research labs for hours, but it’s beyond the scope of this post.
All in all, you should have at least some level of chemistry with the people you work with during your PhD. It’s up to you and your prospective PhD advisors to decide to what extent/degree the level of chemistry is needed to start a PhD project. PhD advisors usually have their own ideas on how to assess prospective PhD candidates from both technical and soft skills perspectives. They also consider whether a prospective PhD student is a good “cultural fit” for their research lab. In any case, you don’t have control over what a PhD advisor is looking for in a prospective PhD candidate. However, you do have control over what PhD advisors you want to work with (regardless of whether they accept you to work with them or not). I prefer not to delve into details here and list the things you should look for in a PhD advisor. The characteristics I may find important in a PhD advisor may be irrelevant to you or others. Also, I would like to avoid pissing off some readers who may know me personally. As I said, discussing topics like “with whom one should work” can quickly become controversial. As a prospective PhD student, do your homework and find out with whom you want to work. In fact, PhD advisors often prefer PhD candidates who are familiar with (or at least have some knowledge of) their research line and past work. Alright! I’m letting you search and find a suitable advisor. But please don’t spy on people! It’s weird and illegal! Do the “detective work” based on what is publicly available on the internet. To better know someone and their role, try to put yourself in their shoes. Yes, it sounds like another cliché sentence, but trust me! This way, you would better understand what the other party’s/person’s interests might be. In general, people do business in their own interests. A business relationship often happens when there is an intersection between the interests of the two parties. To be a bit more specific, think about what the interests of a PhD advisor and a PhD student would be. Think about where the intersection of their interests lies, and what the differences are in what they want in their careers. So, do your homework as a prospective PhD student!
Here, the main takeaway is to go back to the long-term vision you have for yourself. To make your vision a reality, ask yourself questions starting with “what”, “why”, “how”, and “who”. And, remember! You answer them all yourself, not me, not a prospective PhD advisor, or anyone else. It’s YOUR vision at the end of the day. Everybody has their own vision and goals. Keep in mind that you cannot really blame people if you end up doing a PhD with someone you think was not a good match. I hate to say it, but it’s YOU who decides to do a PhD with whom and where. When you are offered a PhD position, it’s YOU who will accept or reject it. We are all responsible for our actions and the choices we make in life.
I like to wrap up this blog by telling a short fictional story that relates to what I have discussed so far. I’ll leave the interpretation of the story to you and the readers. I’d say, “Just think about the following story and the advice I gave above a little bit”. In the end, you may forget the advice, but try to remember this one thing! When applying for a PhD, take your time, be patient, and do your own due diligence. Good luck!
Once upon a time, there was someone who wanted to reach a far-off destination, a special place with many promises, attractions, and delights. So, among several paths to the destination, they chose a road that they thought might be a fun ride to reach their destination. They drive a car for hundreds of kilometers, and reach the point where the vehicle runs out of fuel, and worse, there is no fuel station anywhere near on the road, and they end up walking the rest of the path at a much slower speed, with the hope that somebody else may give them a ride and save them. Suddenly, all of their dreams are somewhat crushed, and they have little faith that they will make it. They were blaming themselves for why they took this particular road for a supposedly fun ride.