a good phd student

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Published: 10 May 2006

What makes a good PhD student?

Georgia Chenevix-Trench 1

Nature volume 441 , page 252 ( 2006 ) Cite this article

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Some tips for PhD students.

Doing a PhD should be fun and rewarding, because you can spend all your working time discovering things and pursuing ideas — and getting paid for it, without any administrative responsibilities. Those who stick with a career in science do so because, despite the relatively poor pay, long hours and lack of security, it is all we want to do.

Unfortunately most new PhD students are ill-prepared, and as a consequence very few will fulfil their aspirations to be independent scientists. The main reasons for this are the 'grade creep' inherent at most universities, making it difficult to identify the really talented first-class graduates from the rest, and the pressure on universities to graduate as many PhD students as possible. The consequence is that we enrol far too many of them without telling them clearly what doing a doctorate should entail. We therefore set ourselves, and the students, on a path of frustration and disappointment.

So what should we be telling prospective PhD students?

Choose a supervisor whose work you admire and who is well supported by grants and departmental infrastructure.

Take responsibility for your project.

Work hard — long days all week and part of most weekends. If research is your passion this should be easy, and if it isn't, you are probably in the wrong field. Note who goes home with a full briefcase to work on at the end of the day. This is a cause of success, not a consequence.

Take some weekends off, and decent holidays, so you don't burn out.

Read the literature in your immediate area, both current and past, and around it. You can't possibly make an original contribution to the literature unless you know what is already there.

Plan your days and weeks carefully to dovetail experiments so that you have a minimum amount of downtime.

Keep a good lab book and write it up every day.

Be creative. Think about what you are doing and why, and look for better ways to go. Don't see your PhD as just a road map laid out by your supervisor.

Develop good writing skills: they will make your scientific career immeasurably easier.

To be successful you must be at least four of the following: smart, motivated, creative, hard-working, skilful and lucky. You can't depend on luck, so you had better focus on the others!

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Georgia Chenevix-Trench

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Chenevix-Trench, G. What makes a good PhD student?. Nature 441 , 252 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nj7090-252b

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Published : 10 May 2006

Issue Date : 11 May 2006

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/nj7090-252b

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What makes a good PhD student?

Study tips Published 31 Mar, 2022 · 3-minute read

Thinking about pursuing a PhD but worried you might not excel in such a research-intensive program? We believe you can do it – especially if you cultivate some of the top traits of successful PhD candidates.

It takes a special type of person to spend countless hours researching and writing about a niche topic. While all our higher degree by research candidates have unique personalities and interest areas, there are some attributes they tend to have in common – traits that make them a “good” PhD student and help them on their path to completing their thesis.

Here we’ll look beyond just how to be a PhD student and instead talk about what makes a good PhD student. What skills, attitudes and behaviours can you develop or practise now to set yourself up for success in the next 3-4 years?

What do PhD programs look for?

Good PhD student qualities include: curiosity, love of learning, attention to detail, time management, persistence, collaboration and resilience

The criteria for getting a PhD scholarship provide some useful clues as to what makes a good PhD student in the eyes of an advisory board. In particular, you’ll benefit from having a strong academic record and proven abilities to conduct effective research . The academic transcript from your honours or postgraduate program can help demonstrate this.

More important, though, are the traits you developed in order to get those academic results:

enduring curiosity and a love of learning
conscientiousness and attention to detail
organisational and time-management skills
ability and willingness to collaborate with anyone
persistence and resilience (pushing through challenges and bouncing back from failures)
intrinsic motivation and self-discipline (the drive to set your own goals and follow them through).

To thrive in a PhD program, you’ll want to maintain and strengthen these attributes. The good news is anyone can practise or work on these traits to some extent, even if they don’t always come naturally to you.

Keep in mind that every candidate is different, so there’s no “correct” balance of the above attributes guaranteed to make you a good PhD student. On your research journey, you’ll quickly realise your existing strengths and any areas you might need to work on.

Some of the qualities that I find are key are being inquisitive, loving to learn and question the status quo, and being an independent and self-directed worker.

What makes a good PhD student: it isn’t a simple formula

We asked UQ PhD candidate Sarah Kendall for her advice on what makes a good PhD student. While she had some attributes to suggest, she also pointed out that candidates bring unique strengths and skillsets to their research – and this is something that can’t be quantified.

“Good PhD candidates can have many different qualities,” says Sarah.

“Some of the qualities that I find are key are being inquisitive, loving to learn and question the status quo, and being an independent and self-directed worker.”

