Should you do a PhD?

Dr Hannah T on her PhD graduation day.

On Saturday evening, I found myself walking past the first place I lived in London. I moved there to start my PhD in September 2014. I was surprised to find myself struggling to remember what past Hannah would have been doing. One thing was clear however, I felt very different now, I felt like I had changed a lot. I instantly became very grateful to past Hannah for doing a PhD.

It got me thinking about what my PhD was like and the opportunities it gave me. It has been about a year since I have truly been free of my PhD, ( from the first day to getting the all clear from my corrections was about 4.5 years in the end), so I thought I’d write a blog post on my reflections at this point in time.

First a bit of context and history. I had not really been clear on what I wanted to do before I went to uni. I knew that I was interested in ingredients in things like shampoo and butter, but I knew that learning how to make these items wouldn’t change the world. So, I went to uni to learn how to make drugs.

Fun fact interlude, I don’t have a bachelor’s degree, I chose a 4 year masters programme. Cheeky tip for all those applying to uni, look for masters courses with lots of opportunities for internships, year long work placement and/or year abroad. You’ll get lots of opportunities and a great network effect from your degree.

After I finished my masters in pharmacology I still didn’t really know what I wanted to do next. I still don’t know what I want to do in the long term. The short-term is a little clearer for me now, but still not crystal clear. I still very much expect and hope for a career that takes many trajectories. I’ve now learnt to be comfortable knowing only what I want to do for the next 6 months — 3 years.

Of all those who did my degree (I think there were about 18), the vast majority ended up doing a PhD. We were trained to be researchers so doing a PhD seemed the most natural fit. No one in my family had done a PhD, no one I knew had a PhD. I didn’t have anyone to scare me off the idea.

So, I applied for about 30 PhD’s from September through to April of the final year of my degree. The criteria I used to select PhD’s to apply for was basically any that had the word cancer in the title. I really struggled to have a specific passion, I think I always secretly knew I wouldn’t be an academic. I had a year of hands-on experience during the placement year of my masters working on pancreatic cancer at a wonderful company in Cambridge called MedImmune (now fully AstraZeneca). And, I knew that there was lots of funding for PhDs related to cancer. So, I used the database findaphd.com, tried to read as much as possible into the work behind each PhD title, and set about applying for as many as possible. To me, it was a numbers game.

My CV was alright. I had done more extra things than most people, played GB netball and got an award for a research scholarship. But unfortunately, I just wasn’t on track for a first in my degree, and I believe this is probably what prevented me from getting more PhD interviews. In the end I only just got a 2.1, with 61%. Which I am quite proud of, getting enough to get to the next step, whilst having fun and doing many other things, has always been the way I have seen my journey.

Despite my average performance in exams, I managed to get about 5 PhD interviews, including two interviews at Cambridge University, where I really wanted to go, mainly because of the name and my familiarity with the city from my placement year. I had complimentary feedback from my interviews, but I was always losing out on the PhD to someone more academically gifted. Time was marching on, it was getting towards the end of my masters. I had planned a gap year, which I was quite ready for at the time! If the world didn’t want me to do a PhD, I was happy with travelling for a bit.

But, I ended up doing a PhD at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) with Prof. Andrew Silver and Dr Cleo Bishop - their first choice pulled out! It took a while to get my head round the idea that I would be doing a PhD. But I knew I had enjoyed meeting the people at this lab and this gave me great comfort that it wouldn’t be a bad choice to do a PhD there. Once my mind was on board, it was full steam ahead. I did not let it bother me that I was the second choice. I had done enough to get to the next step. This was now my opportunity.

And wow, a PhD at QMUL gave me so many more opportunities, of which there is a list below. Really, it is everything around the PhD that I treasure the most. I made the most of being in a University environment where free training and opportunities can be found in bucket loads.

• Being coached by wonderful researchers, Prof Andrew Silver and Dr Cleo Bishop.
• Meeting lots of lifelong science friends.
• Going to a conference at Whistler in Vancouver and using the time to get better at skiing, snowmobiling, zip lining, and meeting more science friends.
• Scientific papers, talks and posters.
• Working in a lab in Oxford for part of my PhD.
• Working with oncologists at The Royal London Hospital.
• STEM Ambassador training, using it to help out at Centre of The Cell to share science with school children.
• Taking part in the Three Minute Thesis competition. Being able to explain my PhD in three minutes has been extremely handy!
• Public engagement talks. I did one when Princess Anne came to open up the Graduate Centre, unfortunately, Princess Anne was too busy to stop by my talk.
• Stand-up comedy. Being introduced to this wonderful world by a colleague.
• Living in London and falling in love with it.
• Being able to call myself a Dr.

My final thesis was titled “The mechanistic link between type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer”. My PhD was originally centred around hypoxia, microRNAs and colorectal cancer. And I spent a year on this work, tying up loose ends from a previous PhD project. When that was complete, I started a new project, which became what I submitted for my PhD thesis. I didn’t mind as it meant more papers and experience for me! You can find more details about my PhD and subsequent work in my QMUL Alumni profile here.

On reflection I believe that having a PhD has helped me progress quicker in my career. Although it is impossible to know for sure what I would be doing if I hadn’t done a PhD, maybe I would actually be better off. I am going to stick with the positive vibes and say doing a PhD has moulded me into the person I am today.

Many people ask me if I would choose to do a PhD again if I had the choice. And to be honest I flip flop between the answers. Although now I write down the for and against reasons, I see there is potentially more on the yes side, depending on how you weight each of these reasons.

Reasons I am grateful for my PhD:

• I now hold the title of Dr, the final and most important opportunity listed above. With the Dr title comes respect from key stakeholders in my present and future.
• It fostered within me lots of things needed to be a great human; resilience, planning, organisation, budgeting, curiosity, creativity, relationship building and more.
• I gained empathy and understanding with academics. If you want to work in industry or academia it is likely you’ll interact with academics at some point, or work with those who grew tired of academia. Being able to empathise with those humans will help immensely in building personal relationships with them.
• I have a PhD on my CV. If you want to work in certain roles, like academia or industry research a PhD is still currently a quite essential presence on your CV.
• I had freedom. Most likely you will be in charge of every day of your life for the next 3–7 years.

Things I wonder about PhD’s:

• It is not the real world. Maybe it is better to stuck into some real life experience.
• There are so many brilliant people in the world who didn’t do a PhD, why do you need one? There are so many other opportunities to learn and grow out there.
• It is 3–7 years of your life. It’s a long time, where you could be doing other awesome things.
• Academia is a frightful place. Incentives are often in the wrong place, creating poor behaviours and poor practice. Maybe outside of academia is a better place for a young postgraduate.
• It is hard. I underestimated the challenge of a PhD, it was harder for me that I expected, in unexpected ways.

My current advice when talking to others about whether or not they want to do a PhD would be to think about your personal experience map. This would be the same advice I would give to anyone considering a new role. Try to figure out what role or sequence of roles might get you to your next goal efficiently (make sure you are breaking your big goals into smaller ones). And make sure those roles include fun, great people and learning on the way.

If you do decide to take the PhD path, I strongly recommend building a support group that can support you during your PhD. I set up a PhD support group, called Pretty Hard Day, which I will be reigniting in the near future. Contact me if you’d like to be part of the community. You can find the blog I wrote about Pretty Hard Day here.

If you’re looking for tips on how to find a PhD you’ll like, there are many articles out there. For me it is still all about the people in the lab, apply for loads, meet the people, go with your gut and where the energy feels good.

I am proud to say I have a PhD, and I am enjoying building the Dr Hannah T brand as a result.