One option available to people when they graduate from university is to begin the academic career path by pursuing a PhD qualification and going into research.
Aoife is a post-doctoral researcher based in Germany. I interviewed her about what it’s like to be a researcher and what people should consider before embarking on a PhD.
Describe your job
I’m a post-doc researcher in the University of Stuttgart. My main tasks are to carry out research into a particular topic and publish the results in a journal or at a conference. I also sometimes have to teach and give presentations at other universities.
What did you do prior to this job?
I did a BSc in Applied Computational Linguistics and went on to do my Ph.D. in the same field.
After my Ph.D. I did a two year post-Doc in Dublin City University, 6 months of which was spent in California at the Palo Alto Research Center. During my undergraduate studies, I did an internship at IBM Stuttgart for 3 months one summer. I also worked in IOL tech support for a while. As a post-grad I worked at supervising exams, being a lab tutor and giving grinds.
Describe a “typical” day in your work
I work very flexible hours, but my general day starts sometime between 9 and 10 and ends at 6 or 7. Some days are longer if there are deadlines coming up and some days are shorter if I’m feeling tired or lazy. Typically during the day, I’ll check and respond to email, work on figuring out the problem I’m researching, check on any experiments I’ve run, set more experiment running, review a paper, help my boss figure something out, go to invited talks (usually just once a week), and have project meetings.
What’s a typical career path after doing a PhD?
This is one of the main disadvantages. In my field anyway, there is no typical career path. I suppose traditionally, if somebody did a Ph.D. they might go on to become a lecturer. But there far more people graduating with Ph.Ds now than there are lecturing positions becoming available.
An alternative to this, that allows you to stay within the university environment is to apply for research funding, usually from Science Foundation Ireland, or Enterprise Ireland. This can be difficult to get, and you end up going from one temporary contract to the next. It also means that the last year of your contract will probably be mostly taken up with applying for new funding so you can continue working for the coming years. On the other hand though, you are basically your own boss, leading your own research group, so if you are good at getting funding, then you could easily end up being the head of a very large research group by the time you retire.
Often people move around from university to university in the early stages of their career to get experience with different experts and different countries/environments. The more experience you have outside the university you apply for funding in, the better it looks on your application. So unless you get a lecturing position straight away, it’s extremely unlikely that you’ll be able to stay in the same university that you do your Ph.D in for the rest of your life.
An alternative to staying in the university environment is to go into industry. In my field, there aren’t too many openings that are directly related, especially in Ireland, but there are some. For people who take this route, it usually means getting a job in a large multinational company.
And what some people in my field do after getting their Ph.Ds is to go and do something completely different or maybe partially related. But not research, and not computational linguistics usually.
What’s the best thing about working in research?
The flexibility and the travelling. You can work from home, come in late, go home early, come in early, go home late, it doesn’t matter as long as you get the work done and are there for any project and group meetings. Getting papers accepted at conferences usually means you get to travel two or three times during the year. The company will pay for your flights and accommodation, and generally have no problem with you taking a weeks holiday at the end of the conference if you like. This means free flights to cool places. I’ve gotten to see so many places because of my job, that I probably would never have seen otherwise.
What’s the worst thing?
The uncertainty about what’s going to happen once this contract is up.
And sometimes I get tired of thinking and want a tedious job like working in Tesco 
What do you feel are the main differences between working in academic research and working in industry?
The pay. And the pressure. You’ll earn much more money in industry, but you’ll pay the price in stress and deliverables pressure. This is just a guess, I’ve never worked in industry proper. The six months I spent in California was at a research company, so while there were deliverables and deadlines to meet, I don’t think it was quite the same stress as getting a product out.
What preconceptions about research work did you have which turned out to not be true when you started working in it?
I somehow didn’t factor in how much writing I’d have to do. I really enjoy doing the research work, but don’t really like writing it up. But it’s a neccesary evil I suppose. Since there are no products generally, the only things I have to show for my work are the papers I write.
I also thought I’d have to work 9-5 hours when I started first. That didn’t last long though
What drew you to do a PhD and go on to do postdoc research?
I’m not sure, it was always something I wanted to do, ever since I was in primary school when I first heard about them. I loved doing my fourth year project and seeing it all come together in the end. Going on to do the postdoc was a natural step for me. My supervisor had gotten funding for a continuation project, so I could stay on and actually do the “Future Work” section of my thesis that I didn’t have time to do, and at the same time get paid a proper salary. I really enjoy research, and I hope I can stay doing it.
What’s the work/life balance like doing research?
Pretty good. I can’t complain really. I don’t normally find myself working 60 hour weeks unless there’s a deadline coming up. And so apart from the few times a year when there’s a conference deadline or something, I work an average week and have time in the evenings to do stuff (if I wasn’t so lazy!).
What type of person would you say a PhD and working in research is suited to?
Somebody who can work on their own without needing to be told what each step is. Sometimes you’re not even sure of the end goal, so somebody who needs everything spelled out for them will struggle. You need to be creative I suppose, coming up with new ways of solving problems.
Why should someone do a PhD?
You should do a PhD if you enjoy figuring stuff out, and if you like trying out new theories that nobody has done before. A PhD is not easy. You get paid very little while you’re doing it, you’re basically a student for another 3 to 4 years, so you have to know you really want it to be able to finish it. If it’s not something you *really* want, then it’s very difficult to finish. It can be difficult seeing your friends move on in their careers, getting paid loads, while you’re still a student. But at the end of it, you get to wear a silly costume and put Dr. before your name
If you’re sure you want to work in industry, then you probably won’t need a PhD, experience probably counts for more anyway. If you want to stay in an academic environment, then you probably need one.
Anything else someone might want to know if they were considering doing a PhD?
Don’t do it for the money Seriously though, it’s like a really really big final year project. So if you didn’t like doing the project (including the write up!), then it’s probably not for you.
