Reflecting On My First 18 Months
The first year and a half of my journey as a PhD student has been a wild ride with many highlights. Recently, I had the opportunity to listen to a seminar by higher education supervision researcher and author, Kay Guccione, which made me reflect on my journey so far. I came to realize that the process of becoming an independent researcher is so much more than just research, and this post is meant to highlight some of my own experiences and realizations.
The Technical Work
To put things into perspective, it might be useful to know the expectations I had on the learnings and the day-to-day of being a full-time PhD student.
I applied for the position because I enjoy learning and tinkering around with the latest technology in my specific domain. This had me reading research papers and "home-labbing" to try out many of the latest and greatest advancements in the field. Thus, my main motivation was that I would now be able to do this reading and tinkering as a job for four years. A hobby turned job. There is not, and has never been any financial or status incentive for me.
Prior to starting, my view of being a PhD student was that I would be reading, developing solutions, performing experiments, and then writing papers which I would try to publish. Perhaps sprinkled with some intermittent teaching work. Thus, I believed I could become an expert within my specific filed of research while working away on my own.
Sure, there is a large part of the job that is exactly like this. But I've come to realize that this is only a small part of the learnings, and is likely not even close to the most valuable going forward.
Written Sales
As a potential surprise of the uninitiated, science is not only about performing science. In fact, convincing others that your work is important is more important to succeed in the modern academic system than actually performing great science. While this may sound dystopian, the fact is that science builds upon a peer-review model where other researchers in the field judge your work. A paper mush pass this quality insurance step to have the opportunity of being published. Since that process involves convincing skeptical critics that the work is impactful and of high quality, papers must be written such that the reader is convinced that the problem is important and that the solution sufficiently well solves said problem.
Out of necessity, this leads to researchers that learn to sell their ideas and results using writing alone. This skill is easily transferrable to other parts of life. It may help your land that job interview, or convince a potential investor that your idea is worth taking a closer look at.
Networking and Societal Connections
The real benefit of PhD studies is one that I initially didn't expect. The benefits associated with networking by getting involved in student-organizations, attending conferences, and performing research in collaboration with industry partners is one that I would value higher than the actual doctoral title itself.
I have had the privilege to meet people of high profile. Not only in academic circles, but also from the world's largest companies and the highest level of national government. Being able to probe their brains and understand how they think and what they believe to be important is an incredible opportunity to learn more about how the world's most influential people work. Additionally, this also means that they get an idea of who you are and often allow you to add them to your collection of LinkedIn connections.
The True Value of PhD Studies
I've come to realize that the social skills and social network that I am building will be an invaluable asset for the rest of my life. It is not something that comes for free with the role, however. But the opportunity exists, and my future self would never forgive me for not taking advantage of this incredible resource.
Sure, research is fun and important. But the reality is that I'm not expecting the degree itself to be as life-changing as the soft skills I'm picking up along the way.