Sarah acknowledges that some of these factors are inherent for some people more than others. But she’s also quick to remind us that completing research in a previous program can help you identify if you’ve got what it takes.

“Doing something like an honours project can definitely help you figure out whether these are qualities you have, as well as to prepare you for the kinds of behaviours you’ll need as a PhD candidate.”

Chelsea Janke, another UQ PhD candidate, adds the following behaviours and qualities to the list of what PhD programs look for:

ability and interest to learn
critical thinking
problem solving
resourcefulness
resilience.

So, if you’re wondering how to be a PhD student, there’s clearly no one-size-fits-all answer. But if you possess a healthy combination of some of the attributes discussed above, there’s a good chance you’ll fit the bill.

Does this sound like you (or at least someone you’d like to be with some practice)? We’d love to have you contributing to the groundbreaking research projects here at The University of Queensland.

Learn more about doing a PhD at UQ

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Is a PhD worth it?

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Camille Bou

October 7th, 2022, what makes a “good” phd student.

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Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Over the course of my PhD, I have talked to many individuals, from family and friends to prospective students, about what it’s like to pursue a doctorate degree. More often than not, I heard them say variations of “props to you – I don’t know if I could undertake a PhD” at some point in the conversation.

I’m a firm believer that, much like any other degree or professional activity, anybody could undertake a PhD if they were presented with the opportunity and if they’d want to – ie be motivated to, be willing to invest the time, and bear the financial costs (even with a doctoral studentship, as United Kingdom studentships don’t offer much funding and you’re not considered an employee of the university). That is not to say that I am diminishing the experience in itself – being in a doctoral programme is incredibly demanding and challenging, so it is an impressive feat – but I am saying that everybody could be up for the challenge.

Doctoral students often face imposter syndrome during the pursuit of their PhDs. I’ve struggled with imposter syndrome myself over my first year , and was able to manage my negative thought patterns through help from the PhD Academy coaching. However, I still sometimes get stuck in a perfectionism-procrastination-paralysis-cycle when my work anxiety becomes too overwhelming. Point being that if you are a PhD student who is wondering whether they belong and are “good enough” to be in their programme, or a prospective student wondering whether they are “good enough” to apply, I see you and I empathise with you.

As I’m now at the end of my third year, I’ve had time to reflect on what makes a “good” PhD student – unsurprisingly, it’s not about being the smartest person in the room. Rather, I believe that to be a good PhD student, one must embody the following traits: integrity, curiosity and conscientiousness. I believe these traits help acquire the skills which are useful to finish a doctoral thesis or paper – and a good PhD is a finished PhD.

A good PhD student also knows how to adopt a growth mindset, understanding that failures do not reflect a lack of intelligence or talents, and do no represent their value as academics, but opportunities to learn and ask further questions. As one of my professors once told me: “Even a non-significant result is significant”. Research is not just about proving or disproving your hypotheses, but also about the discussion surrounding your findings. Coming up with a good discussion requires a passion for the subject matter and creativity.

There are many articles on the internet about tips to be a good PhD student, not all of them applied to the social sciences. Some of them suggest, for instance, keeping a lab journal or working “long days all week and part of most weekends”. I wouldn’t worry too much about not being a good PhD student if you’re not following these tips – every journey looks different, and as you settle into your PhD programme you will find what works best for you, and if you don’t there are plenty of resources at LSE to help you (your supervisors and peers included). So don’t self-reject if you want to pursue a PhD and try not to worry if you currently are in one. You’ve got this!

About the author

I'm Camille, a PhD student in the Department of Health Policy. I'm interested in how context shapes the experiences of young informal carers in the United Kingdom. When I'm not analysing data, I enjoy listening to music and podcasts, catching up on TV series, walking in London's abundant green spaces, and exploring the city’s diverse art, food, and drinks scene!

ABC: My 3 struggles in the first year of my PhD (and how I overcame them)

March 31st, 2021.

Are you suffering from Imposter Syndrome?

February 28th, 2020.

Important LSE Resources for PhD Students

August 4th, 2020.

How to Manage the LSE PhD Upgrade

June 3rd, 2020.

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How to be a good phd student, published by steve tippins on june 12, 2020 june 12, 2020.

Last Updated on: 29th August 2022, 08:25 am

If you’re curious about how to be a good PhD student, this article is a good place to start. As a professor for over 30 years, much of that as a Dissertation Committee Chair, I’ve watched many students navigate the PhD process–some better than others. Here’s my advice for how to be a good PhD student.

