All you never asked about applying for a PhD position

(Marine) research doctorates explained (Part II)

About the “All you never asked…” series: Research and academia can seem like a secluded, mysterious world. Like an isolated war college on top of an always foggy cliff. But it's not! It's a place filled with curiosity and genuine people who face daily struggles like anyone else. So, let me take you behind the scenes.

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Week 2 of my PhD is in the books. I enjoy everything about it so far, and I am currently thinking about the best way to incorporate my weekly postcards into this new life.

In the meantime, I want to finally post an article I promised to some of you as a follow-up to an earlier post.

In June, I wrote about what it means to do a PhD:

All you never asked someone who would love to get a PhD

Today, I want to take you along to make the application process somewhat comprehensible. The - how to actually get INTO a PhD position.

Shall we dive right in?

Wait.

Get a coffee. Get a cookie.

And bring some for me.

We will need them.

Okay, now we are ready.

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How to apply for a PhD?

Applying for a PhD is slightly more comprehensive, lengthy and frustrating than looking for jobs in the corporate field. Trust me, I have an honest comparison.

While a PhD is, first of all, a university degree, a PhD position (in Europe*) is also considered a first academic job. And yes, you also get a salary (at least in some European countries**).

*In other countries, it is considered more of a student position; hence, you might even have to pay for it (quite substantially)!

**Whether you get a salary and how much you get still varies greatly, even within Europe.

Today, we will go through 5 steps towards applying.

1. Getting your (pre-)requirements straight

2. Finding a PhD position (to apply for)

3. Collecting all the material needed for a specific PhD application

4. Submitting the application

5. Embracing uncertainty, everlastingness and pointlessness

Me working at the Norwegian Polar Institute in Tromsø.

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How to FIND a PhD position?

Step 1) Getting your (pre-)requirements straight.

There are many things to consider when determining whether a PhD is the right fit for you in general and in the detailed match of a given position.

General:

• An (under)graduate university degree (Bachelor/Master) which qualifies you for PhD studies in a particular field. Most PhD positions require a Master's degree, but theoretically, it is possible to do a PhD after your Bachelor’s.

• A PhD qualifies you to conduct academic, industry-specific or governmental research. This means continuing to work on tasks similar to the ones listed in what a PhD does. Time and experience will expose you to larger research projects, responsibility, teaching opportunities, and maybe even becoming a professor or industry advisor. If this is not your desired path, you might need to reconsider your reasoning.

Specific:

• The research field: The PhD sets the course for your academic career. What is it that you want to be doing? Just because you do a PhD in “marine science” doesn’t mean you can work in whatever kind of marine science job afterwards. Do you want to work in natural sciences? If so, biology? Oceanography? Ecology? Or rather something in social sciences or law? Of course, the type of studies you did will also set the baseline for what is available to you.

• The research niche: Which methods do you want to work with? Lab work? Animal studies? Which area of, let’s say, we take biology as the research field interests you? Plants? Animals? Which type of animal? Marine Mammals? Fish? Crustaceans? Bacteria? Animal behaviour? Food networks? Animal physiology? And this is just the tip of the iceberg…It’s not like, “Oh, I am studying for a degree in software development, and then later on, I will see which programming languages I will use for a job, which company I will work for, which products I will work with…”. You already NEED TO KNOW and SETTLE FOR the specifics.

• The research topic: In addition to the field & niche, choose the topic wisely. It will be a very specific thing you work on for the next 3-4 years. Everyday. And you will become a subject matter expert in it. So, not only do you need a passion and motivation for it, but it should be something you can see yourself building on afterwards, too! So seriously, it is nothing that you simply do for the title.

• Structure vs. independence: Are you looking for a pre-defined project that - at least on paper - already has most elements laid out and structured in a way that should enable you to fulfil all requirements for the PhD or do you want to design your own PhD, research?

• The country & location: There is literally no such thing as a remote PhD. You need to move to the country and location of the PhD. So, first of all, which countries and locations are you open to relocating your life to? What are the conditions, administrative aspects and logistics of conducting your PhD in this country? Would you enjoy the city where you would be living?

• The university: What are the very specific conditions at this university? How is a PhD degree by this particular university recognised internationally (aka, will it provide you with sufficient job opportunities later on)?

• The research group: Again, how well is this research group recognised internationally? What are the kind of research they are doing and publishing? How do they do it? Does it align with your own values, ethics and expectations? What is the work culture and atmosphere like? Highly competitive? Collaborative? Supportive? What are the working conditions and lived expectations (can vary drastically)?

