How to Become a Scientist? My Study/Career Path (PART 3/3).

At the time when I decided to continue my studies from the Bachelor's to the Master's and several years of experience working in academia, I knew I would continue to my PhD later on. And I knew I was more than capable of doing it. And so I started the journey to apply for my PhD without a clue that this journey would be one of the longest and most frustrating journeys I would make. After the first rejection, I felt disappointed, but not ready to quit. Unfortunately, the first rejection wasn't the last one. And I can tell the level of frustration was unmeasurable after all that work I did to get in. According to the Excel sheet I collected during this journey, I contacted 28 group leaders and had a meeting with 15 of them, applied to 10 different universities around the world, and finally got into one - the one that is better than many of the other ones I got rejected.


Regardless of the frustration, the whole process taught me a lot. First of all, I learned that almost everything depends on the money. Surprise. If you can bring your own money at least for yourself, people are more willing to take you in. Especially in these fields where my passion stands, as the funding is extremely limited for research groups. I did apply to several schools that are ranked one of the best in the whole world and I really wanted to give them a shot. Grateful for myself for doing it. The reason is that this forced me to prepare the applications carefully and to succeed in that, I ended up talking with group leaders from Standford and Harvard. I learned invaluable knowledge and realized the power of helping others (from the fact that these top scientists were willing to help and give their time) - something I have been carrying forward with me. During this process, I contacted and asked for help from everyone I could imagine - from friends, family, and ''strangers''. This process taught me about my goals and the power of community more than anything.

While trying to find the perfect fit and applying for PhD's, I worked at the University of Helsinki as a researcher and got a chance to take the lead in our part of the collaborative project. In a way, I was living the dream of a scientist's life by traveling to conferences, doing research, and having an amazing supervisor. However, as a slightly stubborn being, I wanted to pursue a PhD in the field with limited resources. I remember this one evening when all those emotions hit me hard after trying for so long and so hard without reward. And that is the night I found the PhD program I'm pursuing now. Middle of the night, I started to draft my application, which I then continued in the following weeks by asking opinions from people who had done it. This is the advice I keep giving forward - ask for help from the people who are already there where you want to be. They know. 

Long story short, I got invited to the interview which included three separate parts, and to which I carefully prepared with the help of my colleagues and supervisor at the time. I felt ready and I enjoyed the interviews - I had fun sharing my passion for science. Maybe it was the full journey, maybe it was the careful work I put into this one, or maybe it was the excitement and dedication they could see from me - who knows - but that is how I and 15 others got selected from over 300 applicants to pursue our PhDs in Neuroscience in Denmark, under the program called Neuroscience Academy Denmark. If you are one of the dreamers of doing your PhD, you can be sure I'll share tips on how to write a good application and prepare for the interviews. 

Until then, enjoy the blog with other education and work-related content - welcome Behind the CV!

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