Think Backward

Think about where you want to get to, then look at the steps you have to take to get there. Be good at each of the steps. Your academic career is a building block system and you don’t really see that until you get to the end. If you do excellent work at each step, you’ll assure yourself a strong foundation for your career.

For example, you’re going to have to do a dissertation. As part of your dissertation, you’ll have to write a literature review. If you have a sense of the topic you’d like to study when you begin your program, you can collect research that you find in your classes. That will give you a strong basis for your literature review.

If you intend to use a particular research approach, take the classes where you learn how to do it effectively.

young woman in a yellow shirt studying at home

In your coursework, try to undertake studies that resemble the study you’re going to do when you write your dissertation. I would even try to use the same software that you’re going to use when you write your dissertation –you’ll have a better grasp of it this way when it comes to analyzing your data, and you won’t have to spend days figuring it out while a deadline approaches.

Build the Right Committee

Select committee members who really believe in your topic. They’re going to be a big part of your life, and their enthusiasm and support can help carry you through in times when you’re feeling that isolation.

And as a corollary, find out if there are faculty members who don’t like each other, and don’t side with either of them. Definitely don’t put them both on your committee. Do your best to avoid politics.

Get to Know People

group of friends sitting on the stairs and chatting

Build relationships with other students. While being a PhD student is lonely, when there are fellow students there, and it’s helpful to become friends with them. Since academic fields are so small, the number of people with your particular interest in a field can be pretty low. You never know who will be on a hiring committee. This also reduces degrees of separation between you and others who you may want to get to know down the line.

Also, get to know the departmental assistant. They control a lot of things that will matter for you. Scheduling of classes, office allocation, and more. They can answer questions when your faculty isn’t available. If they know who you are, they may take your needs into account when making decisions.

Take Your Responsibility Seriously

Part of being a good PhD student is taking seriously your responsibility as an academic. You become the font of knowledge for a particular area, and you need to actually do that responsibly.

If you recognize that once you have this degree, people are going to look to you for answers in the area that you’re specializing in, you’ll work hard and learn what you need to learn. It’s important to recognize that people are going to be looking to you for answers because you have this degree. Taking this responsibility seriously means you have to be thorough in your research. You can’t skim over things.

woman presenting something to a full conference room

AS an undergraduate, you can get by easily with “what do I need to know,” and as a PhD student you must ask, “what more can I learn?”

And society depends on you doing a good job. Most people didn’t even think about people who have PhDs in virology a year ago. Now, with the COVID-19 crisis, they’ve been called into service in a huge way. This is only one of many examples of why a doctoral degree comes with responsibility.

Create Routine and Structure

Get into a routine and stick to it when you get into your dissertation phase or make a new routine. But it’s incredibly important to have routine and structure. Otherwise, it’s very difficult to finish.

This could mean working between certain hours each day, creating a weekly schedule with goals and deadlines, or any number of variations. The important thing is to have a structure that works for you and that you can follow.

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Use Resources

4 colleagues working together on a laptop inside a bright office

Take advantage of services that the university offers. If there there are instructional design courses, take some of those because you might be taking classes when you finish. If there is a writing center, get all the help you can with writing and ask them how to help others with writing.

As long as you’re paying tuition, you might as well get the most out of it, and be better at your job later.

Stay in Close Contact With Your Major Professor

This is up to you, it’s not up to them. You need to let your Major Professor know what’s going on in your life–if you’re having personal problems, you need to let them know in advance, as soon as it happens.

Let them know if you’re having trouble keeping up with the coursework or if there’s an area of contention between you and another professor or student. They have a huge job, and it’s up to you to reach out to them, not the other way around.

Present at Conferences as a Student

woman holding a powerpoint presentation in a bright conference room

Conferences often have “poster sessions” or student sessions. Taking these opportunities to present can be useful for a few reasons:

They gives you the opportunity to connect with other people who have the same interests
You get an idea of how research is conducted and what ends up being topical and useful.
You can see how you fit into the whole scheme of research within the broad field. Where your interests lie, who your gurus are.
You get a better idea of an appropriate topic for your dissertation–what’s needed in the field.

Avoid Competitiveness

Try to be as good as you can, but not competitive. Academia is really a collaborative process, and in my view, competition has held academia back. The more collaborative we are as academics, the faster the field advances. When we share knowledge, resources, ideas, and enthusiasm, we can build knowledge more effectively.

We don’t need to think of ourselves as competitors because we’re contributing to knowledge in different ways. There are different niches, and different perspectives that are all valid.