• The PhD supervisor: Same as above but even deeper on a personal level. This is the person you will learn from the most. Will be guided by. You will have to share concerns, issues and anything else with you during your PhD study. How much room for ideas and directions can you bring in (if you would like that)?

• Funding: There are multiple aspects associated with it. First is the question if you would be willing to pay for your PhD, not pay but neither earn nor would like to get funding/a salary to support your living. These elements link a lot to the country and location already. Next is the question of funding for the PhD project itself. Is it fully funded by the university? Partners? Is it already fully funded, or do you need to apply for additional funding in between? Do you have to bring your own funding?

• Note: These are just the things that I have considered so far. I assume there is a lot more that I am not aware of yet and may just experience along the way.

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Soooo. You might see where I am going here. Finding a position that sounds like a good fit to apply for is rare. And that’s put mildly.

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My pre-requirements

So, let’s look at some of my (simplified) pre-requirements to find a position to get you an even better idea of some more precise examples. And yes, we tick off the general desire to pursue a research career. The good thing is - I worked on this list BEFORE getting accepted into my PhD. So, it is an authentic description of my pre-requirements, and I keep it in the present tense here.

• The research field: Underwater acoustics

• The research niche: Working with underwater noise and its impacts on marine life

• The research topic: I'm open to most things related to the niche, but ideally, I would like to conduct applied research on how noise affects animals, what we can do about it, etc. Working with underwater noise from ships and marine mammals would be cool as it builds on my thesis research.

• Structure vs. independence: I am open to pre-defined and more loosely defined topics where I can bring my elements in. Under certain circumstances, I would be fine defining my research, but honestly, only with experienced guidance. The path I took for my master's thesis was the independent one, which I am proud of and grateful for, but which also would not have been possible without the supervising team I got. For a PhD, I would at least want to be ensured that the project, data collection, and resources are reasonable and feasible.

• The country & location: Scandinavia/Nordics. Maybe Germany or the Netherlands.

• The university: I know that most universities within my niche and country/locations are good, and I won’t be too picky about them unless I need it as a decision criterion between two (a highly unlikely situation).

• The research group: Internationally recognised is a plus, but not my main priority. The working ethics and environment are much more important to me. I like to work in a dynamic, professional, and thriving environment, but I don’t work well in highly competitive settings. I value collaboration, support, flat hierarchies and a sense of belonging. I am a hard worker and tend to over-perform and -achieve. So, knowing myself, it is okay to work beyond the working conditions (in terms of hours and effort), but I would be a bit hesitant if going way beyond the expected status quo.

• The PhD supervisor: Similar to what I have written about the research group. But here, the most important thing is sympathy and trust, which you can only know by knowing the supervisor or getting to know during the interview process. What is their style like? Are they supporting and making the PhD about YOUR development, or do you feel like the main focus is the research - maybe even high risk for failure - and its prestige? If you start your traineeship as a roofer and your supervisor sends you to work on a complex roof structure overseeing a steep cliff during your first year. That would certainly give both of you incredible reputations if you achieved it. But what if you fail/fall? Your supervisor will still be there. But what about you?

• Funding: I’ll be transparent with you. I am 34, probably 35, once I start a PhD position. I want and need to be able to support myself financially, so I will only apply for a position with a salary involved. Regarding the project's funding in general, I am flexible with the sources as long as there is a guarantee that it will be fully funded throughout the entire timeframe. We assume here

Wow, it's so cool to have something like this on paper! I know that I was partially incredibly lucky, but I also know that I had these pre-requirements quite fixed in my mind when looking for PhD positions to apply for.

If you are applying for or desire to apply for a PhD in the future, I highly recommend that you complete this list for yourself.

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Step 2) Finding a PhD position (to apply for)

We can make this now a bit shorter 🙂. There are two options:

1.) PhD position postings: Similar to job ads, universities publish open PhD positions frequently. They either belong to existing research groups and projects or might be affiliated with larger, cross-country research projects or networks.

There is nothing like a shared platform for all PhD positions in Europe. Not even per country. So you usually bookmark all universities and research institutes that meet your pre-requirements and manually check their websites every week.

2.) Find funding: If you have a PhD research idea, you must find partners and funding. One partner is always a University. Some might support your research, but you must bring your own funding. So, you need to see if there are any research projects (in the planning phase) where your idea fits, apply for grants, or find funding partners from the industry. It requires good networking skills and a lot of time and patience. Sometimes, Universities also provide funds in a specific research area, and you can submit your research proposal. And once you got your funding, you need to find a supervisor (or vice versa).

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How to apply for a PhD position

Applying for a PhD position published by a University is similar to applying for a job in general, but it is not. It is usually much more time-consuming

Prepare for the time and resources it takes to apply for a PhD position. An emotional-support Corgi is highly advised (AI image generated with DALL·E by me).

