I’m Josie, a PGR student working on Coastal Marine Microplastic Remediation. Researching the impact of marine paints on local wildlife.

As I enter the final stretch of a four-year PhD, there are many hiccups, roadblocks and workarounds I can look back upon with the benefit of hindsight. Things were never as bad as they felt in the moment, in fact many of my most interesting breakthroughs were the result of a happy accident or a quick fix, helping me learn how to learn and grow as a researcher.

Make space for spontaneity

So, the experiment didn’t work. The instrument malfunctioned. The results weren’t statistically significant. What are you going to do about it? Unfortunately, there are many factors that will be out of your control, and the best laid plans should allow for flexibility in the face of adversity. No experience is worthless, there is always a lesson to learn for next time or a question that has made itself apparent. Instead of lamenting what could have been, consider how the project will grow into something better informed or more thoroughly falsified: in the world of science, ‘no correlation’ is often more valuable than a p < 0.05! Now, that’s not to say that you can’t control the direction of your PhD, quite the opposite.

This is your project

Don’t be afraid to inform its direction. When I started my PhD there was a pervasive sense of undeserving. That I was an inexperienced child with dreams of being a scientist, and in many ways I was! However one thing I learned very quickly is that nobody cares about this project nearly as much as I do, and if nothing else, that passion earns me a seat at the table. Now that’s not to say I’m the only one who cares. There are many people who have made this opportunity possible, for whom I am immensely grateful, but only one person on earth is doing my PhD project. This is your chance to stretch your wings for the very first time, and truly dive in to a topic that you care about, so make it yours. Mistakes are there to be made, and this is the time to make them, guided by the watchful eye of your supervisor.

Your supervisor is not your boss

By design, they know more than you do, and that can certainly feel intimidating. They say that the research community is built upon the shoulders of giants, well here is yours. There is no cookie cutter mould for a supervisor, and the relationship you build is unique to the two of you, so I will try not to speak prescriptively. After yourself, your principal supervisor is probably second in the ranking of ‘cares the most’, and their purpose is to be the guiding hand of reason and experience. They are your greatest source of wisdom, and your most powerful ally, but they are not your boss. Where a boss will make all of the decisions, demanding the papers on their desk by Monday, a supervisor is one cornerstone of your project who wants nothing more than for you to succeed, whilst holding you accountable.

Productivity wears many masks

I’m sure you’ve heard that good self-discipline keeps a PhD student on schedule, and that the flexible hours allow you to work in your own way, and that is certainly true. One thing I really needed to hear, however, was that ‘productive’ is not a fixed state of being. Rather, I was told to consider a crossword puzzle – even if you only manage to add one letter today, that’s one less thing to do tomorrow. Sometimes todays ‘best’ is organising your documents, or tidying your desk, or chatting through your woes with a fellow student. Other times, your ‘best’ will be a quick thousand words before lunchtime. You are not a machine, and nobody should expect you to work like one. Of course on the flip side, nobody else can do your work for you, so naturally the sweet spot must be somewhere between burnout and a drop-out. Your equilibrium on that scale is something you’ll have to figure out along the way, but be kind to yourself on the bad days.

A PhD is only one step in a long and fruitful career. Nobody expects you to have it all figured out from the start, so you shouldn’t either. After all you’re a PhD student, not an expert… yet!