Schedule Time to Not Do Doctoral Work

top view of a calendar on a tablet with a notebook, keyboard, and phone nex to it

Schedule time that you don’t allow yourself to do doctoral work. It’s so hard not to do work, or not to feel guilty for not doing work, that it’s actually important to schedule time to rejuvenate–this will help you get through the long haul. Your brain needs breaks.

Do something rejuvenating–don’t just veg out in front of the television (though some of that is fine too). Go for a run, spend time in nature, create art, do whatever lights up your heart and makes you feel alive.

This is an often-overlooked, but extremely important point. Don’t forget about self-care as this can lead to burnout.

Commit to Graduating

It feels a lot better to pay off student loans when you have gotten a degree out of it.

Set yourself up for success by making graduating your goal. Continually remind yourself of your goal to finish. Continually readjust so that you can reach that goal. Even rocks change over time. You may have to adapt during your program.

woman in a red coat holding books and smiling at the camera

For example, one former student who didn’t finish her degree said, “I wanted to spend more time with my newborn son, so I dropped out of my program. I could have readjusted and taken more years to complete my dissertation, but instead of readjusting I quit.”

Have the attitude of “how do I work through this problem” instead of “do I give up or not?” If you don’t have giving up as an option, you will find ways to readjust and work through problems.

This is why they give you ten years. Problems come up and readjustment is necessary.

Get Support

One of the biggest differences I’ve observed between PhD students who graduate and those who don’t is that the ones who graduate find the support that they need. While getting a doctorate is a solitary journey, it’s not one that can be taken completely alone. All doctoral students need support at some point, and learning to ask for it or seek it out when necessary is a vital skill for PhD students.

It can also help to hire a dissertation coach . A dissertation coach can provide a level of time, attention, and dedication to your success that your Chair won’t be able to because of their other commitments.

I’ve helped many students get through the most difficult parts of their doctoral journeys and finish their degrees–sometimes even finishing early and saving on tuition in the process. Feel free to get in touch to book a free 30-minute consultation if you think you might be interested.

Steve Tippins

Steve Tippins, PhD, has thrived in academia for over thirty years. He continues to love teaching in addition to coaching recent PhD graduates as well as students writing their dissertations. Learn more about his dissertation coaching and career coaching services. Book a Free Consultation with Steve Tippins

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Feature Article

Research Culture: Highlighting the positive aspects of being a PhD student

Elena Angulo
Elsa Bonnaud
Loreleï Guéry
Eléna Manfrini
Anna Turbelin
Céline Albert
Franck Courchamp
Laboratoire Écologie Systématique Évolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS and AgroParisTech, France ;
Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Spain ;
UMR Plant Health Institute of Montpellier, CIRAD and INRAE, France ;
Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Germany ;
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, United States ;
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Introduction

Three benefits of doing a phd, recommendations, data availability, article and author information.

Articles about doing a PhD tend to focus on the difficulties faced by research students. Here we argue that the scientific community should also highlight the positive elements of the PhD experience.

Doing a PhD can be both demanding and rewarding. In addition to overcoming the scientific and intellectual challenges involved in doing original research, a PhD student may also have to deal with financial difficulties, an unhealthy work-life balance, or resulting concerns about their mental health ( Woolston, 2017 ; Auerbach et al., 2018 ; Oswalt et al., 2020 ; Evans et al., 2018 ). Despite all this, most PhD students seem satisfied with their decision to do a PhD, mostly because they work in stimulating environments with a high degree of independence and good supervision ( Pommier et al., 2022 ; Woolston, 2017 ).

Paradoxically, however, the fact that most PhD students are positive about doing a PhD is not always apparent to the outside world. For example, the present authors recently analysed more than 90,000 tweets about the PhD experience: almost half of the tweets were positive, and less than a sixth were negative, yet the negative tweets received more likes and retweets ( Figure 1 ). What can be done to counter such misleading and negative impressions? In this article we – a group of PhD students, postdocs and permanent academics – highlight the positive elements of doing a PhD in order to present a more balanced view of the whole PhD experience. We also make recommendations to maintain a positive momentum throughout the PhD. Although these ideas and recommendations are based on our experiences as researchers in ecology working in Europe, we feel that most of the points we make also apply in other disciplines and places.

Sentiment analysis of tweets about the PhD experience.

