th9283749238

From talking to my (degree-holding) colleagues, they seem to think that everything will be well, and no amount of evidence would convince them otherwise. Felt like I was talking to antivaxxers.

The IPCC report suggests first-world citizens reduce their energy footprint by 80% if we are to have even a remote chance of keeping things under control. Yet everybody is now making plans where to travel next when the pandemic becomes milder.

Meanwhile Germany closed half its nuclear reactors yesterday and people were cheering.

Are you sure you want to save this version of humanity?

There is another, more fundamental lesson, that I learned during my (failed) PhD - make sure that the environment suits you. By this, I mean do some research beforehand about the supervisor and the alumni. If possible talk to one of the other PhD candidates in their department and find out if you are compatible with the working environment.

This could be hard to do such early in your life, as one does not have much experience. Usually it falls in one of two categories - either you are someone that can do the work but needs support and guidance, or you prefer working on your own, in which case a more hands-off supervisor would be OK.

If you are of the former type and find yourself working for a supervisor that doesn't offer much support, it will be very hard to finish anything, and most likely you will become demotivated and drop out. Likewise, if you want to try things on your own but your supervisor wants to dictate where to go next, there will be a lot of conflicts and even the possibility that they block the thesis until it is done their way.

Having other PhD colleagues around and bouncing ideas off of them is worth its weight in gold, make sure that there is at least one that is working on something similar as you are.

Not really a project, but my PhD. Did it while I was working part time and made a mess of it, finally dropped out. Now I have to explain why my CV is the way it is to every interviewer and watch them silently judge me.

If any undergrads are reading, the short advice is - don't start a PhD unless you are very good or your supervisor is very good. Look at introductory courses for PhDs to get a feel for it. Research is a whole different ball game than studying for exams etc.