while I think this is a great idea, let me tell you: This is not a degree for the faint-hearted.

🎓 What a PhD Really Is

A PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) is a research degree focused on creating new knowledge, not just learning existing knowledge.

It is radically different from any other university degree.
As a PhD student you will not necessarily just study books an pass exams, but focus more on doing independent original research, publishing and presenting your findings and finally writing and defending a doctoral thesis.

In other words, you will spend a lot of time reading, writing, creating knowledge and disseminate it. Essentially, having a PhD demonstrates that you possess a deep knowledge of your own specific field and can engage with other international experts as a peer.

If it still sounds easy to you here’s some facts. A PhD is the highest academic degree awarded by universities — held by roughly 2% of the world’s population (I took this number from Google, don’t ask!) and, based on calculations I’ve made in a university I worked for, failure rates for PhD students can be as high as 40% .

The reasons why people don’t make it to the end of the line can vary from person to person, but common mistakes include underestimating the amount of work required, supervisor mismatch and/or topic mismatch, and not understanding what is the requirement for getting a PhD.

🌟 It can be the best moment of your life,… or the worst !

A PhD can become, one of your biggest life achievements and the most intellectually rewarding periods of your life. This provided that you can make consistent progress, tolerate uncertainty, reach the finish line.

Otherwise, it can become a long tunnel with no visible exit, a slow erosion of confidence, and a prolonged period of stress and doubt.

You might think I’m trying to scare you — and to some extent, that’s true — but it’s better to be honest than to lead you into a trap. Yes, it can feel like a trap, because once you begin, you’re committing to three or four years of your life, possibly more.

It’s truly a make-or-break journey. If halfway through you realize it’s not right for you, you’re faced with a difficult decision: acknowledging that you’ve lost a significant amount of time and quit or keep going for another several years and not knowing whether you’re going to make it or not.

That choice can be heartbreaking — for you and for us.

🔥 I have a PhD in “Making Mistakes”

One of the most precious life lessons I learned from my PhD is that

Failure happens when you try something new

If anyone ever mocked you for having failed at something don’t worry; Those who are never wrong have never tried anything challenging. I personally think I failed in my life more than I succeeded. In a sense, I have a PhD in making mistakes, and I am not ashamed of saying it.

However, failure is not a side effect, it is the mechanism. If you cannot tolerate being wrong, uncertain, or behind for long periods, a PhD will feel unbearable.

Doing research means

• Submit papers that get rejected ❌
• Run experiments that fail 💥
• Write code that doesn’t work 🐛
• Read things you don’t understand (yet) 🤯

But, 💪 if you can treat failure as data, confusion as progress, and rejection as part of life, then a PhD is for you. In other words, if failure challenges you and drives you forward, and if not knowing things excites you rather than frustrates you, then this path is for you.

🧠 The harsh truth of modern academia

Sorry for saying this, but the harsh truth is that undergraduate degrees are getting easier and easier to attain, on the other hand, PhDs are as demanding as ever.

When doing an undergraduate degree, you are safeguarded; Material is prepared for you, grades follow standardized metrics, and admission almost guarantees eventual graduation. A PhD, on the other hand, does not follow these rules; There is no guarantee of success.

There is also an uncomfortable truth about modern academia that we (as a society) will need to address at some point: The AI factor.

Don’t get me wrong, it is not a sin to use AI to restructure text, but I would be very careful about using it for doing rigorous work.

The problem is that the unscrupulous use of AI is making undergraduates often less trained to work independently and to push themselves rigorously. Not only AI only regurgitates existing knowledge and cannot produce new, but also the knowledge it regurgitates is often wrong and sloppy. I recently spent days trying to debug AI slop and at some point I gave up because the AI would produce wrong math faster than I could disprove it.

This is also known, as a The bullshit asymmetry principle (a valuable piece of wisdom btw). The principle is as follows:

The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it.

Read more about it here.

🔱 The most important thing of a PhD

The other most important thing I’ve learned when doing a PhD is that relationships are not built on magic or illusions — they are built on mutual benefit.🤝

I give you what you need, if you give me something that I need ⚖️

Anyone that ignores this fundamental balance risks becoming toxic. ☠️🧪⚠️

This basic life lesson is the core of the PhD program and therefore I’d say that the most important in your PhD is

The relationship with your supervisor.

It is crucial that you find a supervisor whose research interests align with yours, someone you feel comfortable working with and someone whose mentoring style matches your needs.

When looking for a PhD, my suggestion is to state upfront what kind of topics you like and what kind of supervision you want. Don’t negotiate on it. Ultimately, it is your PhD.

🤝 The 2-Player Game

In my opinion, a PhD is essentially a two-player game between the student and the supervisor.

Crucially though, if this relationship break, the one who suffers the most is the student.🛋️💡 While the supervisor is responsible for you, if you do not carry on with your own work, they will not lose their job if you don’t get your PhD.

In many European systems in particular, the supervisor may be the single most important factor in your PhD experience.

A bad or toxic supervisor can derail even a strong student, while a good supervisor can elevate an average project into an excellent one and, also,
a good supervisor can do little if the students is not willing to contribute.

🌍 Moving abroad

If you are not a native English speaker, I strongly support the idea of doing a PhD in an English-speaking country or similar (like the Netherlands, Canada or Scandinavia).

For a handful of reasons:

• these countries are best at supporting research 🔬
• you will hone your English abilities 🇬🇧
• you will learn to interact with a wide variety of different people 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

In other words, moving abroad will strengthen your PhD considerably into many different directions.

Often countries like Denmark or the Netherlands have way more funding of PhD students, they treat students more fairly and … they pay more. It is overall a better environment that allows everyone to thrive.

Moreover, to get a good PhD you need to be able to collaborate with different people as good ideas tend to arise in environments with a high level of diversity. This is, in my opinion, just because we work in a very specialised and narrow field and so eventually finding people locally is extremely hard.
Hence it is extremely important that you learn to communicate and collaborate with all kind of people regardless of their culture, ethnicity and so on.

At the same time, doing a PhD while living abroad, confronting yourself with different cultures and learning a new language can become a daunting task.
Some people experience significant cultural shocks while pursuing their PhD, which can take a heavy toll on their mental health. I would encourage anyone who feels overwhelmed to seek support. Many universities provide resources, sometimes limited, but still helpful, or it can be beneficial to speak with a professional.

Make sure you like the country you are moving to before accepting a PhD offer.

✅ Takeaways

Explaining what a PhD is, is not an easy task, it is a challenging and unpredictable journey.
Everyone’s experience is different, so in the end, no one can truly tell you what a PhD is — you have to experience it yourself, fail, learn, and try again.

To anyone who is considering doing a PhD, I’d suggest to choose

• a topic that makes you tick
• a supervisor that is willing to supervise you 🤝
• a country that you like

During times of self-doubt, take care of yourself, don’t beat yourself up and avoid overindulging in pubs or nightclubs 🍻. Get a good night’s sleep 🛌 and try again tomorrow.

(Do as I say, not as I did).