We retrieved all tweets posted in the English language during 12 consecutive weeks, from September to December 2021, that contained any of the following six hashtags: #phdlife, #phdspeaks, #phdvoice, #phdchat, #phdtips, #phdstudent. We then measured the sentiment (positive, negative or neutral) associated with each original tweet (excluding retweets). Of the 91 229 tweets we retrieved, 43,941 were positive, 12,298 were negative, and 34,990 were neutral. Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to compare the average number of likes and retweets of positive versus negative tweets. Negative tweets received significantly more likes than positive tweets (14.5 vs 12.3; P <0.001); negative tweets were also retweeted more than positive tweets but the difference was not significant (1.7 vs 1.5; P =0.383). The Twitter API and the “rtweet” R package ( cran.r-project.org/web/packages/rtweet/vignettes/intro.html ) were used to retrieve the tweets; the “syuzhet” R package ( rdrr.io/cran/syuzhet/ ) and the Bing lexicon ( Liu, 2012 ) were used for the sentiment analysis; all analyses were performed with R software ( R Development Core Team, 2021 ).

There are two primary outputs from a PhD: new skills and expertise for the graduate, and new knowledge for the wider world. In this article we focus on the former and discuss the three main benefits of doing a PhD for the individual: (i) the development of specific skills to become an expert; (ii) the ability to work in a collaborative environment; (iii) improved communication skills while sharing knowledge ( Figure 2 ). For each of these benefits we discuss both general aspects that apply to most doctoral students, and specific aspects that depend on the student’s supervisor, field of research, location and other factors.

The positive aspects of doing a PhD.

The three primary benefits of doing a PhD are acquiring expertise (pink circle), learning to work in a collaborative environment (blue), and developing communication skills for sharing knowledge (yellow). For each benefit, general aspects that apply to almost all doctoral students are shown in bold type in the small circle, and specific aspects that depend on, for example, the student’s supervisor or field of research are shown in plain type in the large circle. The large grey area contains more abstract and subjective ideas that are not discussed in the main text. It should be noted that this figure is conceptual, and that the aspects and ideas in it could be grouped in other, equally valid, ways.

Becoming an expert

Throughout a doctoral project, a PhD student will develop many of the skills needed to grow into an independent researcher, while also developing expertise in a given field. In addition to learning a great deal about their own field – and adding knowledge to it – a PhD student will learn how to perform a variety of tasks, and thus acquire new transferable skills. These will include autonomy, critical thinking, organization and planning, resilience, and the ability to design, lead and carry out projects. Furthermore, unlike postdocs and principal investigators, who have to carry out various management and administrative tasks, PhD students are usually free to dedicate their working hours almost exclusively to academic pursuits that they are (or can become) passionate about. This freedom is one of the aspects that make the PhD experience unique, and it should not be overlooked or taken for granted. Unfortunately, not all PhD students benefit from or are aware of such autonomy, but this ought to be an objective for all PhDs.

A PhD does not consist of a number of uneventful years that culminate in a single success. Rather, there are many steps along the way – such as mastering a technique, completing a series of experiments or activities in the field, or finishing the first draft of a manuscript – and the feeling of accomplishment that comes with each completed milestone should be a source of pride to the student.

Working in a collaborative environment

Learning how to work with other researchers is an important part of getting a PhD. The PhD student’s most important working relationship is with their supervisor (or, in some cases, supervisors), but most PhD students will also have the opportunity to collaborate with other members of their research group or lab, or even with researchers from the wider community. Working on other projects from time to time can help the student’s own project through increased productivity and creativity; moreover, it can strengthen lab cohesion, and might even lead to the student being a co-author on a paper. Additionally, supervising undergraduate students – or even new graduate students – is a good way of acquiring management skills.

Conferences are another way to meet and interact with other researchers. In particular, they are an opportunity to discover, discuss and be inspired by the work of other scientists. Conversations at conferences can generate new research questions or ideas for new and improved ways to tackle existing questions. Moreover, presenting results at a conference gives students a chance to receive feedback, to be recognized as active researchers by their peers, and to build a professional network.

Collaboration also can happen through the many virtual communities that PhD students can join for technical, scientific or moral support. For example, the Global PhD Server enables doctoral students to discuss their experience, exchange anecdotes, and offer or seek help. The @PhDForum supports a variety of activities, such as writing sessions for PhD students working on papers or chapters of their thesis, while Stack Overflow is a good place to offer/seek help with coding and statistics.

Developing communication skills

The ability to communicate results is a crucial skill for any researcher. A PhD student will, for example, be required to present their work to other scientists as talks or posters at meetings and conferences. The student will also start learning how to write a scientific article. Moreover, there are many opportunities for PhD students to share their passion and knowledge about their field, such as teaching and mentoring undergraduates and other graduate students. They can also get involved in public outreach, and contribute to awakening new passions or educating citizens on certain topics.