Step 3) Collecting all the material needed for a specific PhD application

Quickly scan through the job description. Upload your CV via LinkedIn. Application sent.

This is what I saw with some friends in the corporate field lately. Like effortlessly submitting applications during your lunch break (okay, you need to have your LinkedIn and CV up to date, but hey).

No way with PhD applications.

• You start by scanning the opening - is it of general interest to you. If yes:

• Do you meet the general mandatory requirements for the position? If yes:

• You read the opening thoroughly—multiple times—and start researching some of its aspects, including the research group, the project, and the supervisors. This might already happen across multiple days. Still of interest to you? If yes:

• You carefully read the application requirements. What are the elements that you need to submit? Do you have all of them ready (most likely not). How much time will it take you? Is this feasible to do (deadline)? Regarding the amount of time needed and within the given deadline, Is it still of interest to you? If yes:

• Start planning to consolidate and create the different pieces of the application. Here is a list of potential elements requested for a PhD application:

  • CV

  • List of publications and conference participation, presentations, and posters

  • Contact details of referees

  • Letter(s) of reference (these are written individually for a specific PhD position)

  • Cover or motivation letter which is uniquely targeted to this particular position. Ideally, you do some further research on the project background, the research group, read papers by people within the group, etc.

  • Project proposal - 5-15 pages of drafting a research proposal for the position, which could include elements like research background (with literature references), research questions, proposed methods, time schedule, etc.

  • Study certificates

  • Master thesis

  • Proof of language proficiency

  • Very specific grading recalculation schemes (e.g. when the hosting university uses a grading system differing from your previous studies)

• In the meantime, you familiarise yourself with the application system. Create a profile. Check if there are any further elements to consider and especially:

  • Which forms do you need to fill out? Do you need further details to do so?

  • Do you need to merge some or all documents into combined files for the upload? Is there a limit on the number of files or file size?

  • Can you save the application mid-process or submit all details in a single session?

Step 4) Submitting the application

Yep. Once you have it all together and mastered the application system, you submit.

Well, you double-check everything five more times. You get anxious that you do not have everything or that it might not be good enough. Conversely, you are just so stressed and annoyed that at this stage, you blindly submit.

Pro Tip: Copy or print and save the job add and any related information somewhere. It will usually be taken offline once the submission deadline has passed. You will thank yourself once you get invited to an interview weeks later and try to recall the specifics on the position!

Step 5) Embracing uncertainty, everlastingness and pointlessness

You probably have received a plain or ugly formatted automated email stating that your application was received.

And this is all you will hear in a very long time. Like eternity. Sometimes, you receive an email that the position was filled half a year later, and that’s it.

With Scandinavian Universities, there is transparency, which was initially a bit strange to me. You get notified about how many people have applied, but sometimes, you will even receive a full list with all applicants' names, countries, and affiliations. And you get an email telling you with whom the position was filled!

There is another glitch in the game that can make things frustrating unless you are the person for whom the project and position were designed. So, it was never really available to you at all. It is not uncommon that PhD positions are already crafted with a specific candidate - usually already working within a specific research group - in mind. It must still be posted as an official vacancy. However, in practice, the openings are usually a 100% match for the profile of this particular candidate. So you didn’t stand a chance to start with.

Frustrating? For sure. Unfair? Not sure. It’s how this game works. You can blame the rules, but you can’t blame the players.

And maybe you want to continue reading about

Vicky Loras

’ experience and how she got into her PhD program.

Getting into a PhD program

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By now, you might wonder, WHY? Well, as I mentioned in the general pre-requirements, you want it. You are curious about the research field and niche you want to advance in.

“The secret of success is an absolute ungovernable curiosity.” Larry King

You must also be prepared for potentially fruitless effort and lengthy processes. For example, I graduated in the fall of 2023. Sven and I decided that I would allow myself until the end of 2024 to find either a PhD or a first research assistant position. I am lucky we had financial stability, but we sacrificed for our saving goals. I have also been working different side jobs.

And that’s what most people do. Working full-time is barely possible with all the time that goes into the application process, working on paper publications, and trying to move your academic career forward.

I am glad I had a manuscript in review and some temporary research assistant work, which allowed me to continue my research.

But things can move super fast, as in my case now. When relocation and larger logistics are involved, the rather long application and interview process can become surprisingly short towards the desired start of the position!

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If you are currently in the process of applying for PhD positions, I keep my fingers crossed!

For anyone else, I hope this gives you a glimpse of what it takes to apply for a PhD position!

Hug,