Thread by @ElphabaThropp7

I have about half an hour before a lunch meet so I decided to do a thread on my PhD experience. Please note that every one's journey is different, but I hope this helps those who are considering a PhD. 😀 #PhDChats This is a thread.

I graduated with a BSc (Hons. with distinction) from a local public university. This means that 1-I had a thesis component to my Bachelor's & 2- I was allowed to apply straight for a PhD programme without a Master's degree for UK/Australia PhD programmes

If you want to do a PhD in the U.S., the conditions are a bit different, you have to do a 2 years taught programme before you can start your research programme. I didn't check for other countries but a friend did his in Japan and it was pretty similar to UK/Oz

My situation was also a tad privileged. Coincidentally the public uni where I graduated from had an opening for an internal scholarship (this is like succession planning for retiring lecturers) that is offered to potential lecturers for the unit/dept & I was asked to apply

So I graduated in July and started my PhD programme in Nov of the same year. 🙈 Because it was a succession plan, I had to do research in a field that the university dictated - virology. My BSc was in Genetics & I am personally interested in women's cancer due to family history

When preparing for the research proposal, I decided to "marry" all these interest. I need to do something in virology that uses my genetics knowledge to tackle cancer. Sounds ... complicated? Not really 😀

In the end, I had two possible places: Glasgow to do work in Epstein-Barr Virus that is associated with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (coincidentally my final year BSc thesis was on the same virus) or Queensland to do work on the Human Papilloma Virus, that causes cervical cancer

The Oz lab was really interesting because they just launched in October of that year, the first cancer vaccine (hi Gardasil!). This means they have pharma investment, and my PhD could potentially be the next big thing in cancer treatment. And it's in Oz - better weather

In the end, I decided based on how friendly the emails sounded. Note that who you choose as a supervisor is important, you will be arguing and learning from this person for at least 3 years, some up to 8-10 years. Better be able to stand them, not just how great their profiles

Here's where I give a shout out to Prof Nigel McMillan (fondly known as Darth Vader) in the McMillan Lab back in UQ circa 2010. 😀

So first year - you get started on the basic lab work and literature review. I didn't have a Master's so my enrollment was as a "provisional PhD candidate". At the end of the year, I had to give a public lecture reviewed by appointed thesis panel to determine whether I can go on

and do a PhD. Those who didn't pass this test get advised to convert to an MPhil. A week in Oz and I attended a fellow Msian annual review. I marched to Nige's office & asked him pointedly to treat me like his Oz students, don't give me leeway because I am Asian/a woman/etc

This challenge was great. By 2nd year, the research had potential to be published in Nature (only the TOP science journal). But dreams came crashing down - I got scooped (i.e. some other lab published first!!!) at the end of my 2nd year, going into my 3rd.

Funnily enough, I was invited to give a talk to this lab. Found out that their whole research centre was working on that Nature paper , the lab head kindly told me that he was impressed I did all that work myself, as 1 PhD student. (He's German, I was surprised at kindness 😀)

Anyway, 3rd year was the most challenging. I was testing treatment in small animals who had issues breeding and ate their young (I needed a certain number to run experiments, see). Money was running out, I had to do more part time work (you can work up to 20hrs a week on student

visa). I had to publish because I was already scooped, if I wait too long all my hard work would come to nothing because in science it matters that you are the first to say something - and I was already the second. 🙈

Worse, 3rd year was also the year my heart was broken. 💔

Anyway, end of 3rd year - I won the institute's coveted top student prize for outstanding research which gave me a travel grant to present my work at an international conference . Supplemented by Cancer Council Queensland travel money, I visited labs in Europe too

Talked & presented my work in Denver, Colorado; Bonn, Cologne, Aarhus, Lausanne. Then took 1 month off gallivanting around Italy & France. Returned to Oz to my 4th year - broke, ran out of scholarship, with a thesis to finish. But oh what an experience!

So that final year was sheer will power. I had to work full time now (you can ask for revised visa conditions with supervisor's support letter), finishing off some experiments up til June/July that year & writing up the thesis AND the paper. I had reviews & smaller papers

published in the 3 years but needed my first big one. Aimed Nature Publishing Group because I missed out on the big big one and because Lyana is insane - mengada tak nak smaller journals.

So much so that I swear I am NEVER going to have a year like that again. I submitted my thesis on Sept 10th, 2010 - 3 days before my 27th birthday. I jumped off a plane (tandem sky dived) for my birthday & thesis submission that year.

Gave my final public lecture for the award in November that year and after 3 hours of discussion with thesis review panel, awarded a PhD with minor corrections (1 page of typos, mainly).

The head of review panel said "that didn't feel like an assesment, we felt like were discussing with a colleague." One of the proudest moment of my life. 😊

Balik Malaysia on Dec 5th, 2010. And the challenges began anew. This is for another thread ...

In conclusion : if you want a PhD, you better prepare to work hard & make sacrifices for it. Must continue to challenge yourself, don't take shortcuts. And always believe that things will work out in the end. Choose & make your decisions well. Good luck to all considering! ❤️