Along the PhD journey, neither the doctoral student nor the supervisor will have full control over what will happen. Some things will go wrong, which is why it is important to remain positive and try to make the most of what is a unique opportunity. Ways for the student to remain positive include going back to old pages in their laboratory notebook to see how much progress has been made, and keeping a note of all the positive feedback from different people. It is also important to remember that one does not become a PhD student by chance – being accepted to do a PhD is an achievement in itself. Additionally, sharing preliminary results with other members of the group and attending social events of a lab can build a supportive working atmosphere and help students to stay positive.

Focusing only on research can sometimes be exhausting, so spending time on other activities – such as supervising students, teaching, or working on outreach – can break the monotony and generate a sense of progress. Finally, it is important to celebrate achievements, such as a first draft, an accepted paper, a conference presentation or the submission of a grant proposal (and, obviously, a successful grant proposal). These achievements can be celebrated in the real world, on social media – or both! By regularly highlighting positive outcomes, it is easier to recognise that past difficulties have been overcome, that progress has been made, and that expertise, skills and knowledge have been gained.

In parallel, it is important to try to limit the impact of the negative aspects of the PhD experience, for they are real and various, and can be crushing if left unchecked. First, it is essential to contextualize them. For example, bear in mind that failure is an integral part of progress, and is often just a temporary setback as opposed to a defeat. This is especially true when a manuscript is rejected by a journal: viewing the rejection as an opportunity to improve the manuscript, and acknowledging that the reviewer reports are about the science, not the authors, can help reframe rejections in a positive light. After all, even the most distinguished researchers have experienced rejection many times. Moreover, as highlighted above, science is a collective adventure, and one is rarely alone when help is sought out. In this regard, talking about the challenges one encounters during a PhD with other students or researchers can also help put these challenges into perspective and to see the positive aspects.

The relationship between the PhD student and their supervisor will likely have a big influence on the PhD experience. However, it is important to recognize that this relationship works both ways, and both stand to benefit if it works well. Among other things, the PhD students can help their own cause by being clear on the type of feedback they want, or by scheduling regular meetings focused on their PhD – and persisting even if their supervisor is busy ( Kearns and Gardiner, 2011 ).

We would also encourage supervisors to be positive in their interactions with their PhD students, and to build a global productive environment that could benefit the PhD student ( Andreev et al., 2022 ). Supervisors could, for example, praise PhD students when the opportunity arises, and ensure that criticism is always constructive – and also encourage other members of their lab to do the same.

PhD students may also face challenges that cannot be overcome with positive thinking. Abusive behaviours such as bullying, harassment or discrimination should be reported to the relevant authorities immediately.

Some PhD students will also be anxious about their future job prospects, especially if they hope to remain in academic research. One way to help reduce such anxiety is to clarify life/career goals and identify the steps needed to reach them. For example, if the student makes a list of all potential funding opportunities (including deadlines) at the start of their last year, it will help them plan for the future and relieve some of the pressure that will build up towards the end of their PhD. Building a professional network can also help with career planning, and attending conferences and establishing collaborations are crucial in this regard.

Finally, if needed, it is entirely acceptable for a PhD student to take a break during their PhD, to refocus on what they really want in life, or to even leave their PhD without finishing it if they realize that it is not for them. However, before making such a decision, we would encourage the student to ask themselves if the doubts they are experiencing are due to a momentary difficulty that will pass, or if a PhD is not really the right career path for them.

Doing a PhD is a unique experience that typically occupies three or more years of someone’s life. Through this experience the student will be enriched by acquiring a range of professional and personal skills, and by gaining a prestigious qualification. In the end, it is in the interest of everyone – the PhD student, the supervisor, their colleagues, their institutions, and academia in general – to make this experience as positive as possible.

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Author details

Camille Bernery is in the Laboratoire Écologie Systématique Évolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS and AgroParisTech, Orsay, France

Contribution

Contributed equally with, for correspondence, competing interests.

Léo Lusardi is in the Laboratoire Écologie Systématique Évolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS and AgroParisTech, Orsay, France

Clara Marino is in the Laboratoire Écologie Systématique Évolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS and AgroParisTech, Orsay, France

Martin Philippe-Lesaffre is in the Laboratoire Écologie Systématique Évolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS and AgroParisTech, Orsay, France

Elena Angulo is in the Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Sevilla, Spain and the Laboratoire Écologie Systématique Évolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS and AgroParisTech, Orsay, France

Elsa Bonnaud is in the Laboratoire Écologie Systématique Évolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS and AgroParisTech, Orsay, France

Loreleï Guéry is in the UMR Plant Health Institute of Montpellier, CIRAD and INRAE, Montpellier, France

Eléna Manfrini is in the Laboratoire Écologie Systématique Évolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS and AgroParisTech, Orsay, France

Anna Turbelin is in the Laboratoire Écologie Systématique Évolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS and AgroParisTech, Orsay, France

Céline Albert is in the Laboratoire Écologie Systématique Évolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS and AgroParisTech, Orsay, France

Ugo Arbieu is in the Laboratoire Écologie Systématique Évolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS and AgroParisTech, Orsay, France, the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, United States

Franck Courchamp is in the Laboratoire Écologie Systématique Évolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS and AgroParisTech, Orsay, France

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the internal reviewers (Céline Bellard, Eva Delmas, Christophe Diagne and Xavier Fauvergue) for useful recommendations. Work on this paper began during a lab retreat attended by all co-authors. PhD students were funded by the French Ministry of Higher Education (CB, LL, CM, MPL); postdocs were funded by the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (UA), the Biodiversa ERA-Net AlienScenario project (AT), and the AXA Research Fund Chair for Invasion Biology of University Paris-Saclay (EA, CA, EM); Tenured academics salary were funded by the University Paris-Saclay (EB), the CIRAD (LG) and the CNRS (FC). MPL was also funded as an intern by the ENS Paris-Saclay during part of the project.

Publication history

Received: June 15, 2022
Accepted: July 13, 2022
Version of Record published: July 26, 2022 (version 1)

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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Warming and precipitation anomalies affect terrestrial carbon balance partly through altering microbial eco-physiological processes (e.g., growth and death) in soil. However, little is known about how such processes responds to simultaneous regime shifts in temperature and precipitation. We used the 18 O-water quantitative stable isotope probing approach to estimate bacterial growth in alpine meadow soils of the Tibetan Plateau after a decade of warming and altered precipitation manipulation. Our results showed that the growth of major taxa was suppressed by the single and combined effects of temperature and precipitation, eliciting 40–90% of growth reduction of whole community. The antagonistic interactions of warming and altered precipitation on population growth were common (~70% taxa), represented by the weak antagonistic interactions of warming and drought, and the neutralizing effects of warming and wet. The members in Solirubrobacter and Pseudonocardia genera had high growth rates under changed climate regimes. These results are important to understand and predict the soil microbial dynamics in alpine meadow ecosystems suffering from multiple climate change factors.

The push–pull intercrop Desmodium does not repel, but intercepts and kills pests

Over two decades ago, an intercropping strategy was developed that received critical acclaim for synergizing food security with ecosystem resilience in smallholder farming. The push–pull strategy reportedly suppresses lepidopteran pests in maize through a combination of a repellent intercrop (push), commonly Desmodium spp., and an attractive, border crop (pull). Key in the system is the intercrop’s constitutive release of volatile terpenoids that repel herbivores. However, the earlier described volatile terpenoids were not detectable in the headspace of Desmodium , and only minimally upon herbivory. This was independent of soil type, microbiome composition, and whether collections were made in the laboratory or in the field. Furthermore, in oviposition choice tests in a wind tunnel, maize with or without an odor background of Desmodium was equally attractive for the invasive pest Spodoptera frugiperda . In search of an alternative mechanism, we found that neonate larvae strongly preferred Desmodium over maize. However, their development stagnated and no larva survived. In addition, older larvae were frequently seen impaled and immobilized by the dense network of silica-fortified, non-glandular trichomes. Thus, our data suggest that Desmodium may act through intercepting and decimating dispersing larval offspring rather than adult deterrence. As a hallmark of sustainable pest control, maize –Desmodium push–pull intercropping has inspired countless efforts to emulate stimulo-deterrent diversion in other cropping systems. However, detailed knowledge of the actual mechanisms is required to rationally improve the strategy, and translate the concept to other cropping systems.

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14 July, 2021

Are you thinking of doing a PhD? Or perhaps you’ve been accepted on a programme and are preparing to start your PhD journey?

If you’re already at this stage of thinking or starting a PhD, you probably have the intellectual acumen and academic skills needed for advanced study – but intelligence isn’t everything. In this article, we’ll discuss the additional soft skills and qualities needed for PhD success. Very often, these traits are likely to get you further than academic brilliance alone.

The ability to work independently

Unlike undergraduate or taught postgraduate programmes, where you are required to attend seminars, do group work, or work on scheduled assignments, a substantial part of PhD work (or in some cases, the entire project) is done independently. In some disciplines, you might work in a larger team with other students and researchers, but it is still up to the individual PhD candidate to do most of their own data collection, analysis, and writing.

You are no longer working like a student or as a paid employee; you don’t report to someone like a teacher or a boss. Instead, you’ll need the discipline to design your work routine and plan the various components of your thesis on your own. In most cases, you are accountable only to yourself and it is important to be confident and trust in your ability to manage the entirety of your PhD independently (albeit with some support from your department and supervisor).

Knowing when to ask for help

Although we have just discussed the virtues of being independent, it is equally important to know when to ask for and receive help. You may find yourself up against some difficulties or issues that you have never dealt with before or have no idea how to address. While it is good to take initiative to try to solve an issue, do not be too proud to get help when you need it.

Work with your supervisors and listen to their advice and suggestions – it is literally their job to help you. Draw from the collective support of your PhD colleagues, research peers, and friends. Even if they are not working on the same project as you or even from the same discipline, you’ll be surprised at how much can be gained from getting a different perspective and advice from others on the same journey as you. Finally, seek out professional help and assistance from the university’s support or welfare teams if you find that your mental health is suffering .

Your research will be only as good as your level of wellbeing. Taking the steps to look after your mental health and get both academic and pastoral support for your PhD is one of the best things you can do for yourself and the research.

Curiosity and an openness to learn new things

Every PhD project stems from and revolves around one or more research questions – you are doing this research to investigate an issue more deeply or to try to uncover answers or solutions to a problem or question. A good PhD researcher is someone who continually asks questions and is keen to discover and learn new things, be it novel ways of doing research or alternative theories and perspectives.

Maintain curiosity throughout your PhD – dare to push at the boundaries of your project and question existing literature, your data, and even your role as the researcher. Always reflect on what you are doing, how you can do it differently, or what other ways there are of approaching your research. Of course, you are not expected to cover every possible approach and eventuality during your PhD, but having this curiosity will sharpen your thinking, enrich your final thesis, and demonstrate your perceptiveness and insight as a researcher.

Creativity and versatility

Most PhD theses will follow some similar conventions in the way they are structured and written; your supervisor will be able to advise you on the best ways to proceed. However, the finer details of how the research is conducted and how you engage with your data requires an amount of creativity and versatility to be able to identify emerging patterns and to communicate those findings in original and interesting ways .

Bear in mind that the research journey is not always a predictable one. Sometimes things go wrong during the course of your research; you might get unexpected results or your methods may not work as you anticipate . Being creative and adaptable to these changing circumstances will go a long way in helping you to produce excellent research even when things don’t always go to plan.

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Graduate qualities

Researcher graduate qualities for the PhD

The researcher graduate qualities will assist you to develop the skills and knowledge you need to become an exceptional PhD researcher and get career-ready.

The University of Sydney has developed a set of graduate qualities to define and enrich the PhD, and support you to get ready for a post-doctoral career in industry or research.

The researcher graduate qualities focus on building deep disciplinary expertise and a range of broader, transferrable skills that will enhance your research activities and career possibilities.

The eleven qualities cover cultural competence, interdisciplinary effectiveness, professional, ethical, personal identity, influence, critical thinking and problem-solving, communication, information and digital literacy, inventiveness, engagement and project planning and delivery.

From 2021 onwards, early career researchers will have access to development activities including coursework, mentoring programs, workshops, global mobility experiences, self-reflection exercises and competitions, challenges or projects.

What this means for your candidature

The researcher graduate qualities have been designed to help guide students and supervisors through a student's PhD candidature. During your supervision meetings, the graduate qualities will provide you with a point-of-reference to contemplate your achievement of skills and experience as your candidature progresses, and to have a conversation with your supervisor about further development opportunities or training you may need while you complete your thesis project.

How to update your Research graduate qualities record

After your supervision meetings, you will need to log your graduate qualities discussion in RECS. Log into RECS , select ‘My project’, then ‘Researcher graduate qualities’. Here you can review previous submission by selecting the relevant date or you can add a new record. Once you have completed a new record, there is an option to send to your supervisor for comment.

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Highlighting the positive aspects of being a PhD student

Camille bernery.

1 Laboratoire Écologie Systématique Évolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS and AgroParisTech Orsay, France

Léo Lusardi

Clara marino, martin philippe-lesaffre, elena angulo.

2 Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC Sevilla, Spain

Elsa Bonnaud

Loreleï guéry.

3 UMR Plant Health Institute of Montpellier, CIRAD and INRAE Montpellier, France

Eléna Manfrini

Anna turbelin, céline albert.

4 Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre Frankfurt am Main, Germany

5 Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute Front Royal, United States

Franck Courchamp

Associated data.